Dar Al Jinaa and Dar Al Riffa are two similar buildings, part of an urban renewal project in the historic center of Muharraq in Bahrain. The ambition is to give a public face to the ancient community of pearl divers and their musical and cultural traditions. Both buildings involve the renovation of an existing Dar (house) and the addition of a new Majlis (collective room), to be used as a communal space for music performances. Both have a simple structure of round concrete columns and platforms. The floor plan is organized from the inside out: rectangular folding glass facades, equipped with perforated wooden shutters, create intimate spaces in the interior of the platforms, while the outer perimeter is populated by stairs and sanitary and technical installations – the furniture which makes this simple structure functional. The entire building is covered by a seamless steel mesh that provides protection from the harsh desert sun and transforms it into an enigmatic ‘veiled’ object, protruding from the dense Bahraini urban maze. When the building is in use, the veil is lifted to allow passers-by a glimpse of the performances inside...[+][+]