The Kurdistan Museum, Erbil Building, New Iraq Architecture Images, Architect

The Kurdistan Museum in Erbil

History and Culture Centre, Erbil, Iraq – design by Studio Libeskind Architects

12 Apr 2016

The Kurdistan Museum

Location: Erbil, Iraq

Design: Studio Libeskind

The New Museum Will be the First Major Institution to Present the Kurds’ National Heritage to the World

The Kurdistan Museum
image : Hayes Davidson

Daniel Libeskind unveils the design for The Kurdistan Museum at the Bloomberg Businessweek Design conference in San Francisco. Libeskind will present the design for a building that will create the first major center in the Kurdistan Region for the history and culture of the Kurdish people.

The Kurdistan Museum
image : Hayes Davidson

In collaboration with the Kurdistan Regional Government (the KRG) and client representative RWF World, the team has embarked on a visionary project to share the story of the Kurdish people with the world and inspire an open dialogue for the future generations within Kurdistan.

The Kurdistan Museum
image : Hayes Davidson

“The museum aims to convey the spirit of the Kurdish people, their rich culture and the future of Kurdistan,” said architect Daniel Libeskind. “The design had to navigate between two extreme emotions: sadness and tragedy, through the weight of history, and of joy and hope, as the nation looks to the future.”

The Kurdistan Museum
image : Hayes Davidson

Situated at the base of the ancient Citadel, in the center of Erbil, Iraq, the 150,000 square-foot museum will feature exhibition spaces for both permanent and temporary exhibitions, a lecture theatre, state-of-the-art multimedia educational resources, an extensive digital archive of Kurdish historical assets, as well as community center and landscaped outdoor spaces for public use.

The Kurdistan Museum
image : Hayes Davidson

The form of the museum is created by four interlocking geometric volumes that represent the Kurdish regions: Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. The volumes are intersected by a line that is broken into two angular fragments, representing the past and future of Kurdistan. The two fragments create an emotive duality: a heavy and opaque mass, the Anfal Line, which symbolizes the genocide under Saddam Hussein; and the Liberty Line, a lattice structure filled with greenery that ascends towards the sky and culminates with an eternal flame – a powerful symbol in Kurdish culture.

The Kurdistan Museum
image : Hayes Davidson

At the junction between the Anfal and Liberty Lines is an open-air courtyard conceived as a tranquil and meditative space at the heart of the museum. The courtyard references those found in the Citadel and throughout the ancient, urban neighborhoods of Erbil. There is a water feature that extends from the landscape through the museum, bringing to mind the rivers and fertile valleys of Kurdistan. The landscape offers performance spaces, café seating, and picnic grounds where people can gather.

To realize this ambitious project the KRG asked the Emmy award-winning company RWF World to assemble
a formidable international team:

– Studio Libeskind (US) Architect
– Haley Sharpe Design (UK) Exhibition Designer
– Expedition (UK) Structural Engineer
– Atelier Ten (US) Mechanical and Environmental Engineer
– Jackson Coles (UK) Project Managers
– Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK) Consultants for Landscape and Botany
– RWF World UK/Iraq) Development, Management and Content Production
– With Tim Renwick as Project Director (London Eye, London 2012 Olympic village)

The Kurds in Iraq are currently engaged in fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), which has been covered widely by the international media. The construction of the museum will begin once the region is stabilized and the threat posed by ISIS is minimized. The Kurdistan Regional Government’s financial resources have been drained by their epic struggle, so to achieve this vision they are inviting outside financial support for the project.

The Kurdistan Museum

The Kurdistan Museum
images : Studio Libeskind

The Kurdistan Museum in Erbil images / information from Studio Libeskind

Location: Erbil, Iraq

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