RIYADH MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER

Abstract

Museum and cultural center functions as an important element in preserving the cultural and heritage value of a country or tourist site. This cultural center makes an important contribution to heritage tourism around the world. Riyadh is Saudi Arabia's capital and an influential destination for Saudi Arabia's cultural heritage festival for tourists worldwide. Thus, this work proposes development of a museum and cultural center at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In this study, 4 cases studies were analysed for the development of the cultural center. Based on the case studies, the estimated area for development is 90000 m2 with building gross area of 15500 m2 and park area of 74500 m2. The museum and cultural center is comprised of several zones such as museum, exhibition, library, conference area, auditorium and other amenities. In this work, 3 sites were proposed for development and the most suitable site was selected based on site evaluation analysis. The results of the site evaluation analysis showed that site 3 exhibited the highest score of 78. This site is located at the King Abdullah Financial District. This museum and cultural center was designed based on the trunk design of the palm tree, based on the element of nature. This museum and cultural center is expected to be the main tourism attraction in Riyadh and will contribute to Saudi Arabia's economy.