Kuwait City is a mixture of contradictions. The city is rooted in tradition and history, yet has fully embraced modern and western culture, rich from oil yet littered with poverty, and is deeply religious but uniquely open in practice and thought. The Kuarium represents another addition to this image of Kuwait City. The building itself is a contradiction as an aquarium in the middle of the desert.
These programatic elements are broken up into the science center and animal hospital. These elements are categorized into horizons. The horizons offer views into the building as well as established views through the landscape. The purpose of the horizons is to expose, hide, and embed the program. As a result, the aquarium reveals and hides artificial, digital, natural, mechanical, and embedded horizons to the viewer.
