Urban modernity in the contemporary Gulf : : obsolescence and opportunities / / edited by Roberto Fabbri, Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi.

• TeilnehmendeR: Fabbri, Roberto.; Al-Qassemi, Sultan Sooud.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (vii, 280 p.) :; ill.

Urban Modernity in the Contemporary Gulf offers a timely and engaging discussion on architectural production in the modernization era in the Arabian Peninsula. Focusing on the 20th century as a starting point, the book explores the display of transnational architectural practices resulting in different notions of locality, cosmopolitanism, and modernity. Contextually, with an eye on the present, the book reflects on the initiatives that recently re-engaged with the once ville moderne which, meanwhile, lost its pivotal function and meaning. A city within a bigger city, the urban fabric produced during the modernization era has the potential to narrate the social growth, East-West dynamics, and citizens’ memories of the recent past. Reading obsolescence as an opportunity, the book looks into this topic from a cross-country perspective. It maps, reads and analyses the notion of modern heritage in relation to the contemporary city and looks beyond physical transformations to embrace cultural practices and strategies of urban re-appropriation. It interrogates the value of modern architecture in the non-West, examining how academic research is expanding the debate on Gulf urbanism, and describes how practices of reuse could foster rethinking neglected areas, also addressing land consumption in the GCC. Presenting a diverse and geographically inclusive authorship, which combines established and up-and-coming researchers in the field, this is an important reference for academics and upper-level students interested in heritage studies, post-colonial urbanism, and architecture in the non-West. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Table of Contents

PREFACE: Forms of Engagement: Architectural Modernism and Heritage in the Arab Gulf States -- INTRODUCTION: Re-engaging the Modern -- PART I: RETRACING MODERNITIES -- UDO KULTERMANN’S HISTORY OF ARAB CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE -- GARDENS AND GENERATORS: Demarcating Dubai’s Modernization -- FRAGMENTARIUM: Episodes of Modernity in the Contemporary Kuwait City -- INDUSTRIAL PROMISES: Speculative Thinking for Sharjah’s Industrial Districts -- PART II: TRAJECTORIES OF GLOBAL PRACTICES -- BUILDING IDENTITY: Transnational Exchange and the Authorship of Modern Gulf Heritage -- CHANGING FACADES IN GULF CITIES: Identity, Icons, and Lamentations of Loss -- THE CORNICHE: The Representation of Doha’s Waterfront and its Institutional Buildings -- OPERATIONAL PLANNING: An Alternative View of Doxiadis’ Project in Riyadh -- HISTORY, MEMORY, AND NARRATIVES OF THE PAST AND FUTURE: The New Souks in Kuwait -- PART III: HERITAGE AND THE MODERN -- INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPHERES OF CULTURE: Modern Heritage Practices in Kuwait -- A[N] ABSENT SPACE: 1355 -- MODERNISM IN QATAR: Survival through Reuse -- URBAN PORTRAITS: Preserving the Memory of Modern Architectural Heritage in the United Arab Emirates -- CONCLUSIONS: Modernism’s Back and Forth -- INDEX.