Mazar of the Treasury: A Pilgrimage in the Taklamakan Desert, of Data Centers and Destroyed Heritage Sites

This project embraces the latent tensions and conflicts within the mysterious Taklamakan Desert, where cultural history is being rewritten within the contemporary paradigm of surveillance capitalism. By binding the national demand for data centers with the archaeological excavation of destroyed heritage sites, the material and cultural memory of...

The Salt Project

A research into greening the desert with seawater which proposes the construction of a seawater infrastructure in which seawater is separated into fresh water and salt. The fresh water is used for growing crops in greenhouses, the salt is used for creating architecture. The developed typology is that of a salt factory in which salt building...

Building temporary structures with sand in the hot-arid climate of Saudi-Arabia

For a travelling exhibition in Saudi-Arabia I have researched ways to build with sand in a temporary way. Using the existing sandbag-technique 'super adobe' of Nader Khalili combined with an inflatable roof a new method is born. This building system allows changes and flexibility when the building travels. It is more sustainable than the current...

Architecture and life in Aroumiatte: An oases village in Morocco

This document contains a research on architecture and life in Aroumiatte. Aroumiatte is a small oasis village in the desert of Morocco. The research has been done with relevant literature and fieldwork on the site. It can be used as a guideline for designers and other organizations who want to build or start something in this area, or in other...