Discover Germany | Business | Architect of the Month, Germany ‘Nobel Quran Oasis‘ In the future, the ‘Nobel Quran Oasis’ is due to stand amidst the barren, stony desert landscape of the enlightened town Al Madinah al Munawarah: a museum for the most important book of Islam. Such an architectural task is hardly solvable: No building’s structural shape – no matter how simple or how eccentric – can satisfy the humility of this special task and express the Quran’s dignity and significance. Based on these considerations, the drafting of a building with a certain structural shape was avoided and the structural substances were engulfed into the ground – namely through ‘digging off’ and creating hills. (First prize competition, 2014)
ARC HITE C T OF THE MON TH, GERMA N Y
‚Nobel Quran Oasis‘ Inmitten der dürren, steinigen Wüstenlandschaft der erleuchteten Stadt ‚Al Madinah al Munawarah‘ soll zukünftig die ‚Nobel Quran Oasis‘ stehen: ein Museum für das bedeutendste Buch des Islams. Eine solche architektonische Aufgabe ist kaum lösbar: Keine Bauform eines Gebäudes, sei sie noch so einfach oder auch noch so ausgefallen, kann dieser besonderen Aufgabe auch nur annährend gerecht werden, und die Würde und Bedeutung des Korans zum Ausdruck bringen. Aus diesen Überlegungen heraus wurde die Formulierung eines Gebäudes mit einer bestimmten Bauform vermieden und die baulichen Inhalte in die Erde versenkt und zwar durch ‚Abgraben‘ und ‚Anhügeln‘. (1. Preis Wettbewerb, 2014)
TEXT & PHOTOS: GERBER ARCHITEKTEN, TRANSLATION: NANE STEINHOFF
Future-orientated architecture “As architects, we want to create places that move people and awaken their longings: our buildings are meant to be contributions which are innovative, exciting and well-balanced in their simplicity and disposition of space, yet also functional and sustainable.” Prof. Eckhard Gerber With rising global population figures, our cities and global metropolises expand rapidly too. The accompanying diversity of art and culture is reflected in an almost unlimited variety of form and shape in our buildings. Alongside this, it is also necessary to find the uniform in the variety – thus, well-organised, unravelling structures in architecture, as well as in urban development with high innova82 | Issue 65 | August 2018
tive strength; aesthetic and sustainable. Since the foundation in 1966, Prof. Eckhard Gerber and his team have embraced this significant social task and have successfully realised over 250 worldwide projects since, while achieving more than 450 competition successes. Today, with 52 years of expertise, Gerber Architekten counts towards Germany’s largest and most experienced offices.
Over 190 employees currently work in five locations, Dortmund, Hamburg, Berlin, Riyadh and Shanghai. Architects and urban planners, landscape architects, engineers and interior designers, but also social scientists, futurologists and experts for sustainability are working together to find solutions for tasks that have become increasingly complex. This way, sustainable projects with a high degree of urbanistic and architectural quality, which can meet today’s diverse demands, are expected to develop.