Straight to the heart
Aesthetics that tell a story is the hallmark of Alya AlGhfeli’s practice as a furniture and interiors designer. The Heart of Sharjah is where she finds inspiration.
By Catherine Mazy
Photograph by Natalie Naccache
“I believe that successful storytelling lies behind strong design,” says Alya AlGhfeli, who recently joined the Sharjah Museums Authority as an interior designer, designing exhibitions and redesigning some spaces. “In most of my works, I strive to infuse a modern, Emirati design language that combines the modern aesthetics of today but at the same time preserves the rich culture and tells the beautiful stories of the past.”
AlGhfeli’s favourite area, the Heart of Sharjah, does the same thing. The heritage district, the city’s old centre, preserves some of the region’s few historic buildings and gives them new life. Souks little changed over centuries connect via old, narrow alleyways to the neighbourhood’s contemporary art galleries, bookstores, sleek cafés and museums.
“It’s been restored in a nice way. You can feel the original space—they didn’t take away from the charm and beauty of the original,” AlGhfeli says. “The way the area has been restored without losing its charm and character is inspiring, and it echoes what I strive to do—balancing the old with the new to create a design language that fits into our modern lives but still has this beautiful essence.”
In Souq Al Arsah, possibly the UAE’s oldest, vendors sell jewellery, incense, handwoven clothes and palm-leaf baskets similar to the goods their ancestors stocked. “It’s a cabinet of curiosities,” AlGhfeli says. “There are antique objects, vintage toys, trinkets, cutlery. I try to imagine how or why people used to use something. If I’m designing an object, I can see how they did it in the past.”
In spring 2021, for a project called IKEA x Local Culture, AlGhfeli and designer Jawaher Alkhayyal collaborated with the Swedish home-goods giant, sharing insights about Emirati culture and design and using IKEA products to design interiors with Emirati spirit.
Traditional architectural elements in the Heart of Sharjah also inspire AlGhfeli. Mangrove beams stretch across the labyrinth’s narrow passageways, with palm leaves posed on top, providing shade without cutting off air circulation. The neighbourhood’s barjeels, or wind towers, cooled interiors before the advent of air conditioning or electricity. “It’s innovation and resourcefulness at its best, built for that environment,” AlGhfeli observes.
But the design element that delights her the most is the ingenious building material in a landscape of little timber or stone. “They used coral from the sea, mixed with mud,” she says. The thick, insulating walls keep rooms cool in the summer and warm in winter. For a modern eye, they also boast clean lines, texture and pattern, while using materials that are natural, long-lasting and sustainable. “You can really see the beauty and intricacy of the coral. Every time I pass, I have to stop and touch the wall. It’s something you don’t get in houses these days.”
She points out how the geometric angles of a row of public seating in dappled shade are juxtaposed against a wall of coral. “The modern outdoor furniture sits with the traditional background. It works nicely. It doesn’t have to be all traditional,” she says.
The wall’s “bricks” have unique shapes yet maintain a uniform height, creating a grid that resembles an impasto painting. Holes, rings, serpentine squiggles and shell fossils on the surfaces reveal their organic origins. “It’s like there’s something living in the wall,” she says.
Although AlGhfeli knows the district well, it continues to surprise her. “I’ll find a staircase that leads to galleries or rooftops. There are temporary galleries, and I don’t always know when there’s a new one,” she says. “I go there with a sketchbook and sit somewhere to sketch interesting details.
“The place is grounding,” she says. “It takes me back. I didn’t live in that time, but I feel like things then were simpler.”
