The studio reimagined the Emirati courtyard as a living space shaped by climate, craft and community.

Unlike the formal courtyards found in Egypt, Syria or Saudi Arabia, the housh in the Emirates had always emerged in a different way. Rather than being a fixed nucleus, it was a space carved out by shifting walls, open thresholds and the transitional presence of the liwan. This courtyard was less about planned geometry and more about responding intuitively to climate, available materials and the rhythms of communal life.

Building on this understanding, the project reframed the courtyard as something that happened rather than something that was imposed. Through extensive fieldwork across the Emirates – from coastal settlements to mountain villages – the team observed how builders used what was at hand. What emerged was not a singular architectural style but a language of adaptation, craft and practical response. The structure was designed to be flexible to support workshops, exhibitions or intimate gatherings while retaining the informality that had always characterised the housh.

This approach reflected the practice’s ethos: to observe, to assemble and to let space emerge from dialogue between environment and community. Here, the courtyard was not presented as a formal design object but as the byproduct of a method grounded in study, making and responsive construction.

About Some Kind of Practice:

Founded in 2022 by Omar Darwish and co-led since 2025 with Abdulla Abbas, Some Kind of Practice is a UAE-based design and research studio that explores architecture and spatial design beyond conventional frameworks. Its projects sit at the intersection of architecture, public programming and cultural inquiry guided by processes of field research, archival engagement and collaboration. From built interventions to curatorial projects and educational initiatives, the practice seeks to uncover the informal patterns that shape how people live, gather and remember. Through its work, the studio defines design as collective inquiry – one that listens, responds and creates with sensitivity to place, memory and community.