The Architecture of the United Arab Emirates

331 Pages·2006·52.37 MB·English

by  Salma S. Damluji

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T H E A R C H I T E C T U R E O F T H E
UNITED ARAB
EMIRATES
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In memory of
His Highness Shaykh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan
The founder of the new United Arab Emirates
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S A L M A S A M A R D A M L U J I
T H E A R C H I T E C T U R E O F T H E
UNITED AR AB
EMIR ATES
(cid:1)
a r n e t
P U B L I S H I N G
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C O N T E N T S
The Architecture of the Map of the United Arab Emirates vi
United Arab Emirates
Note on Transliteration viii
Published by
Garnet Publishing Ltd
8 Southern Court, South Street
Reading, RG1 4QS, UK
Text copyright ©
Salma Samar Damluji 2006
For illustrations see p. 320 Introduction 1
Salma Samar Damluji
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be
Adapting to Change 5
reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, Frauke Heard-Bey
including information storage and
retrieval systems, without permission
in writing from the publishers, except
by a reviewer who may quote brief
passages in a review.
MODERN ARCHITECTURE
First Edition 2006
Brave New Cities 23
ISBN-13: 978-1-85964-156-9
ISBN-10: 1-85964-156-3 Salma Samar Damluji
British Library Cataloguing-in- Urbanism and Town Planning 101
Publication Data
Nazar Othman Ahmad
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
Constraints and Opportunities 121
EDITORIAL Abbad Al Radi
Emma G.Hawker
Housing Development in Al ‘Ayn 139
DESIGN
Talal M. Abdullah
David Rose
Samantha Barden
Mike Hinks
Janette Hill
Neil Collier
REPROGRAPHICS
Nick Holroyd
Printed in the Lebanon
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VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
The Islamic Architecture of Dalmå Island 151
Geoffrey King
The Urban Architecture of Al Bastakiyyah 179
Keith Olroyd-Robinson
The Ancient Mosques of Ra’s al Khaymah 205
Didier Willems
The Forts and Towers of Al ‘Ayn 223
Hasan Mu˙ammad Al Naboodah
Analysis of the Square: Al Murabba‘ah 239
Abdul Sattar Al-Azzawi
In Search of the Vernacular 265
Salma Samar Damluji
Notes 309
Glossary 315
Bibliography 316
Acknowledgments 320
Index 321
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Note on Transliteration
The scheme used is that of Arabian Studies of the University of
Cambridge. Proper names and non-architectural terms which have
an accepted English spelling – e.g. Muscat, wadi, muezzin – are given
in this way.
All quotations from the Qur’ån are taken from the edition published
by Dår al ‘Arabiyyah, Beirut, 1968, translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
All ADand AH(Hijrah) conversions are drawn from The Islamic and
Christian Calendars by G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville, published by
Garnet, Reading, 1995.
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INTRODUCTION
T
he cities of the United Arab Emirates present a different criterion in terms of architectural development,
fascinating case study of the urban development urban setting and resultant ecological implications. The
which results when planning, architectural design and accelerated construction projects, encompassing the infra-
construction are wholly fashioned after the modern structure and superstructures, dictate an ongoing process
order. The study is all the more interesting when viewed of urban development which has marked an exceptional
in the context of the specific environment and the building experience with implications generally for the
cultural fabric of a desert region in Arabia that has evolution of the city, town and landscape.
undergone an unprecedented form of development since The research described in this book has taken into
the late 1960s. The coming of modern architecture and account the vernacular context through the traditional
the International Style, in the cities of Abu Dhabi forms of building that existed in the area, while examining
and Dubai in particular, was coupled with extensive underlying concepts of the ‘master plan’ studies adopted
cultivation projects implemented in an originally barren for the major city centres. This was approached by
and arid landscape bordering on the expanse of the looking at the phases of growth and change within
desert sands. The quality of change has therefore been the immediate urban fabric of the centres and the
ecological in terms of the effects seen in the built and relationship of this development with the towns and
natural environment. Each Emirate, however, represents a settlements of the periphery. However, while the master