Shaheed Park Pavilion, Kuwait
The largest urban park in Kuwait city, Al Shaheed Park, collaborates with Ahmed and Rashid to celebrate Kuwaiti culture and history in an elaborate 10 days event. The repurposing of Kuwaiti elements under modern heritage highlights the Golden Era between 1960 – 1980 and sheds light on Kuwait’s unique evolution on various levels. Cultural Engineering presents a retrospective exhibition which allows visitors to examine Kuwaiti art, music, theatre, textiles, and architecture, and have a closer look at unique Kuwaiti treasures.
Ahmed and Rashid built 4 pavilions within which each subject is housed and show cased as per its nature. Also, each pavilion hosts individuals who practice in these various fields to illustrate their experiences and contributions.
It is interesting to see the play between past and contemporary times, and observe the evolution of these fields between then and now. All pavilion structures embrace the theme by using local materials assembled via contemporary means. For example, the Bilinga is a common material used for constructing dhows along with palm fonds which is typically used for shelter.