A view of Ithra and Isola’s Routes to Roots exhibition.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Ithra, or the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, leveraged the power of partnership and showcased two prominent, co-curated works focused on sustainability and innovation from Tanween, Ithra’s Season of Creativity and the largest creativity conference in the Kingdom designed to celebrate, explore and inspire the creative process, during Milan Design Week (Milan, Italy, Apr. 16 – 21). Headlining the showcase was Routes to Roots, a co-curated exhibition created by Ithra and Italian design platform Isola - the first all-in-one curated digital platform offering visibility to emerging designers, design studios and independent designers around the world.

First revealed during Tanween in 2023 at Ithra, Routes to Roots provides a journey through designs that preserve heritage and the Earth. It draws inspiration and expertise from ancestral culture, pairing it with cutting-edge craftsmanship, in a demonstration of how emerging talents can breathe new life into the design landscape, bridging the gap between tradition and innovation. R2R was exhibited also as part of the 8th edition of Isola’s Design Festival. The Festival hosts exhibitions and installations, events, workshops, live demonstrations, and design talks, involving international designers, design studios, creators and manufacturers, during Milan Design Week.

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To move towards the future, it believes designers must embrace experimentation and collaboration across all fields and disciplines, seek innovative solutions, and keep in mind that design should collectively impact the planet and humanity. So, by bringing together designers from diverse backgrounds and nationalities, including the Middle East and Far East, Isola Design Festival hoped to inspire an approach that transcended borders and traditional ways of seeing design.

The second installation by Ithra, Iwan, was the winning pavilion from Tanween’s foldable pavilion challenge designed in collaboration with knowledge partner Mamou Mani Studio, an architectural practice specialising in digitally designed and fabricated architecture, custom products and interfaces and production partner ABYAT, a leading GCC company that provides a variety of finishing and furnishing materials. Designed by emerging Saudi architects Abdulqader Alsuwaidan, Nawaf Alghamdi, Hayat Almousa and Lama Dardas, Iwan draws its design inspiration from the Islamic Iwan and abstracted shapes of the Muqarnas, a form of decorative vaulting in Islamic architecture. The structure combines traditional Islamic design elements and a contemporary approach.

 Designs from Ithra and Isola’s Routes to Roots exhibition.

A 3-D printed version of the original Iwan installation (constructed entirely from aluminum sheets) was also showcased along with Routes to Roots in the Milan Galleria Giovanni Bonelli, located in the heart of Isola quarter, next to Porta Garibaldi train station in Milan. Both Routes to Roots and Iwan highlighted an eco-conscious approach to design integrating biomaterials, natural resources, household and industrial waste and seamlessly blend traditional methods with innovation to craft modern design pieces.

“Ithra is thrilled to showcase Tanween design outcomes as part of Isola Design Festival and Milan Design Week, shedding the light on circular design and MENA region designers,” said Noura Alzamil, Head of Programs at Ithra, earlier. “Tanween has become a crucible for partnerships that ignite creative expression while expanding the reach and building the reputation of Saudi ingenuity in design. That trend is sure to continue later this year at Tanween 2024.”

“Our goal in the upcoming years is to establish ourselves as the leading platform for independent design globally, with a special attention to the Middle East. That’s why the partnership with Ithra is a source of pride and an extraordinary opportunity for Isola,” said Gabriele Cavallaro, CEO and co-founder of Isola Design Group. “Our collaboration began last year, and it became evident from the start that we both share the same vision: to nurture talent and promote conscious design. We are excited to present this collaboration at the Milan Design Week by showcasing projects from the MENA region in Europe.”

Held annually, Milan Design Week has been a significant event in the design industry for over five decades, showcasing the latest innovations and trends in furniture, lighting, textiles and decorative items and attracting design lovers, curators and sector insiders from all over the globe. Over 370,000 professional visitors attend the fair each year, just under 70 per cent of them from 188 other countries, along with more than 5,000 national and international journalists and around 27,500 members of the public at the weekend.

Ithra’s Idea Lab is home to a creative community dedicated to inspiring and activating innovation within the Kingdom and responsible for overseeing the successful implementation of programmes including Tanween, Creative Solutions Residency Program, and many others. Ithra was built as part of Saudi Aramco’s vision to be an ambitious initiative for the public. Opened 2018, it is one of the Kingdom’s leading cultural and creative destinations for talent development and cross-cultural experiences. A world-class destination and a beating heart of Saudi Arabia’s creative and culture industries, it contributes to the Kingdom’s prosperity by enabling talent, supporting content production and encouraging cross-cultural exchange, promoting social harmony and human development.

Ithra is Saudi Aramco’s most ambitious CSR initiative and the largest cultural contributor to the Kingdom. Its pillars include culture, creativity, community, art and knowledge. Through programmes, workshops, performances, events, exhibitions and other initiatives, Ithra strives to create experiences that bring together culture, innovation and knowledge designed to appeal to everyone. Ithra’s components include the Idea Lab, Library, Theater, Museum, Cinema, Great Hall, Energy Exhibit, Children’s Museum and the Ithra Tower.