Al Ula's New Concert Hall "Maraya"

It might be difficult to figure out exactly what you are looking at here in the first picture.  To the left is the natural sandstone rock landscape of Al Ula, Saudi Arabia.  On the right is a reflection of that landscape mirrored on the front of the new concert hall called "Maraya" which means mirror in Arabic.  You can see the entrance to the building in the lower right corner of the photo.  Two sides of the building are entirely covered in large mirrored tiles.

Perhaps you can see it a bit better from this angle.  Now you can see another part of the building as well, the white section which was used as a huge dining hall the evening before.

The above shot shows the front of the building reflecting the landscape behind me as I took the photo.  The walkway to the entrance is at the bottom and you can also see the sky at the top and the natural setting of the rocks to the right.

The above pic is one of my favorite photos that I took of the building Maraya.  The corner of the building is at the upper left section of the photo.  If you look closely, you can actually see the lines of the mirrored tile panels that cover the surface of the building.  At the bottom is the top of one of the big lanterns that line the walkway leading to the entrance of the concert hall.

To the right is the natural landscape and my friend Laura, an adventurous Finnish woman who lives in Riyadh and writes the awesome blog Blue Abaya.  Be sure to follow her on Instagram @BlueAbaya, where she has posted some amazing videos taken from helicopters over the landscape of Al Ula!  Her Twitter handle is also @BlueAbaya

Laura has also written a fabulous comprehensive guide and history of Madain Saleh with lots of fantastic photos - CLICK HERE to access it.

This last photo shows the corner of the building where the two mirrored sides meet.  To the left is the natural landscape.  The setting sun is reflecting on the side of the building to the right.  Last weekend I was fortunate to be able to attend an amazing concert in this venue as part of the Winter at Tantora Festival where I saw the fantastic Chinese pianist Lang Lang along with a phenomenal Chinese orchestra. To read more about the spectacular concert, CLICK HERE.