Iain Akerman

2 weeks ago | arabnews.com | Iain Akerman

VENICE: “The embroidery that you see is what remains of the vernacular fabric in central Riyadh,” says Sara Alissa, one half of Syn Architects, a small, research-focused practice founded by Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi in 2019. “What’s interesting is, when people enter and they understand what is embroidered, they are either taken aback by how much remains, or how little.”  Alissa is sitting on a long sculptural table occupying the central axis of the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia.

4 weeks ago | admiddleeast.com | Iain Akerman

Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection, the Saudi Arabia national pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 presents a narration of the personal journey of Saudi women architects, Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi, the founders of Syn Architects. It also launches The Um Slaim School – an alternative pedagogical platform. Syn Architects, Nojoud Alsudairi (left) and Sara Alissa (right).

1 month ago | admiddleeast.com | Iain Akerman

High up in the Swiss Alps, in the village of Andermatt, a rather glamorous approach to sustainable design is underway: Located beside the Unteralpreuss river in the Ursern Valley, an 18th-century building that began life as a post office is being transformed into a luxurious chalet-style hotel, courtesy of the elegant vision of the Lebanese couturier to the stars, Elie Saab.

1 month ago | admiddleeast.com | Iain Akerman

Switzerland's Post Hotel & Residences by Elie Saab is all set to be amongst the world's most glamorous chalet hotels. High up in the Swiss Alps, in the village of Andermatt, stands what was once the Hotel Drei Könige & Post. Located beside the Unteralpreuss river in the Ursern Valley, the 18th-century building began life as a post office before being transformed into a luxurious chalet-style hotel.

1 month ago | arabnews.com | Iain Akerman

DUBAI: Four years ago, Syrian filmmaker Ameer Fakher Eldin set out to craft a cinematic trilogy about exile — not as an abstract theme, but as a visceral, lived reality: from being a stranger among your own people, to becoming a stranger among others, and ultimately, to imagining a life unhindered by the limitations of national borders.   The first chapter, “The Stranger,” introduced us to Adnan, an unlicensed doctor lingering in a liminal space in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights.