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It has just joined the ranks of the Guinness Book of Records as the largest mirrored building in the world. It is the Maraya Concert Hall, a 9,740 square meter cube-shaped giant located in the middle of the Al Ula desert in northwestern Saudi Arabia. There, what is considered a true "miracle" within architecture has been raised .

This spectacularity is one of the reasons why the organization of the Guinness Record has focused on him, even at this time of a pandemic caused by the coronavirus. The name of the building, Maraya, does not mean anything other than "reflection" or "mirror" in Arabic. That is the main material of the building, in such a way that it camouflages itself with the surroundings , becoming practically invisible.

The building has been designed by the Giò Forma studio.

Not surprisingly, its objective is to reflect and, incidentally, highlight the natural beauty of the desert, resulting in an architectural extension of it. This is what the Royal Commission for Al Ula (RCU), an agency dependent on the State to promote the development of the region, asked the Giò Forma architecture studio , in charge of erecting the impressive building with capacity for 500 people .

Between archaeological sites

It is not only a concert hall and other types of performances, but also hosts private and business events, as well as presentations, conferences and business meetings. The RCU general director himself, Amr AlMadani, defined this new cultural center as a space that aims to "unite nature, culture and humanity" .

The environment in which this Saudi crown jewel is located is not just any one, but the desert of the Al Ula region , an area rich in archaeological sites such as the ancient city of Madain Saleh, the first place in Saudi Arabia to be declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Furthermore, it is considered the second Nabatean vestige in order of importance in the world after Petra , in Jordan.

Openness to tourism

The development of a tourist complex in the area is due to the desire of the hermetic and repressive country to gradually open up to tourism. Not surprisingly, visas of this type did not arrive until September last year, when the archaeological site was also opened to the public .

Another view of the new Saudi concert hall.

The Maraya Concert Hall comes to add to the tourist attractions of Al Ula, blending in with the historical space that surrounds it, full of natural-carved rocks, ancient religious documents, Islamic monuments and pieces of rock art.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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