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Riyadh Celebration Hall CompetitionDesigning architectures is not just the fulfilment of functional requirements
and/or creating formal containers that will make the building different and
recognizable. Unlike industrial design which must create items that may be
placed (sold) everywhere without loosing value, architecture needs to create
unique buildings not so much because they need to be original but because the place in which they are going to be built is unique as are unique the problems they need to solve.
 Images: © Studio Schiattarella / Tecturae Architecture finds its raison d’etre in its relationship with the site, in the physical conformation of the land, in its orientation, exposition to climate, wind and light but also with all those relationships which need to be created with the urban or natural context that surrounds it. Last but not least the site is also shaped by the values and cultural traditions of the people that inhabit it; the cultural and social logics of a people determine the directions of the choices that govern its transformations. Conjugating innovation and tradition, this appears to be the requirement currently expressed globally and each culture develops it in its own fashion.  The objective of the winning proposal was to adhere to the specific route adopted by Saudi culture. The starting data for the project was both related to the type of territory: the horizontal landscape of Riyadh, the colour of its earth, the lay of the land inset by the green Wadi’s and to the specifics of the plot I.e. the contiguity with the Green Fingers network and Earth Berm Park the morphology of the buildings around it (volumes, design consistency, location), the circulation routes, accesses, plot orientation and exposition of the road facing fronts. All this information contributes to the formation of the design idea, but the designers intended to use as a starting point the “signs” of the Saudi cultural identity, or rather the formal elements that represent it symbolically. The beduin tent was chosen as an icon and representation of the culture of Riyadh not only for its aestethic caracteristics but for the significance and values it represents in Saudi society. The tent is the living space par excellence, it represents protection and shelter but also an open space for sharing and welcoming. Solid in its being anchored to the ground yet it becomes light with the poles that hold up the canvas covering or in the cables that cross the air to brace the structure but most of all in the pattern of the canvas that arcs gently and creates deep and reassuring shadows that float lightly above the ground. The team decided to use the free floating shapes of the “canvas” that covers bedouin tents as territorial landmarks for our design. Two draperies soar from the ground and are apparently suspended above to protect with their curving shapes the underlying space of the ceremonial building.  The simple underlying volumes are organized in a hair-comb layout along a central route that starts from the entrance hall and is the distribution axis of the spatial organization of the complex. The hair-comb layout was chosen because of the orientation of the plot. The central axis that organizes the internal circulation is arranged on the north south direction with the entrance on the north side, away from the sun and protected by the pronounced overhang of the covering. The building is instead closed on the southern side to protect it from solar rays. The spaces arranged orthogonaly along the axis have a east-west orientation which enables the low light at sunset, the time of the day at which the building is used, to penetrate deeply inside the spaces, reaching in throught the glass walls and reflecting on the accentuated shapes of the curved surfaces of the canvas that covers the environments of the building, producing chromatic and chiaroscuro effects of strong impact. The lateral routes are smaller and are shaped as a tight passageways between two walls and alternate covered spaces to open ones, recalling the tight passageways of Saudi historic towns like Riyadh or Al-Ula. Oriented on the east-west directive they have a glass covering that leaves the constant reassuring perception of the canvas, the unifying architectural element of the structure. Client: High Commission for the Development of Riyadh The other competitors were: Further Information: |