Client
Ithra, The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture

Agency
FJORD Oslo

Design Director
Tobias Apelgren

Design Lead
David McInnes

Visual Design
Angela Soh

Architecture and Production
Snøhetta

Ithra, The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture is hub for creativity and culture in Saudi Arabia — an environment for transformative experiences to unlock the power of potential through mastery in arts, science, literature, and innovation.

The Ithra exhibition Not What You Think is an experiential showcase of the building as an arts & culture centre and an international icon of architecture, from conception to existence. It walks the visitor through a history of conversations, the exchange of ideas, spacial expressions, production evolutions.

The exhibition identity was designed to embody this essence of crossing language and cultural boundaries. A reminder that we are all part of a larger unique intricate pattern.

My solution was to design an identity system that could be applied in multiple languages. Basically, a code switching identity system, including unspoken visual languages like expressions through emojis and play.

Segments that are used to form characters from both languages, can be scaled larger and at multiple heights. These blocks can be placed for public use, to encourage interactivity and play, used as a communal eating space or an area of rest for the community.