SAHAR – HAVEN by Rhea A Ravindra.
BSc in Interior Design
In a speedy, globalising world, Rhea A Ravindra’s JDDA project, SAHAR – HAVEN, the winner of the Best Design for Cultural Fusion and Immersive Experience Award, reinterprets the cultural house as not merely a receptacle of preservation—it is transformed into a refuge for pause, contemplation, and re-linking. With the blending of rich cultures of Morocco and Japan, this retreat-like experience invites locals and tourists alike to slow down and dive into the brilliance of heritage, art, and everyday ritual.
Housed in cottages influenced by traditional Japanese and Moroccan architecture, SAHAR – HAVEN offers more than it does shelter—it offers a living cultural experience. Guests wear traditional garb, participate in hands-on craft workshops, indulge in authentic cuisine, and experience live performances, all calculated to create special moments that orient visitors to the cultural narrative and mindfulness.
Cultural houses, by their very nature, facilitate this slowing of time. Still galleries, hands-on workshops, and carefully curated stories promote reflection and curiosity. Instead of charging through information, visitors are invited to participate, absorb, and reflect, making the experience of learning an emotional and sensory experience.
Rhea’s vision for SAHAR – HAVEN encompasses this dual function of the cultural house: as preservation of the past and as filter through which to view the present. For diasporic populations, it becomes an emotional anchor; for others, an opening into empathy and greater cultural awareness.
In the end, SAHAR – HAVEN isn’t an escape—it’s an invitation to live culture at a human’s pace, where heritage, design, and narrative entwine in harmony.
Rhea’s vision for SAHAR – HAVEN encompasses this dual function of the cultural house: as preservation of the past and as filter through which to view the present. For diasporic populations, it becomes an emotional anchor; for others, an opening into empathy and greater cultural awareness.
In the end, SAHAR – HAVEN isn’t an escape—it’s an invitation to live culture at a human’s pace, where heritage, design, and narrative entwine in harmony.