Matter and Shape | MATTER and SHAPE reading room

MATTER and SHAPE reading room

For 2026, we unveil the MATTER and SHAPE reading room, a new space within the salon designed to foster an atmosphere of learning and intellectual engagement with printed matter. Visitors are invited to explore a selection of independent magazines, design books, and periodicals by design editors and our media partners. This cultural initiative is made possible with the support of Villa Hegra.

Villa Hegra is a bilateral institution promoting cultural cooperation between Saudi Arabia and France. Now part of a global network of cultural villas initiated by Villa Medici, it is located in AlUla, in north-west Saudi Arabia. Villa Hegra hosts artist residencies and a cultural center. It supports contemporary artistic practices through a year-round programming, particularly in the fields of visual arts, design, cinema and the performing arts.

As a partner of MATTER and SHAPE, Villa Hegra has commissioned Saudi artist Badr Ali and Swiss design company USM to design the salon’s Reading Room. Inspired by the choreography of traditional Saudi dances, Badr Ali’s motifs applied to USM’s iconic furniture convey an abstract sense of movement. Further décor elements and furnishings are designed by Paul Emilieu Marchesseau, Villa Hegra’s first designer in residence and a recent participant in the Mobilier National’s Nouveaux Ensembliers exhibition in Paris last fall.