Connections as Method: Relational Pedagogies and Participatory Spatial Practice

The National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia at the Architecture Biennial 2025, The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection, will close its doors after a six-month run in Venice. The exhibition, commissioned by the Architecture and Design Commission, concludes with a final iteration of the pavilion’s public program on November 23 and the release of a new publication, Connections as Method: Relational Pedagogies and Participatory Spatial Practice (Mousse Publishing and Kaph Books, 2025), that traces the first year of The Um Slaim School. 

The pavilion presented the work of Syn Architects (Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi), as curated by Beatrice Leanza with assistant curator Sara Almutlaq (exhibition) and assistant curator Maryam AlNoaimi (public program). The project is conceptualized as a framework for a future pedagogical initiative which has run throughout the year in Venice, and to be established in Riyadh. This final gathering will mark the release of Connections as Method: Relational Pedagogies and Participatory Spatial Practice, edited by Beatrice Leanza and Maryam AlNoaimi, which is a complement to the inaugural publication published for the pavilion’s opening, documenting Syn Architects’ foundational research and proposing a localized spatial discourse. 

Connections as Method draws from the thematic chapters of the pavilion's public program and features visual and theoretical essays, conversations, fieldwork, and tooling curricula from over sixty international contributors, including architects, designers, artists, educators, urbanists, and writers. These participations pilot methodologies of knowledge exchange to establish South-South networks of coproduction across disciplinary boundaries. Tracing transnational alliances, case studies, and thematics from the school's first year, the volume challenges established architectural canons by centering alternative spatial histories and material practices while addressing urgent ecological and social concerns.

In 2025, the Saudi National Pavilion has been constituted of three integral components: the exhibition presented the work of Syn Architects in documenting and researching Najdi architecture in Riyadh through the Um Slaim Collective, an interdisciplinary, Riyadh-based initiative launched by Syn in 2021; a generative public program titled BUILT/UNBUILT—Relational Pedagogies and Participatory Spatial Practice, curated by Beatrice Leanza and Maryam AlNoaimi; and two publications.

The fourth and final BUILT/UNBUILT session will take place from 3–5pm on November 23, 2025, at the Saudi Pavilion. Titled Building Participatory Infrastructures—Hyperlocal Practices and Connective Organizations, it will bring key protagonists of the pavilion and the regional cultural landscape into conversation, including Syn Architects, architect Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, writer and curator Shumon Basar.

The event concludes a series of laboratorial and public sessions held at the Saudi Pavilion and Palazzo Diedo, the headquarters of Berggruen Arts & Culture. The program began with a two-day ideation gathering in Riyadh in February 2025 and continued over the duration of the Biennale, convening practitioners from the MENA region and beyond.

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About the publication
Connections as Method: Relational Pedagogies and Participatory Spatial Practice
Edited by Beatrice Leanza and Maryam AlNoaimi, 2025. Softcover, 145 × 215 mm. 560 pages (Bilingual, English and Arabic). Mousse Publishing / 978-88-6749-712-6 / Kaph Books / 978-614-8065-02-6. 35 EUR / 40 USD. 

Contributors include: Abdulla Buhijji and Mahmood Sharif / Act of Oneness; Ahmad Makia; Archive of Modern Architecture in Syria / Ahmad Salah and Mirma Alwareh; Aseel AlYaqoub;  Bricklab / Abdulrahman and Turki Gazzaz; bytwo / Abdullah Kenani and Mohammed Alruways; Caline Matar / Earshot; Civil Architecture / Ali Ismail Karimi; Collective for Architecture Lebanon / Edouard Souhaid and Shereen Doummar; Cruz Garcia and Nathalie Frankowski / Loudreaders; Dominique Petit-Frère / Limbo Accra; Eva Franch i Gilabert; Faysal Tabbarah / Architecture and Other Things; George Arbid; Ghada Alsadoun; Haifa AlRassi; Hayfa Algwaiz; Institute for Postnatural Studies / Daniel H. Rey, Gabriel Alonso, and Yuri Tuma; James O’Leary; Jia Yi Gu; Kawther Alsaffar / Studio Saffar; Lahbib El Moumni / Modernist Architects of Morocco Memorial Association; Lama Binshalhoub; Latifa Alkhayat; Laurian Ghinițoiu; Layan Alsuhaibani; Layla Algwaiz; Maghras / Lulu Almana and Sara Al Omran; Maha Malluh; Maryam Aljomairi; Mashael Alsaie; Matylda Krzykowski / CIVIC; Mo’min Swaitat / Majazz Project—Palestinian Sound Archive; Mohammad Alfaraj; Möbius Design Studio; Muhammad AlOmair; Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop; Nujud AlHussain; Nzinga Biegueng Mboup; Ola Saad Znad; Olorunfemi Adewuyi / OMI Collective—Nigerian Modernism Memory Drive; Pelin Tan; Rana Beiruti; Rosario Talevi; Sara Almutlaq; Sarah A. Almutlaq; Setareh Noorani / Nieuwe Instituut; Shirley Surya / M+; Sophie Mayuko Arni; Studio Eidola / Denizay Apusoglu and Jonas Kissling; Studio Ossidiana / Alessandra Covini and Giovanni Bellotti; Studio Raw Material / Dushyant Bansal and Priyanka Sharma; Sumayya Vally / Counterspace; SUSA / Suzan and Sara Ibrahim; Tarfa Fahad Al Saud; Uns Kattan / Art Jameel; Wesam Al Asali; Zawraq Collective / Noor Al-Mahruqi and Zaima Al-Adawi.