Snøhetta's Saudi King Abdulaziz Center shows signs of life after years of delays

2018-01-05T16:11:00-05:00

After years of delays and a dearth of information, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (known as Ithra) in the Saudi Arabian eastern city of Dhahran is finally getting off the ground. The long-awaited culture hub, which is funded by the Aramco oil conglomerate, should be fully open and operational by the summer.

Snøhetta won the design competition for the King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge and Culture a decade ago in 2008 and beat out rival proposals by Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas.

The Art Newspaper quotes a spokesperson for the museum, saying: "The centre is undergoing its soft opening phase after [it was] officially inaugurated by the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, on 1 December. We’re ramping up for full operations during the first half of this year."

All images courtesy of Snøhetta.

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Snøhetta's Saudi King Abdulaziz Center shows signs of life after years of delays