Preservation By Concealment: King Fahad National Library, Riyadh

This project looked at the King Fahad National Library, more precisely at the architectural intervention carried out by Gerber Architects in the year 2000, which basically boxed the existing 1986 original modernist building with a cuboid glass box that was itself covered by white membranes on a tensile stressed steel cable structure. In a highly commercial area where land prices spikes up in record times, preservation is always an afterthought-- especially for modernist buildings struggling to assert themselves into the preservation debate. Just neighboring the library is a Kenzo Tange modernist marvel structure that was built in 1985. In 2018, it was partly demolished to make way for a new development. As such, and with the fate of Tange’s building in mind, this research project puts forth an argument to view Gerber’s intervention, which basically hides the original 1986-building and conceals it, ironically as its savior.. preservation by concealment.