A ROOM WITH SEAVIEW

Architecture is celebrated for recording our cultures and reflecting who we are or want to be. But what it means to represent us all could be grasped properly as a design problem. No other art form showcases more concretely how people live, work, and socialize around the world. The series 'A Room With Seaview' captures architectural feats created by mostly illiterate men. 

- ALJOHARA JEJE

These autodidact architects planned, designed, and constructed homes characterized by their personal tastes and preferences with driftwood and discarded construction materials. Over time these homes are abandoned or destroyed by nature or the human hand. The remnants are recycled regularly as material wealth is scarce here at the sea-salt-flats village.

In the harshest of environments, our planet harbors human beings, disregarded carpets once serving soft feet, consumer-waste advertisements, tarpaulins with famous brands, and plastics of any kind function as isolation.

Though salt plays a crucial role in maintaining human health and the landscapes are captivating to the eye, harvesting it from the sea is a harsh job. First, in wooden trays, the sun evaporates the water. Then, the wet slabs of salt are collected and left to dry further in neatly crafted heaps on shore. Broken up, it is shoveled into a mound that will slowly turn into hard rock. Finally, this mound is smashed to pieces again and scooped into bags for transportation.

The laborers here work from sunrise to sunset and are always in touch with the salty waters of the Red Sea. Many are from Sudan and send the meager money earned back home. This financial support can be quite extended, covering elderly parents, brothers, and sisters, even sending offspring to further their education, securing a better future for generations to come. Every alternate year, the workers are allowed to visit their families for an extended period, and at the end of their contract, they return home with one month of salary for every year worked.