Islamic architecture

“Hot Cities: Lessons from Arab Architecture”

Inspiring cities of the future

“Hot Cities: Lessons from Arab Architecture” at Germany's Vitra Design Museum provides valuable food for thought about the ways architecture can deal with climate change. Numerous examples from Arab countries illustrate how they have been defying the heat for thousands of years. By Joseph Croitoru
Reconstruction in Iraq

Mosul's Old City rises from rubble in Iraq

Beneath what remains of the 12th-century Al-Hadba minaret, builders work on a project to revive Mosul's Old City, reduced to rubble during Iraq's battle to retake the city from jihadists. Mosques, churches and century-old houses are being brought back to life in the northern metropolis, which the Islamic State group seized as its stronghold before being pushed out in mid-2017.
Rebuilding after Islamic State

Mosul's Old City rises from the rubble in Iraq

Beneath what remains of the 12th-century Al-Hadba minaret, builders work on a project to revive Mosul's Old City, reduced to rubble during Iraq's battle to retake the city from jihadists.
$"My hope is that the counterpoint that emerges through Islamic discourses will play against our accustomed melodies of art history, evoking harmonies and dissonances so that we learn to enjoy multiple tunes, from a multitude of worlds, simultaneously. May these perspectives proliferate like lights flashing off the facets of a crystal as it fractures into the deceptively simple intricacy of rainbows" (quoted from the introduction of Professor Wendy Shaw's latest book "What is Islamic art?").$

"What is Islamic art?" with art historian Wendy Shaw

What is art, when the primary sensory organ is the heart?

How can we truly appreciate the richness of cultures not our own? In her recent book "What is Islamic art? Between religion and perception", art historian Wendy Shaw explains the need to abandon our vision-centred perception of art and the aesthetic, embarking instead on a multi-sensory voyage of discovery. Interview by Lucy James
Book review: Mohamed Elshahed's "Cairo Since 1900"

In pursuit of other modernisms

Cairo is often described as an ancient city, full of wonders that are thousands of years old. Yet Mohamed Elshahed persuasively argues, in the newly released "Cairo Since 1900: An Architectural Guide", that the city we see today was largely shaped by twentieth-century concerns. By Marcia Lynx Qualey
Uncovering Portugalʹs Islamic roots

Where Christians pray facing Mecca

Archaeologists in Mertola have spent the last 40 years looking for traces of Portugalʹs Islamic past. What they found shows that Islam is not alien to Europe and has in fact deeply influenced Portuguese history and culture. By Marta Vidal
The "Syrian Heritage Archive Project"

Syria's cultural landscape lives on – in Berlin

Countless cultural assets were destroyed by the Syrian Civil War. The Syrian Heritage Archive Project in Berlin contributes to preserving their memory with an exhibition showing what has been lost – and what remains. By Christina Kufner
The Maghrebʹs Moorish-Spanish legacy

Andalusia begins in northern Morocco

Any journey to southern Spain, to Al-Andalus, is akin to the start of a dream that finds its beguiling continuation beyond the Pillars of Hercules, in the Andalusian cities of northern Morocco – Tangiers, Chefchaouen, Tetouan, Fes, Meknes, Larache and Asilah. The relationship between Morocco and Spain is closer than we think. By Mourad Kusserow
Urban development in Tunisia

Keeping the speculators out of Tunis

While there is a gradual reawakening of interest among the inhabitants of the Tunisian capital in their historical old town, the cityʹs colonial districts are at risk of falling prey to property speculators. Sarah Mersch on the development of Tunis
Reconstructing Aleppo

The hidden power of investors

The reconstruction of Aleppo is turning out to be quite difficult, especially because the authorities in Syria responsible for historic buildings and monument preservation hardly have any influence, while foreign investors seem to hold all the cards. Konstantin Klein discussed the situation with the Syrian historian Mamoun Fansa
Hindu Kush

Reconstruction in Afghanistan: The strong women of Darul Aman

Kabul's Darul Aman Palace was originally built to house Afghanistan's parliament. After four decades of war, it had become an ever-present reminder of violence and destruction. Now a team of architects and engineers, many of them women, are rebuilding the ruins. By Sandra Petersmann
Cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq

Casualties of war

The wealth of cultural sites strewn throughout present day Syria and Iraq bear ample witness to the fact that this area was once revered as the cradle of civilisation – sadly, many of these sites have fallen victim to war, violence and looting. By Mey Dudin