News
February 21, 2012
Center for Architecture opens two exhibitions on Middle Eastern architecture and engineering
NEW YORK CITY, February 8, 2012 – The Center for Architecture announces the opening of two concurrent exhibitions on architecture in the Middle East. City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952-1982, in its US debut, presents built and unbuilt work by 11 architects, including Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown. CHANGE: Architecture and Engineering in the Middle East, 2000-Present surveys 123 contemporary works in 20 countries and territories. Taken together, the two shows demonstrate the diversity of approaches to design in the Middle East and examine the forces of modernization and colonialism shaping the region’s cities.
“These two exhibitions further the Center for Architecture’s commitment to global dialogue,” said Joseph J. Aliotta, AIA, LEED AP, President of AIANY. “In the past two years, the Center’s exhibitions have grappled with recent international developments in the built environment, such as the rapid growth of Chinese cities and informal urban strategies in India. CHANGE and City of Mirages document and present the ongoing transformations of cities around the world.”
The exhibitions will both open at the Center on February 22, 2012, with a reception from 6:00-9:00pm; the opening is free to the public.
CHANGE: Architecture and Engineering in the Middle East, 2000-Present
The Middle East is a vast geographical area comprising diverse landscapes, traditions, cultures, and climates. While it contains some of the most significant UNESCO monuments and sites, the region is also undergoing rapid urban growth and economic globalization. Beyond the familiar images of supertall towers and man-made islands, CHANGE presents the exceedingly varied contemporary architecture of a transformative region.
The exhibition features projects from the past decade submitted in response to an open call by the Center for Architecture. It includes work by AIANY members, AIA members across the United States, and architects and engineers practicing in the Middle East.
“The Middle East is undergoing ‘change,’” said Hassan Radoine, Ph.D., curator of CHANGE: Architecture and Engineering in the Middle East, 2000-Present. “Building on centuries of rich architectural and urban heritage, contemporary architecture and engineering in the region is shaping new social and economic realities. Living and working in the Middle East for decades, I have witnessed how the built environment of the Middle East is shifting, becoming more cosmopolitan, with local attitudes confronting international influence. The timing of these exhibitions is critical.”
The exhibition is on view from February 22, 2012, through June 23, 2012 at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, New York City.
Curator: Hassan Radoine, Ph.D
Exhibition Design: Rumors
City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952-1982
The history of modern architecture in Baghdad has been relatively underexplored and is still not well known. Though specialists in Iraq, and in exile throughout the world, have already undertaken detailed analyses of the topic, many of these studies have been difficult to access throughout Europe and the United States. Moreover, the destruction of war has made it impossible to recover the complete modernist record of Iraq. While it is not the definitive work on the subject, City of Mirages tells a story about Baghdad and the architects who were invited to participate in the making of its modern image.
The exhibition describes an era in which Baghdad was a thriving, cosmopolitan city, and when an ambitious program of modernization led to proposals and built work by leading international architects. City of Mirages features work by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, José Luis Sert, Alvar and Aino Aalto, Gio Ponti, Alison and Peter Smithson, Constantinos Doxiadis, Ricardo Bofill, Willem Marinus Dudok, and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Fifteen (15) models of various scales represent both built and unbuilt works by these distinguished architects, and are accompanied by a large-scale model of Baghdad, which will reside in the Center for Architecture’s double-height space.
According to Renata Holod, Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, “Iraq, like many modern Arab states, underwent major social, economic and political changes in the 20th century. The dream of a kind of universal modernism engaged its reformers and modernizers. Thus, modern architects were invited to design projects to transform the nature of urban environments. Forms and amenities were imported with the belief that through them a new society would be shaped. The exhibition shows the ambitious development scope of the commissioners, and the responses to this challenge by architects whose practices at the time focused more and more on the universal modernist ‘elsewhere.’”
The exhibition is on view from February 22, 2012, through May 5, 2012 at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, New York City.
Curator: Pedro Azara
Exhibition Design: Rumors
City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952-1982 was organized by Col•legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya in Barcelona.
The US debut of City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952-1982 at the Center for Architecture in New York is presented by the AIA New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture Foundation. CHANGE: Architecture and Engineering in the Middle East, 2000-Present is organized by the AIA New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture Foundation.
Both exhibitions are made possible through the generous support of the following sponsors:
Benefactor:
Lead Sponsor:
Sponsors:
Eytan Kaufman Design and Development
FXFOWLE
Supporters:
Arup
Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation
Dewan Architects & Engineers
GAD
HDR
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
NAGA Architects
Ramla Benaissa Architects
RBSD Architects
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
World Monuments Fund
Zardman
Special thanks to the Advisory Committee of City of Mirages and CHANGE: Mustafa K. Abadan, FAIA, Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Ioannis Avramides, World Monuments Fund; Pedro Azara, Curator, City of Mirage, Baghdad, 1952-1982; Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, Director for Programs and Strategic Planning; Hadani Ditmars, Independent Author and Journalist; Saf Fahim, AIA, Principal, Archronica Architects; Anthony Fieldman, AIA, LEED AP, Design Principal, Perkins+Will; Renata Holod, Ph.D., Professor, Islamic Art and Architecture, University of Pennsylvania; Hana Kassem, AIA, Director, Kohn Pedersen Fox; Eytan Kaufman, Intl. Assoc. AIA, Eytan Kaufman Design and Development; Craig Konyk, AIA, Konyk Architecture; Jill Lerner, FAIA, President-Elect, AIANY Chapter Board; Malwina Lys-Dobradin, Director, Global Network Programming, GSAPP, Columbia University; Cliff McMillan, Principal, Arup; Hassan Radoine, Ph.D., Curator for CHANGE: Architecture and Engineering in the Middle East, 2000-Present, Chairperson, Architectural Engineering Department, University of Sharjah, UAE; Craig Schwitter, Partner, Buro Happold; Paul Stoller, LEED AP BD+C, Director, Atelier Ten; Nancy Vitale, Producing Artistic Director, Noor Theatre.
Also on View at the Center for Architecture:
Live Feed: Middle East Collaborations, 2005-2012
February 17, 2012 – March 14, 2012
Columbia University, GSAPP + CUMERC
LIVE FEED: Middle East Collaborations 2005 – 2012 offers a survey of the joint projects of the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and the Columbia University Middle East Research Center (CUMERC). The exhibition includes architectural design studios and workshops, city planning processes, historic preservation projects, and urban planning studios in Afghanistan, Jordan, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. LIVE FEED will feature scheduled live video conversations throughout the duration of the exhibition with Columbia faculty and students currently based in Middle East cities. See www.aiany.org for more information.
Related Public Programs:
Opening Reception
Wednesday, February 22, 2012, 6-9pm
7pm Performance by Heather Raffo and Salaam, Iraqi maqam and jazz
Cost: free
Change in the Middle East: Preserving the Past, Inventing the Future
Saturday, February 25, 2012, 11am-5pm
Panel 1: “Preserving the Past” (Dr. Suad Amiry and Khaldun Bshara, Riwaq; Lisa Ackerman, World Monuments Fund; Ibrahim Ouazzi, architect based in Morocco; Hassan Radoine, curator, CHANGE)
Case Study: “The Middle East Now” (Mohamed Al Assam, Chairman/Managing Director, Dewan Architects and Engineers, Abu Dhabi)
Panel 2: “Inventing the Future” (Prof. Shams Eldien Naga, Principal, NAGA, Dubai; Anthony Fieldman, AIA, Perkins+Will; Brian Wait, Partner, Ateliers Jean Nouvel; Michael Luongo, Journalist)
Cost: free for AIA members and students; $10 for non-members
LIVE FEED: Middle East Collaborations 2005-2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012, 6-8pm
Speakers: Robert Beauregard, Professor of Urban Planning, GSAPP; Jennifer Broutin, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, GSAPP; Markus Dochantschi, Assoc. AIA, Founder and Principal, studioMDA Architects; Adjunct Assistant Professor, GSAPP; Kamal Farah, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, GSAPP; Mario Gooden, AIA, Huff + Gooden Architects; Professor of Practice, GSAPP; Craig Konyk, AIA, Principal, KONYK; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, GSAPP; Frederic Levrat, Principal, ArX New York; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture, GSAPP + Pratt Institute; George Wheeler, Director of Conservation, GSAPP; Moderated by: Mark Wigley, Dean, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Columbia University.
Cost: free
Culture and Climate: Contemporary Architectural Responses in the Middle East
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 6-8pm
Speakers: Anthony Fieldman, AIA, Perkins+Will; Hana Kassem, AIA, Kohn Pedersen Fox; Paul Stoller, Atelier Ten; Gordon Carrie, CENG LEED AP, Associate, Arup
Cost: free for AIA members and students; $10 for non-members
Iraqi Culture Pre- and Post- Invasion: From Secular to Sectarian
Thursday, March 15, 2012, 6-8pm
Speakers: Hadani Ditmars in conversation via Skype with Omar Odeh, Iraqi artist in exile, Damascus, Syria
Cost: free for AIA members and students; $10 for non-members
Building ANew: Noor Theatre Presents A Reading of Short Plays by Award-Winning Middle Eastern Playwrights
Friday, March 16, 2012, 7pm-9pm
Playwrights: Jacob Kader, Ismail Khalidi, Mona Mansour, Tala Manassah, Daria Polatin, and Najla Said; Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh.
Cost: $10 for AIA members and students; $20 for non-members
Faster and Bigger: Building in the Middle East
Monday, April 2, 2012, 6-8pm
Speakers: Roger Nichols, Partner in Charge, Buro Happold, Abu Dhabi
Cost: free for AIA members and students; $10 for non-members
Architecture in Baghdad, Then and Now
Thursday, April 26, 2012, 6-8pm
Speaker: Dr. Ghada Al slik, Department of Architecture, College of Engineering, University of Baghdad
Cost: free for AIA members and students; $10 for non-members
The National Mosque of Baghdad Competition: A Conversation Between Denise Scott Brown, Renata Holod and Frederic Schwartz
Friday, May 4, 2012, 6-8pm
Speakers: Denise Scott Brown; Renata Holod; Frederic Schwartz, FAIA
Cost: $15 for AIA members and students; $30 non-members
Iraq Film Series
Fridays throughout the exhibition duration, starting at 6:30pm
February 24, 2012: About Baghdad (2004)
Q&A with Iraqi poet, writer, co-director, and co-producer Sinan Antoon and Pedro Azara, curator of City of Mirages: Baghdad, 1952-1982
March 2, 2012: Nice Bombs (2006)
March 9, 2012: Son of Babylon (2010)
March 23, 2012: Daily Baghdad (2004)
April 13, 2012: 16 Hours in Baghdad (2004)
Q&A with Iraqi actor Abbas Noori Abbood
Cost: free for AIA members and students; $10 for non-members
Return to list.
