Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture recently revealed images of the AlUla Immersive Living project, a proposed dwelling envisioned to emerge from the desert landscape of Saudi Arabia. Its form is shaped by the site’s light and wind, rooted in climate, and positioned between rock and dune. The design follows the concept of a shelter belonging as much to the desert as to its inhabitants, and behaving as a “living landscape.” The structure is conceived with thick rammed-earth walls, contrasted by open platforms that frame the sky. It is presented as a statement of architecture intended “not to dominate but to host,” providing refuge without severing connections, reflecting Lina Ghotmeh’s position at the intersection of context, craft, and care.
The proposal dates back to 2022 and remains in the design stage. It is grounded in the recognition of AlUla’s desert landscape as sacred, a testimony to the passage of time inscribed in successive geological layers. The studio’s approach suggests that architecture should act as an emphasis of the landscape and a tool for understanding the territory. The project is imagined within an embankment, along a ridge at the shifting topographies between two rock formations, following the natural rise of a rock. The site itself is read as a natural shelter. Designing for such a context requires specific knowledge of the desert’s climatic conditions. The process thus began scanning thermal conditions, wind, sun and shade, and topography to determine the most suitable place to inhabit.
Climate is treated as a structuring element for the AlUla MP1 development, considered inseparable from the experience of the place. Environmental studies conducted by the studio identified three representative climatic periods across a typical year. Summers, from June to September, are hot or extremely hot and dry, with temperatures above 25°C nearly 80% of the time, above 35°C about 15% of the time, and humidity below 30% for much of the season. The few comfortable hours under 24°C generally occur between 4 AM and 8 AM. Spring and autumn bring sharper contrasts, with cooler nights, while winters remain relatively mild, with temperatures rarely falling below zero. As a result, “heat-preventing strategies” are considered for summer and the transitional seasons, while heat-preservation strategies are required for colder winter nights.
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The studio also conducted sun-path analysis, noting that the sun rises from around 5:30 AM in summer to 7:15 AM in winter, and sets from 5:45 PM in winter to 7:30 PM in summer. At noon on the summer solstice, its altitude reaches 85°. Wind in AlUla generally comes from the north and northwest. These parameters informed the definition of “climatic hospitality,” understood by the architects as the capacity of a place to generate a comfortable microclimatic atmosphere. In the Saudi desert, any cold source, shade, or rock cavity can represent such hospitality, whether naturally occurring or built.
To maximize comfort and reduce energy demand, the proposed buildings are sited with attention to sun and wind patterns. The site contains several lines of rock formations expected to cast shade during summer, autumn, and spring, while allowing airflow and conserving coolness. Within this context, two favorable microclimatic conditions were identified: the canyon cavity between rocks, which reduces direct summer sunshine, lowers global irradiation, and accelerates wind through the Venturi effect; and the embankment, a dune to the west of the largest rock, offering a protected linear ground with favorable thermal inertia. Protected from the ground, a natural extension of the dune is envisioned alongside the mountain, reinforcing the sense of shelter.
In this setting, the porous rock formations frame the placement of the buildings, channeling accelerated winds to create a summer refuge. The embankment provides a semi-buried atmosphere, with about 70% of the façade covered by ground or dunes and 30% exposed at the surface. On the west side, openings look out toward the landscape, while the east side leans into the dune. The overhanging roof is designed to protect the façade from the sun while maintaining a permanent connection between inside and outside. Thermal simulations suggest that partial burial combined with sun-shading overhangs could yield energy needs equivalent to a building with only 15% glazing. The façade facing the rock is envisioned to use rammed earth in its opaque portions. To improve thermal comfort, the design considers adiabatic ventilation systems, either integrated mechanically or supported by natural airflow with water misters. Textures and porous surfaces are inspired by wind erosion and traditional patterns, while the color palette aims to blend the project into its natural setting.
The architecture is organized as a sequence of spaces that gradually move from public to private, defined by curved rammed-earth walls. Niches and alcoves carved into these walls shape each room, from a library to a majlis and onward toward more intimate areas. In the canyon, the intervention is conceived as subtle, attuned to the raw natural sculpture of rocks colliding to form a particular kind of shelter. The architectural narrative is divided into three episodes, each open to multiple uses and imagined as subject to erosion by nature in the distant future. These episodes include spaces rooted in the shifting dune, embraced by rocks, and suspended above the desert, inviting new interpretations of dwelling in relation to landscape and sky.
Saudi Arabia’s AlUla desert is well known for hosting Desert X AlUla, an open-air art exhibition that took place from January 16 to February 22 this year, featuring a major presentation of works by Light and Space artist James Turrell. In 2023, architects Lina Ghotmeh and Asif Khan were appointed by the Royal Commission for AlUla to design two forthcoming museums, following an international competition. More recently, Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture unveiled images of a project to transform a historic residence in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, into a museum dedicated to the ideas and influence of Jadidism. The studio has also designed the Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain for Expo Osaka 2025 and was selected to create Qatar’s first permanent national pavilion at the Venice Biennale’s Giardini.