As cities expand, industries evolve, and public life changes at unprecedented speed, design is increasingly influencing more than aesthetics alone. It affects how people move, gather, participate, learn, remember, and experience everyday life. Amid rapid cultural, urban, and economic transformation, Saudi Arabia is among the most compelling places in the world to examine this influence.
Bringing together voices working across architecture, urbanism, museums, research, cultural infrastructure, and interdisciplinary practice, the session examines how environments influence behavior, perception, identity, and human experience during periods of accelerated change. The conversation will explore how design can serve as a driver of transformation across public experience, cultural participation, infrastructure, storytelling, material culture, and emerging industries.