AKTC
Award Cycle: 1978-1980 Cycle
Status: Award Recipient
Country of origin: Saudi Arabia
Location: Makkah, Saudi Arabia
Client: Saudi Ministry of Finance and National Economy
Architect: Rolf Gutbrod & Frei Otto
Completed: 1974
This 2'000 seat conference centre and 170-room hotel is a synthesis of advanced structural techniques and revived local artistic traditions that had become almost extinct. In their directness and simplicity, the vernacular details and finishes, such as the suspended wooden lattices, accent the machined elegance of the aluminium-clad conference centre. The latter is structurally quite sophisticated, consisting of tent-like roofs suspended from steel masts. A small mosque, also shaded by a suspended lattice, is made of local basaltic stone.