TYPE	Cultura e tempo libero    Culture and leisure facilities    Culture / Loisir
CLIENT	ThyssenKrupp Elevator
YEAR	2009 – Architectural Award
PROJECT	Con THP, Antonio Sullo, Stefania Galanti with the following advisors: Fred Forest artist of communication;Openup Consulting communication and Marketing; Targetti Lighting

The work we have imagined will have an essentially cultural vocation that we have tried to translate into an emblematic architectural realization materializing a strong, significant and symbolic sign. To achieve these objectives, in the context of a city where the buildings of great height are already very numerous, we resort to original solutions, which play on different parameters, to meet the conditions of attractiveness required.
Visual and symbolic power we see in the spherical shape.
A spherical building succeeds in standing out among the innumerable skyscrapers present in Dubai, but above all it succeeds in expressing symbolic and representative values of Arab culture as well as of countless cultures present on the planet. The circle or the sphere are, in each of their representations, symbolic images of the beginning; by analogical association they refer to what expresses a continuum without space or time, without below or above.
The suggestions and references that have guided us are many, an example for all the following verse from the Koran:

“Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.  His light is like that of a niche in which there is a lamp, the lamp is in a crystal, the crystal is like a brilliant star; its fuel comes from a blessed tree, an olive tree neither eastern nor western, whose oil seems to illuminate without even being touched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills and proposes to men metaphors. Allah is omniscient.” (Qur’an 24:35)

The sphere thus becomes a visual sign, an emanator of light, images and letters. This work, so to speak, appropriates its outer structure and, more importantly, the surface of the ground at its feet, to create the informational and event appeal sought. The work can be admired from the outside, as one would look at a fine sculpture or any fine architectural work in general. But the originality of the idea we are proposing is that from the moment we approach the building we are not only looking at a sculpture but we are fascinated by the discovery of a real show!
A “river of words” accompanies us to the building. The walk towards the building, in this landscape at the same time technological and rural, will give us a unique experience thanks to a floating walkway, a ribbon of lights. From it, visitors can lean out to discover in multiple languages and alphabets, poems, precepts and philosophical thoughts traced in letters of fire. At the same time, looking up, a series of large light dunes equipped with LED displays will communicate images and information, in perfect agreement with what emanates from the “river of words”.
Access to the building is through two bridges that cross the large concave surface of 70 meters in diameter on which the sphere is placed, introducing us to the central environment where the sensory and cultural experience to which this building is dedicated will begin. This large concave surface acts as a base for the sphere and reflects its lights and colors, animating itself in an infinite play of light and shadow.

GALLERY