Unbuilt
Status
Date
2009
Location
Jeddah, KSA
Team
Fouad Samara
Dean Smith
Preservation and continuity
The design of this museum for a UK based charity foundation set up for the preservation of ethnic textiles & costumes of Arabia, was developed to act not only as a home for the displayed textiles & costumes, some over 400 years old, but also as a home for society’s needy women who receive training in the artisanal vocation that keeps this tradition alive.
The proposal evolved in response to the 2,000m² triangular island site, the desire to create a sequence of domestically scaled spaces fluidly linked together around a central courtyard, and the desire to create an architecture that relates to its Hijazi heritage.
A hard shell
The solid wall wrapping around the museum is clad in recycled Mangabi stone with copper sliding gates to the front entrance porch, an interpretation of the Hijazi arabesque also found on some of the textiles & costumes displayed inside.
A soft core
The inner courtyard, seen as the soft core in comparison to the hard shell of the building, is wrapped in opening wooden shutters animating and articulating the courtyard as well as the intimate spaces inside.
