zaha hadid plans rabat grand theatre for morocco
zaha hadid architects have signed an agreement to design a new multi-purpose theater in morocco with the bouregreg valley development agency. with a dedicated land area of 47,000 square meters and a gross floor area of 27,000 sqm, the ‘rabat grand theatre’ will be equipped with a number of cultural facilities, including a 2,050-seat theater, a smaller 520-seat theater, creative studios and an outdoor amphitheater with a capacity to hold up to 7,000 people. the cost of the project is estimated at around 163 million USD.
rendered in context
image by methanoia (also main image)
the site for the projects is the geographic center between the twin cities of rabat and salè; the historic kasbag oudayas to the northwest, the ancient city of salè and airport to the north-east, chellah and the royal palace to the south-west and the proposed sequence III of amwaj development to the east.
entryway
the design takes off from the adjacent bouregreg river: in a similar dynamic manner, the landscape of the park is generated in a single gesture to engulf the amphitheater. the ground extends to the sky, resulting in a sculpted envelope over the two auditoriums and arches back down to the ground level to melt into the landscape. the form is a seamless structure, creating a spatial experience that directs the visitors intuitively through the main foyer and programs.
alongside the bouregreg river
image by methanoia
project info:
program: grand theatre, multi-purpose theatre, amphitheatre
client: agence pour l’aménagement de la valléè du bouregreg
design: zaha hadid with patrik schumacher
associate: nils peter fisher
project leader: william tan
project team: torsten broeder, martin krcha, hoda nobakhti, rafael contreras, yevgeniya pozigun, michal treder
structure engineer: adams kara taylor
MEP engineer: maxfordhamacoustics & theatre: artec consultant
facade: donnell consultants incorporated
lighting: office for visual interaction inc
site area: approx. 47,000 m2
gross floor area: approx. 27,000 m2
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Are the 90’s over yet?
This could be everywhere…..Not just Morocco.
wake up zaha
Appropriate. It’s like a cobra rising out of the Bou Regreg River. Would have liked to have seen the interior plan included. I like it d;-)
Zaha’s been criticized a lot lately, and i’m not going to defend her… i actually think that most of the things people say about her are true!! HOWEVER… to say that this building could be anywhere… that’s just not true. The forms, the way she bends this surfaces they all relate to the sites geometry, the vehicles access, etc. You can’t say something is out of context solely because it contrasts with its surroundings. The building is MEANT to be an icon. Probably not the typology i would’ve adopted, but definitely this building is well contextualized. And if you really come to think about it… Farmsworth’s house could be anywhere, so could The Villa Savoye, so could bilbaos Guggenheim, Sydney’s Opera House, and pretty much every other building. Globalization is here and it gets harder and harder every time to talk about the architectural identity of a country. At least in a formal – technological point of view.
she actually designed the theatre and opera buildings in abu dhabi and dubai that are similar if not close to identitical to this one. the question is not whether or not this could be built anywhere. the real problem is that she’s applying generic design produced with generic design processes & tools & people!
All this without even having started to talk about whether or not the form of the building is appropriate for its function!
What a surprise – a new nice, big, white, sh*t-shaped architectural piece by Zaha Hadid |-( It has nothing to do with the actual scale and characteristics of the city surrounding it. Better place it in the middle of an ocean or a desert… Preferably under the surface of the ocean or desert.
Just aweful. No consideration for it’s surroundings at all. It may be meant to be an iconic structure, but imagine the silhouette. It would look like a shapeless mound, unlike the sydney opera house or any of the other buildings mentioned by toski. They have distinct forms that are recognisable.