Built as part of the Vision 2030 project, the Middle East’s first digital immersive art center opens north of Riyadh
The vision underlying Diriyah Art Futures, the first digital immersive art center in the Middle East, was to create architecture that balances the built and natural environments, history and future. Commissioned by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, the design was the work of Schiattarella Associati, which won the Rethinking The Future – Concept 2022 award for the project. This contemporary arts hub is located north of Riyadh and near the UNESCO heritage site of Al-Turaif, the ancient capital of Najd, the desert in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula.
Housing exhibition spaces, a 12,000 m2 art studio, research laboratories, a training center dedicated to new media and languages, and accommodation for Saudi and international artists, Diriyah Art Futures is a hub for leisure, research, and innovation. It was created within the framework of the Giga Project for the transformation of the historic Diriyah area, which in turn is a part of Vision 2030, the development plan guiding Saudi Arabia’s socio-economic transformation.
As the studio’s founder, Amedeo Schiattarella, explains, “Reflecting the traditional local architecture, the complex comprises a series of compact and clean volumes, with deep and narrow passageways that create cool shaded areas. We wanted to create the impression that the architecture emerged from the earth.” This goal is also reflected in the choice of construction techniques, which demonstrate a deep knowledge of the traditional architecture of Najd and its materials, with stone, raw earth, and mud plasters featuring both inside and outside the complex.
“The result,” explains Amedeo and his children, Andrea and Paola Schiattarella, “is a highly pronounced, material-driven continuity between the ground and the buildings.” To further limit the project’s impact on the natural environment, the center was conceived as “a complex rather than a single building”.
This is a project deeply rooted in the history of the Saudi desert and its wadis, the agricultural depressions that dot the landscape. It also reflects Schiattarella’s broader vision of preserving “biodiversity in architecture,” opposing the standardization of urban landscapes produced by globalization.
The project doesn’t lack innovative elements, however. The nerve center of the complex is a large underground area, which, protected from the light and heat of the sun, houses the digital art laboratories and studios, constructed with materials that embody the contemporary edge of the project, namely, steel, glass, concrete, and timber – an unusual material for Saudi interiors. At its core is a large meeting space for artists that’s illuminated by an enormous “bell” that lets natural light penetrate deep inside.
Also designed as a bridge between the urban and agricultural areas of Wadi Hanifa, which crosses the city of Riyadh, the various buildings of Diriyah Art Futures alternate with spaces that recall the narrow streets and small plazas of ancient villages. This creates deep shaded areas that allow the wind to circulate, lowering the temperature and sheltering pedestrian paths from the sun and heat. The design harnesses solar exposure to increase performance, while energy savings are created through geothermal cooling and rainwater harvesting systems.
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Location: Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Completion: 2024
Gross Floor Area: 12.000 m2
Architect: Schiattarella Associati
Client: Ministery of Culture, Diriyah Gate Developmen Authority
Main Contractor: MARCO
Construction Project Manager: Schiattarella Associati + Saud Consult
Consultants
Structural: Proge77
Systems Engineering: Euroengineering, Drisaldi Associati, Tekser
Acoustics: P2ADESIGN
Photography by Hassan A Alshatti / Mohamed Somji / Guido Petruccioli, courtesy of Schiattarella Associati
Cover image ©Hassan A Alshatti, courtesy of Schiattarella Associati