Brutalist flying saucer reopens in Sharjah
One of the country's architecture landmarks, the Flying Saucer, has been given a new lease of life, via a renovation courtesy of the Sharjah Art Foundation and architect Mona El Mousfy of SpaceContinuum Design Studio
![sharjah flying saucer](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/S6hEQKyCXqT94LN92g7xXe-415-80.jpg)
The ‘Flying Saucer' is one of Sharjah's key Brutalist architecture landmarks. The round, striking building, which was originally constructed in the 1970s and opened in 1978 as a mixed use structure, was acquired by the Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) in 2012. Then in a state of disrepair, it has now been given a new lease of life through a thorough renovation by the foundation and architect Mona El Mousfy of SpaceContinuum Design Studio.
While the structure was originally conceived to house a one-stop-shop restaurant, newsstand, tobacconist, gift shop, patisserie and delicatessen, after the restoration and redesign, the Flying Saucer is reimagined as an art and community space with a café, library, courtyard and activity spaces.
Flagging up the region's rich architectural history and weaving through to today via a contemporary culture programme, while connecting and engaging with the local community, the project will continue to be used as a SAF venue (it has been used as such since 2015).
‘The Flying Saucer has been beloved by generations of Sharjah residents since its opening in the late 1970s. It was important that we not only preserve its characteristic structure but also restore it for our community as a space for convening, learning and creating,' says HoorAl Qasimi, SAF director. ‘While preserving the original building’s distinctive qualities, the project also adds a new layer of vibrancy to the space and allows us to better engage with communities across the emirate—an ethos that guides all of the Foundation’s architectural and historic preservation work.'
The Flying Saucer has just reopened to the public with a new site-specific, multi-media installation, ‘Nowhere Less Now 3 [flying saucer]' , by Lindsay Seers and Keith Sargent, who responded with their art ‘to the building’s space-age architecture'.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
- Danko Stjepanovic - PhotographyPhotographer
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
‘Brutalist Plants’ is a new monograph capturing the best of eco-brutalism
'Brutalist Plants,' the new book by Olivia Broome, captures concrete architecture engulfed with nature
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Art Jameel pavilion in Dubai is a dome to fight climate doom
Art Jameel pavilion by Lebanese practice theOtherDada flags sustainability in Dubai, and opened to coincide with COP 28
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah Published
-
This 1970s brutalist house in Belgium has a new life as a designer’s home and studio
1970s brutalist house Villa Stuyven is now home to creative couple Bram Kerkhofs and Lore Baeyens, providing a concrete-lined backdrop to a life of design and collaboration
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Installation SUPER LIMBO activates the empty building site of Sharjah Mall
SUPER LIMBO installation by Limbo Accra and Ivorian textile brand Super Yaya uses weaving methods to activate the paused building site of Sharjah Mall during Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah Published
-
Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023 celebrates the ‘beauty of impermanence’
The Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023, curated by Tosin Oshinowo, focuses on beauty, impermanence and adaptability; and it has just launched in the UAE
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
The finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond
For some of the world's finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond, scroll below. Can’t get enough of brutalism? Neither can we.
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Best of brutalist Italian architecture chronicled in new book
Brutalist Italian architecture enthusiasts and concrete completists will be spoilt for choice by Roberto Conte and Stefano Perego’s pictorial tour
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
East Architecture Studio, Lebanon and UAE: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023
East Architecture Studio, with a base in Lebanon and the UAE, joins the ranks of the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Ellie Stathaki Published