In Conversation with Usama Al Kindi on “The Return” at Oman Design Week

Usama Al Kindi, Senior Architect at Kettle Collective, reflects on The Return, his personal project for Oman Design Week, and its contribution to Oman’s emerging design scene.

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1. Can you tell us about the project you’re presenting at Oman Design Week, and what drew you to it?

‍My project is titled “The Return”, it’s a sensory art installation that invites visitors to enter a “pre-social” state within an urban environment. I intended to create a space that interprets a “memory of the womb” to help visitors uncover their unseen selves, or rather, answer the question “who were you before becoming?”. Scent is a key component of this work because of how it helps us bridge memory or inspire awakening. Our sense of smell is one of the first senses to fully develop and it remains deeply linked to emotion and memory throughout life. I’ve always been drawn to sensory architecture, particularly the intersection of scent and space. The return is simply a curious manifestation of this.
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2. What does it mean to you to take part in the second iteration of Oman Design Week, particularly as the platform continues to take shape?‍

Taking part meant more than just a way to put my work out there, I wanted to be a contributing part of Oman’s emerging design scene. It’s easy to sit back and watch it develop from a distance, but I was inspired by the idea of shaping the community I wished I had when I was younger.

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‍3. You’ve spent many years designing at Kettle Collective in Edinburgh. How did working on an individual project for your home country influence your perspective or creative process? 

My creativity thrives on curiosity, play, and experimentation. Having the space to explore new ideas and express them through newly developed skills creates the right conditions for meaningful work. Oman has always felt like a blank canvas. While that can be overwhelming at times, it’s also incredibly freeing… and a little terrifying.

Working on an individual project for my home country allowed me to slow down and design more intuitively, without the usual layers of expectation. It reminded me of why I was drawn to architecture in the first place. Not just to solve problems, but to ask questions, test ideas, and trust feelings as much as logic. That shift in pace and perspective has been really grounding, and it’s something I’m keen to carry back into my wider practice.

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‍4. During Oman Design Week, you received a token of gratitude on behalf of Kettle Collective from the Oman Design Association. What did that recognition mean to you and what kind of design legacy do you hope to contribute to Oman in the next decade? 
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I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve been doing at Kettle Collective. It was a great honour to represent Kettle Collective, and deeply meaningful to be recognised by HRH Sayyida Meyyan Al Said in my home country during the gala dinner. I left Oman to study at the University of Edinburgh, and to see how the company has grown and developed over the decade I’ve been with Kettle Collective, especially in Oman, has been truly special. Receiving a medal for the work I’ve been doing was an unforgettable moment. It was genuinely affirming to see our work in Oman recognised in that way, and I’m really looking forward to continuing our partnership with Design Oman. It feels like a full-circle moment.

In terms of legacy, I’m not sure I’ve ever sat down and defined it so clearly. But if there’s one thing I hope to contribute over the next decade, it’s a way of thinking about design that values the immaterial as much as the physical. Comfort, joy, energy, atmosphere. The things that are harder to measure, but deeply felt. If my work helps create spaces that people connect with on that level, then I think that’s a meaningful place to leave a mark.

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