Architects:
Willy Müller Architects
Location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Principal in Charge: Willy Müller
Associate Architect: Frédéric Guillaud
Project Team: Francisco Villeda, Isabella Pintani, Simona Assiero Brá, Mariano Arias-Diez
Collaborators: Iris Cantante, Bruno Louzada, Edgardo Arroyo, Claudia Barata, Bart Hooijen, Katrine Kunstz
Structure Consultant: SBP, Schlaich Bergermann und partner, Stuttgart, Germany
Competition year: 2006
Model: ARRK,s.l., Fabio Castelblanco, Fabian Asunción
Promoter: The Organization of the Islamic Conference, abbreviated as O.I.C.
Object of the Competition: The Design for the O.I.C. Headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Type of Competition: International architectural design competition organized in two phases
* Please note that
the specific plans passed to the second phase of the competition (the
phase which the finalist would be selected), however, according to
Turks.us daily online news two European architectural firms Austrian
Bramberg &Thomas Bucher and Swiss Burchard Partners, outperformed
the designers in phase two and share the first place.
ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE HEADQUARTERS (OIC)
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
Willy Müller Architects (WMA) is a European based Architectural firm in
Barcelona, Spain with a successful project portfolio. In 2006, Willy
Müller Architects submitted their proposal for the design of the
Organization of Islamic Conference (here as referred to as OIC)
Headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The project passed to the second
phase of the competition but was not the one chosen. However, it is a
strong design where the design concept is based on the cupola. A cupola
is a small, most-often dome-like structure, on top of a building. Often
used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns
a larger roof or dome.
The cupola is an outstanding feature on squinches in front of the
mihrāb (a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that
is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that
Muslims should face when praying), which is made up of small columns
and horseshoe arches, and an elaborate shell decoration that points to
great technical mastery. The cupola roots far back in time; however, we
cannot dismiss the idea that the construction of cupolas is a Byzantine
legacy, yet we cannot rule out the possibility of the influence of
Mesopotamian cupolas on squinches probably inherited from Sassanid
architecture, which spread widely in the Islamic world in the Abbasid
era. This type of cupola spread into Ifriqiya and also appeared in
Sicily, Morocco and Egypt.
WMA perceives the cupola as a visible and powerful icon from the vast
and rich culture and history of Islamic architecture, appearing since
long ago and in very different points of the world but always under the
same common identity. It is an architectural element that has always
been reason of defiant construction solutions, technological and
scientific breakthroughs, throughout human history.
However, they had to design the cupola from a typological point of view
and not only aesthetically different from already defined typologies
which are functionally concrete and abstract, like seen in banks and
corporation office towers which are populating the skyline of every
city today. They believe that such a building should be capable of
becoming a global and international icon while simultaneously a
building of unexpected magnificence that can last for several years. In
these terms WMA designed a building not only for the place where its
stands, but for the people that it represents around the world.
The cupola designed by WMA is technically five “pillars” which
practically act as buildings and support the construction. Generally,
the construction of such a design would have been a challenge, but with
the appropriate know-how all difficulties and problems would have been
surpassed. Every “limb”, represents an orbital ring which like any
alliance symbolizes the union of Muslim nations under one common
cupola, defining the functional and interior spaces. WMA characterizes
the building as a monumental plaza, a design that confines yet opens
like a gateway the sense and purpose of the project; a great covered
Garden, ancestral and transformed simultaneously, a place of
contemplation where we can enjoy the views of the city, the sea and the
mountains.
The building is reinforced by the abstract image of its structural skin
made by steel, glass and concrete, in contrast with mirrors of water
that multiply the visual, formal and aesthetical aspects in the way
that Spanish architect, artist and engineer Santiago Calatrava creates
this organic architecture. The subtleness of the interior garden which
behind a structural mesh embraces a delicate and peaceful space where
the most important buildings of the program are located: The Plenary
Hall and the Secretary General evoke feelings of leadership and popular
representation. The final shape of the building is slightly asymmetric
and seems to be in movement; the oval plaza and the “towers” which
conform it, the general “orbits” that this project proposes, suggests
an actual vision of this ancient culture, proud and live, that demands
its place and part in the modern globalized world.
The cupola consists of 14 levels above ground and two underground
levels. It has a total height of 84.41meters above ground level and
consists of the following areas: the Conference Garden, Secretary
General, Plenary Hall, Conference Center, the Islamic Conference Plaza,
The Islamic Museum of Architecture, and various departments. In the
underground levels are the garages and the services. The program
dedicated to the Congress areas and Plenary halls of the OIC has been
designed with maximum controlled accessibility so that the city could
use and get benefit from the building for special events if desired,
optimizing to the maximum the investment in such item of
infrastructure. In the office levels, approximately 30% was reserved
for future expansion of the OIC needs and programs.
from yatzer
