Diwani House

A private residence in Sharjah conceived by Shape Architects. The house was built for Hisham Al Madhloum, an Emirati artist who has been a central figure in the calligraphy scene for decades. The main facade carries a Kufic script inscription of a Quranic verse, handwritten by calligrapher Zuhair Afaneh and produced across 80 pieces of solid stone, 3 metres high and 25 metres wide.

The shoot was planned across two days with a scouting visit first to understand the light and the geometry. The defining images were at sunrise, when the light hits the facade properly and the calligraphy reads as it was intended. A night session followed, but sunrise was the critical hour. Inside, the villa holds a collection of nearly 200 works from over 85 calligraphers and artists, making it function as much as a living museum as a private residence.

Beyond photography, we produced an artistic film about the villa, not a documentary but something more cinematic, showing the architecture and people moving through and living inside the space. The project won the Architizer+ Award and the Loop Design Award, and was published across international platforms and local press in both English and Arabic.