House of Culture & Art

It’s been a while since we promoted some of the Zaha Hadid designs here on archtopia. The team of architects just keeps on providing great designs and fresh ideas all the time. Zaha Hadid Architects have unveiled recently their design for a new performing arts centre in Amman, the capital of Jordan. This concept is characteristic to the renown architect, keeping the lines that consacrated her. Although the outer skin of the building looks somewhat like a square, the inside actually draws the eye with some organic lines that amazes even the most courageous engineer.

House of Culture & Art | Outer Skin

The design of the King Abdullah II House of Culture & Art derives from the carved stone buildings and eroded rock formations at Petra in Jordan.

The following is a short press release from Zaha Hadid Architects followed by a design statement:

22 February, 2010 – At a ceremony in the Jordanian capital, His Excellency Omar Maani, the mayor of Amman, announced the new King Abdullah II House of Culture & Art by Zaha Hadid Architects – a performing arts and cultural centre that includes a 1600-seat concert theatre, 400-seat theatre, educational centre, rehearsal rooms, and galleries.

The architectural expression for the new performing arts centre has been inspired by the magnificent ancient city of Petra explains Zaha Hadid. “Petra is an astonishing example of the wonderful interplay between architecture and nature, as well as the intricate complexity and elegance of natural forms – the rose-colored mountain walls have been eroded, carved and polished to reveal the astonishing strata of sedimentation. We have applied these principles to articulate the public spaces within the centre, with eroded interior surfaces that extend into the public plaza in front of the building.”

Zaha Hadid: Performing Arts

The designs presented here in Abu Dhab, the capital of the United Arab Emirates and one of the world’s top oil producers, are to be built on an island just off the coast and include three museums designed by the celebrity architects Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel and Tadao Ando, as well as a sprawling, spaceshiplike

The project also calls for a national museum and a biennial exhibition space composed of 19 pavilions designed by smaller names and snaking along a canal that cuts through the island. Art schools and an art college are also planned.