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Saudi Female Interior Architects Make Fame on Instagram

Part of Architect Noura al-Ghafily's work.
Part of Architect Noura al-Ghafily's work.
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Saudi Female Interior Architects Make Fame on Instagram

Part of Architect Noura al-Ghafily's work.
Part of Architect Noura al-Ghafily's work.

Many Saudi female interior architects have recently become social media stars thanks to Instagram, which has helped them gain the fame that rival celebrities and sports champions. This has also stirred competition among interior architects who have been racing to introduce unique designs with an international twist that combines classic and modern styles.

The Saudi female interior architects fuel their presence on social media with photographs of their designs and projects, not of them. The voice and faces of many of these architects are still unknown to their audience, but that didn't prevent hundreds of thousands of people from following them. The architects see Instagram as a window to market their works, a tool to attract new clients, and a platform to share their creations.

During an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Architect Jawaher al-Muhanna, who graduated from the interior architect school at Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, and has ten years of experience, said social media platforms have significantly served them in this field, mostly Instagram which has brought them more consultancy work.

Muhanna said that Saudi female architects have gained the trust of the market, and explained that the pandemic has changed the life of many Saudis, who have become more interested in their houses' décor, and home offices for remote work.

In the Eastern Province, Architect Alaa al-Hariri has become a prominent name in the interior architect industry. She has 20 years of experience in this field. Her love for design started when she was a kid. She loved reading magazines and books about design. Today, her name is on over 150,000 projects.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hariri revealed that some of her projects were nominated for global awards and that she was praised by renowned experts in this field. Over the past three years, she focused on business designs like restaurants and cafes, because such projects require a lot of creativity, modern ideas, and materials, and must be implemented in a short time.

For her part, Architect Nora al-Ghufaily saw that the interest in interior architects has boomed lately, noting that Instagram has significantly contributed to spreading designers' works among its users, and so did Snapchat, which shares videos on the different phases of interior design. She said these apps are great platforms to market the architect and her works.

Ghufaily told Asharq Al-Awsat that although the number of female Saudi architects has remarkably increased in the few past years, the relationship among them is cooperative and not competitive. They contact each other via video calls to exchange ideas and meet monthly to share advice aimed at growing and developing their works.

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Varieties

Meet the Artemis Crew in NASA's First Astronaut Mission to the Moon in More than a Half-century

Artemis 2 crew members, from left, Mission Spc. Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, Mission Spc. Christina Koch, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover pose for a photo after the crew’s arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Artemis 2 crew members, from left, Mission Spc. Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, Mission Spc. Christina Koch, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover pose for a photo after the crew’s arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
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Meet the Artemis Crew in NASA's First Astronaut Mission to the Moon in More than a Half-century

Artemis 2 crew members, from left, Mission Spc. Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, Mission Spc. Christina Koch, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover pose for a photo after the crew’s arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Artemis 2 crew members, from left, Mission Spc. Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, Mission Spc. Christina Koch, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover pose for a photo after the crew’s arrival at the Kennedy Space Center Friday, March 27, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

The four astronauts making NASA’s next lunar leap bear little resemblance to the Apollo era.

The Americans who blazed the trail to the moon more than half a century ago were white men chosen for their military test pilot experience. This first Artemis crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian, products of a more diversified astronaut corps.

None of them were alive during NASA’s storied Apollo program that sent 24 astronauts to the moon including 12 moonwalkers. They won’t land on the moon this time or even orbit it, but the out-and-back journey will take them thousands of miles deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts ventured, promising unprecedented views of the lunar far side, The AP news reported.

Here’s a look at the Artemis astronauts whose mission aims to pave the path for future moon landings:

Commander Reid Wiseman Leading the nearly 10-day mission is a widower who considers solo parenting — not rocketing to the moon — his biggest and most rewarding challenge.

Wiseman, 50, a retired Navy captain from Baltimore, was serving as NASA’s chief astronaut when asked three years ago to lead humanity’s first lunar trip since 1972. His wife Carroll’s death from cancer in 2020 gave him pause.

He’d spent more than five months at the International Space Station in 2014, and his two teenage daughters, especially the older one, had “zero interest” in him launching again.

“We talked about it and I said, ‘Look, of all the people on planet Earth right now, there are four people that are in a position to go fly around the moon,” he said. “I cannot say no to that opportunity.”

The next day, homemade moon cupcakes awaited him, along with his daughters' support. The toughest part isn’t leaving them — “it's the stress that I’m putting on them,” he said.

Open with his daughters about everything, he recently told them where he keeps his will.

Pilot Victor Glover As one of NASA’s few Black astronauts, Glover sees his presence on the mission as “a force for good.”

The 49-year-old Navy captain and former combat pilot from Pomona, California, makes it a habit to listen to Gil Scott-Heron’s “Whitey on the Moon” and Marvin Gaye’s “Make Me Wanna Holler” from the white-dominated Apollo era.

“I listen to those for perspective,” he said. “It captures what we did well, what we did poorly.”

The ability for him now to offer hope to others is “an amazing blessing and a privilege.” Despite having one spaceflight behind him — an early SpaceX crew run to the International Space Station — he finds himself in new personal territory. His four daughters are in their late teens and early 20s, “and I spend as an much time and thought preparing them as NASA does preparing me.”

He’s hyper-focused on running “our best race so that we can hand the baton off to the next leg” — a 2027 practice docking mission in orbit around Earth between an Orion crew capsule and one or two lunar landers. The all-important moon landing would follow in 2028 with yet another set of astronauts.

Mission specialist Christina Koch The last time Koch blasted into space, she was gone almost a year, so she’s not sweating a quick trip to the moon and back.

The 47-year-old electrical engineer from Jacksonville, North Carolina, holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman — 328 days. She took part in the first all-female spacewalk during her lengthy stay at the space station in 2019.

More than any one individual, “it’s about celebrating the fact that we’ve arrived to this place in history” where women can fly to the moon, she said.

Before she got called up by NASA, Koch spent a year at a South Pole research station. Between that and her space stint, she feels she's “inoculated” most of her family and friends.

“So far, I haven't gotten too many nerves from folks. Maybe my dog, but I've reassured her that it's only 10 days. It's not going to be as long as last time.”

Her and her husband's rescue pooch is named Sadie Lou.

Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen The Canadian fighter pilot and physicist is making his space debut, stressful enough, but also serving as his country's first emissary to the moon.

“Maybe I'm naive, but I don't feel a lot of personal pressure.”

Hansen, 50, grew up on a farm near London, Ontario, before moving to Ingersoll and pursuing a flying career. The Canadian Space Agency selected him as an astronaut in 2009, and he was named to the Artemis crew in 2023.

He realizes only now how much effort it took to send men to the moon during Apollo.

“When I walk out and I look at the moon now, it looks and feels a little bit farther than it used to be,” he said. “I just understand in the details how much harder it is than I thought it was watching videos of it.”

Dangers still loom — something he’s shared with his college-aged son and twin daughters. “The most likely outcome is that we will come back safe. There’s a chance we won’t, and you will be able to move through life even if that happens,” he assured them.

Varieties

Scattered Rain Revitalizes Desert Outings, Camping in Saudi Hail

Campsites have sprung up throughout the region - SPA
Campsites have sprung up throughout the region - SPA
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Scattered Rain Revitalizes Desert Outings, Camping in Saudi Hail

Campsites have sprung up throughout the region - SPA
Campsites have sprung up throughout the region - SPA

Recent scattered rainfall across Saudi Arabia's Hail Region has drawn residents and visitors to the plains, mountains, and popular sites such as the Aja and Salma mountains, the Qana sand dunes, and the outskirts of Jubbah, revitalizing desert outings and camping while providing families and youth with a distinctive spring atmosphere.

According to SPA, campsites have sprung up throughout the region, creating vibrant social hubs centered on traditional gatherings and outdoor hospitality.

This seasonal surge in visitors increased traffic on roads leading to desert areas, as enthusiasts flock to experience the mild weather and natural scenery unique to Hail’s rainy season.

Varieties

Whale Stranded at Baltic Sea Resort Has Swum Off Sandbank. But it Isn't Safe Yet

A humpback whale swims in the Baltic Sea, accompanied by an inflatable boat, after freeing itself the night before from being stranded off Niendorf in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Friday March 27, 2026. (Marcus Brandt/dpa via AP)
A humpback whale swims in the Baltic Sea, accompanied by an inflatable boat, after freeing itself the night before from being stranded off Niendorf in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Friday March 27, 2026. (Marcus Brandt/dpa via AP)
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Whale Stranded at Baltic Sea Resort Has Swum Off Sandbank. But it Isn't Safe Yet

A humpback whale swims in the Baltic Sea, accompanied by an inflatable boat, after freeing itself the night before from being stranded off Niendorf in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Friday March 27, 2026. (Marcus Brandt/dpa via AP)
A humpback whale swims in the Baltic Sea, accompanied by an inflatable boat, after freeing itself the night before from being stranded off Niendorf in Timmendorfer Strand, Germany, Friday March 27, 2026. (Marcus Brandt/dpa via AP)

A whale that was stranded for days in shallow water at a Baltic Sea resort in Germany has swum free from a sandbank overnight after a last-ditch rescue effort. But it isn't out of danger yet.

An excavator spent Thursday digging an escape channel. The whale then swam through it overnight, marine biologist Robert Marc Lehmann said Friday, German news agency dpa reported.

But he cautioned that it was only a small step in the right direction for the marine mammal, which is 12-15 meters (39-49 feet) long, and that it will only really be at home again if it reaches the Atlantic Ocean.

The whale was spotted stuck on an underwater sandbank in Timmendorfer Strand, a popular resort town, on Monday morning. Initial efforts to free it and coax it back toward deeper water, including using coast guard and fire department boats to create large waves, were unsuccessful. The Baltic Sea lacks strong tides that could have freed the whale.

On Thursday morning, rescuers brought in excavators to dig a trench in front of the whale's head, while Lehmann approached the animal and guided the digging. They worked until well after sunset, but hadn't quite been able to get the whale out by the time they had to stop work for the night.

Early on Friday morning, the whale was on its way out of Lübeck Bay, where Timmendorfer Strand is located, said Stephanie Gross of the Institute of Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research. She said the massive mammal, which was about 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) off the coast, was being accompanied by a coast guard ship and several boats.

Experts assume that the whale is a young male, as males, unlike females, tend to migrate. It also appeared to be the same whale that was spotted several times in the port of Wismar, east of Timmendorfer Strand, in recent weeks.

It was not immediately clear why the whale was in the area and got stranded.

Humpback whales aren't native to the Baltic. This one faces a journey of several hundred kilometers (miles) through German and Danish waters if it is to reach the North Sea.