Amid rapid urban development that has leveled much of the natural terrain, this project reimagines the ground as an active, generative layer of the city. Set in Oud Metha, Dubai, it explores how reintroducing natural formations into the built environment can foster public life, ecological balance, and collective learning. Through a network of trails, thresholds, and adaptive structures, the project transforms the public realm into an “earthscape” - a living terrain shaped by the slow rhythms of soil, sediment, and settlement. Inspired by geomorphological processes, it allows architecture, ecology, and community to evolve together in response to the land’s natural contours. Centered on an oasis of coexistence, it uses layered, porous materials to balance permanence and change.

Developed in partnership with the Dubai Future Foundation, the proposal is conceived as a living testbed for community-grounded innovation. It challenges dominant narratives of progress, rooting transformation in the overlooked logic of the ground beneath one’s feet and in the geomorphological forces that have shaped it for millennia.

About Ohireme Uanzekin:

Ohireme Uanzekin recently completed a BA (Hons) in Architecture at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai, where he explored design as a dialogue between community, technology, and storytelling. His work has been exhibited and awarded across the Middle East and internationally, including at Dubai Design Week, the RIBA Future Architects Showcase, and the Paradyz Designers Award. In 2025, he received the Watt Club Medal for academic excellence. Beyond architecture, Ohireme engages in multidisciplinary collaborations across media, themed entertainment, and interactive design, alongside freelance work in 3D modeling and visualization. In 2024, he led concept design for a cultural festival in Lagos and is now beginning his professional journey as an Architectural Assistant at the Office of Tariq Khayyat Design Associates.