Art Center

The project is next to the ruins of Addiriyah, the ancient Saudi capital, made of a number of mud settlements built on the banks of the Wadi Hanifa. The area is along the slope of a rocky scarp following the layout of the Wadi, overlooking a plain land filled with fields and luxuriant palm groves.With this project we intend to restore continuity between the area and the bed of the Wadi, both by returning the slope to its natural shape and by designing the Art Centre as a permeable complex. Designed as a urban fragment arranged around a urban space continuously linked to the town offering a walkway to the valley floor. Spaces between constructed volumes, recall those of ancient Addiriyah, with its narrow streets and small-scale squares. Rigorous logic of geometry changes following the natural course of landscape. Nature indicates the shape of man-made structure rather than the opposite.Arriyadh Art Center is not only a symbolic place, reference for artists, intellectuals and entrepreneurs interested in Contemporary Art promoting it in Saudi Arabia but an engine for diversified activities assembled together to interact to multiply its effect. We can describe it as a lab, training who wants to perform an activity in the Arts but at the same time able to arrange, assist and support who already works in Saudi Arabia (artists, critics, technicians), helping their activities by creating opportunities for interaction, exchange of experiences, acting as a showcase for their works.