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Architects: Studio 44 Architects
- Area: 18700 m²
- Year: 2011
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Photographs: Margarita Yawein
The design of the Palace has double coding – it provides allusions for both Suprematist composition and also for local traditions of dwelling construction that is accentuated in the slogan for the project “Khan Shangyrak. Shelter for the youth”.
The Shangyrak is a wooden crown doming a Kasakh yurt with a central opening over the fireplace. In our project, this sacral element of a Kazakh traditional dwelling is reinterpreted as a cylinder 8 m in height and 156 m in diameter. The giant disc has openings and skylights providing natural light inside the building, into a central atrium space. It covers stepped compositions of rectangular “boxes” each containing a functional element – skating rink, museum, shooting gallery, theater, etc.
Embellished with national ornaments, the “boxes” are placed on each other reminding the viewer of felt suitcases (shabadan) – a feature of nomadic lifestyle and traditional decorations of yurt interiors. The space of the disc accommodates various hobby groups and departments of the youth centre, while the flat green roof of the building is interpreted as a walking and panoramic-view platform, simulating steppe landscape in the centre of a high-rise city.
