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Architectural Initiative for Rebuilding Destructed Cities

United Kingdom Architecture News - May 14, 2014 - 12:04   3338 views

Architectural Initiative for Rebuilding Destructed Cities

The architectural initiative for rebuilding destructed cities is a timely initiative that aspires to give solutions and valuable suggestions that could help in rebuilding the devastated cities and deal with the pressing needs of the aftermath of wars. Today the cities of the Middle East are languishing under the tremendous pressure of bloody conflicts and long suffering of civilians, and millions of displaced families and refugees.

After getting inspired by the great British philosopher Roger Scruton's article on the subject.Arch- News are launching this initiative, which will be in both Arabic and English; so everyone is invited!

Anyone can contribute whether in writing an article or designing a plan; all contributions will be translated, posted and published in both languages on our website Arabic Gate for Architectural News.

In hope of making a difference and unifying efforts, Arch-News are inviting all intellects and architects from around the world to contribute through their thought in reforming the destructed cities. This can form the database for any reconstruction process not just in the Middle Eastern cities, but could be implemented in every city got and being hit by disasters all over the world. This will serve a great deal in exchanging knowledge and thoughts for the good of the humanity and world.

 

 

Building, Settling and the Aftermath of War

 

by Roger Scruton

 

When Edward Lear travelled through the Holy Land, sketching the towns and villages as he went, he left a record of some of the most beautiful settlements that the world has known – compact cities of stone, the roofs blending in undulating canopies, the domes nestling against the sky, the minarets reachingabove them in prayer. Many of these cities remained unchanged well into the 20th century, their alleyways of stone and inward turning houses conveying the sense, so perplexing to a visiting European, that the Arab city is not a public space but an assemblage of private spaces, each dark, secretive and Harâm.Of course the coastal towns, the big trading centres and the metropolitan cities developed in the usual 19th-century way, with dressed stone façades announcing shops and classical porches announcing fashionable people. But inland and away from Western influence the towns retained their ancient character, built like oases, places of shelter where people of many creeds lived side by side in relative harmony.

The Ottoman Empire was not composed of nation states but of creed communities (madhdhâhib), some of whom were not recognized by the Sultan in Istanbul. Peace between the sects could not be ensured, therefore, by borders, as in Europe, but only by custom. Peace so secured is precarious and requires continuous work in maintaining it. Architecture has been part of that work. The unspoken assumption was that houses should fit together along alleys and streets, that no private house should be so ostentatious as to stand higher than the mosque or the church, and that the city should be a compact and unified place, built with local materials according to a shared vocabulary of forms. Thick walls of stone made for interiors that would be cool in summer and warm in winter with the minimal use of energy. The souq was conceived as a public place, embellished appropriately so as to represent the heart of the city, the place where the free trade of goods expressed the free mingling of the communities. The old souq of Aleppo, tragically destroyed in the current conflict, was a perfect example of this.....Continue Reading

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