The exact location of this complex is kept secret: until its concept is fully approved by the customer, the architectural bureau Sou Fujimoto Architects only reports that the project was developed for one of the cities under construction in the Middle East (however, The Architect's Newspaper clarifies that we are talking about Jeddah in Saudi Arabia). It will include numerous shopping and cultural facilities, as well as public spaces, generously landscaped and with a comfortable microclimate thanks to numerous waterfalls and reservoirs.
The architect chose the arch as the main structural and formative element. This was done as a sign of respect for traditional Islamic architecture, in the "architectural vocabulary" of which the arch occupies one of the most honorable places, and due to its exceptional versatility - even multiplied a thousand times, the arch does not lose its expressiveness.
The frame of the buildings is supposed to be assembled from modular blocks with arches with heights of 2.5, 5 and 10 meters. By varying modules of different sizes, the architect creates delicate, visually almost weightless structures, each of which allows maximum daylight to pass through and, due to the constant shift of perspective, has a unique pattern. It is no coincidence that Seo Fujimoto chose the poetic Particles of Light as the name of this project: being refracted countless times, sunlight falls on horizontal surfaces in bizarre patterns that change during the day, like a picture in a kaleidoscope. The fog, which in the hot climate of the Middle East, will inevitably appear around a system of waterfalls, organized along the entire height of the complex and conceived as a “green” alternative to air conditioners, will serve as a kind of "diffuser" of light.
So Fujimoto demonstrates the versatility of the invented design with the help of two projects at once. The first of them envisages the creation of an entire shopping street of low-rise and mid-rise "arched" houses, crowned with eight gently rising towers, giving the whole composition an expressive "pulsating" rhythm. The second project is supposed to be implemented on the seashore: openwork skyscrapers with fountains should close the perspective of the city's main avenue and become its ceremonial sea portal.
The second project is called Souk Mirage - skyscrapers are conceived as observation towers from which a breathtaking view of the surroundings will open. The structure of buildings is gradually changing, becoming more permeable to the upper floors, which, according to the architect's plan, will make the skyscrapers “dissolve” in the air and make their presence in the city skyline literally ghostly.
