2023

Wesam Al Asali | Nadi Abusaada

Location : ETH Zurich

IWLab Team: Ahmad Salah | Joelle Deeb | Marah Sharabati

This installation pays tribute to the vanishing soap manufacturing industries of several cities in the Arab Mediterranean region, especially Nablus and Aleppo.

Its title, Tannour, is derived from the Arabic name for the large conical towers of stacked soap for which the region’s soap industry is famed. These towers serve a crucial purpose in the process of soapmaking: drying the soap by optimising its surface’s exposure to air. This process of optimisation depends heavily on the tacit knowledge of the soap-maker to adjust the tannour’s geometry and form to the vaulted architectural space of the soap factory.

This installation emphasises the reciprocal relationship between the crafted object and the architectural space it inhabits. It pushes the boundaries of the tannour from the realm of adjustment to its architectural setting into an architectural creation in its own right. The soap tower no longer merely inhabits: it becomes inhabitable.