In Riyadh, jet-setting architect Jason Pomeroy finds a kingdom that defies stereotypes

“I’m an international businessman! I travel the world!” pleaded the inebriated passenger, as he was being removed for disorderly conduct from the aircraft at Colombo airport en route to Riyadh. “Perhaps he was getting his fix before ‘going dry’,” I thought, as he was led away by the burly, moustached guards. After a one-hour delay and a five-hour flight later, I arrived at the dead of night in a city that also appeared, well, quite dead. “Was this why he needed a drink?”

One can easily have pre-conceived ideas of this oil-rich kingdom – that it’s a hot and arid territory of sand dunes, with larger-than-life rulers and business people contrasting a staunchly conservative society. If you thought that watching a film at a local cinema was nothing to brag about, well, that was outlawed in Saudi Arabia until only recently when the ban on cinemas was finally lifted.

I arrived in Riyadh with both my architect and academic hats firmly on for a design project and a lecture visit to King Saud University. The projects are testimony to the exciting social, cultural and spatial changes taking place in this country. Stories of the rights of women to drive, the purchase of Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting Salvator Mundi for a record-breaking US$450 million by a member of the Saudi royal family, and the creation of a new smart city have been gracing the Internet and I sensed that many of my pre-conceived notions would be overturned and my appreciation of the place greatly magnified.

The first stereotype was debunked that very morning, when I rose at 4am for a run, not out of self-will but jetlag. Jogging in the wee hours was like being back home in the UK – the air was wonderfully cold and crisp, with the early morning skies clear. After sprinting the first mile, I was relatively warmed up to continue the rest of my jog around Riyadh city – a commercial epicentre of high rise structures dotting a long straight and unyielding boulevard dedicated to big vehicles and perhaps even bigger egos.

Egos. Here, yet again, my perception was challenged by the various meetings I had across the breadth of society – from royalty, to deans, to lecturers and people on the street. Everyone showed warmth, hospitality, a genuine interest in who you were, and where you were from, and always interspersed with an incredible wit and humour that was both disarming and entertaining.

On the final day, I was determined to see beyond the four walls of a conference room, and to learn more of the local culture. Hungry for knowledge (and also just plain hungry), I asked my driver to take me to an authentic place for Kabsa – a traditional Saudi dish of chicken and flavoured rice.

“Kaabsaa…it has chicken” I said as we sped along the highway. My driver nodded enthusiastically and repeated: “Yes...Kaayfcaa. Chicken”. Thirty minutes later, we arrived outside Kentucky Fried Chicken. “There. KaayFCaa. Chicken!” I realised that my pronunciation was completely lost on my driver. After a spot of Google translate and gesticulating to pictures on my phone, he exclaimed ‘Kaabsaa’, and off we drove to Diriyah – an idyllic oasis steeped in heritage within the city.

By now, no longer thrilled by the thought of fried chicken, I plumped for a hearty mix of harmour (a local grilled fish), kibbeh (croquettes stuffed with mince), and fatoush (a popular salad). Watching the sunset over this ancient landscape seemed so much better on a fuller stomach, though I anticipate the dawning of a new kingdom will also be something worth waiting for.

Prof Jason Pomeroy is the founder of Singapore-based urbanism, architecture, design and research firm Pomeroy Studio. He also hosts the television series Smart Cities 2.0, City Time Traveller (Series 1 & 2) and City Redesign and believes that travel is a fundamental part of education. Read our full interview with Pomeroy here.