URBAN OASIS REVITALISATION
Adaptive Reuse of a Dated Mall into a Community-Oriented Public Space
2024|Al Ain,United Arabic Emirates
Academic | Individual | KADK
Commercial
Set in a decaying mall in Al Ain, UAE, this project reimagines commercial space regeneration under extreme desert climates. It proposes a hybrid urban model that integrates retail infrastructure, productive oasis systems, and a cultural commons, creating a closed loop between production and consumption while fostering multicultural coexistence and social equity. The design adopts a minimum demolition, low-carbon retrofit approach, reusing site-salvaged materials and employing recycled and oasis-derived resources. As a performative landscape, the oasis serves both an ecological and economic function—cooling the microclimate and attracting footfall, with profits reinvested into its maintenance. The result is a site-specific prototype that redefines commercial typologies in the post-consumption era through a set of ecological, cultural, and spatial regeneration.