Assistant Professor Aziza Chaouni's firm, Aziza Chaouni Projects (ACP), is participating in the Exhibition ARAB CONTEMPORARY — the second chapter in the series “Architecture, Culture and Identity” organized by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen.

The series explores how architecture both bears the identity and promotes the shaping of the cultural distinctiveness of a country or a region. The exhibition focuses on features shared by Arab countries – from the Arabian Peninsula to Lebanon and Morocco.

The Arab world is first and foremost connected by language, but there are other common features that point to a shared understanding of space and a visual culture, from calligraphy to architecture.

ACP designed a pavilion inspired by the moucharabieh (a middle eastern screen), and the majlis (middle eastern seating rooms). The pavilion houses an art video and is composed of recycled wood. Some of its pieces can be adjusted by visitors.

Seats in the majlis are covered with mats that have been produced by rural women of the Moroccan NGO ADF, who have woven recycled plastic bags with looms. The seats and the pavilion will be donated to a local NGO once the exhibition closes in May 2014. The Project team included Assistant Prof. Chaouni and Mani Tabrizi (MArch 2013), pictured in the photo below.