Syn Architects' Shamalat Cultural Center: Preserving Najdi Heritage in Diriyah

Syn Architects, a practice deeply engaged with Saudi Arabia's cultural expansion, has centered its work on documenting and reincorporating pre-existing architectural heritage. Their participation in the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale stems from years of documenting Najdi architecture, vanishing urban fabric, local materials, and inherited knowledge forms. For Syn, heritage becomes useful when documented, tested, and reintegrated into use. The Shamalat Cultural Center, a 615-square-meter intervention on the outskirts of Diriyah, exemplifies this approach. Originally an old mud house acquired and converted into a cultural center by Saudi artist Maha Malluh, the project unfolded in two phases: restoration and expansion. Parts of the earthen structure were preserved, while a new volume was inserted within the footprint of the original courtyard, organized around the remnants of the original adobe fence. Riyadh stone forms a deliberately contemporary backdrop for the textured mud walls. The restored structure and new expansion house galleries, an artist residency, a darkroom, and workshops, ensuring the building remains useful rather than becoming a static historical object.