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Architects: AAU ANASTAS
- Area: 6 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Edmund Sumner
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Lead Architects: Elias & Yousef Anastas
Text description provided by the architects. Building upon Stone Matters, Tiamat is the latest of its experimental iterations for contemporary architecture. Above all, Stone Maters looks with hindsight at the history of stone architecture in order to better expand the possibilities of building with stone today. It relies as much on paradigmatic theories set in the 1960s, in the 17th century, or in prehistory. The understanding of stone architecture is peculiar in the sense that the material calls for an intuitive architecture: its history is not linear, and, in some cases, theories may have followed and/or contradicted already grounded and established practices of architecture.
It is within that vast context, linking techniques, history, and know-how, that Stone Matters presents Tiamat, its latest iteration. The structure brings together intrinsic geometrical properties of surfaces inspired by ridges of sand dunes, ribbed structures, and vaulted systems. It attempts to position itself at the intersection of different realms with the aim of opening up new families of possible structures made out of stone.
The structure presented is a unique architectural space with specific proportions that relate to a cavity where architectural atmospheres are proper to stone construction in terms of light, sound reverberations, climate control, and textures. However, the system presented looks more widely at combining techniques, forms, and theoretical and/or natural principles to suggest new ways of using stone in contemporary architecture.
It leans on the historical background it stems from to better anchor and desacralize its contemporary formalization. Tiamat is a creature in the making that morphs Gothic architecture, the desert sand formations, and stereotomy to transform into a powerful organism setting new standards for contemporary architecture.
