Majlis are the boardrooms of the Arab world. A traditional ‘place of sitting’ often adorned with cushions on the floor, they are used to receive guests and exchange ideas. In the past, nomadic desert dwellers used special tents. Intercon takes a modern approach to this special meeting room with floating Majlis that are moved daily.
There’s a lot to talk about in Dubai. What to do about severe food and water scarcity, how to approach urban design, how to balance foreign investment with national pride and sustainable development.
Eager to understand how these issues be tackled without grandiose meetings that eat up an entire nation’s annual carbon budget in one week, the INDEX International Design Exhibition invited design professionals to “rethink the “Majlis” by giving it a contemporary, avant garde and green perspective.”
Intercon from Spain submitted a proposal for floating Majlis that are made with recycled, reused or upcycled materials. And they impressed the judges, because their proposal was shortlisted to be built.
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“This would be used as a place to discuss issues by groups of designers, decision makers and local inhabitants,” writes Leonardo Novelo from Intercon. “Evaluating both the impact of what has been done in the past and what is planned for the future, all on the actual site and from the vantage point that the sea has to offer.”
Made with a variety of materials common to the fishing industry (out of deference to life in the United Arab Emirates before oil), their floating meeting rooms would be fabricated out of everything to including oil barrels and nylon nets.
First towed to the site by boats, the floating Majlis would be attached to mooring balls overnight. And the following day, the boats would transport them to another site, for more meetings, more meetings of the mind.
“Our floating majlis would contribute to spreading the awareness of our actions on a growing city.”
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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