Bank of Jordan

Notes

The Bank of Jordan, which was completed in 1997, occupies a conspicuous corner site in the middle of Amman. This condition poses the issue of dealing with not just two but three prominent elevations as well as with how to best "turn the corner". Jafar Tukan responds by designing a “drum-like” volume using reflective glass and placing it against the dramatic backdrop of a monumental, flat, stone volume, in which offices are located. The glass drum is accessible directly from the corner at street level. It is flanked on either side by battered walls, either defining open space or bounding building blocks.

Once inside the front door, the glass drum soars up, for half of the nine stories of the office block behind it, creating a strong visual impression. Four free standing, floor to ceiling columns, are clustered half-way inside its perimeter to support the roof of the drum, with a circular mosaic floor at their base and an impressive glass chandelier above.
Further significance of this glass drum lies in the fact that it represents a breakthrough in the technological capabilities of the construction industry in Amman. Tukan here displays mastery in using difficult techniques, such as building this curved mullion free wall. This approach is now taken for granted throughout the region, but Tukan was the first to implement it and teach others how to detail and build it.
 

Sources

Ali Abu Ghanimeh and Mario Pisani, Jafar Tukan: Architecture, Melfi (Potenza): Libria, 2001, p. 92-93.

James Steele, Jafar Tukan: Poetry in Stone, New York: Gulf Pacific Press, 2014, p. 50-51.

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