The Architectural Review in the Gulf - conference on Sustainable Architecture and Construction in the Middle East, Mar. 30-31, 1998

The Architectural Review staged a well attended conference on Sustainable Architecture and Construction in the Middle East at Abu Dhabi on 30 and 31 March. We asked some of the most eminent designers in the Middle East to analyse the area's problems and suggest remedies.

Sustainable design, dealing with efficient use of energy, water treatment and waste management while utilising the latest smart construction techniques, is now an essential ingredient of any new development. Architecture and planning are crucial. Construction as a whole uses more of the world's energy and material resources than any other activity. Perhaps nowhere is sustainability more problematic than in the Middle East, where an abundance of wealth and energy, with few of the restraints found in other regions such as Europe, has resulted in an urban environment that relies almost entirely on artificial support, with little reference to past life-styles which were so well adapted to natural phenomena.

With this in mind, AR organized a conference on Sustainable Architecture and Construction for the Middle East at Abu Dhabi a month ago. Its purpose was to discuss kinds of architecture and building that are economically, culturally and climatically relevant to the region, and to explore appropriate models of development. The conference attracted award-winning architects, designers and technical experts from many parts of the world.

John Gummer, environmentalist and former British Secretary of State for the Environment emphasized that 'buildings of low quality cannot provide the ingredients of sustainability'. In addition to technology, other mechanisms need to be found to use energy efficiently. His view is that sustainability is not an extra cost but a way of improving opportunities.

Suha Ozkan, Secretary General of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, spoke eloquently on the region's cultural background and contemporary evolution. He concluded that there are examples of architecture conversant with the values of Islam, and that the region has been fertile ground for the development of some of the finest expressions of contemporary architecture.

Learning from the past

In the past the natural world was the guiding design principle in the Arabian Peninsula. Examples survive of comfortable living environments answering human, social, cultural and climatic needs. Decorative and design features were concerned with privacy, security and temperature control. Courtyards and colonnades were both important, the former providing shelter from sun and wind, the latter ventilation and indirect light to living areas; and both offering security and all-important privacy. Doors, columns, capitals, roof parapets, shutters, windows, screens and wind-towers became the motifs of regional architecture.

Vernacular building was based on a simple pattern of life which oil revenues and international trade have altered beyond recognition. In the transition 'from mud village to Manhattan', few traditional buildings have survived except those kept for their historical interest. The vast majority of buildings are around 30 years old.

Khaled Asfour gave the conference what he called 'the dark side of the equation'. He attacked the way in which 'cutting and pasting' has been used in the Arab world - imposing Western building types without considering their impact on the local culture and environment. He also Believed that 'direct copying of the past is as absurd as copying from the West'. His message is that long-term education and research can assist architects to create an appropriate environment for the future tAR March 1998, p52).

The concept for planning Abu Dhabi, according to Abdel Rahan Makhlouf (appointed director of town planning in the 1960s) was to create a modern city based on plans prepared by international consultants, to take on the role of capital of the United Arab Emirates. Today, however, some 95 per cent of plots in Abu Dhabi range between approximately 25m x 15m and 30m x 30m. For multi-storey buildings with an average height of 20 floors, such plots, according to Abdel Al-Radi, a practising architect and town planner in Abu Dhabi, leave very little room for architectural manoeuvre. The result is a stereotyped repetition of building after building with no sense of urbanism. In fact, there is no Islamic high-rise tradition (barring the unique Yemeni examples, which are up to 10 storeys high but not a concept directly applicable to modern high-rise buildings).

Essence of Islamic architecture

Demands for housing have resulted in rapidly built tower blocks, providing maximum profits per unit area for Abu Dhabi citizens (only they are permitted to own land in their Emirate). This has led to poor buildings with a high turnover of tenants, as there is little incentive to sell a house or apartment. In short, the architecture reflects the power of money in a period of frantic development. Under these conditions, consultants from outside the region are the rule, rather than the exception, where 85 per cent of construction is awarded to foreign companies. Inevitably, there is a large number of tower blocks, superficially Islamicized by arches and exaggerated motifs.