Tarabot Weaving Living Forum
Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum
29.01.2024
Reading 4 min

Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum is an immersive architectural pavilion commissioned by Art Jameel and supported by Abdul Latif Jameel Saudi Arabia. It was designed by theOtherDada (tOD), a Lebanese architecture practice. Covering over 500 sqm, Tarabot is situated in Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park (Dubai) and will be on view until the 30th of April, 2025.

The theOtherDada firm works with nature to create shared habitats for humans and other organisms to effectively coexist. While designing the pavilion, the same approach was applied. The aim was to build a structure that would connect the diversity of local life and ecosystems. According to Adib Dada, tOD’s founder, the project weaves together the issues of architecture, urbanism, ecology, wildlife, and human-life-centred design. 

Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum. Courtesy of Art Jameel. Photo by Kristina Sergeeva for Seeing Things.

The domed structure built using innovative sustainable materials designed and produced in the Emirates harmoniously brings together the world of nature and man-made environments. Composed of modular and nested cone elements crafted from local materials, at the core of Tarabot’s design are four pillars: Soil, Water, Plants, and Energy. 

The Soil pillar makes compost out of waste. The latter is put into modular cones made from date palm waste, and mycelium breaks it down. The Water pillar condenses water from the humid air, employing solar power. This water drips through traditional passive cooling clay cones and collects in the pavilion pool. The Plants pillar uses the composted soil and collected water to grow vegetables. The Energy pillar on the roof includes aluminium cones funnelling sunlight into the structure and Arish (traditional palm-leaf roofing systems which provide shade). 

Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum. Courtesy of Art Jameel.
Photo by Kristina Sergeeva for Seeing Things.

Tarabot also incorporates multidisciplinary artist Solimar Miller’s works commissioned by Art Jameel. One can look at her handmade prints on upcycled fabrics depicting Emirati trees and plants. Through her art pieces, Miller strives to draw public attention to how vulnerable the region’s flora is to global warming and other ecological issues.

After the pavilion has been dismantled, its parts will be repurposed. The modular cones with soil and plants will be given to garden homes and balconies of local communities. The structure’s skeleton framing will become an underwater habitat for coral and other marine creatures.

Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum (Solimar Miller’s artworks). Courtesy of Art Jameel.
Photo by Kristina Sergeeva for Seeing Things.

About theOtherDada

theOtherDada is a regenerative consultancy and architectural studio established in 2010 in Beirut. With their work based on research into biomimicry, its dedicated members (architects, designers, scientists, botanists, artists, craftsmen, and economists) focus on sustainability, fostering new relationships between climate, landscape, and inhabitants. They create interspecies habitats, thoroughly working on designs and determining best practices for building materials, water conservation, energy generation, and other similar aspects to ensure that the natural environment within which they work will not be harmed. 

Adib Dada (born and raised in Beirut) is an architect and environmental activist. He obtained his BA in Architecture from the American University of Beirut in 2006; in 2011, he graduated from New York University (USA) with a Master’s Degree in the Interactive Telecommunications Program. In addition, Dada completed the Biomimicry graduate certificate from the Biomimicry Institute and Arizona State University (USA).

Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum. Courtesy of Art Jameel.
Photo by Kristina Sergeeva for Seeing Things.

Apart from theOtherDada, the architect’s projects include theOtherForest, a tool for ecological and social regeneration through which 12,000+ indigenous trees and plants were planted across Lebanon. Dada often gives lectures on environmental topics; among the institutes and organisations which have invited him to do so are Cambridge University, Goethe Institute, The Slow Factory, World Expo Dubai, and SXSW Eco. He is an Aspen MELI Fellow as well as Bio-Leadership Fellow, and has received multiple awards and grants, such as, for example, the McNulty Foundation Impact Grant and D&AD Future Impact Award.

To get more information about Tarabot: Weaving a Living Forum, please visit the project’s official web page.

You might also be interested in reading our article about Al Noor Island, a landscape garden which can be called the answer to the global challenge of creating new urban spaces.