Massive, stunning, absolutely breathtaking!
We do love rock and wood, and dramatic yet minimalist buildings, and this modern ruin of a structure gives us all that and much more.
We just cannot stop staring at that rock wall! The ever-changing play of light on the surface of the wall will surpass any artwork or even scenery. It is simply mesmerising.
There’s a wonderful, menacing, brutalist fort-like atmosphere to this structure that is the Rangers Academy Building for The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN).
It is built on the location of an abandoned lime-stone quarry on the outskirts of Jabal Ajloun, in the northern part of Jordan.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Jordanian government abandoned many of the country’s quarries for various environmental reasons, so it is delightfully fitting that this potentially ugly scar in the face of Mother Earth is now the home of the region’s first international-standard training academy for eco-tourism and environmental rangers.
The architecture celebrates the surrounding mature forest while making full use of the damage done by the quarry. Yet the entire project manages to appear magnificent and be a powerful manifestation of the idea that we can, indeed, heal and repair the damage we’ve done to nature.
In addition to the environmental academy, the building also houses a high-end restaurant and a craft shop that aim to finance the academic program.
Students and guests arrive on to the site by crossing a bridge that spans 30 meters over the quarry cave. It is apparently the longest masonry arch in Jordan and is equivalent in diameter to Hagia Sophia’s dome.
Khammash Architects was in charge of this gorgeous project. Since the 1980s, their work has ranged from master planning and urban design to tourism and sustainable projects including hotels, restaurants, museums and interpretation centers, institutional and educational buildings as well as residential projects and interior design. – Tuija Seipell.
