Hala Al Ani continues to challenge her design practice through experimentation and rigorous research. She believes that the current technological and industrial circumstances are fundamentally weakening our sensitivity towards materiality. She is interested in obtaining a thorough understanding of materials in order to utilise them as a means of expression within her practice.

Hala is interested in the loss of control in design. With The Liminal Series she invites the natural process into her design, using salt formations to create a series of tables. Playing with the usability of salt as a building material, Hala gives up part of her authoritarian role by allowing the crystallisation process to dictate the formal qualities of the surface. The salt crystals are grown on metal structures to lend the material the necessary strength to be utilised in a table without controlling it. It is this juxtaposition between organic process and intentional design that triggered her enquiry.