Rooted Transience: Exploring Adaptable Prayer Spaces at Venice Architecture Biennale

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation brings a groundbreaking exhibition titled Rooted Transience to the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, running from May 10 to November 23, 2025. Presented as a Collateral Event at the historic Abbazia di San Gregorio, the exhibition showcases the winning project of the inaugural AlMusalla Prize, a new international architecture competition recognizing innovative, modular spaces for prayer and reflection.

Curated by Faysal Tabbarah, Rooted Transience investigates the rich typology of musalla spaces—open, transient prayer environments that can be erected anywhere based on need. Far from being static, these spaces are celebrated in the exhibition for their adaptability, sustainability, and cultural rootedness, challenging preconceived notions about permanence in religious architecture.

The heart of the exhibition is the full-scale fragments of the AlMusalla Prize 2025 winning entry by EAST Architecture Studio, developed in collaboration with artist Rayyane Tabet and engineering firm AKT II. Their design, titled On Weaving, centers around a courtyard flanked by a prayer hall and innovatively incorporates waste materials from Saudi Arabia’s date palm tree. Palm fronds and fibers form the foundation and façade of the structure, replacing conventional columns and beams with environmentally respectful materials and traditional weaving methods.

“Venice has long served as a cultural crossroads,” said Prince Nawaf bin Ayyaf, Chair of the AlMusalla Prize jury. “This setting invites us to think critically about how traditional architectural forms such as the musalla can inform contemporary sustainable practices. The fragments presented here illustrate that architectural transience does not imply impermanence in meaning or significance.”

Accompanying the winning design are works from other shortlisted firms, including AAU Anastas, Asif Khan, Dabbagh Architects, and the Office of Sahel AlHiyari for Architecture. Their projects are displayed alongside archival images and documents that trace the historical evolution of musalla spaces, placing contemporary architectural proposals in active conversation with Islamic spatial traditions.

The AlMusalla Prize was first unveiled at the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah in January 2025. The Prize honors architectural practices that are modular, inclusive, and responsive to cultural and environmental contexts. It is open to both Muslims and non-Muslims, reflecting a commitment to cross-cultural dialogue and universal access to contemplative architecture.

The exhibition is also supported by a scholarly publication co-edited by Prince Nawaf bin Ayyaf and Faysal Tabbarah, and published by KAPH. The book will extend the architectural investigation by focusing on the philosophy and history of transience in sacred architecture.

Three key characteristics define Rooted Transience:

• Material Intelligence: Using reclaimed natural resources like palm waste as structural and aesthetic elements.

• Cultural Resonance: Bridging contemporary design with the deep heritage of Islamic architectural practice.

• Environmental Ethics: Championing low-impact, adaptable spaces as part of a larger movement toward ecologically responsible architecture.

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation’s participation at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 underscores the global relevance of these themes. As urban environments continue to evolve, the lessons of flexibility, community orientation, and resourcefulness embedded in musalla spaces offer a powerful lens through which to imagine more inclusive futures.

For those attending La Biennale this year, Rooted Transience offers a multilayered, sensorial experience—one that asks how sacred spaces can adapt and endure without permanent foundations, and how architectural memory can be built not only in stone, but also in fiber, frond, and ritual.