King Faisal Foundation (Al Khaira)
Construction on the King Faisal Foundation Headquarters began with the establishment of the foundation in 1976. Located in the northwest sector of Riyadh, "Al-Khaira" is a two-phased multi-purpose complex and cultural center consisting of housing, offices, shops, educational facilities, a religious library, an auditorium and a mosque. The design favors the expression of an ultra-modernity, overshadowing the concern with Saudi architectural language.
In the first phase, the project is distributed in mono-programmatic block volumes that define each orientation on site. To the north, residential blocks; to the west, administrative functions; to the south and east, distinct volumes housing commercial, educational, cultural and functional program. However, this massive repartition is hollow at the ground floor level, forming open galleries and a landscaped central plaza.
In close relation to the plaza, the mosque remains the central feature of the site. On one hand, its sculptural form, minarets and cylindrical prayer hall differ from the orthogonal geometries of the rest of the complex. The vertical cylinder of the prayer hall is sliced at an angle, giving its section the appearance of a crescent moon from ground level. Its particular orientation towards Mecca also contributes to its detachment from the design's major axes.
The complex is constructed from white marble cladded concrete, steel columns and aluminum curtain walls. The general massing of the buildings reflects a deep sculptural sensibility reminiscent of Le Corbusier's juxtaposition of plain surfaces and basic solids, here the cylinder, the tower and the cube.
In 1984, the complex was expanded with the addition of its second phase containing a hotel and auditorium.
See photos of
phase 1,
phase 2 on architects' website.
World Architecture A Critical Mosaic, Middle East, Vol. 5, pp. 174-175, XXXV
Contemporary Architecture in the Arab States (Kultermann), pp. 146-147
Ashraf Salama