PRESERVING THE PAST
Three Arab architects tell Esha Nag that staying rooted to the past makes good business sense when it comes to building the future
VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE
Farid Esmaeil, one of Dubai’s few internationally acclaimed homegrown architects from the American University of Sharjah, believes that there is a lot to be learnt from regional Arabian architecture that is largely influenced by desert conditions, and cultural and regional values. Born in Kuwait, Farid grew up in Dubai and cofounded X-Architects in 2003. Since then, through his diverse portfolio of award-winning projects that range from masterplans to civic and cultural buildings to offices and private homes, he has tried to be contextual, responding to the physical environment and cultural aspect of the place where he is working. “There is a lot to learn from vernacular architecture, from Arabian architecture. It has taken people in this region thousands of years to develop these survival techniques that has helped them to live in the harsh environment. Sometimes we forget about the past and bring in ideas from other parts of the world and superimpose it here.” Farid has learnt from tradition and he has learnt from modernism. “I try and design buildings that talk to the surroundings. They have an identity and sense of belonging to the place where they belong. We learn from our region,” he explains. The old areas of Dubai, Farid believes, have good examples of Arabian architecture. “We don’t have to copy the style but we can definitely learn from it,” he says. For him a glass box with a solar panel in the desert is a parachute idea that is certainly not cool.
Growing up in the UAE, Farid drew a lot of his inspiration from the buildings in old Dubai that are built closer together to create shading over the narrow lanes that separate them, the winding alleys that create a natural-form of air conditioning, the thick walls and small windows that insulate the homes from the sun, and the wind towers and central courtyards.”
Several of the projects of X Architects -- be it the Wasit Natural Reserve Visitor Centre in Sharjah that blends with its surroundings (once a waste water and rubbish dump, the site was rehabilitated and now serves as a breeding ground for various migratory birds) or the restoration, intervention and conservation of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Khalifa House Project (SMBKH) in Al Ain or even the Welcome Pavilion in Shindaga (that uses traditional
‘‘Sometimes we forget about the past and bring in ideas from other parts of the world and superimpose it here in the desert.’’
materials and an open plan design) and the Floating Trees urban sculpture in Abu Dhabi (that uses a cloud of 100 Ghaf trees) -- are all culturally robust, place sensitive and environmentally friendly.
Even in his design of residential villas for local Emirati clients, Farid has been inspired by social and cultural values of the region. He says, “We designed a Villa for Four Ladies that was planned on the fundamental cultural elements from Emirati life. The villa provided a level of separation required between men and women in Arab society. Planned for a mother and her three daughters, the women had a control of the level of privacy between the private and public spaces. And the courtyard in the villa, again an element from Arabian architecture, acted as a cultural separation between these spaces.”
According to Farid, recipient of several international awards and a speaker at TEDx in Abu Dhabi, Harvard University, and University of Toronto, among many world renowned institutions, Dubai blends in the traditional with the contemporary, ensuring that the UAE holds on to its national identity while becoming internationally renowned for its modern visionary architecture. “Growing up in Dubai I was hugely influenced by how progressive the place is and that’s precisely its identity. The continuous change is a unique quality of Dubai. You cannot really define a specific look or feel or a specific design language of the city. Every corner of the city has something different to offer. The apartments with their deep balconies in Deira, the old villas in and around Al Fahidi, the iconic World Trade Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road, the Madinat Jumeirah, they all have their own character. They all have their own identity and that’s what makes the city special.”