Saudi Arabia‘s AlUla, the world’s largest living museum, has announced architects Lina Ghotmeh and Asif Khan for two major museums.
Both architects were selected by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) via an international competition.
Ghotmeh will design the destination’s new contemporary art museum, while Khan will design the museum of the ‘incense road’.
Currently working on the renewal of the Barbican Centre and the new London Museum, Khan is known for his radical approach to architecture. Ghotmeh is designing the Serpentine Pavilion 2023.
The museums are the first of 15 cultural assets being developed for AlUla. It was reported earlier this year that Paris’ Centre Pompidou is partnering with Saudi Arabia on AlUla’s contemporary art museum.
Architect Khaled Azzam, who serves on RCU’s board of directors, said: “AlUla is a spectacular landscape of discovery, where heritage, works of nature and humankind combine to reveal a long and intimate relationship between people and their environment.”
Ghotmeh said the contemporary art museum will immerse visitors “in a creative journey from the desert expanse to the lush cultural oasis of AlUla, interweaving the natural environment, agriculture and art to reveal the heart of contemporary culture”.
“Through a series of garden pavilions, the museum presents a constant interplay between art and nature, capturing the essence of this unique place,” she added.
Khan said his design “takes the form of a public space, not a museum within walls… with galleries and spaces for sensory experiences and learning”.
He added: “The mountains are a constant background, whose sand dunes reach down to greet the edges of the museum, while stepped terraces of gardens act as a new interface between the village and the oasis.”
World’s largest living museum
The contemporary art museum will feature a series of artist-designed gardens and will be situated among vegetable gardens, palm groves, mountain ranges and an ancient settlement.
The museum of the incense road will be the world’s first museum dedicated to the incense trade route, an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes.
RCU is investing $5.2 billion in the first phase of AlUla, which is due to complete in 2023. It is working alongside the French government agency Afalula on the $15bn project.
Located 1,100 kilometres from Riyadh, AlUla covers an area of 22,561 square kilometres and includes ancient cultural heritage sites such as Hegra, the kingdom‘s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
AlUla’s first masterplan was unveiled in 2021 by Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
Images: RCU
