Leopold Banchini is a good architect and a great friend and sends us a new project with his new office and with Noura Al Sayeh. From their new studio "Bureau A" show us this project about public space in Bahrain. As many places in large cities, public spaces have been transformed into crosses, in places for cars, spaces that expel people. In Bab al Bahrain square is the same.

Noura Al Sayeh and Leopold Banchini have completed "Bab Al Bahrain Pavilion", a temporary structure covering the entire square, built for a couple of weeks only, to reinstate a strong sense of place and redefine the square as a representative space, a roof structure of sheer fabric transforms into a shared environment, hosting lectures, movie screenings, public interviews and workshops, returning the area back to the people for gatherings and activities. Congratulations and Hat tip!!


Photography © Camille Zakharia

BAB AL BAHRAIN PAVILLION

One of the few existing public spaces in Bahrain, the Bab al Bahrain square has been progressively turned into no more than a roundabout traffic intersection, mainly dominated by the car. Still, due to its historical importance and its centrality within the island, it holds the potential to become a lively urban public space. Located at the entrance of the Suq it has the advantage of belonging to a tight urban structure which still benefits from a natural pedestrian network. Although it was once located a stone’s throw away from the sea, the square is today physically separated from it due to the ongoing land reclamation projects which have taken place since the 1950s.


Photography © Camille Zakharia

Considering the recent political events that have taken place across the region, the project seeks to question what a contemporary public space in the Arab World could look like. Recent urban development around the country has encouraged urban sprawl, privileging car over pedestrian and abandoning most of the newly created public spaces to private real estate developers within gated communities. The air conditioned mall atriums have now become the de facto public spaces leaving behind the narrow streets of the city centre and creating a vacuum of secular non-commercial open public gathering spaces within the city.


Photography © Camille Zakharia

Built for a couple of weeks only, the Bab Al Bahrain pavilion seeks to reinstate a strong sense of place and redefine the square as a representative space within Bahrain. The pavilion attempts to transform the existing square into a new shared space, acting as a 1 to 1 mock-up to encourage a debate about the future of the square. In addition to lectures, movie screenings, public interviews and workshops, it accommodates the results of an open ideas competition that was launched for the redesign of the Bab Al Bahrain square. The light translucent shading fabric which covers the entire square modifies the user’s perception of the newly-enclosed space and changes its climatic conditions. Using silver reflective thermal screening, a low-tech technology fabric used for green houses, and the existing fountain's evaporation process, it creates a welcoming microclimate. Underneath the fabric, the traffic is heavily reduced, allowing the public to reclaim the streets and gather for all sorts of activities. Large tables, built in local workshops, are the only urban furniture added to the existing square, they accommodate the competition results and architectural models as well as debates, picnics, games or informal meetings.

All images courtesy of Leopold Bianchini, Bureau-A.


Photography © Camille Zakharia

Information about project.-

Organizer.- Manama capital of Arab culture 2012, Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Architects.- Noura Al Sayeh & Leopold Banchini.
Exhibition design.- Noura Al Sayeh & Leopold Banchini.
Construction.- Syed M. Ahmed, Masy Int. Creative wrought iron factory. Bu Hussain aluminium and mirrors

 

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Leopold Banchini was born in Geneva in 1981 and is an architect graduated from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechinique Fédérale de Lausanne). He is also Master in Architecture from the University of Lausanne (2007) and graduate of the Glasgow School of Art (2004).

Is a visiting professor in the HEAD (Haute Ecole de Design et) in Geneva since 2010 and Assistant Professor at the EPFL since 2009. He has also been Archozoom project designer in 2009.

Has been placed in Lot / ek Architects (New York) between the years 2004/2005, as an assistant project Art Basel (Basel) in 2005, and as a project partner of the collective Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) that same year in Rotterdam.

He has developed his work as an architect in b720 Arquitectos (Barcelona) during the years 2007 and 2008, and Group8 Architects (Geneva) in 2009.

In addition, since 2008 part of 1to100 Architects, and architectural collective based in Geneva. Its members have been active and decisive parts in projects such as the winning participation of Bahrain at the last Venice Biennale - RECLAIM Golden Lion 2011, exhibitions such as The Gulf - OMA-AMO's participation at the Venice Biennale 2007 and publications such as AMO-Rem Koolhaas's Al Manakh. Parallel to that, they conduce many different operations ranging from architecture, to journalism, until urban design. They have teaching positions at the EPFL and the University of Arts and Design in Geneva.

Its aim is to take position and initiate reflexions upon our contemporary environment.

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