Pearling Site, museum and entrance to the Pearling Path by Valerio Olgiati

Swiss architect Valerio Olgiati designed a coloured concrete canopy supported by large columns to form this gateway for the Pearling Path, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bahrain in 2012.

The Pearling Path is a 3.5 kilometre (2.2 mile) trail situated close to the historic market buildings on Muharraq Island. The visitor pathway connects three oyster beds, a seashore site, and nine clusters of historic buildings that comprise a total of 17 architectural structures that were significant to Bahrain's historic pearling industry.

Swiss architect Valerio Olgiati has designed, amid the historic commercial buildings of Muharraq’s traditional market, the trail’s visitor and experience center. Although the region’s pearling economy subsided in the 1930s, the route was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 2012.

Like a hypostyle hall, the new 10-metre high concrete canopy covers a series of ruins at the entrance of the trail that were once an "amara" – a combination of warehouse, factory and marketplace.

They also cover a small building that functions as a museum for the trail.

Project description by Valerio Olgiati

The site contains ruins that form part of the UNESCO Pearling Path. The entire building functions as the entrance to the cultural heritage and the foyer for the medina. It is an urban room for the people of Muharraq with the scale of a public park. Concrete elements are placed along the property boundary to form a new locus in the dense city.

A large space is created in which a forest of columns and wind towers hold a horizontal plate 10 meters above ground. A roof, understood as an archaic gesture, donates vital shadows for the people of Muharraq in this very hot climate and produces a new and unique situation through its different scale. Slightly set back in the shadow is an enigmatic house in which the museum of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage is located. As a totality the building creates a universe in itself that is the entrance for the Pearling Path and the city beyond.

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Ground floor plan. Pearling Site, museum and entrance to the Pearling Path by Valerio Olgiati.

Roof plan. Pearling Site, museum and entrance to the Pearling Path by Valerio Olgiati.

Section centre. Pearling Site, museum and entrance to the Pearling Path by Valerio Olgiati.

West elevation of centre. Pearling Site, museum and entrance to the Pearling Path by Valerio Olgiati.

Elevation. Pearling Site, museum and entrance to the Pearling Path by Valerio Olgiati.

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More information

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Architects

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Valerio Olgiati

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Collaborators

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Sofia Albrigo (project manager), Anthony Bonnici. Local architect.- Emaar Engineering.

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Client

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Bahrain Authority of Culture & Antiquities

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Contractor

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Almoayyed Contracting Group

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Area

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Volume.- 49,855 m³ Area.- 6,726 m²

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Dates

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Begin of planning.- August 2016. Start of construction.- May 2018. End of construction.- February 2019.

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Venue / Adress

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Building 999, Road 10, Block 215, Muharraq, Bahrain.

Valerio Olgiati

Valerio Olgiati, (born 18 July 1958 in Chur) is a Swiss architect. He studied architecture at ETH Zurich. Following his studies he lived and worked first in Switzerland and later in Los Angeles. In 1996 he opened his own practice in Zurich and then in 2008 together with his wife Tamara in Flims.

The first time he received attention outside the architectural scene was in 1999 with the museum The Yellow House in Flims, Switzerland. In 2008 he created an icon with his winning competition for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm, Russia.

His most important buildings include the schoolhouse in Paspels, the visitor centre for the Swiss National Park in Zernez, the House for a Musician in Scharans, the residential complex Schleife in Zug and Villa Além in Portugal. Major projects in planning are the winery for Carnasciale in Italy, the high-rise building San Felipe in Peru, a house for a priest in Germany and a building for the head quarter of Baloise insurance company in Basel.

About his work there are numerous monographs, that have been translated into nine languages. The major solo exhibition of his work took place in 2012 at MoMa Tokyo.

Among other academic engagements he led the Kenzo Tange Chair at Harvard University, USA in 2009. Since 2002 he has been a Full Professor at the Accademia di architettura Mendrisio at the Università della Svizzera italiana.

Published on: January 7, 2020

Cite: "Pearling Site, museum and entrance to the Pearling Path by Valerio Olgiati" METALOCUS. Accessed

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