Office CCXD was invited by the National Pavilion United Arab Emirates (NPUAE) to develop an exhibition design proposal for the UAE pavilion on the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. As the curator chose to investigate “Lifescapes” as a response to the Biennale’s theme of “Freespaces”, we decided to divide these “lifescapes” (which is the exhibition content) into three habitats that are fundamental for the Emirati; Desert, City and Island.

This concept is translated by exploiting the quality of the pavilion space itself—its lengths and columns—to create three long corridors. One corridor consolidates and frames the content about one specific topography or environment. Within this proposal the idea of play is transformed into a game where the visitor has to choose a category/landscape according to his/her preference.

As the content is displayed in boxes attached to the outer walls of the corridors, the visitors can freely roam within those long spaces and emerge themselves into the curiosities of the UAE’s built and unbuilt environment. The NPUAE’s aim to create a typological and behavioural inventory according to the country’s diverse landscapes will be experienced in full force throughout these corridors of curiosity.