Arts District; a place where the past meets the future and design pulses with the rhythm of AlUla’s cultural and natural landscape. More than just a gallery, archive, or workshop, Design Space AlUla is a living compendium of design activity in the region: a space for learning, making, exchange, and reflection. It invites designers and visitors alike to explore how place can shape practice, and how, in turn, design can shape the future.
Rooted in AlUla’s enduring legacy as a crossroads of civilizations, the space interrogates global design practices through the prism of Northwest Arabia. Here, the raw beauty of the land, the ingenuity of vernacular architecture, and the intimacy of traditional crafts form the grounding for design innovation.
Projects developed through the space, whether speculative, built, research-driven, or material-led, add new layers to the story of AlUla’s transformation.
Projects developed through the space, whether speculative, built, research-driven, or material-led, add new layers to the story of AlUla’s transformation.
Design Space AlUla is more than a place, it is a living platform for creative exchange and inquiry.
Design Space AlUla operates with a clear purpose: to explore and celebrate inspired design through the prism of AlUla. Its mission is to reveal the philosophy, practice, and impacts of AlUla’s design innovation, and to encourage AlUlainspired making in creative minds. It is a place that fosters collaboration across
disciplines, supports emerging and established practitioners, and becomes a gateway for ongoing connection with AlUla’s design ecosystem.
At the heart of this initiative is a commitment to asking better questions. What does it mean to design with place, not just in it? How can built form reflect memory and identity, while responding to a rapidly changing world? And what new ideas can emerge when design is approached not as a commodity, but as
a shared, evolving process rooted in community, ethics, and ecology?
Through exhibitions, residencies, workshops, research initiatives, and public programming, Design Space AlUla activates a growing network of collaborators, from young Saudi designers to international voices.
These engagements are grounded in a belief that design should not be static or prescriptive. Rather,
it should be responsive and participatory, enabling dialogue between people, materials, and environments.
disciplines, supports emerging and established practitioners, and becomes a gateway for ongoing connection with AlUla’s design ecosystem.
At the heart of this initiative is a commitment to asking better questions. What does it mean to design with place, not just in it? How can built form reflect memory and identity, while responding to a rapidly changing world? And what new ideas can emerge when design is approached not as a commodity, but as
a shared, evolving process rooted in community, ethics, and ecology?
Through exhibitions, residencies, workshops, research initiatives, and public programming, Design Space AlUla activates a growing network of collaborators, from young Saudi designers to international voices.
These engagements are grounded in a belief that design should not be static or prescriptive. Rather,
it should be responsive and participatory, enabling dialogue between people, materials, and environments.
Design Space AlUla is also a platform for visibility and exchange. It aims to present the cultural and aesthetic essence of AlUla as a rich source of design inspiration, while also highlighting the planning processes, masterplans, and policies that underpin its creative journey.
By doing so, the space helps build a shared understanding of AlUla’s design DNA, showcasing the complexity and care behind this cultural landscape’s transformation, from territorial scale to intimate detail.
Through its evolving exhibitions and accessible archive, Design Space AlUla invites visitors to return, reflect, and re-engage. Students, professionals, and the design-curious alike can deepen their understanding of AlUla’s planning and design principles, learn about breakthrough projects, or find inspiration for their own creative explorations. Every visit offers something new — a shift in perspective, a different lens, a conversation waiting to happen.
By doing so, the space helps build a shared understanding of AlUla’s design DNA, showcasing the complexity and care behind this cultural landscape’s transformation, from territorial scale to intimate detail.
Through its evolving exhibitions and accessible archive, Design Space AlUla invites visitors to return, reflect, and re-engage. Students, professionals, and the design-curious alike can deepen their understanding of AlUla’s planning and design principles, learn about breakthrough projects, or find inspiration for their own creative explorations. Every visit offers something new — a shift in perspective, a different lens, a conversation waiting to happen.
Design Space AlUla is grounded in a set of strategic goals that guide its programming and impact.
The goals reflect the belief that design is both local and global, timeless and experimental, intimate and infrastructural. Whether in urban planning or product prototyping, architecture or landscape design, the space honors the diversity of design disciplines, embracing new technologies while remaining rooted in tradition.
With its layered programming and inclusive approach, Design Space AlUla targets a range of audiences, from professionals and emerging designers, to students, young people, and the general public. For each, it offers a different entry point: a way to explore, contribute, and be transformed. Visitors leave not only with knowledge of AlUla’s design ethos, but with tools and inspiration to continue their own creative journey.
Ultimately, Design Space AlUla is more than a physical space — it is a pulse point for design in the region. A place where the boundaries between disciplines dissolve, and where collaboration becomes the engine of meaningful change. It is, like AlUla itself, always in motion: responding, reflecting, and reimagining what design can be.
To everyone who enters: this is your space too. Come in and contribute. Come in and reflect. Come be part of a design story that is still being written — one that begins here, in AlUla, but resonates far beyond.
The goals reflect the belief that design is both local and global, timeless and experimental, intimate and infrastructural. Whether in urban planning or product prototyping, architecture or landscape design, the space honors the diversity of design disciplines, embracing new technologies while remaining rooted in tradition.
With its layered programming and inclusive approach, Design Space AlUla targets a range of audiences, from professionals and emerging designers, to students, young people, and the general public. For each, it offers a different entry point: a way to explore, contribute, and be transformed. Visitors leave not only with knowledge of AlUla’s design ethos, but with tools and inspiration to continue their own creative journey.
Ultimately, Design Space AlUla is more than a physical space — it is a pulse point for design in the region. A place where the boundaries between disciplines dissolve, and where collaboration becomes the engine of meaningful change. It is, like AlUla itself, always in motion: responding, reflecting, and reimagining what design can be.
To everyone who enters: this is your space too. Come in and contribute. Come in and reflect. Come be part of a design story that is still being written — one that begins here, in AlUla, but resonates far beyond.
Sara Ghani | Head of Design Space AlUla
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