The cushion is a small architecture of home. It holds rest, conversation and the familiar closeness of family. Conceived for SIKKA in Al Fahidi, Dubai, Soft Assemblies brings that familiarity into public space. Enlarged to a monumental scale, red and ivory cushions gather into an improbable pile, turning an everyday object into a shared landmark.

Local culture is central to the work: the hospitality of gathering, the memory of domestic objects, and the crafts through which patterns are made and passed between generations. Emirati traditions of pattern-making and weaving inform its visual language. Repetition, borders, geometric motifs and colour become a way to carry this knowledge into a contemporary public artwork.

The proposal calls for developing the patterns with local craftspeople and Emirati practitioners, connecting the design to living craft knowledge. Textile compositions are translated into printed inflatable skins, with seams, rounded corners and overlapping forms retaining the cushion’s familiar character. The connection to roots lies in the making and the act of gathering, as well as the motif.

Conceived at approximately six metres high, the assembly makes a place to pause, meet and move around. In daylight, colour, pattern and shadow give it presence; after dark, warm illumination turns the pile into a luminous point of encounter. The familiarity of home becomes a collective presence in the neighbourhood.