Using Kuwait as a case study and Pan Arab Modernism as a lens, this book
comes to fill two voids in the literature on Middle Eastern
architecture: one is in practice and the other is in history.
The current practice of architecture in Kuwait, the Gulf and the larger
Middle East, is typically a-contextual and lacking any understanding of
the local context. The architectural history, on the other hand, ignores
the larger context of the Middle East and the influence of Pan Arabism
is not configured into many analyses. Thus, this project seeks to tackle
both. By providing a [re]contextualizing of the architectural history
of Kuwait and bringing forgotten protagonists back into the dialogue, a
nuanced reading of Pan Arab Modern architecture emerges.
This book It aims to create a "knowledge generation" which can
[re]define how a local generation is being influence on the ground.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Prof. Eve Blau (GSD, Harvard) on the influence of Oil on Urbanism; Prof.
Michael Kubo (Univ. of Houston, Texas) on the relationship between The
Architects Collaborative (TAC) and the local Kuwaiti firm Pan Arab
Consulting Engineers (now PACE); Caecilia L. Pieri ( Associate
Researcher - Institut Français du Proche-Orient) on the influence of
Iraq modernisation in Kuwait; Prof. Iain Jackson (Univ. of Liverpool) on
the influence of British Architects on the Middle East (tropical
architecture, expertise); Prof. Hyun-Tae Jung (Lehigh University) on the
relationship between Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and PACE and the
photographic work of the artist Antje Hanebeck commission by PACE for
this project.
