MIES - That in Aleppo Once

(Partially from ArchDaily) Aleppo is the largest city in Syria. With an official population of 2,301,570 (2005 official estimate), expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant.  For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo.  Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppo is distinct in identity, architecture and culture, all shaped by a markedly different history and geography.

To live up to its rich history, Aleppo has decided to open an international competition about the design of a cultural centre whose main program is to comprise in addition to a library also an opera and a theatre. This proposal by Marc Anton Dahmen / STUDIO DMTW is designed so that the volume of each of the three main functions, opera, theatre, and library, is optimally tailored to the specific demands of the respective utilization and clearly visible from the outside. 

The position of each function within the context depends on its interfaces with the other functions in the building as well as on the interfaces with the surrounding city and the visual contact with its important historic sites. Accordingly, all important transparent parts of the outer shell, as for instance, the background of the stage of the theatre and parts of the facade of the large reading hall, refer to the nearby world-famous citadel of Aleppo. This several thousand years old landmark therefore serves as the main cultural scenery for the new center.

Aside from these distinctive sculptural constituents of the design one identifies two further shaping elements. On the one hand, the architrave block hosts the main entrance for the pedestrian traffic and all back of house functions. On the other hand, all main functions from the first floor upwards surround an interior yard that can be accessed from the outside by foot and by car via an extended ramp. The yard forms the visual link between all functionalities and enables accessing them from one central point.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to the political turbulences in the country, the outcome of the competition was never decided and the future of the project is still open.

Still, this is a good example of how to balance inside with out, culture with shape and volume, and function with form.  It is a clean design and one that should be commended for pulling from historical context.  The hard lighting, the clean whiteness, all suggest this can only be Middle Eastern design.  The finishing flair, the realistic renderings also suggest this is what Middle Eastern design can be like as well.