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Aerial View
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Bamiyan Cultural Centre: Metaphysics of Presence

VERNACULAR TECTONIC, LOCAL RESOURCES AND HISTORY

The design for the Bamiyan Cultural Center stems from the vernacular architecture language, tectonic and local resources. The project aims at the “building site” as a place of extraordinary history and culture being the center of artistic and religious development from the 1st to the 13th century. Strategically nested on the slope of the site’s cliff, accommodating three terraced levels, each one with open views towards the Buddha cliff, the building is conceived as a series of semi-arches connected to each other through a clerestory window that allows the penetration of indirect natural light. The different parts of the program have been arranged following the sun path to maximize irradiation during the winter season. A basic module of 5mx5mx5m has been established. This element has been placed and repeated on a Cartesian grid allowing maximum flexibility for future additions. The module changes in height to correspond to different functions: private, public, circulation. Architecturally expressed as a carved space from a block of sandstone, the module adopts a tectonic system derived from the vernacular architecture of Afghanistan. A hybrid structure of bricks on the interior and reinforced concrete on the exterior clad in sand local stone grant to build an economically sustainable system that can be easily assembled and produced by local work force.

 
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Status: Competition Entry
Location: Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan
Firm Role: Architecture
Additional Credits: PARTNER IN CHARGE: Alessandro Orsini, Nick Roseboro
PROJECT ARCHITECT: Giorgia Gerardi
TEAM: Simone Catania, Rodrigo Gonzalez, Richard W. Off, Anna Laura Pinto
CONSULTANTS: Stephen Melville – Format Engineers (Structural), Nadir Abdessemed & Krista Palen – Transsolar (Environmental Strategy)

 
Concept diagrams
Concept diagrams
Site plan
Site plan
View towards entrance
View towards entrance
View of the circulation
View of the circulation
Exhibition
Exhibition
Interior courtyard
Interior courtyard
Cross section
Cross section
Longitudinal section
Longitudinal section
Floor plan at +2545
Floor plan at +2545
Floor plan at +2552.50
Floor plan at +2552.50
Floor plan at +2555.50
Floor plan at +2555.50
Structural strategy
Structural strategy
Construction sequence
Construction sequence
North elevation
North elevation
West elevation
West elevation
Lobby
Lobby
Sculpture garden
Sculpture garden
Wall section
Wall section
Environmental strategy
Environmental strategy
View from the Buddha cliff
View from the Buddha cliff