Snøhetta, cultural center, King Abdulaziz Center, auditorium, library, stone, performing arts, cinema

The playful King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture by Snøhetta is expected to be completed in 2015. It is a bold new initiative on the part of the Saudi Aramco Oil Company to promote cultural development within the Kingdom. The powerful condition of the keystone arrangement is visible from a longitudinal section – the main stone is seen to be suspended within the public areas below ground while the remaining elements reinforce this event.

Located in Dhahran in the Eastern Province the Cultural Center will provide for a wide range of activities serving the local population and becoming a cultural landmark on both a regional, national and global horizon. When completed, the project will contain diverse cultural facilities, including an auditorium, cinema, library, exhibition hall, museum and archive. The auditorium will seat 930 visitors and will provide for a wide range of events ranging from opera, symphony concerts, musicals and lectures etc. Together with the smaller cinema, this will be a unique venue for the performing arts in the Kingdom.

The library will become a center of learning containing some 200,000 books on open access and catering for all ages and categories of users. The great exhibition hall will accommodate large scale travelling exhibitions, as well as providing the setting for social events, banquets and conferences. The museum and archive facilities connect the vibrant cultural life of the center to the past and to the very roots of the society from which this center is conceived.

The museum spaces are organized around the central light. This is both a source of daylight, penetrating deep into the space, but also a source of inspiration for the architecture and content of this building.

Snøhetta, cultural center, King Abdulaziz Center, auditorium, library, stone, performing arts, cinema

Snøhetta, cultural center, King Abdulaziz Center, auditorium, library, stone, performing arts, cinema

Snøhetta, cultural center, King Abdulaziz Center, auditorium, library, stone, performing arts, cinema

 

Snøhetta, cultural center, King Abdulaziz Center, auditorium, library, stone, performing arts, cinema

Snøhetta, cultural center, King Abdulaziz Center, auditorium, library, stone, performing arts, cinema

Snøhetta, cultural center, King Abdulaziz Center, auditorium, library, stone, performing arts, cinema

 

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