Project by Churui Wang
In this project, the concept is to create a journey for visitors to understand Arab-American culture from ancient times to the present.
The church, the facades and structures of three existing buildings are well preserved. The design uses the three-stage layout in the vertical direction according to the horizontal cues.
The design will consist of three parts:
The topic of the top part is peddler. This section comprises six Permanent exhibition areas, divided into three themes: printing shop, fabric shop, and grocery store. And there is a void space in the center.
The topic of the middle part is identity. A continuous public staircase circulates throughout, allowing visitors to seamlessly experience the arts education, temporary exhibitions, Arabic cultural theater and specialty restaurants.
The bottom part consists of the lobby, offices, collection storage rooms, and workshops.
The design utilizes a lightweight steel structure and corrugates panels of different densities to respond to the existing structure, with the aim to make this project float on the basis of the original history.
