TIME AND PLACE IN ARCHITECTURE CURRICULUM

SAMIA RAB, PhD Associate Professor of Architecture American University of Sharjah December 10, 2012 [email protected] TIME AND PLACE IN ARCHITECTURE CURRICULUM FOR ARABIA The Arabian subcontinent is an integral part of Asia for centuries connecting through trade the Mediterranean civilizations to the Indian Subcontinent and East Asia. It is home to the three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) and, more recently, played a strategic role in industrializing and urbanizing the world through its vast natural resources (oil and gas). Fig. 1: The Arabian Subcontinent, its vast desert, plateau, mountain ranges and 6000 km long coastline (Source: SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE. Retrieved Dec. 2012: http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/53000/53880/S2000062090456.jpg) Geographically, it is the largest peninsula in the world (3,100,000 square kilometers) and has four distinct types of landscapes: plateau, deserts, ranges of mountains, and dry or marshy coastland with coral reefs. With few exceptions, the climate is generally arid and very hot from May through November. Agriculture is possible only through irrigation and land reclamation projects along the peripheral coastal plains and isolated oases in the hinterland. Whether along the coast or the hinterland, Water is integral to land and urban development. With about 6000 kilometers of shore along the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, it should not be surprising that most cities of significance in Arabia are situated along the coast and rivers, representing earliest forms of pre‐ modern urbanization in the world. Though many degree programs in architecture now exist across Arabia, these are mostly inspired by design principles developed for the western hemisphere packaged as “universal” paradigms. The past century’s efforts to modernize have left the built and the natural environment of Arabia in jeopardy.i A new development process is needed; 1 SAMIA RAB, PhD Associate Professor of Architecture American University of Sharjah December 10, 2012 [email protected] one that unites conservation and architecture design. A balanced and contextual architecture curriculum must address the climatic conditions, cultural and religious diversity, historical developments and current environmental challenges in Arabia. Understanding and safeguarding of the unique historical and geographical environment must be at the heart of a balanced and contextual architecture curriculum. Future designers must critically engage with tangible culture and environment to understand principles of human‐environment relationship in the context. I suggest the study and practice of the following courses for a balanced and contextual architectural curriculum: 1. General Education (40%) o Arabia in World Geography, Cultures, Histories and Religions o Scientific and Quantitative Reasoning (from the Ancient world to present) o Research Writing and Presentations o Information Technologies 2. Architecture Design (25%) o Histories, Theories & Criticisms of Architecture o Ideation, Representation & Communication in Architecture o Integrated Building & Environmental Systems o Modes of Synthesis, Praxis & Leadership 3. Conservation Design (25%) o Histories Theories & Criticisms of Heritage (WHC & IUCN) o Documentation, Interpretation & Presentation of Cultural Heritage o Integrated Natural and Built Ecosystems o Modes of Synthesis, Praxis & Leadership 4. Electives (10%) o o Courses with architectural content Courses with other than architectural content RATIONALE 1. General Education (40%) General Education knowledge broaden students’ horizon from the narrow focus on the discipline of architecture allowing them to develop abilities to think critically, utilize information technology, diverse modes of scientific and quantitative reasoning, and effectively communicate verbally and in writing. General Education Courses are even more important in Arabia since the high school curricula vary greatly from one nation to another and in general do not expose students to critical analytical skills and knowledge of global histories and civilizations. 2. Architecture Design (25%) Today, our biggest challenge in architectural education is “time”. In our efforts to work as hard as we can, there is a general consensus that we could all use longer days. This is mainly due to the fact that we all share a desire to complete what we start on a daily basis and during our lifespan. This attitude is reflected in architectural education and practice. Architecture students complain of working 24 2 SAMIA RAB, PhD Associate Professor of Architecture American University of Sharjah December 10, 2012 [email protected] hours on their projects without any sleep. The US National Architectural Accreditation Board has included a student‐oriented Studio Policy to address the issues of over worked and exhausted students. Current lifespan for buildings is wrongfully estimated at 20‐30 years. The fact that we demolish our buildings within one generation reinforces the assumption that ’time’ for us is compressed. We have lost our ability to think beyond our existence on this planet (before or after). This self‐referential notion of ’time’ is our inheritance from a particular kind of “modernity” pursued after the emergence of 18th century European Enlightenment, and implemented around the world with distinct zeal. This kind of modernity celebrates the present, both its opportunities and its problems. The main, albeit highly relative, idea behind this modernity is that only we can best understand and critically engage our situation. By the same token, the past is largely incomprehensible to us as we are not the living members of that past and, by that rationale, the generation to come will fend for themselves. Bottom line: We are not the custodians of things inherited nor are we responsible to the future; we are forced to think, act and build in the present. Moreover, design has come to mean a self‐reflective and artistically expressive activity of an individual devoid of collaboration with multitude of actors involved in shaping the built and oblivious of the people inhabiting places we shape. The self‐referential basis of time and design activity is seriously harming the unique and historical places in Arabia. A narrow and disconnected focus on the present and self can only lead to periodic destruction not accumulated growth. Design is a transformative act of improving upon the existing condition to ensure an evolved future. Good design is not a one “man” act; it is accomplished through collaboration and across generations. Designers are not simply problem solvers for their clients in the present. Designers establish links between the past and the future through their creative, responsible, rigorously researched and thoughtful interventions in the present. They document and analyze the place for intervention, identify the problems, design and build new environments, and effectively communicate a scenario that will address the problems and enhance cultural growth of the target place. A rigorous engagement with principles of design and ability to draw to communicate ideas (ideation) is very important for architectural education, and a sizeable part of the curriculum should be designated to developing these abilities (study historical propositions, analyse sites, articulate problems, propose solutions, draw designed ideas, comprehend constructability, and build a scaled representation of the proposal). One of the most significant roles of an architect is to help maintain a record of time through thoughtful and contemporary interventions, thereby inspiring memories and fantasies about places of their intervention. It is important to underscore the difference between being ’contemporary’ and being ‘self‐referential’. While the former uses the present to relate the past with a potential future, the latter is only about serving or exploiting the present. Architecture students need to learn to observe existing conditions of specific places with the intention to act upon them, alter them and leave them memorable. It is important for architects to engage, through their acts of design, with particular places and connect with people through a rigorous understanding of their past. Architecture is an intention that germinates from ‘memory’, a process that employs imagination, and a product that may be elevated in the future to the status of ‘monument’. 3 SAMIA RAB, PhD Associate Professor of Architecture American University of Sharjah December 10, 2012 [email protected] 3. Conservation Design (25%) According to UNESCO, cultural heritage in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) encompasses over 60% of the world’s ancestry. However, only 72 of the 962 sites on the World Heritage List designated by UNESCO are located in this region.ii According to the recent 2012 World Bank Report, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) constitute the most water stressed regions in the world.iii Historically, conservation ethics was an integral part of architectural and urban design in Arabia. Traditional architecture and forms of urbanism across Arabia reveal intelligent solutions to the problem of sustaining life in harsh climatic conditions with minimal resource depletion. The economic dependence on trade, political organizations based on familial ties, and religiously grounded ethics are some of the determining factors of architecture and urbanism in Arabia. The particularities of these historically constructed phenomena are not understood well even by the most educated people or educators today. As a consequence of both oil revenues and a historical ignorance about Arabia’s built heritage, the top three countries with highest Ecological Footprint per person are in Arabia (Qatar, Kuwait and UAE).iv It is highly irresponsible of contemporary architectural educators in the region to ignore the indigenous knowledge and practices that led to an environmentally sustainable relationship between natural and cultural heritage of Arabia. Conservation is a commitment to critically identify and authentically continue into the future valuable elements (natural and cultural) we inherit from the past. Since memories are formed at the expense of forgetting, it is vital to develop a sound strategy of what to remember. While integrating conservation ethics in design practice helps to shape design decisions, design thinking in conservation practice promotes cultural growth. Any architecture curriculum in Arabia must address issues of conservation design (natural and cultural) in confluence with principles of architecture design. 4. Electives (10%) Like any professional degree program, architecture curriculum in Arabia must be flexible enough to allow students to pursue their special interests, both within and outside their degree program. A balanced and contextual Architecture Design program must offer minors or develop areas of concentration, inside or outside the program ENDNOTES: i ii iii iv Rab, S. “Conservation Ethics: The state of heritage in the UAE”. In Middle East Architect, Volume 1, Issue 4, p.40‐48. UNESCO, World Heritage List. Retrieved Dec. 2012: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list MENA Development Report: Renewable Energy Desalination, September 2012. Retrieved Dec. 2012: http://elibrary.worldbank.org/content/book/9780821388389;jsessionid=1ogg5q3mkoc06.z‐wb‐live‐01 WWF Living Planet Report 2012, Retrieved on December 7, 2012: http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/1_lpr_2012_online_full_size_single_pages_final_120516.pdf 4