King Abdulaziz Centre of World Culture || ITHRA || Dahran || Saudi Arabia || Tourism in Dammam

The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra)(Arabic: مركز الملك عبد العزيز الثقافي العالمي) also known as Ithra, is situated in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.It was built by Saudi Aramco and inaugurated by King Salman bin Abdulaziz on December 1, 2016.It is operated by Saudi Aramcoand is currently the company’s main corporate social responsibility initiativewith a focus on culture, learning and cross-cultural activities.The Center is located where the first commercial Saudi oilfield was found in March 1938.The Center incorporates a museum, children museum, library, cinema, theater, and exhibition halls.It was designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta.The Center has been listed in Time magazine as one of the world’s top 100 places to visitand attracted one million visitors in 2019.The director of Ithra is Hussain N. Hanbazazah.

The building covers 80,000 square meters with its shape being inspired by the internal structural shape of oil-bearing rock formations.The Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta designed the building and the UK professional services firm Buro Happold led the engineering design.

The levels of the building are arranged thematically and intended to suggest a progression through the ages. Areas dealing with history and the past are at the lowest levels, beneath ground level and the ground floor dealing with the present. The higher levels are mainly situated in the structure known as the Knowledge Tower, with the intention being that the knowledge communicated in the tower’s teaching rooms will equip citizens for the future.

Regarding the environmental point of view, the building was designed in accordance with prevailing LEED standards to minimize adverse ecological impact.For example, the plants in the surrounding gardens were selected from desert species and intended to minimize use of water and survive dry desert conditions.

In April 2018, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture hosted the 29th Arab League summit,this was the first time the summit had been held in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.



Museum

The museum is situated on four levels and is arranged thematically into four galleries: contemporary art, Saudi heritage, Islamic civilization, and natural history and human ecology.The contemporary art, heritage and Islamic civilization galleries operate non-permanent displays and change their exhibitions on a regular basis. From 2018-2020, the Islamic civilization gallery hosted an exhibition of Islamic art in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.