An entry to the 2018 Rifat Chadirji Prize, organised by the Tamayouz Excellence Award, which asked architects to turn the disused site of Baghdad’s Old Governorate Building into a Baghdad Design Centre, keeping the building’s damaged original façades as a memorial to an era in the city’s history. The competition drew 310 entries from 54 countries, and this entry was shortlisted and placed in the top ten.
The proposal keeps the old façade as the face of the centre and raises a new perforated block and tower above it. Behind, studios and offices line a narrow lane that opens into a courtyard with a café, planting and a central pavilion.
Axonometric sketch showing materialsStreet elevation, ink and coloured pencilStreet elevation, the retained façade below the new screened block and towerGround-floor planAxonometric sketchSketch of the raised block and towerConcept sketch
