sitr paravan | prototype a

Sitr is a freestanding typographic room divider that bridges memory, architecture, and poetics. Prototype A is composed of three vertical panels that form a quiet threshold between interior and exterior, past and present — weaving together function and narrative in a tactile, living object. Strips of dried palm fronds form the vertical warp, interlaced with metal text fragments — poetry, storytelling, and remembered speech — creating a woven surface that reads like a page of memory.

Drawing inspiration from my grandmother’s paravan in Damascus and regional Areesh structures, Sitr breathes with its surroundings, carrying stories through material and form. Rooted in both craft and language, its title Sitr (ستر) relates to stara (ستارة) — the curtain or veil — an object of concealment and revelation. In Damascus, such a divider is affectionately called a paravan, borrowed from the French paravent, reflecting how language, like craft, travels and transforms. Within these crossings — of word, material, and space — Sitr becomes a vessel for storytelling, listening, and resonance across generations and travel.