Symbolism and Identity in the Eyes of Arabia’s Budding Professionals by Ashraf Salama
Symbolism and Identity in the Eyes of Arabia’s Budding Professionals
by Dr. Ashraf Salama
Professor of Architecture (http://www.arti-arch.org)
in the news letter of LAYERMAG
LAYER would like to present Dr. Ashraf Salama's paper on Symbolism and Identity in the Eyes of Arabia's Budding Professionals. Dr. Ashraf Salama is Professor of Architecture and was the recipient of the first award of the International Architecture Design Studio, University of Montreal, Canada, 1990, and in 1998 he won the Paul Chemetove Prize for his project on Architecture and the Eradication of Poverty, a United Nations International Ideas Competition.
Symbolism and Identity in the Eyes of Arabia’s Budding Professionals
http://www.layermag.com/feature_dubai_ashrafS.html
by Dr. Ashraf Salama
Professor of Architecture (http://www.arti-arch.org)
Societies tend to re-evaluate the meaning and desirability of built environments rapidly. The search for an architectural identity, the rise and fall of ISMS (movements and tendencies), and the continuous debate on symbolism and character issues in architecture are derived from this fact. That search seems to be a preoccupation with countries that have cultural richness and multi-layers of history. Architects as well as budding professionals in those countries find themselves dealing with a paradox needing to project a certain image of themselves through their built environment. This article reflects a view point on two recent students architectural competitions conducted in 2005 and 2006; the first was titled a memorial sculpture for Al Nakheel project in the city of Jeddah, while the second was designing a gateway on the road to Dammam. An argument is introduced in order to raise the questions of identity and seeing ourselves in architecture in light of the results of these two students’ competitions.
The Two Way Mirror and the Identity Idiom
In the Arab region, issues that pertain to identity, character, and architectural trends of the built environment have been in debate for two or three decades, more so because of this region’s cultural uniqueness and plurality. However, it is this cultural uniqueness that has made it a tough quest and has – in many cases, culminated into sacred symbolism that is painful to behold or comprehend. Some scholars pose the question of the necessity to refer to cultural or religious symbolism in architecture to reflect a specific identity. Others argue for the fact that Arab architecture should embody the collective aspirations of societies in this region. There are many who have questioned the need to debate architectural identity at all, claiming that it merely displays a lack of “self-confidence” as a region or as a group of nations. Reviewing the recent practices and searching the recent debates reveal that we still seem to be at odds with the issue of identity. Images and image making processes do not often address the issue of meaning in relation to the public. This mandates looking at the built environment as a two-way mirror. One way can be seen in the sense that it conveys and transmits non-verbal messages that reflect inner life, activities, and social conceptions of those who live and use the environment. The other way is seen in terms of how it is actually perceived and comprehended by a certain society at a certain time; simply how it evokes certain image for that society.
Examining the issue of identity requires putting the term under some linguistic and philosophical perspectives. Identity in most English dictionaries has been defined as:
A) the set of behavioral or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable as a member of a group,
B) the quality or condition of being the same as something else and C) the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity; individuality. When looking at the term in the Arabic language one finds that it does not differ much, but having multiple meanings and all culminate into a definition like this: The collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known.
Designing a Memorial Sculpture in the City of Jeddah
Al Oula Development, in collaboration with the Department of Architecture at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals-KFUPM, organized a design ideas competition of a Memorial Sculpture for Al Nakheel project in Jeddah. The concept of the competition was developed by the author. The competition aim was to offer a venue for architecture and design students in Saudi Universities to present their creative ideas toward the beautification of the newly developed projects, while raising the public awareness of the value of integrating artistic expressions into the city form. The main intention was to complement the visual identity of the project by introducing a Memorial Sculpture that promotes the notion of incorporating public and installation arts into the physical environment of the city.
One of the important planning and design features of Al Nakheel project is King Abdulaziz roundabout that occupies an area of 190.000 sq. m. designed to provide ease of access to and within the project site. Such area is surrounded by high rise mixed use buildings. Connected to the main roads of the site, the area is situated in a central location and is envisioned as a lung for the project that provides visual uniqueness and a reference point.
Successful schemes were expected to show creativity in understanding and manifesting the design qualities addressed by the organizers including contextual, cultural, visual and aesthetic aspects. Concepts were to contribute to the spatial quality of Al Nakheel Project. Reflecting a critical understanding of Jeddah city and the project context, aspects of implement-ability, maintenance, and resource conservation were given a considerable weight. The total number of entries was 76 projects submitted from students teams of more that 120 male students and 40 female students. The jury selected 22 projects. The first and third awards went to student groups from King Abudul Aziz University-KAAU, while a student from King Faisal University-KFU was the recipient of the second award. A total of 22 honorable mentions were awarded to distinguished projects; 10 of which went to students teams from King Fahd University-KFUPM, 4 went to teams from King Saud University-KSU, 4 went to female teams from the Interior Design Department of King Faisal University-KFU, and lastly 3 went to architecture male teams at KFU.
While student competitors had the full freedom to propose creative and innovative ideas, a number of qualities were paramount in promoting three constructive dialogues that address thematic issues pertaining to the way in which the context can inflect the content and vise-a-versa, modernity vs. tradition, in addition to the issues of imageability, character, and identity.
Tradition and Modernity Dialogue:
Jeddah is considered one of the most important Saudi cities; a commercial hub and the major gate to the holy cities of Makkah and Madina. It enjoys a unique physical environment that accommodates a mix of tangible and intangible heritage while looking forward to meet the cultural aspirations of its residents and the technological advancements of the present era. How does the proposed Memorial Sculpture design balance this juxtaposition was an important design quality that needed to be considered.
Context-Content Dialogue:
The city is known for its roundabouts, installation arts and sculptures developed over the past few decades to offer distinguished artistic expressions and enhance its urban image. The site designated for the Memorial Sculpture within Al Nakheel project is large in area and is situated within a unique high rise mixed use development. How does the proposed Memorial Sculpture design address these contextual constraints in terms of scale, character, and distinction was another important design quality that needed to be emphasized. Since Al Nakheel project is a newly developed project, it was expected that the proposed Memorial Sculpture design offers visual richness and identity to the project and the area within which it is located. Concomitantly, imaegability and legibility were two important aspects that represent design qualities essential to the creation of any public art in the urban landscape of the area. In this respect, imageability is viewed as the ability of the physical design to stamp an impression in the minds of Jeddah residents and visitors, while legibility involves that design artifacts are easy to comprehend and understand by the public.
Form-Activity Dialogue:
While the main concern of the organizers falls under the umbrella of visual and form making aspects, participants were given the opportunity to propose specific activities to be associated with their Memorial Sculpture design, including the integration of softscape and hardscape elements that enhance the quality of the proposed activity. This was conditional as participants address form-activity relationship a planning alternative was paramount to illustrate how the public would access the area while considering the traffic flow expected.
The concept of the competition and the winning entries raise issues that continue to pose themselves on the map of academic architectural debates. Symbolism and commemoration and their underlying elements appear to be a priority for most winning schemes and in turn, some reflections on the meaning of these terms and the winning schemes are important in order to advance the intellectual debate of reshaping our cities.
Commemoration and Symbolism in Public Spaces
Commemoration in public spaces is meant to make people as individuals and in groups remember, appreciate, or respect someone, a leader, or an important historical event. On the other hand, most of the theoretical assumptions aimed at explaining commemoration and symbolism, the process of symbolization, and the manner in which specific objects, people, or places become significant to human experience, differ dramatically. However, common underlying points exist; placing emphasis on the individual experience of objects, places, or urban spaces as the origin of symbolization.
Two origins of symbolism can be introduced in this context; social and spontaneous creation of new places by the public, and planning or intentional actions of those who have the power and authority to introduce change in the public space. If an organism or a component of a social structure is able to intentionally introduce change in the environment one can argue that it is a wielding power. This purposive action aims at endowing space with shape, structure, elements, and name with an attempt to highlight some values, aesthetics, or facts to stand in the minds of the public. It is intended to create a symbolic space with preconceived meaning that can or cannot be comprehended and assimilated by the public as point of reference, and that might or might not become a shared symbolic element. This corroborates the fact that most of the important urban actions and artistic interventions in public spaces are intended to evoke a memory, an event, a person, or to put a political, artistic, or social moment on record.
In the context of public art in urban spaces, one can introduce another interpretation of symbolism that adopts the view that objects and places can acquire meaning overtime regardless of their significance when they were designed. Thus, they play an active role as reference points to the public and become overloaded with meanings as a result of social and physical interaction. This type of symbolic spaces does not require any powerful or notable formal structure.
In both interpretations, people--with time-- start to view those objects and places as their territories thus begin to develop a sense of identity and belonging ness. Designing a memorial sculpture as a form of art in public spaces falls between the two interpretations. This is due to the fact the any artistic intervention intends to become a shared expression of collective values. In turn, a memorial sculpture in a city like Jeddah is no exception; an urban phenomenon that takes different types ranging from power demonstration to acts of exaltation and idolatry, and from commemoration and dramatization to pure abstract art. The issue of identity comes as a result of these interpretations; a set of collective characteristics that make an object or a space definitively recognizable.
Symbolism from within: Reflections on Winning Schemes
Most winning schemes bear one or more of these concepts. The project awarded the first prize-submitted by Al Seet, Addas, Al Ghamdi, Al Sharkawy, and Al Abbassy from KAAU is based on abstracting the palm tree as a symbol of growth and prosperity in a desert environment. The concept of the second winning project by Naif Al Soud of KFU is derived from the integrated abstraction of the sail and the palm tree in an attempt to manifest the feeling of enclosing-ness. The third winning scheme of Al Amry, Fahd AL Ghamdi, Al Awiedy, Sammam, and Basiouni of KAAU reflects a deep understanding of Jeddah’s urban context, while at the same time attempts to manifest a national epic in the form of an abstracted semi-transparent wall; an endeavor to tell the story of how the kingdom was established and how it is now flourishing. The three winning schemes place a strong emphasis on the issue of identity and commemoration by offering symbols that stem from culture, nature and historical events.
Figure 01: 1st Prize: Layout of the memorial sculpture including landscaping and the spatial organization of the area
Figure 02: 1st Prize: Series of views in the area showing the memorial sculpture and the way in which activities are integrated into the spatial elements
Figure 03: 2nd Prize: The palm tree is utilized as a design element in an attempt to reflect and symbolize the identity of the country
Figure 04: 3rd Prize: Reflects a deep understanding of Jeddah's urban context, while at the same time attempts to manifest a national epic in the form of an abstracted semi-transparent wall; an endeavor to tell the story of how the kingdom was established and how it is now flourishing
Projects receiving honorable mentions have also symbolized other contextual elements. The project submitted by Konash and Abdel Latif from KFUPM literally translates the perception of Jeddah as a gate to the holy cities by designing a grand scale gate, raised on a platform. On the other hand, Ballul and Kathmy from KFUPM further abstract the gate concept through a series of colonnades that lead to a monumental obelisk that has a light beam starring to the sky while engraved with traditional ornaments that exemplify relationships between tradition and technology. The concept submitted from Noura Ghabra and Loubna Al Mulla of KFU is based on reflecting the immediate context of Al Nakheel project by abstracting the imaginary masses into thick glass walls for transparency purposes while hanging traditional elements from these walls in similitude to an outdoor museum. The project of Al Saleh and Al Raddady of KSU introduce a symbol of piece by abstracting the formal elements of Al Oula logo. A striking example is that of Saad Al Ghamdi and Sary Harbi from KFUPM, which goes a step further and introduce tectonic sculptures of steel that abstract the ship and the fish as metaphors of the red sea.
Figure 05: Honorable mentions
These and other projects manifest that symbolism emerges from within, including immediate and larger contexts including nature, material culture, and historical events. Urban space symbolism appears to be a basic and determinant component of social well being. As well, these projects raise the issue of how some of the established concepts are forgotten in today’s production of public spaces. The work submitted by those budding professionals show high sensitivity to issues of social constructs, cultural aspirations, identity and meaning, and their impact on the environment.
A Gateway: On the Road to Dammam
Al Oula Development Company, in collaboration with King Faisal University-KFU in Dammam and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals-KFUPM in Dhahran, organized an urban design ideas competition for designing an urban Gateway. The competition was open in two categories for professional architects and architecture students where the aim was to solicit creative design ideas for a gateway in one of the company’s recent development projects in the city of Dammam. The objective of those ideas would be to enhance the identity of the project while creating an image for the entrance of the city. The gateway is intended to give a welcoming feeling for those who live in and visit the area.
The City and the Site:
Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia and one of the important ports on the Arabian Gulf. Until the 1970s Dammam was a small city close to other settlements in the region. In recent years however, it was transformed and expanded to the city limits of Al Khobar and Dhahran forming a single municipality. The city has attracted many Saudis and expatriates to work and enjoy its resources and amenities. It houses a mix of industry and commercial based companies and higher education institutions. The Project site is located to the far west of the city in a new development. It is penetrated by the King Fahd Intl. Airport highway occupying a strategic highway strip at the western entrance of the city. The northern and southern boundaries of the site are designated as future extensions of planned developments. The project is intended to create a distinguished housing environment with mixed use development on the main road. Areas exclusively designated for housing are conceived to offer variety of lot areas with the necessary infrastructure and services including mosques, green spaces, children-play areas, parking, and schools.
Identity Challenge and Dealing with the Paradox:
Submissions from participants were expected to exhibit creativity in articulating the design qualities addressed by the organizers including contextual, visual, and aesthetic aspects. As well, concepts were to contribute to the spatial quality of the highway while reflecting an in-depth thinking and a critical understanding of the context of the eastern province, relational aspects of tradition and modernity, and a critical understanding of issues that pertain to structural innovation, implement-ability, and durability. Also, they were anticipated to reflect recent technological advancements in the use of building materials. The total number was 25 projects under the students’ category; these were submitted from teams of approximately 70 male students and 25 female students.
The first prize went to the project submitted by Hatim Azzouz and Mohamed Al Othman of King Fahd University, the second and third prizes went to Ammar Abu Mansour and Kahtan Jaser Al Kahtani of King Faisal University. Under the same category seven honorable mentions were awarded; most notably, the entries of two female teams of the Interior Design Department –Girls Branch, of King Faisal University: the project of Amal Al Hothaila and that of Asmaa Al Helal and Mariam Al Dosary.
The concept of the competition introduced by the author and the winning schemes raise many issues that continue to pose themselves on the map of debates within the international architectural community, especially in countries like Saudi Arabia, where architects are facing the paradox of rooting their architecture in the soil of the past of their country while at the same time positioning themselves and their architecture for the future. On the other hand, this raises sets of questions about the symbolic role of gates and gateways in traditional cities and how such a role has changed overtime.
Visual Messages and Power Statements:
Traditionally, most of the Arab and Muslim cities have been characterized by the presence of gates where the Islamic culture has always been primarily “Urban”. Gates throughout the history of Muslim civilization have served as a gauge of the most common construction techniques and available materials. They were built as defense and security elements. Gates were a symbolic expression of power which is an inherent part of architecture-in most cases.
In contemporary terms, gates continue to exist in many cities and illustrate innovations in construction technology but have lost their defensive function. New concepts for designing gates are emerging to shape new understandings of their value as urban elements. Gates by their design, structure, and urban setting, can simultaneously articulate what ought to happen around them, and symbolically represent urban statements. They have certain qualities that can evoke a strong impression in any observer. Gates convey silent non verbal messages and reflect the spirit, character, and activities around them. Their image and appearance is important and can have profound emotional effects on people.
The preceding understanding of the conventional purposes and the new concepts of gates can be transformed into several design qualities. However, it should be noted that the intention was to create a gateway which is entirely ceremonial offering a unique image as a welcoming entry to the city. Four design qualities can be conceived while reflecting on selected winning schemes, these are:
• The Gate as a Welcoming Entrance: Gates can be regarded as entrances that demarcate neighborhoods and their larger contexts. Therefore the design of gateways needs to distinctively define the boundaries of a project site and to give the feeling of changing realms. How the role of the gate in distinguishing two different realms would be articulated in a design is an important quality that needs to be addressed and critically examined.
• The Gate as a Closing Vista: A gateway can be used to close off most of a view and becomes an expression and vista in itself. Since a gate is designed in wide span roads or highways in most cases, it is paramount to think of how it will be viewed by people in cars, how it may give a sense of enclosure, and how the ceremonial scale can be broken up into smaller scales; these represent critical design issues that strike balances between the visual message a gateway conveys to the public and its functional qualities.
• The Gate as an Aesthetic Frame: It is envisaged that a design of a gateway may serve to frame a view of a project. In most cities, this was translated in an artful fashion with both the location and the form of a gate contributing to the view that it frames. This understanding can be exemplified by articulating the way in which a gate may be integrated with the immediate surrounding context.
• The Gate as a Distinguishing Urban Element: Gates can be regarded as identifiable boundaries. How a design delineates the transition from the larger context of a road or a highway to a smaller project context is an important quality that strikes another necessary balance. This suggests important polar qualities such as “here” and “there”, “before” and “after” a gate and “near to” and “far from” a gate.
A number of other aspects need a moment of reflection such as identity, character, and meaning, and how all these are integrated with construction technology and material in a balanced manner.
The winning projects of students are a manifestation of the ability of the future professionals to reflect the past and position themselves in the future. Many of their projects represented honest expressions, spontaneous sensitivity to the contextual constraints, and logical treatment of the issues they wanted to address. Along the same integrated thinking of the symbolic and functional qualities of gates, one should relate some of their projects to “Semiology or Semiotics”; the base of all non verbal communication and meaning studies. The syntactic-the arrangement of elements in a scene, the semantic-the meaning of those elements, and the pragmatic-the relationship between those elements and people, are all important qualities addressed in the winning schemes.
The project awarded 1st prize skillfully differentiates between the image and the space of the gate. It conceives an image that reflects the nature of Dammam by capturing its spirit as a past and present port city, that looks forward to the future, but still maintain a sense of tradition. The space of the gateway is articulated by establishing zones of views that are dramatically changing as cars move toward and under the gateways. The design involves columns articulated to display the building revolution of the city while incorporating traditional elements. Materials used are concrete for the columns and arches, fabric for sails, and steel cables and frames for the flying structures.
Figure 06: 1st Prize: Identity and symbolism are integrated into the spatial articulation of the gate
Figure 07: 2nd Prize: Reflecting the heritage of the religion but falling in the trap of repeating historic elements of architecture
Figure 08: 3rd Prize: Symbolic abstracts of the boat form; an attempt at translating contextual elements
The second and third prize winning projects introduce similar meanings and attempt to conceptually and physically build bridges between the past and present. However, while the project of Ammar Abu Mansour falls into the trap of cloning of traditional elements, while the project of Kahtan Al Kahtani is based on symbolic abstractions of the boat form. Projects received honorable mentions have also introduced great ideas but probably not as articulated as expected. Amal Al Hothaila developed a design that incorporated three major elements; a half arch that delineates the new developments of the city, a sail that simulates the port city, and an oil well that reveals the flourishing economy of the kingdom. Again, the project of Asmaa Al Helal and Mariam Al Dosary integrates a number of abstractions that are combined to build symbolic ties between the past, the present and the future.
These and other projects foster the positive dialogue of who we are, where we are going, and how we would like to see ourselves in the future. They manifest visual messages and power statements that continue to occupy an indispensable position in architecture criticism. The winning projects integrate some of the forgotten ideas and exemplify sensitivity in expressions and issues of identity and image-ability, meaning and desirability. It is a hope to see such intellectual manifestations move from the imaginary to the actual, from the hypothetical to the real, and from the un-built to successful physical interventions that shape the future of our cities.
About the Author
Dr. Ashraf Salama is Professor of Architecture, recently joined the College of Engineering, Qatar University after leaving King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals- KFUPM. He was the Director of Research and Consulting at Adams Group Consultants in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. He is a licensed architect in Egypt, trained at Al Azhar University and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. USA and former Chairman of the Department of Architecture, Misr International University in Cairo.
Dr. Salama delivered lectures and presentations in over 25 countries ; and contributed widely to international publications. He was member of the UIA/UNESCO International Committee of Architectural Education, and the Director of Architectural Education Work Program of the International Union of Architects- UIA (1995-00). He is currently co-Convener of the International Association for People-Environments Studies- IAPS Education Network.
He was the recipient of the first award of the International Architecture Design Studio, University of Montreal, Canada, 1990, and in 1998 he won the Paul Chemetove Prize for his project on Architecture and the Eradication of Poverty, a United Nations International Ideas Competition. Dr. Salama serves as a design consultant to Al Oula Company for Development, and served as a consultant to the Egyptian Ministries of Tourism and Culture. He also served as member in the international jury for projects within the context of the revitalization of Sarajevo, Bosnia, and a UIA Jury member in the international competition on designing a central urban park in La Paz, Bolivia.
Recently, he has chaired the jury team for the International Students Competitions: Enlightening Learning Environments (2005) and Sustainable and Humane Workplaces (2006), organized by the the IAHH-The International Association for Humane Habitat, Mumbai, India. Dr. Salama has been appointed a technical reviewer for the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Geneva, Award Cycle (1998-01). He has been involved with the Community Development Group of the College of Design , North Carolina State University (1993-95). His academic experience includes teaching courses on Programming and Space Planning, Research and Design Methods, Applications of Socio-Behavioral Studies in Design, and Interior, Architectural and Community Design Studios. His professional experience includes consultancy for several government and public agencies, and managing design projects from inception through programming and space planning, encountering users and environmental constraints. His recent research places emphasis on design studio teaching practices, and workplace and learning environments.
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