Mušhuššu

Relais Pantin, Greater Paris 2021
Site-Specific Sculpture by UV LAB

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Production Team: Khaled Alwarea, Nidal Abdo, Sameh Saad

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Made 100% of proclaimed wood Mushussu is an urban structure that resembles a mythological beast. Taking an arch form, it welcomes the people entering the Relais, a restaurant, terrace, and association.

programmed to stay for two years, a main solid structure is hidden beneath the parametric mesh. 

 

The Mušḫuššu | 𒈲𒄭𒄊 | موشوسو | is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, a horned head, a snake-like tongue, and a crest. The mušḫuššu most famously appears on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate of the city of Babylon, dating to the sixth century BCE.

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MUŠ.ḪUS, letterly means 'reddish snake', sometimes also translated as 'fierce snake 

 

Mušḫuššu is the sacred animal of Marduk and his son Nabu during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The dragon Mušḫuššu, whom Marduk once vanquished, became his symbolic animal and servant.