Art Jameel launches competition to design a cinema in Jeddah

A competition inviting architects and designers to submit design proposals for a new movie house in Saudi Arabia has been launched by creative organization, Art Jameel.

Art Jameel, an independent organization that supports arts, education and heritage in the Middle East, is calling for design proposals for a new cinema in Jeddah, which will be part of a 17,000-square-meter art complex called Hayy: Creative Club.

Interested professional architects, designers, or cinema specialists should register online by March 22 – successful registrants will be given a month to create their proposals.

“We are delighted today to announce this unique opportunity for architects and designers from the Gulf and around the world to take part in imagining a picture house cinema for Saudi Arabia,” Antonia Carver, director of Art Jameel, said in a released statement.

According to Art Jameel, which has offices in Dubai and Jeddah, “The competition challenges applicants from around the world to deliver turnkey design proposals for a completely fitted cinema space.”

Entrants will also have to consider “benchmarks for sustainability and technological efficiency” in their turnkey design proposals.

A panel of judges will evaluate the proposals, including architects and cinema specialists, to pick a winner and two runners-ups by the end of June 2019.

The winning team will then be awarded a contract for the development of the project, and they will be in charge of supervising its construction, according to the organization’s website. In addition, they will be given $15,000.

Throughout the deliberation process, a public series of lectures will be hosted for budding Saudi Arabia-based architects and designers.

Derived from the Arabic word for neighborhood, the Hayy: Creative Club is a three-story art complex due for completion in 2020 in northern Jeddah.

“Hayy: Creative Hub aims to contribute to the Kingdom’s 2030 vision and its mandate in nurturing a thriving, diversified cultural scene and creative economy,” Carver said.

According to Art Jameel’s website, the center “will act as an incubator for creatives and entrepreneurs — it will bring together and nurture Saudi Arabian artists, playwrights, photographers, filmmakers” and more.