Contact Us

Use the form on the right to contact us.

You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right. 

         

123 Street Avenue, City Town, 99999

(123) 555-6789

email@address.com

 

You can set your address, phone number, email and site description in the settings tab.
Link to read me page with more information.

Ahmed-Osman-9-cover.jpg

Friendship Hall

ع fr

 

Sudan Friendship Hall

Commission date 1972
Design period 1972-1973
Completion/inauguration 1976
Classification Administration (ADM)

Owner(s)/patron(s)
Sudanese Government, Aided by the People’s Republic of China
Architect
Wang Dingzeng and Shanghai Institute of Civic Architecture
Landscape/garden designers
Shanghai Institute of Civic Architecture
Consulting engineer
Shanghai Institute of Civic Architecture

Located near the confluence of the Blue and While Nile Rivers and across from Tuti Island at Nile Street, the Friendship Hall has remained one of the most iconic and notable modernist buildings in Khartoum. The building was established as a part of a series of developmental projects executed and funded by the Chinese government as the relationship between the two countries flourished from the 1970s onwards. Following President Nimeri’s visit to China, the Friendship Hall was initiated as a request from Sudan to establish a much-needed multi-purpose conference hall in Khartoum. The project was designed by China and named the “Friendship Hall'' to reflect the countries’ diplomatic relations. The inauguration of the project in 1976 was attended by President Nimeri with a Chinese delegation. This was the third in a series of halls built by China for other countries, namely the Republic of Guinea and Sri Lanka.

The Friendship Hall was extended and renovated several times, these projects also aided by China. It now occupies an estimated 24,000 square-meters in area. The project is asymmetrical in overall layout with a free form International style. Several components of the building, such as the cinema, the main conference hall, and the banquet hall, maintain a sense of regularity. Two axes, defining the main hall and the cinema respectively, intersect at the exterior plaza. In his initial sketch, architect Wang Dingzeng repeatedly drew the primary and secondary axial lines through the masterplan, measuring asymmetries against the overall volume. The architects integrated varying functions (including conferences, theatre, cinema, banquets, offices, and exhibitions) into an organic complex.

The response of the architects to the local hot and dry climate was manifested in the design for natural light control. The architects employed two kinds of sun-shading devices to control the amount of light and heat that permeated the buildings: vertical brise-soleil on the north façade of the conference hall and hollowed-out concrete or brick screens across the façade of the horizontal platform and the cinema hall. As the complex’s main façade faces the Blue Nile in the north, there are fewer windows on the east, west and south façades, which also reduces the penetration of solar radiation.

The Ministry of Construction and Public Works oversaw the project, which was aided by 200 Chinese technicians. These engineers introduced new building technology through this project, such as a system of prefabricated cement blocks for roofing that was not previously used in construction in Sudan. Therefore, as a part of the project, the Ministry organized workshops for its staff to acquire technical expertise from the visiting construction experts.

The project’s overwhelming strength is attributable to one simple fact: the building reinterprets Islamic architectural tradition in an abstract way. The architects transformed the characteristic pointed arches into triangle forms in a pure geometric language. The Friendship Hall demonstrated an alternative, modernist understanding of Islamic architecture. This understanding is not a simple appropriation but an innovative transformation of traditional forms, offering a benchmark against which to access the China’s later architecture in the Islamic cultural context.

The Friendship Hall was one of the few modernist buildings aided by China that demonstrated a profound understanding of the local context, functional requirements, technological advancements, and cultural values. In this sense, it established its critical role in the history of modern Chinese and Sudanese architecture.

Since it was established, the Friendship Hall has played a major role in hosting political and cultural events throughout Sudan’s history whether local, regional, or international. Most notably, the voting results that led to the secession of South Sudan were announced at the Friendship Hall in 2011. More recently in 2019, the power-sharing deal was signed at the Friendship Hall. This led to the formation of a transitional government following the December Revolution.

Rapporteur
Guanghui Ding and Mai Abusalih

Relevant Archives
Shanghai Institute of Architecture Design and Research (formerly Shanghai Institute of Civic Architecture)
Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Reuters

Resources
Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Archnet. Friendship Hall. www.archnet.org/sites/43
Ali Abdalla Ali and Gaafar M. Nimeiri. "The Sudan and the People's Republic of China: An Appraisal of Trade and Aid Relations." Sudan Notes and Records 57 (1976): 50-71.
Sudan: President Nimeiry Opens New Cultural Centre Built With Major Assistance From The People's Republic Of China. 1976 www.britishpathe.com
Sudan: Heads Of State Attend Final Session Of Fifteenth Summit Meeting Of Organisation Of African Unity. 1978 www.britishpathe.com


 

Courtesy of Ahmed Osman

Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Archnet

Courtesy of Shanghai Institute of Architecture Design and Research

Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Archnet

Courtesy of mapio

Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Archnet

 

Courtesy of Shanghai Institute of Architecture Design and Research

Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Archnet

Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Archnet

 

Courtesy of Shanghai Institute of Architecture Design and Research