The Architecture
The concept for the award-winning architecture and interior design at Bait Al Zubair Museum was to echo traditional features that reflect the country’s historical importance and grandeur. The towers, arches, colonnades, castellations, balconies, ceilings, domes, niches, internal courtyards, windows and doors display an uncomplicated elegance associated with traditional Omani architecture. The buildings reflect the residences of their former owners and embody the Sultanate’s unique regional identity. Bait Al Bagh, the main building, and the Bait Al Oud wing are contemporary structures based on tradition concepts, and the Bait Al Oud wing represents a typical Muscat residence of the 18th and 19th centuries.
For over 5,000 years the people of Oman have built settlements in a variety of different areas: high pm mountaintops, in remote valleys, desolate deserts and along the country’s long coastline. Throughout history inhabitants have learned to cope with the hot climate, infrequent rainfall and often-formidable terrain.
At the beating heart of large oasis settlements, watchtowers, fortified houses, forts and castles proudly stand guard as bastions of days gone by. Most people do not differentiate between forts (known as ql’at in Oman) and castles (known as husn) but there is a distinct difference. Forts are military in nature whereas castles are fortified residences. There are said to be more than one thousand defensive structures still standing today, each of which has played an important role in defining Oman’s fascinating history. In homage to these icons of heritage, the main entrance to the museum was constructed to represent a fortified tower with an impressive carved door.
Mud-brick settlements that encapsulate history and human endeavour within their very walls are strewn across Oman, integrated within its diverse landscape. The Omani townhouse, where the museum’s coffee shop can be found, has been restored and renovated and symbolises the true essence of Arabia when man was in tune with nature and the environment.
Traditional dwellings feature complex multi-floored and faceted interiors and ageless design. Their thick walls still deflect the heat during summer and the cold during winter. Walls that have stood the test of time contain layer upon layer of human history, and ancient interiors display sophisticated organisation and attractive, yet functional, space-saving devices. Internal walls of rooms are divided into a series of arched or rounded niches that provided useful storage space, and the interior of the main museum building was designed to reflect these features, and allow the display of the precious exhibits to their best advantage.
In the museum’s gardens are a variety of examples of traditional dwellings constructed from palm fronds. The date palm is known as the ‘mother of Omanis’ because every part of it can be utilised. Palm frond stems were sewn together with strong rope made from the fibres in the trunk to form ventilated screens, the trunk itself was used for structural beams, and master builders of the past used their own body parts to measure the scale and proportions of their buildings.
|
|
 |
|
