DIGITAL CALLIGRAPHY - SCRIPTING A SUSTAINABLE LIVING FUTURE

Architecture & Interiors

Dubai, UAE

Area - 1.000m²

"Digital Calligraphy" blends innovative construction with personalized housing, heralding a new era of citizen engagement in Dubai. This concept allows residents to customize and expand their homes, drawing inspiration from Bedouin and Shabi designs. Featuring 3D-printed ground floors and modular facades, it offers precision and sustainability. This approach enhances community, efficiency, and environmental responsibility, transforming urban living.

En cours...

Our visionary approach, coined “Digital Calligraphy,” represents the future of housing in Dubai, marking the dawn of a new era of citizen engagement in creating sustainably tailored homes.

This groundbreaking concept empowers residents to actively shape the planning and construction of their own dwellings enabling them to select the variables that best suit their preferences, like: number of bedrooms, open plan layout, level of privacy, potential of expansion, flexibility etc. The system ensures that each home is a unique reflection of its inhabitants while maintaining essential quality and functionality standards.

Back facade view of outdoor sports fields.

Digital Calligraphy wants to symbolize how the “digital” – the 3d printing technology, as an innovative force of construction - can shape the “calligraphy”: a tailored language of constructing and conceiving living.

Central to this is understanding that the planning of the neighbourhood is meticulously aligned with the installation prerequisites of the 3D printer, accommodating its movements and basic setup. The usual plot sizing requirement is adapted to the technology’s needs: its installation, its maintenance and working framework (i.e. dimensions, spaces, etc...).

This results in a plot size dictated by the technology standards of 15x30m. The inherently established 3d printing framework allows for a future extension of the building within the plot - enabling any expansions due to residents' future generations.

The Majlis is a versatile space that can adapt to various functions, offering privacy or openness through adjustable panels, and allowing users to arrange it for the required experience with a mix of fixed and movable furniture.

The villa is developed around a courtyard space.

The robot-laid brick facade enclosing the first floor provides privacy and adds a unique character to the dwelling.

Crafted from locally sourced limestone, these bricks offer a modern take on the traditional UAE mashrabiya, creating a novel approach to privacy while maintaining connections with the external surroundings.

View of living space with 3d printed integrated furniture.

Similarly to what we can observe in the Shabi urban plans that developed in the UAE of the 1970s, our concept allows for different generations to live around the same courtyard with a low impact of construction works.