The Peace Palace
Introduction
The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation (also called Pyramid of Peace and Agreement) is a 77 m (62 m pyramid and 15 m garden area) high building located in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. The structure was built by Sembol"), cost 8.74 million tenge (about £35 million) and opened in late 2006.
The pyramid-shaped construction is 62 m high and is located about 15 m high from a garden area that covers the lower levels.
It was designed by Foster and Partners, Tabanlioglu") and Buro Happold engineers"). The design consists of five triangular levels, each triangle being 12 m on a side. The lower one, with three levels of triangles, is clad in granite. The upper part of two triangular levels is glazed. The stained glass design is by Brian Clarke.
The structure of the pyramid is made of steel although reinforced concrete was also used in the lower levels of the construction. The engineers had to design the building to withstand its expansion and contraction due to temperature variations of more than 80 °C, from -40 to more than 40 °C, which expand the construction by up to 30 cm.
The pyramid was built to host the World Congress of Religious and Traditional Leaders"). On the lower levels is the auditorium. The equipment design is by Anne Minors Performance Consultants and the sound and acoustics by Sound Space Design").
• - Official website of the «Palace of Peace and Reconciliation».
• - Foster + Partners Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, Astana, Kazakhstan, 2004-2006 (in English).
• - Buro Happold official site (in English).
• - Anne Minors Performance Consultants official site (in English).
• - Sound Space Design official site Archived October 6, 2006 at the Wayback Machine.(in English).
• - Hugh Pearman, "Gbion: The Pyramid of Peace: Norman Foster takes on the mantle of monumental Boullée. In Kazakhstan", expanded version of the original story in The Sunday Times (London), February 20, 2005, on hughperman.com (in English).
• - Hugh Pearman, "Architecture: A Steppe Beyond", The Times (London), September 3, 2006 (in English).
• - "Pyramid President puts on the map", The Times (London), October 17, 2006 (in English).
• - "Promote completion in Kazakhstan", Mundo Noticias Arquitectura, September 4, 2006 (in English).
• - Flickr: Peace Palace (in English).