PROJECT / 01
Aga Khan Museum of Islamic and Contemporary Art
An architectural exploration of Arabesque techniques, translating two-dimensional patterns into relief, spatial formations, and an innovative museum typology.
Project overview
The aesthetic and techniques found within the Arabesque are an underexplored and fertile ground for architectural design research. The techniques found in the Arabesque contain sophisticated transitions from two-dimensional pattern to two-and-a-half-dimensional relief, to fully three-dimensional and spatial formations. There are also embedded disciplinary questions of projection, drawing, and representation in architecture.
We evaluate the potential of artistic techniques in designing architecture that flows from topological surfaces and spatial arrangements, and apply these to a range of familiar architectural issues. An interrelated working method between artistic techniques, program, space, atmosphere, and materials combines to develop an innovative new museum formation.
The black Edge, which is the dominant element, is comprised of pure black marble.
The museum space follows the shape of layers, and black edges from the surface also extend inside, symbolically creating gallery spaces with atmospheres in different levels of "shadows".
Research model showing how the design generate from 2d drawings to 2.5d extrusion to 3D space.
Through machine learning and diagram analsis, two rules has been extracted: the form of the layers and the balck margins created by the layers'shadow.
Visitors can choose to visit either vertically by columns or horizontally by layers.
The rules of black edge & layer form reflected in plans.