Think the Snøhetta Way with Eli and Mayur

Snøhetta, the award-winning transdisciplinary design studio behind the design of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) building and many iconic landmarks across the region and the globe, is returning to Ithra, this time as a living ground for exploration. Over the course of two days, this program will guide architects, designers, and artists through Snøhetta's distinctive design practice, where architecture, landscape, and memory intertwine to create transformative experiences. 

This program invites participants to explore the unspoken dimensions of design: the unseen, the unheard, the unexpressed. Through collaborative mapping, speculative intervention, and process-based reflection, participants will be challenged to design for invisible forces that shape experience and to embrace unpredictability as a source of meaning, memory,y and innovation.

Snøhetta is represented by Eli Synnevåg, Director of Acquisition for the Middle East and Africa, and Mayur Mehta, Senior Architect, Landscape Architect, and Project Leader. Both actively engage in academia alongside their studio practice.

During these two days with Snøhetta, you will:

• Gain a first-hand experience of Snøhetta’s design philosophy and working methods.
• Explore Ithra’s campus—the very site originally envisioned by Snøhetta—as a living ground for new design exploration.
• Engage in site visits and collective sampling of the Ithra campus grounds.
• Investigate context as more than just site, extending into memory, emotion, and time.
• Explore how to move beyond conventional design briefs and embrace the unknown in design.
• Participate in group-based exercises reflecting Snøhetta’s conceptual design process.
• Develop instant prototypes, speculative interventions, and conceptual design statements.
• Reflect collectively on the value of unpredictability and emergence in the design process.
• Enjoy a group networking dinner experience with the program's experts and participants. 
• Have an exclusive one-on-one advisory session with the Snøhetta team to accelerate your professional journey.

Prerequisite:

• Basic knowledge of design, architecture, or related creative disciplines.
• Interest in exploring conceptual and process-based approaches rather than finished outcomes.
• Please bring a tablet or laptop for ideation exercises.
• It’s recommended to prepare a portfolio of your work for the one-on-one advisory session with the Snøhetta team.

Recommended for:

• Architects, landscape architects, and urban designers.
• Product, interior, and graphic designers interested in cross-disciplinary thinking.
• Artists and creative professionals who want to expand their perspective on context, memory, and unpredictability in design.