The complex consists of the burial chamber of
Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Liberation
Organization and the first president of the Palestinian Authority, a prayer
pavilion, and landscaped gardens, all situated in a 6,550 sq.m. site. The design of the burial chamber emphasizes
openness and takes on a cubic form that is filled with light and placed on a
low pedestal in a reflecting pool. A path that begins in front of the burial
chamber divides the site into two more or less equal parts and provides access
to the prayer pavilion. The rectangular prayer pavilion is treated as a simple
meditative space.
Sources:
"2005 News: July 2005." Center
for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE), July 2005.
"2005 News: November 2005." Center for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE), November 2005.
"2005 News: December 2005." Center
for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE), December 2005.
Khouri, Rami G.
"Arafat's Mausoleum Represents a Fixed Past and a Possible Future on the Move." The Daily Star Lebanon, 25 June 2005.
Meyhöfer, Dirk, and Stephen Roche.
"Mausoleum of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, Palestine (Jafar
Tukan)." Set in Stone: Rethinking a Timeless Material.
Salenstein: Braun, 2009.
