Al Khuwair Downtown District

This masterplan provides a vision for a minimally invasive and environmentally resilient new downtown district of Muscat where the Wadi meets the sea. Freshwater and saltwater ecologies entwine to form a waterfront promenade that activates the embassy district and extends a peninsula neighborhood into the bay. Diverse histories, geographies and futures form a new urban infrastructure for Oman.

discipline

Architecture

year

2023

Location

Muscat, Oman

The reimagined Al Khuwair downtown district of Muscat is organized around the confluence of two ecologies - the Wadi and the Sea

To the east, a water treatment facility integrated with a history museum redirects the Wadi, which creates an urban-scale freshwater pool that serves to cool an open-air market and activate the embassy neighborhood throughout the day. To the west, a saltwater canal creates a lively waterfront and a peninsular neighborhood stretches out into the sea. At the center, an elevated government building shades a broad public plaza below, where the freshwater system cascades down to flush the canal.

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Urban Typology Toolkit

Typological urban conditions provide specific affordances which can be employed to navigate changing scales, uses, and micro-climate conditions.

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Aerial render foregrounding the peninsula neighborhood with the concert hall and art museum

The eastern edge of the freshwater pool terminates in a Wadi park, which gives people access to the landscape during the dry months when the Wadi is not flooding

The central plaza, shaded by the institutional building above, is an ecological and experiential confluence. The freshwater system waterfalls into the saltwater canal to aid in healthy flushing. The open-air market terminates at one side of the plaza, and the waterfront promenade begins at the other with a set of public seating that directs occupants to views of the mountains.

The saltwater canal creates a celebratory waterfront ringed by mixed use residential buildings. In the distance, a commercial tower forms a gateway to the new district from the new train line.

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Consultant Team:

Landscape Design Ken Smith Workshop

Infrastructure Systems Level Infrastructure

‍Visualization UVIZ

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Connecticut

Connecticut Business School

Architecture and Queer Superposition

Originally published in Atlantis Magazine #33.1, titled (in)visible, this essay explores lessons from quantum physics to articulate the active power of visibility in shaping marginalized communities

everywhere

Structures