AIA Middle East 2016 AIA Middle East International Conference November 17, 2016 in Cairo, Egypt
From Concept to Completion: How Architects & Urban Planners are shaping the Middle East
Theme:: Architecture & Sustainability
The Expression of SocioCultural Identity in ME Architecture
Presenter:
Dr. Yasser Mahgoub Adjunct Professor of Architecture, AUC
Learning Objectives • Understand the expression of identity as part of socio-cultural sustainability • Identify the different types and levels of identity expressions • Discuss examples of projects incorporating socio-cultural identity in the design
The Middle East â–şThe Middle East is a subcontinent with no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East.
The Middle East â–ş The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in the United Kingdom; it has a loose definition traditionally encompassing countries or regions in Western Asia and parts of North Africa.
UK North America
Europe Asia Near East Middle East North Africa
India
Far East
South East Asia Africa South America
Middle East Architecture
Middle East Modern Architecture
Middle East Modern Architecture
The Middle East Geography
The Middle East History
The Middle East Traditional Architecture
The Middle East Contemporary
Architecture in the Middle East
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Architecture in the Middle East
Beirut, Lebanon
Architecture in the Middle East
Tehran, Iran
Architecture in the Middle East
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Architecture in the Middle East
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Architecture in the Middle East
Cairo, Egypt
Architecture in the Middle East
Dubai, UAE
Architecture in the Middle East
Abu Dhabu, UAE
Architecture in the Middle East
Kuwait
The Middle East
Confllict Oil
Straits Traffic Unrest
Introduction • The phenomenon of expressing cultural identity in architecture is recognized in many parts of the world. • It started after the spread of the international style, during the second half of the 20th century, and intensified as a result of the spread of globalization as a dominating world view at the end of the century.
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Introduction • The phenomenon of expressing cultural identity in architecture is recognized in many parts of the world. • It started after the spread of the international style, during the second half of the 20th century, and intensified as a result of the spread of globalization as a dominating world view at the end of the century.
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Introduction • The phenomenon of expressing cultural identity in architecture is recognized in many parts of the world. • It started after the spread of the international style, during the second half of the 20th century, and intensified as a result of the spread of globalization as a dominating world view at the end of the century.
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Manuel Castells Manuel Castells states that “the construction of identities is fundamental to the dynamic of societies” and that “cultural identity is the process by which social actors build their own meaning according to cultural attributes.” 38
Charles Correa Charles Correa defines identity as a process, and not a found object. “The search for identity is a by-product of looking at our real problems, rather than self-consciously trying to find identity as an end in itself.� 39
Economic
Historical
Political
Identity Cultural
Social
Urban
ME Rapid Change
ME Rapid Change • The ME region has experienced rapid political, economic, physical and technological change during the second half of the 20th century.
Doha Skyline Development
Doha 1960
Doha 2005
Doha 2007
Doha 2010
Socio-Cultural Change • These mega projects were based on 20th century planning and architectural design theories that focused mainly on modern and technological advances.
Super Projects • This change was introduced through super projects including urban master plans, infrastructure projects and individual buildings.
Kuwait
Doha
Neighborhood
Extended Family
Individual Houses
Key Aspects of Change • A mixture of expensive materials • A range of surface treatments in terms of environmental control, • Arbitrary expression of internal functions • Range of forms • Lack of cohesion. Doha
Dubai
Kuwait
From Alleys to Streets
People
Cars
From Alleys to Streets
People
Cars
From Vernacular to Modern
From Vernacular Houses to Modern Villas
From Vernacular Houses to Modern Villas
Social
Individual
From Traditional to Modern Interiors
Traditional
Modern
Modern vs Vernacular: Climatic Responses
Sustainability
Concerns • • • • • • •
1960’s 1970’s 1980’s 1990’s 2000’s 2010’s 2015
Vernacular Energy Environment Sustainable (Economic, Environment, Equity) Green Integrated Sustainability Systems (Smart Strategies) Resilient (Change)
1960’s
1970’s
1980’s
1990’s
2000’s
2010
Vernacular
Energy
Environment
Sustainable
Green
Integrated
2015 Resilience
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Sustainability • Sustainability as 3Es: Economic, Environmental and Equity (Sociocultural).
Sustainability • Most projects focus on economic and environmental sustainability.
Sustainability • They usually ignore sociocultural sustainability due to lack of knowledge and strategies. • This is due to the difficulty to identify and design for specific people, society and culture.
Sustainable Building Design
Socio-Economic
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Levels of Socio-Cultural Aspects
Identity
Culture
Society
Family
Personal
Levels of Understanding
Levels of Socio-Cultural Aspects
Identity is constructed from the person through family, society and culture. This understanding will help architects and planners design better environments that correspond to social and cultural needs.
Levels of Socio-Cultural Aspects
• Several levels of understanding should be addressed to study and design for a specific society or culture: 1. Personal level includes the position of individual in society and culture, and privacy requirements based on gender and age. 2. Family level: includes immediate and extended family members and family members relationships and obligations. 3. Society level includes relationships between men, women, children, society, ethnicity, kinship, and nationality. 4. Cultural level includes history, language, religion, sacred and profane, traditions, customs, and costumes. 5. Identity level includes personal, social and cultural identity.
Socio-Cultural Change
Socio-Cultural Change • This transformation influenced many cultural aspects of societies through the introduction of the villa in place of the traditional courtyard houses.
Cultural Constants and Variables • The problem of current approaches to sociocultural applications is that they view culture as constant relating it to the past only and not as a variable that relates to the present and the future.
Socio-Cultural Change • Change is an integral characteristic of culture, yet cultural change is slower than techno-physical change. CORE
PERIPHERAL
“Culture is variable, designed environments respond to variable definitions of needs and priorities as expressed in varying schemata: environments are culture specific.” Rapaport
The Middle East Contemporary Culture
The Middle East Contemporary Culture
The Middle East Contemporary Culture
The Middle East Contemporary Culture
The Middle East Contemporary Culture
The Middle East Contemporary Culture
Understanding Socio-Cultural Aspects Traditional Contemporary
Culture Built Environment
Core Peripheral
Global
Islamic State/Official Arab Governmental Gulf Institutional Socio-cultural Public Technical Semi-Public Economic
Private Iconic Pragmatic
Canonic Analogic
Metaphoric Symbolic
Identity Global
Scale Islamic
State/Official
Arab
Governmental
Gulf
Institutional
Cultural Public
Technical Semi-Public
Economic
Private
Approach Iconic Pragmatic
Metaphoric
Canonic Analogic
Symbolic
Design
Purpose and Function in Design • Design of built environments should address equally the socio-cultural and techno-physical aspects of spaces. • There is a deficiency in the flow of information during the design process that tends to ignore socio-cultural aspects in favor of techno-physical aspects.
Design Considerations SocioCultural
Programmatic
Design
Formal
Technical
Design Considerations • Design methods and process should address the three dimensions equally; the techno-physical, the visual-aesthetic, and the socio-cultural.
Sociocultural
Visualaesthetic
Technophysical
The Built Environment Interior Design Architecture Landscape Urban Design Urban Planning
Architecture is not enough!
From Livable to Lovable Environments • This approach will achieve the goal of transforming Gulf cities from only Livable to also Lovable environments.
From Livable To Lovable
Expressions
THANK YOU.