Colorful fan-shaped artwork with Arabic calligraphy, buildings, and a mosque in the lower left corner.

Yemeni Architecture as Living Legacy

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Yemeni Architecture as Living Legacy *

  • A suspended Qamariya-inspired installation, measuring 48" × 26", translating traditional Yemeni stained-glass window patterns into geometric forms, decorative motifs, and Arabic typography. Colored, semi-transparent vinyl applied to a clear acrylic panel allows light to cast shifting colors and patterns onto surrounding surfaces. Accompanied by ambient Oud music, the installation creates a multisensory environment that evokes atmosphere, memory, and cultural presence, inviting viewers to experience Yemeni architectural heritage in a contemporary, immersive form.

  • 3-panel set, 18" × 36" each. A series of typographic architectural posters that depict the outline and structure of iconic Yemeni buildings through line, form, Arabic calligraphy, and expressive typography. The compositions fragment and reframe architectural elements to highlight detail, verticality, and spatial rhythm, merging language with structure. These posters reinterpret traditional architecture as a visual narrative, emphasizing cultural memory and heritage while inviting viewers to engage with the forms, patterns, and stories embedded in Yemen’s built environment.

  • This video extends the project into a time-based, sensory experience, combining Arabic typography, motion, and Yemeni oud music. Lines of Arabic poetry appear through expressive animation, reflecting the relationship between light, form, and memory in architecture. Subtle English keywords such as Light, Form, Memory, and colors support accessibility while preserving the integrity of the Arabic text. Presented with headphones, the work invites an intimate engagement, transforming architecture into an emotional and immersive experience.


Yemeni architecture embodies a living legacy of craftsmanship, cultural memory, and spatial intelligence that is increasingly at risk due to conflict, displacement, and modernization. This project investigates how architectural forms such as tower houses, Qamariya fanlights, and urban gateways function not only as physical structures, but as vessels of identity, history, and collective memory. The work is realized through two primary mediums. The first consists of typographic architectural posters that reinterpret iconic Yemeni structures through line, form, Arabic calligraphy, and expressive typography. These compositions fragment and reframe architectural elements, emphasizing detail, verticality, and spatial rhythm while merging language with structure. The second medium is a Qamariya-inspired installation that translates traditional stained-glass window patterns into a contemporary form. Colored, semi-transparent vinyl is applied to a suspended clear acrylic panel, allowing light to pass through and cast shifting colors and patterns onto surrounding surfaces. Sound is incorporated through a headphone-based listening experience featuring ambient Yemeni oud music, accompanied by a looping visual component. Together, these elements create a multisensory environment that evokes atmosphere, memory, and cultural presence. By reimagining architectural traditions within contemporary design practice, the project challenges their growing invisibility and activates architecture as a living narrative inviting audiences to see, experience, and carry forward a shared cultural legacy.

  • Two children are standing in an art exhibit with various posters, artwork, and a TV on the wall. The girl on the left holds up a peace sign, wearing a white dress with puffy sleeves. The boy on the right wears a white shirt, black vest, and headphones around his neck.
  • Display of two posters with Arabic calligraphy and English text, a tablet with a quote about architecture, and Sony headphones on a white table.
  • A display rack with keychains or bookmarks featuring illustrations of a mosque with multiple minarets, set on an orange background. The rack is on a wooden base with a purple poster behind it that shows a line drawing of buildings.
  • A person with brown hair and wearing headphones is standing in front of a display with posters and a tablet. The display includes posters with Arabic script and colorful designs, and a tablet showing words related to architecture, color, and memory. The person appears to be listening to or observing the display.
  • Photo of a wall display with four posters featuring Arabic calligraphy and translation titles in English, alongside a small framed text and a device with headphones.
  • Three women are in an art gallery viewing colorful posters on the wall. One woman is pointing at the posters while another woman is holding a brochure. There are headphones hanging on a stand below the posters and a small display screen on a table.
  • Three colorful vertical banners with Arabic calligraphy and architectural line drawings. The left banner is purple with blue text, the middle is orange with black text, and the right is dark purple with green text. Each banner features stylized line drawings of buildings and mosques.
  • Museum or exhibit display promoting themes of resilience, foundation, and ascent with Arabic calligraphy, posters, and memorabilia including a varsity jacket, fire extinguisher, and framed certificates.

Take away

Multiple stickers or cards featuring Arabic script, a silhouette of a mountain, the word "ASCENT," an orange city skyline, and illustrations of buildings, placed on a table.
Business cards for Anfan Saleh, a graphic designer, with the name and profession printed on a dark blue and textured cream card. The cards are on a gray wooden surface, with a silver pen nearby.
Three acrylic keychains with cityscape engravings, two with attached rings and one with keys, on a light-colored surface next to a small potted succulent plant and a beige cloth.