Scroll And Mirror

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 02:26

The ATIRUM bureau architects developed a series of concepts for Turkestan in late autumn 2018 as a response to the task of an open international competition. “At this moment, there was a slight lull in our, as a rule, rather tense schedule, and my colleagues and I decided to take part in the competition,” Vera Butko says. - We saw an ad on Archi.ru. This kind of open competition is a good way to develop creative thinking in a team and not stagnate. They make it possible to express and work out rather bold ideas using an interesting typology as an example, in this case, an entire public-museum complex. We have a good experience of working on the project of the land of Olonkho and the "Park of Future Generations" for Yakutia, where it was also required to comprehend national identity. So the topic as a whole was close and interesting."

The super task of the competition was to comprehend the significance of the city of Turkestan as a center of culture of the Turkic peoples: symbolic and even in some way geographic and geometric. Turkestan, the Russians best known for the paintings of Vereshchagin and the words of Comrade Sukhov from "The White Sun of the Desert", is a very ancient city, about six hundred years older than Moscow. Turkestan is medieval Yassy. In the XII century, a poet and philosopher lived here, one of the first Turkic-speaking mystics of Sufism Ahmed Yassaui, whose name, as it is easy to understand, is translated as Ahmed from Yass. According to legend, he is a disciple of a disciple of the Prophet Muhammad, whose life was divinely extended in order to pass on to Yassaui the teacher's legacy in the symbolic embodiment of a persimmon bone. At the end of the XIV century, Tamerlane, defeating Khan Tokhtamysh - the one who had previously burned Moscow - in honor of his victory, built a large mausoleum over the grave of Yassaui and a mosque nearby, which later became one of the significant centers of Islam.

Mausoleums of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui (2 plan) and Rabia Sultan Begim (1 plan)

In a word, a relatively small city with a population of about 160 thousand people, traditional planning and construction mainly with houses of the "private sector" - in fact, an exceptional monument, now an application has been submitted for its inclusion in the UNESCO list. There are also quite a few recent buildings in Turkestan, mainly in the spirit of traditionalism of the 1990s, for example, a large new mosque and a university; much has appeared for the celebration of the one and a half millennium anniversary of Yass in 2000. Even then, it was clear that the city was treated as a monument - now the leadership of Kazakhstan planned to strengthen the cultural and historical component and build, in addition to the existing ones, several new complexes, namely: the Schoolchild's Palace, the Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui and the Nazarbayev-Kazakhstan Center. For this, an international competition was held, although the construction sites with which its participants worked were designated as conditional.

ATRIUM architects developed concepts on all three themes, and their proposed project for the Nazarbayev-Kazakhstan center won first place and was accepted for implementation. Although, as, incidentally, it often happens, the concept was adopted, about which the organizers notified the authors, and all other work, starting from the Project stage, in Turkestan they plan to "do on their own." Well, it will be clear what forms, including the winning project of the Nazarbayev Center, will acquire. However, the competitive projects proposed by ATRIUM are interesting precisely as a series, since even in the sketch-conceptual form they represent a fusion of a bold modern form, appropriate for the genre of a public center and a museum, and creatively rethought local traditions, especially since material for thought in Iasi / Turkestan more than enough. And the theme of a consistent combination of the new and the old, which Vera Butko and Anton Nadtochey have been doing quite well in recent years, is interesting in itself.

Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui

The competition did not imply an exact reference to the area, but the Khoja Ahmed Museum could still hypothetically appear on the square in front of his Mausoleum from the time of Tamerlane of the XIV century, with a ribbed majolica dome, carpet ornaments on the walls and an impressive arch of the entrance.

ATIRUM architects proposed two versions, and in both cases the building is three-tiered, with one underground floor, which houses the library, media zone, halls for temporary exhibitions, administration offices and technical premises. At the ground level, the authors placed an exposition dedicated to the life of Khoja Ahmed, and on the second floor - a literary museum, quotes from works and historical artifacts. The museum, therefore, in its aboveground part grows from life to creativity, and in the underground space it obeys the rules of modern museum design, where the lower tier is usually left for rooms that are also important, but do not require daylight and to one degree or another technical.

Version 1

The most elaborate and, I must admit, beautiful. The project is based on two ideas: a cosmic mirror as “the most important metaphor of Sufi philosophy”: a person contemplates himself in God, and becomes a mirror “in which God contemplates His names and properties” [Ibn Arabi, The Doctrine of Creation]. The second idea is a scroll with divine revelations sent to the prophets: the architects interpret the scroll as a substantiation of the narrative space, the linear structure of the museum, organizing the gradual movement of the viewer and the sequential perception of information about the 63 years of the teacher's earthly life, from 1103 to 1166, - then Khoja Ahmed retired to closed cell, arguing that his eyes are unworthy to see the sun. As the scroll unfolds, gradually acquainting us with the knowledge contained in it, so the exposition unfolds, leading the visitor of the museum along the route. And just as God is reflected in the purified soul of a worthy person, so, according to the authors, the soul of Khoja Ahmed is reflected in the mirror of the museum facade.

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1/3 Project logo and key phrase. Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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2/3 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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3/3 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION

Both approaches are exceptionally beautiful externally and internally, as they combine the “literary” rationale based on historical texts and expressive modern form. The mirrored facade is a volumetric structure that hugs the square of the museum from three sides. The structure is clad in perfect polished metal that perfectly reflects its surroundings - it could be compared to a screen, but at the ends it expands, forming two "sleeves" of entrances.

Музей Ходжи Ахмеда Яссауи. Вариант 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION

In the upper part, the facade is bent by a large "cornice", which, of course, looks like a cornice very distantly, since the mirror smoothly continues the vertical surface, reflecting the area surrounding the museum from above. The plinth is missing and the mirror rises straight out of the ground, making it a wonderful visual attraction. The area around it doubles in reflection, but the main thing is that one of the wings of the mirror metal shell object is aimed exactly at the direct reflection of the Mausoleum of the XIV century: the most valuable monument on the square doubles without distorting in bends, so that we can stand between the original and the reflection, seeing in mirror yourself.

Needless to say, mirror metal is one of the favorite materials of modern architecture, which is not surprising given its remarkable plastic properties. It is not used too often, but only when it is required to create an effect of significant attractiveness, which in the case of the Mausoleum square in Turkestan, perhaps, should be recognized as justified. However, the method of placing an ultramodern building in the historical environment belongs to the number of fairly old modernist finds: a building of simple forms and modern materials reflects historical buildings not by copying, but literally, like a mirror - a bow to the environment expressed in this way turns out to be respectful, but not obsequious. Polished metal in this sense is a new glass, it is more mirrored, has fewer seams and looks more like a sculptural object. Such a building is, of course, a variant of the sculpture of neo-modernism, it is flexible, fluid like mercury, but at the same time it does not see itself as an antagonist to historical monuments, on the contrary, everything is designed so that the museum becomes a mirror of a revered object, not only reflecting it, but also placing in the frame. The mirror also provides a wonderful opportunity to superimpose the outline portrait of Khoja Ahmed and the words of the title directly on the image of the Mausoleum, and not in the media and not printed on a giant banner, but alive, which is especially attractive.

From glass, the project uses not the ability to reflect, but transparency. On the fourth side, glass facades cover a labyrinth created by a flexible meander of a "scroll" of walls. They were planned to be covered with light terracotta ceramic tiles of the medieval format, reminiscent of the plinth, of which the Mausoleum itself is composed. The walls often bend and bend upward, almost in the same way as the cornice of the metal part, as if the vaults begin here, although the "cornices" support the glass ceiling, saturating the interior with natural light, forming the effect of preserved ruins: the visitor seems to be walking inside the city, preserved partly excavated by archaeologists from some ashes and covered with a glass cover. Considering that the medieval city in Yassy, unfortunately, has not survived, there are no "Bukhara streets" here, this decision looks like an appropriate compensation for feelings, especially since it does not pretend to be either the old city or the destroyed palace of the emirs, but only interprets the theme, capturing it on an emotional level.

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1/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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2/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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3/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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4/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION

The third component is, of course, azure ceramic tiles, a symbol of the medieval architecture of Central Asia. It is combined with plinth in the same way as ancient tiles are combined with real plinth on adjacent monuments. But the surfaces are laconic, and the drawing is endowed with a free asymmetry unusual for Central Asian ornaments, its crystal lattice is more flexible, although it keeps the scale. As if there, in the XIV century, the molecular structure is tougher, but now it is more mobile.

Plinth and enamel textures of the walls divide the zones of influence and enter into a dialogue, the positions of which are very distinct. Firstly, turquoise tiles are the outer surface, finishing, and the brick surface is the inner one, it must be finished, and if it is open, then we have either an imperfection or an example of vandalism, a ruined part, like on the entrance arch of the historical Mausoleum; or an image of a ruin. We see the same thing on the facades of Renaissance churches in Italy, and it must be said that the neighborhood of a perfectly finished and not decorated surface at all has become an important theme of modern architecture. In the museum project, the authors, responding to the connotations of the two themes, distribute them accordingly. Glazed turquoise - external by definition - the surface becomes the main one for a small triangular volume of cash registers, wardrobes and cafes. It is technical and is hidden from the Mausoleum by a metal "screen", but it has something in common with medieval domes, although it is more generalized - it looks like a kind of messenger, an accent from the back, where the space of the museum opens up to the city through glass. Although one can also see an element of deconstruction of the theme here: the temple, consisting of bends like columns, the interior of the museum is visible through the glass, and the dome is on the ground: it is possible that this approach distinguishes a museum, by definition more secular, from a mosque or mausoleum, which although not temples, the sacred component is important to them.

Two high enamel surfaces-brackets meet a metal volume at the entrances: why do you start to think that a steel mirror is a modern version of enamel, not only because it glitters, but also because it reflects the sky, because the cobalts on the facades were also a sign of heavenly divinity.

Inside, a kind of castling takes place. The walls form a ribbon, in the sinuses of its twists, small semi-closed mediasals appear without daylight. In the same twists are built two round stair towers, a direct quote from the Mausoleum; their inner walls are sky blue.

Climbing the stairs to the second floor, we find ourselves in the space of the literary museum, where we move along the inner side of the tape of the main exhibition, between it and the outer facade. Here the bend of the wall is turquoise, and the outer wall is metal, quotes are applied to it, but this is not the main thing - we find ourselves in the space of speculative, words and sacred texts, in a zone of a kind of sky.

Where, however, we can get out, since the bends of the balconies are united by an oval hinged path, which allows us to walk among the large brick columns of a conditional urban space, under daylight, and look at the exposition from above. Here, where there are round brick walls, there is life, a city, there may be ruins, and there may be imaginary medieval Iasi, and it is more likely the latter. Behind the wall, in a cool metal-enamel environment, is the space of thought, maxim, philosophy. In some ways, they are comparable to empores, galleries of the second tier inside the Mausoleum.

The warm shade of yellowish terracotta and the cool tone of turquoise are constantly replacing each other, as well as dark and sunlit spaces (here we recall the words of Khoja Ahmed that he is not worthy to see the sun). In a word, inside such a museum, visitors would constantly experience a kind of "contrast shower" of emotions, color and light. This contrast is characteristic of both the first "earthly" and the second "heavenly" floors, only in the library, on the minus-one tier, there is peace and tranquility, which is right, corresponds to the spirit of reading.

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1/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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2/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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3/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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4/4 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION

In short, the project - more precisely, the competition concept of the museum - looks like an etude on themes of medieval Muslim architecture, reduced to capacious modern images that do not allow talking about direct comparison with sources or, God forbid, copying, but, on the other hand, the statement is designed to be recognized and the feeling of metaphors, and pretends to actively interact with the visitor. In other words, such a museum is an attraction in itself, both outside and inside, not a frame for artifacts, although this is also, but more a museum-monument. Little is known about the life of Khoja Ahmed, mostly legends, even fewer authentic items - so the exhibits are few. Therefore, architecture actively directs the emotional impact and the change of impressions.

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1/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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2/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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3/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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4/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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5/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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6/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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7/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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8/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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9/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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10/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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11/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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12/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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13/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION
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14/14 Museum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui. Option 1 © ATRIUM + TOO NETWORK CONSTRUCTION

Option 2

The same structure of three tiers - underground, middle and upper heaven - in the second version is more emphasized and subordinated to the idea of the tree of life. Which, like the silver tree of Gondor (only gold here), meets visitors at the entrance, being placed in a high pointed arch. The whole building, as well as in the first version, is subordinated to closely merged ideas: “literary” semantic and plastic modernist.

In this case, we have before us volumes on Corbusse "legs" with a brutal concrete surface, but they are connected by lancet Muslim vaults, forming at the top, above the transparent first floor, a white silhouette, either a city or the Taj Mahal (it is also a Muslim mausoleum). Somehow it does not leave a feeling that this is how the Turkestan museum could look like in the interpretation of Le Corbusier, in his late period, during the time of the chapel in Ronshan.

The contours of the pointed arches were "spied" by the architects in the muqarnas ornament, and the pattern of asymmetric hexagons present in the ornament of the enamel part of the first version is the basis of the plan, which is grouped around three light wells. The architecture turns out to be more faceted, angular, while the 1st option is completely fluid.

In both cases, as we see, the project of the museum as interpreted by the architects ATRIUM turns into a semblance of a city, a shadow of the memory of the city that once was here - but, as befits memories, the resemblance is "removed", generalized, not a fake. By the way, according to the architects, a certain copy, just the same replica of medieval Iasi on the square is planned, and its appearance is not excluded. So: the project of the museum is rather the opposite of this idea - it develops the idea, and does not clone it.

Center Nazarbayev-Kazakhstan

This project won first place in its nomination and will probably be implemented, but, alas, according to the concept, without the participation of architects. If the project of the museum is focused on the personality of the great teacher of Sufism, then the building of the center is designed, according to the competition task, to reflect the importance of Turkestan as a center of culture of the Turkic peoples and the personality of Nursultan Nazarbayev as the leader of post-Soviet Kazakhstan.

The volume is built of several domes - symbolic yurts and is interpreted as aul, figuratively embodying the state. The central “yurt” hall, the largest, is dedicated to Nazarbayev; it has media walls, an expensive and spectacular installation. Here, as an echo of the first version of the museum, a balcony and a bridge appear in the second level. At the same time, the space is illuminated by a glass oculus, which in this case appeals not to the Roman Pantheon, but to the smoke hole in the tent.

Four other "yurts" - administration, cafe, museum hall - are smaller. Three of them are joined by a dense group in one corner, to the left of the recessed stained-glass window of the entrance. The sides of the round "yurts" are cut with glass stained-glass windows, inscribing round volumes in a rectangle. All together is covered with a "blanket" of sky-blue color with transitions and with the same mesh pattern - the roof of the building symbolically reflects the landscape of Kazakhstan, it is cut through by the main dome and the second, museum one. The roof is in use, it is assumed that visitors will be able to walk on it, the architects also proposed to arrange an amphitheater on the roof for events.

Schoolchildren's Palace

Here, the same principle is observed as in previous projects - an appeal to tradition is fused with modern trends in the design of schools and children's clubs. From modern times - an atrium with an amphitheater, open galleries instead of corridors, which means an abundance of light, a connected space of public areas, openness, multi-layeredness, and a mood for play. From tradition - a comparison with a madrasah, a Muslim school, usually built around a courtyard, whose place is now occupied by a multi-colored atrium.

The atrium connects three volumes with a thematic specialization: creative, scientific and IT-shny, which is reflected in the drawings of perforated metal on the facade of each block. Plus a conference and sports hall. An additional source for the authors was natural images: "the cellular structure of the Turkestan melon and cotton" and the landscape of the Charyn region, the Kazakh Grand canyon. The structure of the madrasah is superimposed on the drawing of rocks or cracked earth (we recall it in the plan of the second version of the museum project and in the graphics of enamel blue), so that the modern geological approach is combined with a motivated historical reference.

Four projects develop different sides of one theme - readings, even manifestations of tradition at the level of modern standards, technologies and plastics. With such a task, it is important not to "fall" into any of the extremes, to find the moment where history and modern innovation meet without conflict. Several experiences-concepts are lined up in a chain linked by a single task, which each looks at from a slightly different angle - it is interesting to consider projects together, since they are made “in the same breath”. It is possible that Muslim culture manifests itself in modern architecture more easily due to the fact that we look at it to some extent from the outside, perhaps with a Christian context it would be more difficult. Or maybe not, because the “Orthodox” context has long awaited a more daring architectural approach, which it lost due to historical trauma and patterns. In any case, the experience is interesting, and the mirror museum is the most striking example in this series of competitive projects.