Maraya
Giò Forma + Black Engineering · AlUla, Saudi Arabia · 2019
Maraya is a large concert and event hall clad almost entirely in mirrored panels that reflect the sandstone cliffs and desert landscape of AlUla. Giò Forma and Black Engineering use the near-invisible reflective envelope to reduce the building’s apparent visual weight despite its substantial volume. The simple rectilinear form becomes highly dependent on weather, light and viewpoint, often dissolving into its surroundings. Opened in 2019, Maraya is a striking example of architecture designed as a perceptual landscape device and a key component of AlUla’s rapidly developing cultural-tourism infrastructure.