Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023, Edition 02, titled The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability, was presented in six venues: AL QASIMIYAH SCHOOL, OLD AL JUBAIL VEGETABLE MARKET, OLD SLAUGHTERHOUSE, INDUSTRIAL AREA 5, SHARJAH MALL and AL MADAM across Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The inaugural edition of the Triennial, Rights of the Future Generations, and the second edition, The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability, together also offer a narrative that foregrounds pressing needs at a time of urgency – while offering hope and underpinning the Sharjah Architecture Triennial’s humanistic approach.
Collab: Henry Glogau and Aleksander Kongshaug, Resource Autonomy, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
MANIFESTING IMPERMANENCE IN AN INDELIBLE WAY by Brendon Bell-Roberts
Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023, Edition 02, titled The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability, offered many counterpoints to the concept of lived spaces and fundamentally challenged how we think about and design societies and environments, with important implications for architecture, urban design, and planning.
The exhibitions and installations ranged from the ethereal to the macabre, with the Cave–bureau’s “Anthropocene Museum” at the Old Slaughterhouse standing out for presenting not only a reference to a recent, near-forgotten past when enslaved Africans were led to the Gulf by Arab merchants – but also alluding to the philosophical underpinning of meaningful impermanence of life and how easily life is traded today for profit and nationalistic gain.
Cave_bureau, Anthropocene Museum 9.0, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
As Tosin Oshinowo says, “The current relationship between architecture and the natural environment reveals our intertwined global and local histories; it brings to the fore priorities around sustainability and equity that have long needed to be reconsidered. In the context of where I come from in Nigeria, the scramble for Africa laid the groundwork of colonialism, setting in motion widespread resource extraction across the continent and hindering its development for centuries to come. It established and enforced a division between what we now know as the ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’.”
Tosin further adds, “The key to building a sustainable future from our precarious present has its roots in architectural and design traditions that have been with us for generations and continue to evolve. Many practitioners, craftspeople, and communities across the ‘Global South’ have embraced long-standing traditions that have been systematically ignored by the canon. These approaches nurture an understanding of impermanence, inventive responsiveness to limitations, and psychology of the collective that is essential for our shared future.”
Issues about the erosion of the local due to capitalist development; Africa as dumping ground for the First World’s discarded fashion, climate change, resource scarcity and population densification; economical and eco-friendly ways of building; open source and collaborative approaches to generate inventive solutions; the collective memory in materials around us; dissolving the limits of territory; speculative retro-futurist vision; aesthetics of discarded objects; and when not to build or demolish – are some of the pertinent themes explore in The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability.
Adrian Pepe, Utility of Being: A Paradox of Proximity, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
ART AFRICA spoke to Tosin Oshinowo, the Sharjah Architecture Triennial’s second edition curator. Tosin is a Lagos-based Nigerian architect and designer, and the principal and founder of Oshinowo Studio, established in 2013. She has worked on a number of civic, commercial, and residential projects throughout Nigeria, and is renowned for her socially responsive approach to architecture, design, and urbanism.
ART AFRICA: Can you introduce the theme and why these specific architects, artists, designers, and participants were selected to illustrate the relationship between architecture and the natural world?
Tosin Oshinowo: The theme for the Triennial looked at the under-celebrated design and building innovations from the global south that tend to occur due to conditions of scarcity. These innovations, in turn, manifest to be better in balance with the environment.
I suggest that to build a sustainable future in our precarious present, we must find roots in traditions of architecture and design that have been with us for generations and continue to evolve. Across the Global South, many practitioners, craftspeople, and communities have embraced long-standing traditions that the cannon have systematically ignored. 
Wallmakers, 3-Minute Corridor, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
Geography and cultural perspectives influenced the selection of participants, but most importantly, their deep engagement with a practice that responded to my theme. Their duality of perspective affords them visibility on the subject matter, allowing them to champion innovation as a fundamental requirement for survival.
These approaches prioritise an understanding of impermanence, inventive responsiveness to limitations, and the psychology of the collective that is essential for our shared future. I want to encourage an alternative way of thinking about how we conceive, design and execute our built environment to posit gentler versions of modernity and, in effect, bring about systemic change through the examples and experiences posed by this edition.
The scramble for Africa and colonialism initiated a system of extraction that perpetuated and hindered opportunities for Africans. How has this been explored, and which projects best address these issues?
This exploitation and extraction of natural resources due to the scramble for Africa is the starting point for this theme; however, it is not the direct subject matter. The results of these extractions and the intentionality of limited development on the continent have resulted in our existence in modernity under conditions of scarcity. Instead of focusing on the challenges and limitations, I focused on a positive outcome narrative. The narrative is a hybrid one – closer to tradition with the opportunity to showcase that some of our solutions are better when balanced with ecology. It is also important to showcase the closeness with tradition, reminding us of what it means to be human.
In addition, the exhibition resulted in three thematic strands: ‘Renewed Contextual’, ‘Intangible Bodies’ and ‘Extraction Politics’. Exhibits under Extraction Politics dealt with the tensions manifesting in our urbanism between our economics and ecology. It included practitioners dealing with the tensions between modernity, urbanism, and ecology, the reality of what it means to be human and the implications of our consumption on the planet. We had a loan from Forma Fantasma, their project “Cambio,” which looked at deforestation and the amount of waste that occurs in pursuing perfection. Another practitioner who did a brilliant job of showcasing this is BUZIGAHILL from Kampala. In their project “Return to Sender“, they work with second-hand clothes from the fast fashion market. You know, droves of used clothes are sent to Sub-Saharan Africa from North America and Europe, and many challenges occur with that, mainly because we are no longer producing cheap clothing with natural fibres. The quality of these clothes is so poor that they end up in landfills or on beaches. The scale of this consumption and waste in both exhibits is alarming.
BUZIGAHILL, RETURN TO SENDER, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial
How does the relationship between architecture and the natural environment reflect global and local histories, particularly for you in the context of Nigeria?
Our collective most remarkable product of evolution is the city and the mechanism that ensures it functions. On the continent, the resulting modernism and external influences of imperialism and colonialism have influenced our architecture. Foreign styles of architecture were brought and embarrassed while negating the value that came from systemic and naturally occurring contextual building solutions to fit in with a modernising progressive Western model.
Nigeria was influenced as far back as the 1800s by the Agudas, a group of returnee slaves from Brazil who brought a Portuguese via Brazil Baroque Architecture style. The British annexation of Lagos in 1861 and trade promotion benefited the Brazilian community, making them the rising bourgeoisie. This form of architecture now has a legacy across southwestern Nigeria. As such, this style was associated with success and influence.
The subsequent establishment of the colony and protectorate of Nigeria in 1914 also cemented a British colonialist architecture that mimics existing institutional buildings from the mother country or tropical colonialist buildings, which were built across the British empire with deep verandas, high roofs, and cross-ventilation.
Further to this came the modernist Era, which saw the experimentations of modern architecture that we now associate with nationalism, as this was the period in which most countries on the continent gained independence. Western and Eastern European architects used the continent as a playground to experiment and create institutional and residential buildings of grandeur in this new style using modern materials.
These influences continue to influence all that follows in our architectural language. They negate indigenous structures’ existing and naturally occurring architecture, which struggles to function in the realities of today’s lifestyle, functions, and use. Sadly, much knowledge has been lost, but there is a new generation of practitioners intentionally looking to reclaim a relationship with tradition through practice and patrons who understand the importance of culture and local context to create an architecture that is about tradition but with the realities of a hybrid existence in modernity.
Sandra Poulson, Dust as an Accidental Gift, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial
How does scarcity in the ‘Global South’ influence architectural practices, where the circularity of materials and products is essential and adaptive strategies are crucial, especially in the context of the Triennial?
So much of African culture’s reality is built around the ideas of circularity. Regions considered underdeveloped in relation to the global north have dealt with the reality of working with less and can do this in the most sophisticated ways. The renewed contextual strand from the exhibition showcased examples of this work.
The thematic strand ‘Renewed Contextual’ showcased responses in the built environment that pay homage to the pre-industrialised society that is better balanced with the natural world. These groups of practitioners and artists rethink tradition, holistically engage with the concept of upcycling and recycling, champion the reuse of materials, and posit gentler versions of modernity.
Al Borde, from Ecuador, has their practice inhabiting the territory of questioning, where certainties about what architecture should or should not be are under constant construction. Through ideas of making and precision to detail on site, they promote local development, social innovation and sustainability in their projects. This approach results in a raw and tactile intervention crafted with natural materials that allow for intimate discourse with a direct context. Alborde used wood for the structure, which was sourced from the Sharjah Electricity, Water, and Gas Authority (SEWA), which has commenced the replacement of wooden utility poles with metallic ones. The shades for the structure are composed of palm tree mats, which are widely available regionally and used in various ways. This approach results in a raw and tactile intervention crafted with natural materials that allow for intimate discourse with a direct context. 
Al Borde, Raw Threshold, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
What values and principles underlie the architectural traditions embraced by communities in the ‘Global South’ that may have been overlooked by mainstream architectural discourse?
In the ‘Global South’, conditions of scarcity have created a culture of re-use, re-appropriation, innovation and collaboration. These practices propose a new model of thinking, one that is born out of scarcity rather than out of abundance. This model celebrates the use of natural materials with the understanding that repair and reconstitution are instinctive, necessary and desirable. It also embraces the idea that nothing can be permanent and that everything in our environment should adapt to conditions of scarcity to match our realities and needs, resulting in a progressive and evolving architecture.
In what ways does the Sharjah Architecture Triennial aim to reshape the discourse on sustainability, and what distinguishes its approach from other platforms?
Sharjah is an incredible venue to explore these ideas. The Emirate intentionally pushes the discourse of critical thinking through its many programmes supporting education, the arts, culture and heritage initiatives that amplify current and past histories. The old city’s Souk district has been restored to its pre-1960s condition, celebrating the typology of buildings adapting to the extreme climate while highlighting the vital relationship of pedestrians to the street, in stark contrast to the car-designed megacities of the region. Sharjah is also in the foreground of preserving its modern historic buildings, ensuring that the landmarks and spaces of communal and daily practice continue to inform innovative thinking and inspire unconventional ideas in the present day. The Triennial’s main sites —the Al-Qasimiyah School and Al Jubail Vegetable Market are both modern historic buildings that have been preserved and converted, giving us a glimpse into a critical period in the U.A.E’s history. 
Nifemi Marcus-Bello, Context in Design, Design in Context, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
Sharjah’s socio-economic positioning has also played an important role in localising our interventions. As we ideate the importance of Indigenous practice and design, in contrast to globalised technology that affords us to detach from the material language of our locality, we find ourselves questioning what it means to be local. Through knowledge exchange, the Triennial has encouraged exploring this specificity and a locality through these material, socio-economic, and geographic perspectives. Sharjah will play backdrop and actor for the exhibition, allowing participants to create a point of exchange and transpose ideas through site-specific interventions.
The power of collaboration is poetically considered and presented in ‘The Beauty of Impermanence.’ Which projects illustrate real-world solutions for reshaping future architecture and society?
The projects that suggested alternative building technologies are in the foreground of this approach. Hive Earth Studio is a multi-disciplinary studio based in Accra, Ghana, specialising in using earth in construction. They are particular in that their practice demonstrates how rammed construction can effectively use the abundance of earth to combat the economic scarcity of imported building materials in sub-Saharan Africa without sacrificing beauty or functionality. Hive Earth observed that the soil composition in the region was very different from the red laterite soil typical across Subsaharan Africa. Early studies using the soil near the Triennial site showed that the moulds failed to remain compacted. 
Hive Earth, ETA’DAN, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
Through some research and development, Hive Earth realised that rock aggregate from the region was a better material for compacting into the moulds. As you move inland away from the coast, the landscape of Sharjah is made up of rocky mountains formed by the shifting of oceanic plates millions of years ago. As such, the Emirate has a variety of rock compositions that provide a diverse colour palette.
This feature shows the technical versatility of Hive Earth in the execution of this exhibit. You can see here how the layers of ramming go in a completely different direction than expected – to enforce the illusion that it has been carved out of the vertical member.
This project illustrates the versatility of this construction methodology and materiality; it is also a sustainable building material, as the wall itself can be broken up in a crusher and reused.
Miriam Hillawi Abraham, The Museum of Artifice, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
What key themes or concepts highlighted in this edition of the Triennial were significant that you would like to touch on?
As this exhibition has evolved, we have categorised the practices into three overlapping strands:
‘Renewed Contextual’ showcased responses in the built environment that pay homage to the pre-industrialised society better balanced with the natural world. These groups of practitioners and artists rethink tradition, holistically engage with the concept of upcycling and recycling, champion the reuse of materials, and posit gentler versions of modernity.
‘Extraction Politics’ will showcase responses to the often tense relationship between our organising structures, economics and ecology. Participants document, record, and respond to the extractive processes underpinning design. The economics of city development, the free market that encourages the movement of goods for profit, and modern society’s consumerism, which has resulted in excessive waste production – all encroach detrimentally on our natural environment.
‘Intangible Bodies’ celebrated the ephemeral nature of civilisation’s interaction with the natural environment. Here, participants will draw from spirituality, empathy and care, decoloniality, civic status and futurism to engage in acts of world-building and respond to the pressing concerns of our present, sometimes blurring the lines between the intangible and the material. 
Yussef Agbo-Ola, JABALA: 9 ASH CLEANSING TEMPLE, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
How would you like to see ‘The Beauty of Impermanence’ influencing the future of architecture, and what long-term impact could it have on the global architectural community?
The biggest question that the Triennial raises is, ‘How do we move forward from this point?’ Realistically speaking, we’ve all been catapulted from industrialisation and modernity, with the global south never fully benefiting from industrialisation. Our resources were extracted to develop other locations, so our understanding of modernity is markedly different from that of the global north.
The reality is that we are here. How do we now consciously use what we have from tradition and modernity to create a collective and constructive means of existence moving forward? I am very particular in stating that I am not suggesting with this exhibition that we go back to tradition – we can’t. However, we can use tradition and the solutions that exist within tradition that are better balanced with our ecology as conscious solutions for progression into the future.
The big challenge is modernity’s need for speed and skill. How can we take these traditional technologies and solutions and get them to a point where they can work with the reality of the requirements of life within modernity? But then also to help us question if we consider our value system and our lifestyle expectations. What we now have as convenience today would never have been a reality in previous times. If we remove it from our context, it’s now an inconvenience. We need to reflect on what we value. Many things can happen from this realisation. 
Olalekan Jeyifous, SHJ 1X72 – 1X89, 2023. Photo by Danko Stjepanovic. Courtesy of Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
Practitioners need to think more responsibly about the environment. We cannot go back to that system of building because the way of life has now changed. So we have to pick what we can – but consciously. Very sadly, many modern buildings on the continent today do not think about the environment or how we use space. They are building off a northern narrative of this surplus of resources that doesn’t exist here. So, as practitioners, we need to now consciously reflect on what is important and start to pull from where we can, these narratives of regeneration that we can consider for the reality of modernity, look at more traditional styles of building and see how we can create some hybrid.
For more information, please visit the Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
