When GMT GCC met Sara Ghani, she was as fresh-faced as they come. At just 27 years old, this Riyadh native’s youth can be deceiving – behind her easy smile and breezy manner, the brain behind the preservation, regeneration and growth of the Kingdom’s most buzzing region never stops ticking, showing a maturity well beyond her years.
As urban planning and design lead for the ambitious project to completely rejuvenate the ancient oasis town of AlUla, it’s Sara’s strong sense of responsibility to the local community that guides her to not only improve the infrastructure from a practical standpoint, but also to develop the area to build a local economy to rival its original purpose as a sixth-century Nabataean incense route trading town. Ultra-luxe hotels, desert resorts and sparkling new facilities all form part of the plan to open this remote area to the world, celebrating not just its history but also the daring concepts that are bringing it to the very forefront of Saudi Arabia’s development.
Case in point? Her vision for Design Space AlUla. Not content to let the surrounding natural and UNESCO-protected archaeological marvels such as AlUla’s Old Town, Elephant Rock, Wadi Ashar and the breathtaking Hegra site’s Qasr al-Farid tomb take the strain of telling the region’s story, Sara’s creation of Design Space as the first gallery dedicated to AlUla’s design initiatives is a way of building a contemporary monument to its new direction. Underlining the intention to push AlUla as a centre for design and creativity, this newly-inaugurated building is a work of art in itself – and what it houses is just as marvellous. We spoke to Sara about AlUla’s precious past, exciting present and her role in its ever-changing future.
GMT GCC: Lovely to meet you, Sara! Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to your role in the development of AlUla?
Sara Ghani: Sure. I work as an urban planning and design lead, working on the development of AlUla’s master plans. I graduated with a degree in architecture from Prince Sultan University of Riyadh, but most of my career has been around urban planning and urban design. I’ve been working on the development of AlUla ever since I graduated – and I’ve lived here for the past five years too.
What are you aiming for when you talk about developing AlUla’s master plans?
We are regenerating the county for the local community, in addition to, of course, developing it to welcome visitors and tourists. I work mainly on its spatial development, and then I started on the specific project of Design Space AlUla, the main vision of which is to showcase and evidence its design philosophy and language.
How would you define the mission of AlUla? What is it that you want to achieve?
As the custodians of this natural landscape, our main vision is safeguarding. We’re doing that through spatial development, developing the master plans in a way that’s very sensitive to the context. Anyone who sets foot in AlUla will agree that the natural and cultural landscape is really significant, so of course, another of the reasons we’re developing this county is to welcome tourists. I would say almost 200,000 years of civilizations have passed through AlUla and we have several significant heritage sites such as the Old Town from the Islamic era and of course the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra. We call this the ‘living museum’ and when we’re welcoming visitors to the area, they experience a journey through time. So, another of our main visions is showcasing the rich heritage that you’ll find not just in AlUla but also throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the world. We’re developing new hotels, resorts and activations, in addition to the opportunity for visitors to see the heritage sites. And of course, another very important thing that we focus on is regenerating this county for the local community. We are upgrading and uplifting their quality of life through the regeneration and rehabilitation of the existing urban fabric.
Let’s talk about Design Space AlUla. It’s a striking building that forms the heart of the AlJadidah Arts District, and is touted as ‘a living compendium of AlUla’s design journey’. I’ve found this concept quite interesting because it’s almost like a museum in reverse. You’re getting the displays and exhibits in there before they become historic, and almost even before they’ve been done.
In AlUla, you can see for yourself what our predecessors have done in the Nabataean era and the Islamic era. So I always ask the question of what legacy are we leaving behind for future generations? History doesn’t end, heritage doesn’t end, and whatever we’re doing today is a continuation of this journey through time for future generations. There are a lot of lessons learned from all the civilizations that have passed through AlUla, throughout the past 200,000 years, that are really inspiring designers even today. So I would say that it’s interesting how you put it, but it doesn’t really make sense that it’s in reverse. It’s a process we’re still trying to unravel, something we want to leave behind as our legacy and our work today with designers locally, regionally and globally is all contributing to a limitless design story.
Design Space AlUla’s first exhibition, Mawrid, was intended to celebrate designs inspired by AlUla itself. What can you tell me about the exhibitors, their works and how you picked these particular artists and designers to be represented?
Mawrid in Arabic means a source, so AlUla as a source of inspiration. As I curated the exhibition, the intention was to select design stories at different scales, from the micro such as graphic design, product design and branding, up to the macro scale being architectural design and urban design. We selected 10 design projects that have been completed or are underway for AlUla.
We wanted to show that balance of how we’re working with designers and architects on contemporary projects such as the Maraya building, which is the beautiful mirrored building in the middle of the desert, which are still sensitive to the landscape.
If you speak to the designers from Giò Forma Studio, they say they chose a mirror building because this landscape is so beautiful, they didn’t want to add anything additional that could intrude. Similarly for the Azulik resort, which was designed by Roth Architects, they were inspired by the wind, erosion and the mountains of AlUla. So although it is a very unique design, very contemporary, when you first look at it, it does really fit with the landscape.
Another thing you’ll notice about the exhibition is that it’s all about the process. It’s not about the end result, because we want to inspire people, whether they’re professional designers, design enthusiasts or the local community, to give them a chance to look at the ‘behind the scenes’ of all the projects.
Now that Mawrid is coming to a close, what have you got planned for the rest of the year and beyond?
The intention for this space is to have rotating exhibitions, because collectively we all know that there’s so much to showcase. But it’s not just an exhibition space – the first floor of the building includes a workshop and archive space. Ultimately, it can be a place where we can host architectural competitions, juries, think tanks, and so on, so it’s a very dynamic space.
What sort of workshops do you envision happening in the future, and who do you think will be will be part of them?
I’ll say that it’s in two parts. The main intent is to have a space that professional designers, enthusiasts and emerging designers can use to create after they’ve been inspired by the landscape. In addition, we do want to have this as a venue where we can welcome the local community and engage them through specific workshops. I always say that the local community at large is very creative in terms of arts, culture and handicrafts, and it’s also very apparent that they’re curious about design. So we want to give them an opportunity and the space to come and learn about the different design areas of AlUla, while also giving us their ideas.
AlUla has been an all-consuming project for you. Did you ever foresee yourself doing something like this? How does it feel to be part of it?
Honestly speaking, if you’d asked me five years ago, I wouldn’t have envisioned myself being where I am today. I first visited AlUla in 2017, before any of the development started. I came for a field trip with my university because we had a project here, and I was in awe when I first landed. I did not know that Saudi Arabia had such a hidden gem. So from that day, I felt like at some point, I need to work and live here – and after I graduated, I did. I was so passionate about this place. It was a learning curve for me, because I’m an architect and not really an urban planner, but I learned along the way and being on the ground made a huge difference. You see the change happening.
It’s a really important point that you’ve been involved in the planning of the place that you’re living in, which must be quite a unique situation.
You see the change happening in front of your eyes. Often when you work on long-term projects, you don’t really see the end result. But here we are seeing that change happen and seeing the feedback and the impact it’s having on the local community in the most positive way possible. That’s what really excites me to wake up every morning to do what I’m here to be doing.
Do you ever see a time when you will move beyond the borders of AlUla? Or are you just so focused on this project at this moment that you don’t have time to think about what’s next?
Everyone has to think about what’s next, right? But I feel like there’s so much potential in this place and there’s still so much to be seen. The drastic change that’s happened in the last couple of years, the number of tourists that are visiting, the level of the quality of life for the local community… There’s still so much that’s yet to unfold.
