The Search for Identity in a Newly Modernized City
Case Study Images
Identity: the word conjures up dozens of associations of belonging: family, hometown, interests, experiences, etc. Most of us assume that place, or location, has a significant impact on the way we identify ourselves. In the past, when people were less mobile and less aware of the larger world, this was most certainly the case: home was where you grew up, where you spent the majority of your life, where you family lived, where you had a past. More recently, through a rise in mobility and a larger awareness of the world via the internet and other communication networks, 'place' is no longer a primary ingredient in identity formation. How does this affect architecture?
A good place to observe the transition from a place-identity-laden culture to one that is becoming universal is Kuwait City. Like many Middle Eastern countries today, it has been thrust onto the world stage due to its oil reserves. Kuwait has strong cultural traditions and a deep adherence to religious rules; the design of traditional local buildings reflects both climactic needs and social mores. Traditional Arab architecture includes a variety of courtyard types, flowing water, wind scoops, density, and reflective materials like marble or glazed ceramics. The buildings are typically inward-facing and filled with symbolic patterns. The Arab Organizations Headquarters Building in Kuwait, completed in 1994, is a new building that attempts to hold onto local identity while embracing foreign tastes.
The new building is a single, large box (a) with a multi-story atrium that is intended to represent a courtyard (b). The walls and floors of the building are covered in marble and beautiful patterns associated with the Middle East (c), flowing water can be heard in the halls. However, this is where the 'Kuwaitiness' of the building stops. The descriptions of each space, available on www.arabfund.org/aohq, show an opulence that is intended to show Kuwait as a wealthy country. Through certain physical aspects, material choices, and openings look Arab, there is little reason for the design beyond the visual impression. The massive masonry exterior should act as a heat sink, but the whole building is air-conditioned, the deep-set windows should block sunlight and create a sense of privacy within the interior, but one entire face of the building is a giant opening (d). The building, and many like it, wants to base the design on the visible motifs of traditional architecture, here they lack the deep connection that traditional architecture has established to land and culture over many years. As John Steinbeck points out in The Grapes of Wrath: "How will we know it's us without our past?" This is instant architecture that only looks like it belongs, until it has to belong somewhere else.
a) Arab Organizations Headquarters Building
b) Interior Courtyard
c) Marble interiors
d) Large opening
References
I really appreciate how this case study makes us rethink identity and how architecture is a public expression of our collective identity.
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ReplyDeleteIdentity is something I feel architecture could potentially struggle with when a client is looking for an "iconic" design.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the typology or identity of "global architecture" as we begin to spread our designs outside of our home borders?
How will architecture designed and built today be identified hundreds of years later when future civilizations uncover it? Would it be identified in similar fashion like the Greek or Roman churches students study today in school?