Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Jeddah ‘Slum’ Demolition: An Investigation into Recent Urban Development in Saudi Arabia, 2020-2025(Saudi Digital Library, 2026) Simbawa, Razan; Jackson, Iain; Alsalloum, AtaaBetween October 2021 and 2022, a state-led urban regeneration project executed the largest and most rapid urban displacement in Saudi Arabia's modern history outside of religious site expansions. Approximately 34 million square meters was demolished affecting thirty-four neighbourhoods and displacing 500,000 residents, predominantly low income Saudi citizens and migrant workers, with minimal and unconventional notice procedures. This research investigates the multi-dimensional impacts of this displacement on affected long-term communities, examining both the historical formation of these neighbourhoods from the 1950s onward and the immediate aftermath of the slum clearance. The study addresses critical gaps in existing scholarship, the dominance of policy-centric perspectives over lived experiences, static real-time documentation, the loss of community heritage, and unidimensional impact assessment over comprehensive displacement analysis.17 0Item Restricted Tracing the Interplay of Architecture and Scenography: A Historical and Analytical Study of Theatre Design(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) AlKhalifa, Shoug; Introini, Marco Ausano; Baczynski, Giulia FlaviaThis thesis examines scenography as an architectural form of storytelling, exploring its evolution from ancient Greek and Roman theatres to contemporary performance spaces. It argues that scenography is not mere decoration but a spatial and narrative force that shapes audience perception, drawing on both technical precision and artistic sensitivity. By comparing Western traditions with Arab performative heritage, where oral storytelling and ritual performance historically replaced dedicated theatre architecture, the research highlights scenography’s culturally specific forms and its transformation through technological and artistic innovation. Combining historical analysis, visual critique, and practical design, the study investigates how architecture, painting, and scenographic tools such as light, sound, texture, and color shape emotional and ideological meaning. The research culminates in an original scenographic proposal for Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun, demonstrating scenography’s potential as a medium of cultural memory, political commentary, and emotional resonance. It concludes by advocating for scenography to be recognized as a critical spatial discipline, capable of bridging architectural thought with accessible, audience-centered storytelling.13 0Item Restricted THE USE OF BIM IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA: INVESTIGATE ITS BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES AND SUGGEST AN IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alqahtani, Ghanem Hamed; Rolla, Monib; Supervisor's, NameDigital technologies have significantly impacted construction and facility management globally. Building information modelling (BIM) is a powerful tool intended to improve the performance and management of a building as it progresses through its lifecycle. However, its application in Healthcare Facility Management (HFM) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) remains limited. This dissertation examines BIM's advantages, disadvantages, and potential for implementation in KSA healthcare operations. This study uses a mixed-method approach to investigate BIM awareness, implementation, perceived barriers, and the roadmap to adoption through quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews. The results found that BIM provides numerous benefits, including increased maintenance planning, energy efficiency, and cost control. Adoption challenges include high initial costs, expertise shortage, resistance to change, and data security concerns. The study is in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and, therefore, supports the integration of technology and sustainable FM to improve the healthcare infrastructure of the Kingdom. This study adds insights into BIM's potential to improve HFM and recommends it for professionals and researchers. To address existing challenges and utilise BIM technology, this research aims to improve the efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and technological advancement of the healthcare system in the KSA.7 0Item Restricted Emotional Walls: Designing Architecture That Speaks the Unspoken(Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), 2025-05) Alkhomairi, Hatim Abdulrahman; Jones, JamesThis thesis investigates how architecture and human emotions connect, linking the physical characteristics of spaces to psychological experiences. It explores how design can evoke emotional responses and how different architectural elements, including light, trigger specific emotional reactions. Using a "Gallery of Emotions" as a foundational project for experimentation, the aim is to develop concepts that are applicable to diverse architectural settings. The design process begins with words that are used to craft atmospheres that evoke targeted emotions. Two complementary approaches guide decision-making: digital software for testing ideas and physical techniques, including sketching and model-making, to achieve a cohesive final design.19 0Item Restricted DESIGNING THROUGH THE BRAIN: An Interdisciplinary Exploration Between Architecture and Neuroscience(Politecnico di Milano, 2024) Alaithan, Ali; Croset, Pierre-AlainThroughout the course of architecture history, architects have consistently engaged with various disciplines to expand their understanding of how people interact with the surrounding milieu. Since the 20th century, some prominent architects have collaborated with psychologists to gain insights into how design influences behavior and actions, striving to create spaces that truly resonate with people. In modern times, we spend most of our time in indoor spaces, making it progressively evident that architecture affects our brain and body. Recently, there has been growing attention between architecture and neuroscience. This is a complex field, requiring insights from psychology and cognitive science to understand the indirect connections between brain processes and spatial experience. This conversation starts from a theoretical framework encompassing brain, mind and body. The brain is an engine for behavior and action within a space. Thus the primary objective here is to understand the human brain within the built environment. A deeper awareness of the brain’s intricate processes enhances our comprehension of how we interact with our surroundings. To fully grasp the complexity of this discussion, it is crucial to comprehend the underpinnings of understating the brain. Three essential theories —EvoDevoSocio, Darwin’s theory, and embodied perception— shapes our theoretical and scientific understanding of the brain. This ongoing conversation covers multiple themes, including: sensation and perception, learning and memory, decision making, emotions and affect, movement and more. This thesis explores the intricate theoretical and scientific connection between architecture and neuroscience, specifically focusing on aspects relevant to architects. Three central themes will be thoroughly studied — emotions, movement, learning and memory — covering both their theoretical foundations and recent scientific discoveries. These findings will be applied in an interdisciplinary design exploration of a community center. These scientific findings will act as “generators” that either evoke emotions, facilitate movement, or foster learning and memory. Thus, the objective of the research is not to develop a theoretical program for architecture, but to apply an interdisciplinary design methodology. Unlike traditional practices, which often rely on architects’ personal experience, this approach is rooted in a scientific understanding of the human brain, allowing architects to design spaces that meaningfully respond to human cognition and behavior.15 0Item Restricted Creative, Sustainable, and Culturally Responsive Architecture in Jeddah(sheffield university, 2024) Alsahafi, Bashaer; Lanuza, FelipeThis thesis explores how residential buildings in modern Jeddah can creatively incorporate aspects of sustainability and cultural heritage. It addresses challenges brought up by the prevalence of uninspiring residential projects and rapid urbanization, arguing in favor of an integral strategy that encompasses both traditional and contemporary design aspects. Incorporating local materials, climate-responsive designs, and innovative solutions are highlighted in the research through case studies on modern and traditional architecture, including Beit Nassif and the Aeali Jeddah project. This thesis integrates insights from interviews and surveys with local architects into experimental design to investigate local possibilities. The findings highlight the need for creative yet contextually appropriate solutions that enhance Jeddah’s urban landscape by supporting environmental sustainability and maintaining cultural identity.52 0Item Restricted Epigenetic Habitats : Mimesis and Living Architecture in Light of Catharine Malabou’s Meditation About Synaptic Chips(Univeristy College London, 2024) Alangari, Nujud; Vivaldi, Jordi4 Mimesis has been integrated with architecture for a long time—from ancient civilisations e.g. ancient Greece and the Renaissance to the modern and postmodern eras. These architectural eras tend to respond to Platonic or Kantian schemes, illustrating the evolution of architectural mimesis. For Plato, mimesis meant copying and reproducing nature through art; for Kant, however, it was more about harmonising beauty and function than copying from nature. Kant believed that art is a creation of genius which does not copy nature directly but rather reinvents nature’s rules into artistic expression. While rich in their interpretation of imitation, both concepts lack the dynamic meaning of mimesis when it comes to mimicking human intelligence. In this context, I would like to address the following question: Is the arrival of AI and robotics in architecture demanding a new epigenetic scheme for thinking about mimesis? I would like to address this question by considering Catherine Malabou’s interpretation of the concept of ‘synaptic chips’ that has been discussed in her work on epigenetic mimesis—an idea that transforms the entire picture of AI in architecture. The discussion of synaptic chips as presented by Malabou serves as a metaphorical basis for the evolution and adaptation of architectural design. Architectural designs may similarly evolve through the influence of connections that are synaptic-like; such structures respond to changes in their environments based on environmental stimuli. This approach—which is epigenetic—to mimesis suggests a shift more profound from just replicating forms to creating architectures that learn from their surroundings, thus adapting to them. This reveals a more complex interplay between form, function and environment than what is traditionally understood under Platonic or Kantian mimesis. Through this extension of mimesis by Malabou using neuroscience plus epigenetics, one can infer an avenue towards dynamic designs: designs that are more responsive and, in turn, enhance mimetic capabilities of AI systems within architecture—thereby also enhancing the architectural design’s adaptability and functionality.15 0Item Restricted Cultural Echoes in Stone & Concrete: A Journey Through Time and Architecture in Historic Jeddah’s Al-Balad(University of Westminster, 2024-01-10) Siraj, Talah Wabil; Bremner, LindsayLocated in the western region of the Arabian Peninsula on the Eastern coast of the Red Sea, my hometown, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has been a significant part in connecting extensive trading networks for centuries. Serving as the gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Madinah, it is a harbour for Muslim pilgrims from around the world. Over time, it became a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities, which shaped every aspect of the local lifestyle. Jeddah’s geographic location also unquestionably influenced its architecture in several ways; climatically, religiously, and culturally. The town’s architectural designs, building materials, traditions, and lifestyle were all in response to its context. The beautiful traditional houses were constructed using old building methods, with a combination of local and imported materials. The buildings functioned adequately to suit and serve the local lifestyle before the unification of the kingdom, and the discovery of oil, electricity, and concrete. Those pivotal historical events that took place in the 1930s marked the beginning of a transformative phase for Jeddah. The traditional construction methods and lifestyle were left in the past as Jeddah went through a stage of modern development. New buildings lacked cultural identity as a result of modernism and carbon energy. This dissertation is an autoethnographic study of the history of Jeddah’s old town of Al-Balad from both a technical and lifestyle perspective. Leveraging personal connections to the subject, I was able to visit the old town and acquire authentic information and material from primary sources, which helped me picture and analyse life in Al-Balad more vividly. This paper carries out an in-depth exploration of Jeddah’s history while examining the link between architecture and lifestyle in response to its diverse context, and the reasons why the traditional way of living was abandoned.28 0Item Restricted Cultural Echoes in Stone & Concrete(University of Westminster, 2024-01-10) Siraj, Talah Wabil; Bremner, LindsayLocated in the western region of the Arabian Peninsula on the Eastern coast of the Red Sea, my hometown, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has been a significant part in connecting extensive trading networks for centuries. Serving as the gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Madinah, it is a harbour for Muslim pilgrims from around the world. Over time, it became a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities, which shaped every aspect of the local lifestyle. Jeddah’s geographic location also unquestionably influenced its architecture in several ways; climatically, religiously, and culturally. The town’s architectural designs, building materials, traditions, and lifestyle were all in response to its context. The beautiful traditional houses were constructed using old building methods, with a combination of local and imported materials. The buildings functioned adequately to suit and serve the local lifestyle before the unification of the kingdom, and the discovery of oil, electricity, and concrete. Those pivotal historical events that took place in the 1930s marked the beginning of a transformative phase for Jeddah. The traditional construction methods and lifestyle were left in the past as Jeddah went through a stage of modern development. New buildings lacked cultural identity as a result of modernism and carbon energy. This dissertation is an autoethnographic study of the history of Jeddah’s old town of Al-Balad from both a technical and lifestyle perspective. Leveraging personal connections to the subject, I was able to visit the old town and acquire authentic information and material from primary sources, which helped me picture and analyse life in Al-Balad more vividly. This paper carries out an in-depth exploration of Jeddah’s history while examining the link between architecture and lifestyle in response to its diverse context, and the reasons why the traditional way of living was abandoned.31 0Item Restricted Cultural Echoes in Stone & Concrete: A Journey Through Time and Architecture in Historic Jeddah’s Al-Balad(University of Westminster, 2024-01-10) Siraj, Talah Wabil; Bremner, LindsayLocated in the western region of the Arabian Peninsula on the Eastern coast of the Red Sea, my hometown, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has been a significant part in connecting extensive trading networks for centuries. Serving as the gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Madinah, it is a harbour for Muslim pilgrims from around the world. Over time, it became a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities, which shaped every aspect of the local lifestyle. Jeddah’s geographic location also unquestionably influenced its architecture in several ways; climatically, religiously, and culturally. The town’s architectural designs, building materials, traditions, and lifestyle were all in response to its context. The beautiful traditional houses were constructed using old building methods, with a combination of local and imported materials. The buildings functioned adequately to suit and serve the local lifestyle before the unification of the kingdom, and the discovery of oil, electricity, and concrete. Those pivotal historical events that took place in the 1930s marked the beginning of a transformative phase for Jeddah. The traditional construction methods and lifestyle were left in the past as Jeddah went through a stage of modern development. New buildings lacked cultural identity as a result of modernism and carbon energy. This dissertation is an autoethnographic study of the history of Jeddah’s old town of Al-Balad from both a technical and lifestyle perspective. Leveraging personal connections to the subject, I was able to visit the old town and acquire authentic information and material from primary sources, which helped me picture and analyse life in Al-Balad more vividly. This paper carries out an in-depth exploration of Jeddah’s history while examining the link between architecture and lifestyle in response to its diverse context, and the reasons why the traditional way of living was abandoned.24 0