Just deserts: Exploring AlUla’s pioneering design residencies with curator Emily Marant

This episode of Monocle on Design explores the transformative role of design in cultural regeneration, focusing on the AlUla Design Residency in Saudi Arabia. Host Nick Meneese and guest Grace Charlton discuss the residency’s mission to foster locally rooted, globally inspired creativity through immersive three-month programs for international designers and artists. Curator Emily Morant shares insights into how the desert landscape and ancient heritage of AlUla—home to 2,000-year-old rock-carved structures and UNESCO-listed sites—serve as both muse and laboratory for innovative, context-sensitive design. Projects range from playful, rock-inspired benches by Saudi architect Asil El-Mudi to sustainable tiles made from industrial waste by Studio Thus, reflecting a deep engagement with materiality, community, and sustainability. The conversation extends to broader implications: how such residencies can model a new paradigm of design that prioritizes local needs, cultural continuity, and environmental resilience over industrial homogenization. The episode also previews the Eames Pavilion System—a flat-pack, modular house inspired by Charles and Ray Eames’ Case Study House 8—set to debut at Milan Design Week, symbolizing a revival of mid-century ideals of accessible, adaptable, and beautiful design. Throughout, the hosts emphasize design as a tool for soft power, identity-building, and long-term cultural investment, particularly in rapidly developing regions like Saudi Arabia.