Science Oasis
1992 - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Concept

The science Oasis was part of the International Competition for the Design of the Science and Space Complex in Riyadh submission in 1992. Through several conceptual phases, the proposal was a design collaboration between Dr. Abdelhalim Ibrahim and Architect Rasem Badran. The Science Oasis Museum addresses the place of technology in traditional architecture, and also views the meaning of technology itself. First conceived as a cosmological tracking device whose form would express a physical relationship with planetary movements, this museum is also intended to act as a vivid reminder of Muslim past contributions to the science of astronomy in the past. The design claims to be a contemporary representation of New Science. Modern Architecture locked in the mechanistic scheme of representation (19th Century science) failed to produce an adequate expression of new science (relativity – Quantum) Allegoristic forms, are a continuation of the Arab contribution to Sciences (Al Khwarizmi) and are used as a basis of form that represents a contemporary Arab-Islamic mind and expression. Each of the individual galleries was initially organized in a circle around a large, elevated sphere. The sphere, in turn, was placed on a triangular pedestal reminiscent of the Mogul sundials built in India in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This design was also concerned with the environmental impact it affects. It is developed as a model for a climatic and thermal simulation, and as a framework for cosmic and natural expression. Solar Dome, wind catchers, and solar chimneys became the physical expression of the concept. Palm tree groves, earth berms, and water are also a natural expression of the landscape.