Dezeen School Shows: a typeface referencing traditional Palestinian embroidery is among the projects from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar.

Also featured is a game that aims to prompt reflection on climate change and a greenhouse made from bamboo.

Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar

Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar
School: School of the Arts
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

School statement:

"Matter Diplopia is a dynamic, research-driven pavilion by VCUarts Qatar at London Design Biennale's fifth edition, 'Surface Reflections', that explores the intricate interplay between culture and materiality in a nation undergoing rapid transformation.

"Emerging from a collaborative process between faculty, students and alumni of VCUarts Qatar, Matter Diplopia is a collective act of making, an embodiment of research through design.

"Presented through nine interwoven projects, Matter Diplopia reveals how materials are not static or neutral, but deeply embedded with histories, geographies and patterns of connection, transformation and resilience in Qatar and beyond.

"In a country where ancient desert landscapes encounter futuristic urban development, the pavilion offers a platform to reflect on how material practices can both preserve cultural memory and envision new directions.

"The exhibition unfolds through three thematic tours – material innovation, cultural narrative and tech and observing environments – each offering a way to 'look again' at the materials that shape our everyday lives. Whether drawing from traditional crafts or experimenting with emerging technologies, each project repositions materiality as a site of cultural negotiation and design possibility.

"As part of the London Design Biennale, matter diplopia brings Qatar's design research to the international stage, sharing how creative inquiry can act as a powerful tool for dialogue, sustainability and reimagining shared material futures."

Group project: Chrysalis – A Kinetic Sculpture that Cleans the Air 

"Chrysalis stands as a kinetic air-purifying sculpture – an artwork that breathes. Suspended from above, its rigid top half contrasts with a dynamic lower section made of concentric, air-tight fabric rings that rhythmically rise and fall in a continuous cycle of inhalation and exhalation.

"As the rings descend, the structure expands, drawing polluted air in through one-way valves. When they lift, internal motors compress the air outward through multi-layered filters designed to capture and neutralise toxins, gases, bacteria and particulates.

"Each breath is audible – the rush of air and snap of fabric create a sensory experience that blurs the line between machine and organism.

"Chrysalis is more than a functional purifier, it is a sentient presence. In a world suffocating under the weight of its own pollution, this sculpture doesn't just clean the air – it demands we listen to it breathe."

Students: Rab McClure, Rola Al-Soubaihi, Erzum Naqvi, Khaled Saoud, Levi Hammett, Mohammad Suleiman, Haithem El-Hammali, Ryan Browning and Giovanni Innella
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Group project: Dub Doubt: Dub of Diversity, Doubt of Appropriation

"This project draws on the energy and legacy of the Jamaican sound system – a towering stack of speakers first built by DJs in the 1960s as a mobile platform for music, community and protest.

"In this installation, the speakers are replaced with vibrating sculptures, each shaped in the image of a dub icon. The sculptures created by artists from Egypt, Qatar and Italy, bring their own aesthetic language and cultural baggage to the mix.

"Visitors look through the screens inspired by traditional mashrabiyas on one side, filtering and framing their view. On the other side, the sculptures hum with the low-end thrum of dub tracks split into layers, each triggering different surfaces to vibrate.

"Materials respond differently – metal, resin and wood produce distinct tactile frequencies, turning sound into a felt experience.

"The work leans into the tensions around appropriation, remixing and cultural borrowing. Dub Doubt isn't just about sound – it's about exchange and hybridity."

Students: Simone Carena, Marco Bruno, Sherin Karawia and Alaa Albarazy
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Group project: Nature's Alchemy: The Sacred Cycles of the Date Palm 

"Nature's Alchemy turns its attention to one of the Gulf region's most enduring and quietly powerful symbols, the date palm.

"A tree rooted in both landscape and lore, the date palm has long offered nourishment, shade, shelter and meaning to those who live alongside it.

"This collaborative project brings together five artists and designers to explore the palm not as a static object, but as a living cycle – one that speaks of sustainability, spirituality and survival.

"Through its sacred presence in religious texts, its architectural use in traditional building methods, and its ongoing role in daily life, the date palm becomes a lens through which to reconsider the relationship between nature and culture."

Students: Stella Colaleo, Basma Hamdy, Ghada Al Khater, Naima Almajdobah and Yasmeen Suleiman
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Group project: Dunes and Dugongs 

"Borrowing its title from the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, Dunes and Dugongs frames the climate crisis as a game – one in which all are players, whether we like it or not.

"Like in DnD, choices matter. Every decision has a consequence – some lead to destruction while others, if we're lucky, to renewal.

"Set against the backdrop of rising temperatures and ecological collapse, Dunes and Dugongs asks a simple but urgent question: what kind of builder are you?

"Through speculative storytelling and participatory prompts, the work reminds us that the future is shaped daily by the choices we make as individuals and communities.

"With dugongs, gentle marine mammals native to Gulf waters, standing in as quiet symbols of what's at risk, the project turns reflection into responsibility.

"The message is clear: without immediate action, the story can go critical. The project's community partner is Liwan Design Labs and Studio."

Students: Joshua Rodenberg, Charlotte Rodenberg, Esther de Veuve and Neihan Yaqoob
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Group project: Discursive Instrumentation of Urban Rhythms 

"Qatar's urban spaces form a layered cultural terrain shaped by movement, migration and modernity. These spaces accommodate a diverse range of diasporic communities, each contributing to the nation's evolving identity.

"Discursive Instrumentation brings this dynamic environment to life through sound. The installation comprises three instruments — the body, the worker and the city – each embodying a core feature of Doha's urban fabric.

"The body represents infrastructure, the frameworks that shape and support the city. The worker symbolises the individual, the human presence that activates and sustains daily life.

"The city captures movement and the rhythms and that define Doha's evolving form.

"As visitors interact with each instrument, they encounter both the familiar and the unfamiliar, uncovering layers of meaning embedded within the soundscape.

"When played together, the three instruments merge into something entirely new, a collective sonic portrait of Doha that resonates with memory and transformation."

Student: Shankar Padmanabhan, Dana EL Ladki, Hagar Allam and Hira Nisar
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Group project: Stone Plus: Enhancing the Value of a Unique Qatari Material 

"Stone Plus reconsiders the value of a locally sourced sedimentary stone from the Al Khor region of Qatar.

"Originally extracted for use as cladding in a regeneration project in downtown Doha, the stone was ultimately rejected due to natural impurities and structural fragility.

"Rather than discard it, this project reconsiders the material's limitations as opportunities. Strategies were developed to strengthen the material and turn its imperfections into meaningful design features. The result is a collection of furniture pieces that celebrate the stone's character while emphasising adaptability and sustainability.

"Each piece is designed for flat-pack transport and can be easily assembled on-site using simple tools – proposing a new model for working with local, imperfect materials in ways that are both resourceful and beautiful."

Students: Hadeer Omar, Maryam Al-Homaid, Yasmeen Suleiman, Simone Muscolino, Lana Abou Selo, Ayza Sheikh, Erzum Naqvi, Omar Al-Ziani and George Paul
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Group project: Tatreez Unbroken: The Language of Resistance Through Palestinian Embroidery 

"In Tatreez Unbroken, the ancient craft of Palestinian embroidery becomes a powerful act of cultural resistance. This moving project honours the enduring spirit of displaced Palestinian refugee women, moved temporarily to Doha, Qatar.

"At its heart lies the creation of two custom typefaces – Arabic and Latin – each inspired by the geometric precision and symbolic language of tatreez, the traditional Palestinian embroidery.

"Each letter in these typefaces acts as a vessel for memory and meaning. Through stitched forms, the type captures a narrative of resilience, identity and survival.

"Tatreez Unbroken transforms language itself into a medium of resistance, allowing the voices of Gaza's women to be seen, read, and felt.

"In a world where displacement often leads to erasure, this project is a language born of loss, stitching together past and present. The project's industry partner is The Typecraft Initiative and community partner is Hazati."

Students: Basma Hamdy, Naima Almajdobah, Selma Fejzullaj, Shima Aeinehdar and Zainab Al Shibani
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Group project: Greener Greenhouse Goes GMT 

"Greener Greenhouse goes GMT is a space that grows from its place. Constructed with bamboo harvested just meters away, the structure draws inspiration from the Victorian glasshouse, offering a modest echo of Joseph Paxton's 19th-century Crystal Palace.

"While referencing imperial architectural grandeur, the project reinterprets its structural logic through experiments in bamboo construction from the perspective of the Global South.

"Its unique friction joinery reflects Kenya's distinct social and material context, shaped by a thriving second hand rubber market, the ingenuity of local metal workers and the ready availability of bamboo.

"This is a Crystal Palace reverberating back from the global South – familiar in form, but transformed in spirit."

Students: Johan Granberg, Byradley Yyelland, Rebecca Wasikye, Lolwa Al-Thani, Nour Mahmoud, Khulood Almaskar, Ayah Abdelwahab, Rand Assad, Ayah ElFihal and Israa Mahjoub
Course: London Design Biennale 2025, Matter Diplopia

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

The post Typeface informed by Palestinian embroidery among projects by VCUarts Qatar appeared first on Dezeen.