Atelier Christian de Portzamparc, Paris/France

Authors:
Christian de Portzamparc
Employees and Student Trainees:
Bertrand Beans, M-E Nicoleau, Andre Terzibachian, Duccio Gardelli, Burkhart Schiller, Bettina Reali, Hyun-Jung Song, Isabella Burck, Paul Chaulet, Fabiana Aravjo, Ricardo Marotta, Veronica Fiorini, Luisa Fonsela
Experts:
Acoustics: XU Acoustics, Paris/France
Scenograph: Ducks Slend, Les Pleiades/France
Structural Engineer: SIDF, Marseille/France

Explanatory report (abstract)
The main component is the desire for a lively building that can become a binding factor between the two halves of the city.
Located at the city's western entrance this building is designed to be the starting point for Amman's major urban re-development.
Where the characteristic valleys converge, the topography forms an urban space and the parks together with the major public buildings create a meeting point for Amman's citizens. The new iconic building, "DKA 2", will be the gateway to the GAM strip.
The building volume detaches itself from the hillside and its formations. It relates back to the ancient riverbed and takes on the floating sinuosity, rising up into the elemental verticality of the sites geology.
To generate the sensation of a pole of attraction, the major west- facing façade will be illuminated like an illustrated screen; a festive element radiating an atmosphere of welcome and goodwill.
The building is organized as a recumbent structure, the grand concert hall to the west leads into a large rehearsal area, then into the theater and lastly, the school of music. The separation between public and functional space follows this longitudinal axis. In accordance with the various auditoria and halls is the great plateau, which is six meters above the public entrance street level. It is the designated delivery area with an access ramp situated behind the building.
The building joints the two valleys. The landscaped and terraced roof is an urban promenade with south-north-linking footbridges: a public walkway and scenic elevated path. This recreational park-space and restaurant on the roof of the Concert Hall provides the experience of a 5th façade, visible from the adjacent hillsides.

Remarks by the jury
The entry was praised by the jury for its integration into the urban context and most solutions to the functional requirements, in particular the design of the theaters themselves. The additional functions placed on the roofscape were appreciated, although some of them may reach their limit once the technical infrastructure has to be implemented. In terms of scale and mass the scheme successfully, connects to the scale of neighboring buildings. The proposed building technologies show a clear understanding of feasibility and economy requirements.
However, due to the stacking of the program, the total gross area has been identified as significantly too large. Functional details that have not yet been solved successfully including the missing direct entrance to the theaters on ground floor level, the missing orchestra pit in the small theater, the insufficiently blocked view towards the VIP entrance and the long distance between the broadcast vehicle parking and the building.
To sum up, the approach was a successful and valuable contribution, but the stretched and stacked organization of the building is leading to both, long distances within the building and excessively large areas. In addition, the exterior expression did not achieve a seamless urban and architectural unity.