KAILO: ST. CATHERINE ECO-MUSEUM & WELLNESS CENTER

The mountain fabric is perceived as the mountain folds that the building arises from. The goal is to depict how the tectonic language of the mountain plates can lead to an architectural expression that constantly morphs with the existing mountain fabric and the environmental forces that shape it.

The architectural work selects The Alchemist book by Paulo Coelho as an inspiration, where the book storyline creates the project journey. The book tells the story of a boy who went through a holistic journey that expresses the concept of self-healing through unleashing personal potential. The story has three main intertwining layers: the natural place, the people, and the transformation over time. The different compositions of these three layers create the six stages the main character goes through to “heal.” The main character passes through the healing journey, or the stages, which unfold and lead to self-mastery. The build-up of these stages manifests Holism, or Systems thinking, as defined by Christopher Alexander, where the “layers” intertwine to form a whole that the separate layers could not achieve on their own. Given the “whole” composition of the natural place and authenticity of its people, the holiness, the adventure, and the contemplation due to the dualism of the materiality and transcendence of life that the story instills throughout, the mountainous landscape St. Catherine is selected. The project aims to create a catalyst in the heart of Sinai that brings attention to sustaining the past and the living heritage, thus improving the Bedouins' life conditions. The design form aims to connect to and bring in nature, as nature is the primary healer. The space program exhibits the treasures of St. Catherine through the museum and eco-therapy spaces, being, respectively, a site healer and a user healer. The structural manifestation of the story is realized through the Folded Plates structure, for internally varying in experiences while externally looking homogeneous. The structural stiffness makes the design durable and analogical to the mountain strength.