Using language as material, the oral archive provides a fresh perspective on how the city can be experienced, perceived and engaged with

[euhhh] ‘euhhh’
In linguistics, a filler is a sound or word spoken in a conversation by one participant to signal others a pause or a transition.

[halla2] ‘now’
In the context of busy cosmopolitan lifestyles, Beirutis punctuate their conversations with fillers to look for a word while switching languages, sharpening a thought, or reacting to daily stimuli. As a socially accepted buffer time, fillers play the role of sonic and oral translations of thought to speech. They materialize impressions into sounds, rather than meanings.

[enno] ‘meaning’
Re-contextualizing cultural and idiosyncratic oral patterns, the project aims to amplify the presence of fillers for visitors to experience them instead through other senses. Carefully crafted sculptural objects are formed by recorded conversations, and textured by the frequency and volume of sounds. Using language as material, the oral archive of Beirut provides a fresh perspective on how the city can be experienced, perceived and engaged with.

[fa] ‘so’
The Beirut Pavilion invites the audience to explore these words in a constructed sensorial environment.

Design Team: Tamara Barrage & David Habchy

Tamara Barrage is a Lebanese designer and artist based in Beirut with a master’s degree in Product Design from ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts) and Design Academy Eindhoven in Contextual Design. Tamara explores tactile and sensorial characteristics of various materials. Using an array of experimental techniques, she aspires to better articulate how forms and textures provoke senses, manipulate emotions and articulate memories.
www.tamarabarrage.com

David Habchy is a Beirut-based visual artist working with the mediums of animation, illustration and printmaking and teaches illustration, design and animation courses at Notre Dame University, ALBA and Université Saint Joseph. Habchy co-founded Waraq association, a cultural and artistic forum to support and connect professionals working in illustration, animation in the Arab region. Habchy also co-founded Studio Kawakeb, a visual arts studio based in Beirut specialized in illustration, animation and graphic design to push creative boundaries and contribute to a local and regional visual exploration. Habchy is also a committee member of Beirut Animated, a biannual animated-film festival.
www.waraq.org

About Abwab
Translated as ‘doors’ in Arabic, Abwab is an exhibition, architectural installation and a highlight of Dubai Design Week. It's the only initiative of its kind to offer a platform for design talent from across the Middle East.

For the fourth edition, located at the centre of Dubai Design District (d3), Abwab will host a collection of design experiences drawn from five communities in the Middle East. Two designers are invited from each place to collaborate and produce works situated in dedicated pavilions related to the theme: ‘Between the Lines’.