The Weaver
UAE, 2024
The Weaver (working title) is an artistic intervention inspired by the ancestral Emirati tradition of Al Sadu and its weaving techniques. Conceived as both landmark and installation, it takes the form of an ephemeral yet potentially endless sculpture that offers shelter, shade, a gathering space, and a visual and physical connection between two imagined places.
Al Sadu embodies flexibility: it has long been used for tent elevations as well as comfortable woven surfaces to sit upon. While developing Formation of Soof, several elements sparked Milk Train’s imagination. In particular, the portable loom used for weaving—an object refined over generations of weavers and designed for mobility—was perceived as an ideal design archetype.
Milk Train drew inspiration from a specific phase in the weaving process: the moment when vertical threads are perfectly aligned and parallel, and the weaver, using a spacer (traditionally crafted from gazelle horn or wood), creates a gap. Viewed from the side, this opening takes on a rhomboidal silhouette, allowing the horizontal threads to pass through and interlock.
The proposal is driven by this precise moment and form. Its aim is to translate the gesture of weaving into an architectural-scale, ephemeral sculpture—an inhabitable structure that embodies the memory of the weaving process.