AA alumni Shereen Doummar and Elias Tamer curate the Lebanese Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia with Scenography by AA alum Aya Saleh

For its participation in the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Lebanon presents The Land Remembers, a critical and speculative project that repositions architecture as a tool for environmental resistance. The pavilion is curated by the Collective for Architecture Lebanon (CAL), founded by AA alumni Shereen Doummar and Elias Tamer, alongside Lynn Chamoun and Edouard Souhaid, with scenography by AA alum Aya Saleh.

The Land Remembers introduces a fictional institution – the Ministry of Land Intelligens – tasked with documenting, resisting and healing the layered violence inflicted on Lebanon’s landscape. Against a backdrop of war, pollution and state neglect, the pavilion asserts that before architecture, there is land and before rebuilding, there must be repair. Find out more about The Land Remembers here.


Shereen Doummar is a practicing architect currently based in London and director of ATMA, leading projects in the Ivory Coast, UK and Lebanon. A Renzo Piano Building Workshop bursary laureate, she has worked with Studio Jenny Jones, REAL Foundation, Zaha Hadid Architects, and REX New York.

Elias Tamer is an architect based between London and Beirut. He graduated with Honours from the AA and has worked with Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Michaelis Boyd and Heatherwick Studio. His work has been exhibited at Omran’19 and published in Real Review. He currently works at ATMA.

Aya Saleh is a practicing architect, scenographer and artist based in London. She holds an MFA in Spatial Performance and Design, specialising in scenographic alchemy, drawing on multidisciplinary practices to explore the emotional and psychological impact of architecture. Her work spans London, Riyadh and Beirut.