© Gerber Architekten

Nobel Quran Oasis

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City, Country Al Madinah al Munawarah, Saudi Arabia
Client SA-Al Madinah al Munawarah
Architect Gerber Architekten
Services
Competition 2014, First prize
Awards WAN Commercial Award 2014

The new Quran museum for the holy city of Medina is a landscaped focal point - an oasis contrasting with the surrounding barren desert landscape. It is imbedded in a Wadi and, in taking up the topography of the dry stream bed, it reinterprets the idea of the oasis. The roof of the Nobel Quran Oasis will be formed from simple geometric forms to create a symbolic three-dimensional roof sculpture covered with golden photovoltaic elements; it recalls traditional Islamic ornamentation. The deliberate placing of landscape zones is derived from the classic garden design of the Arab world and is inspired by the central elements of Quran teaching.