The current Municipal Council building would be turned into a museum under the umbrella of the National Council of Culture, Arts and Letters, said Chairman Osama Al-Otaibi Monday.
After relocating to a new one, the old building would be preserved due to its historic significance, Al-Otaibi told a press conference. Source
I’m so glad they realized the importance of the building and won’t be demolishing it. After the decision to demolish Sawaber and the Ice Skating Rink, I wouldn’t have been too surprised if they had decided to demolish this building as well.
The Kuwait Municipality building was designed by the architect Sami Abdul Baki and constructed between 1959 and 1962 by The Arab Contractors. I tried to find information on the architect but really couldn’t find anything other than a design he had proposed for the Martyr’s Square in Lebanon that never came to be. Interestingly, the Kuwait Municipality building features arcs similar to the one in his Martyr’s Square design (check below). So either that was his design signature or, maybe since it was never executed in Lebanon he decided to implement it into this building.
If anyone knows what other buildings he might have designed in Kuwait let me know in the comments below.
Image on top and building information was taken from Modern Architecture Kuwait 1949-1989
5 replies on “Municipality Building Turning into a Museum”
Good choice, but I wonder what the museum will have…?
No idea but i hope they turn it into galleries and maybe have some sort of artists residency program. The building is located across the street from a pretty popping street filled with cool restaurants so it would make sense to try and attract those people.
This building was the original National Assembly building in the early 1960s before the parliament moved to the current building opposite the Sailor’s Village
On a related note, the original municipality building, established April 1930, (a stone throw away from the current Municipal Council) has been preserved and currently functions as a Municipal Museum.
Other buildings such as the extended Amiri Hospital building (next to Tijariya Tower) has been barricaded and will turn into a museum that covers the history of the health services in Kuwait from 1613 until the early 1960s.
In addition, Aiysha School has been fenced recently in order to be used as a museum. It was a school that was built in the 1950s and then later was utilized as a music studio. I assume it will turn into a museum about the history of music in Kuwait.
It definitely looks as if Eero Saarinen may have had a hand in the design of the structures in the above photos.
I wish the other 2 buildings residents were relocated too. Btw there is a municipality museum there which no one visits at the moment so dont expect so many visitors for this one either.