Bamiyan Cultural Centre Competition I Afghanistan I 2015

Chairodo Maillet & Julien Gougeat

The Bamiyan Cultural Centre Design Competition
Organisme: UNESCO Office in Afghanistan
Concours international: Janvier 2015

Creating a building for the Barniyan Cultural Center for the UNESCO facing the Buddha Cliff is a project with great symbolic values.
The project we would like to submit is the result of a process built around some main thoughts:

In order to rise to the challenge of this competition we looked for solutions that would be satisfying with, the symbolic, the landscape integration, the functionality, the budget allocated.

Throughout the conception process we kept a strong spatial focus.

We created a compact building that perfectly fit the area which is divided in two terrace.
Taking advantage of the natural 10 meters cliff between those two terrace we created a long building that occupy entirely the width of the area from the back entrance to the belvedere facing the Buddhas.

The functional organization stacks the two main independent entities: The public and exhibition space and the study and research center.

Those two entities are represented by distinct architectural elements:
- The base with a large opening on all the length of the study and research center, allowing the access on the yard and the garden.
- The main space lighten by the shed that leads to a large terrace with a view on the area. Two vaults are spreading light within the exhibition space.

Our goal was to create a simple building with two level of interpretation.
- One within its closest environment: the implementation, the building within the land plot, the visitor journey.
- One within its broader environment: work on global landscape, being able to see the Buddhas and being seen from the Buddhas.