I am not sure how may more of these posts on outlandish Dubai construction projects I can write. I mean I have my limits – although, quite clearly, Dubai doesn’t seem to. Following underwater hotels, artificial islands and the world’s tallest buildings, Dubai is now working on replicating some of the world’s most important cultural sites as part of a 3.8 million square meter ‘Falconcity of Wonders’ project. CEO of Falconcity, Salem al-Moosa told Al Arabiya that the project aims to “engrave Dubai’s place in the minds and hearts of world citizens”. I think that Dubai may be better able to do by not ripping off important heritage sites and placing them in an freakish amusement park of sorts.

Taj Arabia is purported to be “three to four times” bigger than the original Taj Mahal, with investors disclosing the project’s cost to a monumental $1 billion. The investors anticipate the project to be completed by the end of 2014. Developers say it will be used for weddings and also as a backdrop for Bollywood movies.

Not content with a steriod-pumped Taj Mahal, the project will also include the architectural highlights of sites such as the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, the hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Eiffel Tower and a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Big Ben and London Bridge are also expected to make an appearance, and malls and luxury hotel will obviously make up part of the mix.

7 Days in Dubai reported that although the entire project was originally announced more than five years ago, backers insist the Taj build is “now a reality”. God help us.

For more on the Dubai property scene see:

We Need Five Worlds to Live like the United Arab Emirates

Luxury Underwater Discus Hotel Close to Anchoring in the Gulf

Dubai Inaugurates World’s Tallest Building – Burj Khalifa

The post Dubai to Build Replica of Taj Mahal – Four Times Bigger than Original appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Lebanese housing market is a bit of a strange phenomenon. A largely unregulated construction market coupled with grandiose projects from ambitious rich gulf state developers and Lebanese expatriates has created a surplus of largely unaffordable houses. The result is that Lebanon is becoming a haphazard dumping site for cement buildings with little regard of the preceding cultural, historic and environmental resources.

Similarly, many believe Beirut has also turned into a mismanaged affair.

Following the Lebanese Civil War in 1994, then-Prime Minister Rafic Hariri aspired to create a new image of Beirut. The idea was to live up to its expectation as being “the Paris of the Middle East” and attract foreign investment. Hariri established a private development company, Solidere: Société libanaise pour le développement et la reconstruction de Beyrouth, with the expressed mandate to alter consumer sentiments of Beirut from an instable, bullet torn city into a hip , profit making national capital and port city.

Solidere decided to assign a new identity to downtown Beirut by,  on the one hand, invoking the historical roots of the Phoenician and Ottoman civilizations while using the urban layout and architecture introduced during the French Mandate years, and on the other hand, bulldozing down historical edifices to make way for large glass offices.

According to Robert Saliba, professor of architecture at the American Unversity of Beirut, this has been a mistake. Solidere seem to have misjudged consumer preferences and in an attempt to revise the ‘architectural language’ of the city center, Beirut now looks and feels like a place where the heritage and history of the old city have been commodified.

In its rebranding expedition, Saliba believes Solidere neglected to consider how residents might experience the new city, where many original buildings were destroyed, suffocated or replaced by kitsch reinterpretations of Phoenician and Ottoman architecture or ultra-modern structures. There are estimates that more buildings were destroyed to make space for the reconstructed center than during the war itself. In 1995, Elias Khoury, a novelist and journalist, wrote that “Beirut attempts to regenerate itself by recycling garbage and destroying its own memories.”

Graffiti in Achrafieh speaks against  Solidere’s construction staregy that is destroying the historical identity of Beirut

While the city center was rebuilt in a ‘historic’ style, and new quarters such as the Saifi Village were erected using a pastiche of traditional architecture, areas largely untouched by the war like Ashrafieh experienced the demolition of many heritage buildings and their replacement with office towers.

The end product is a downtown of mostly sterilized copies of the original with huge aesthetic and symbolic ambitions (yet paradoxically little resemblance of the old city) and suburbs that are expanding without a discernible planning framework.

Legal and illegal building activities and the speculation in building plots, made possible by a weak and corrupt government, favor a process of urban growth that is opaque and impractical.

In her research of Beirut,  Doctor Tamina Elias explores the origins and identity of the city and she finds that “Many Lebanese fear to see the humane dimension of the city disappear to the profit making prefabricated idea imposed by “others” structures that may look impeccable from the plane are unlivable at ground level”

Beirut is losing its identity, and it is not uncommon to see looted, suffocated and forgotten archeological sites or traditional red rooftiled houses amongst the high rising modern ideas. The worst part is that Solideres’ strategy has not attracted the foreign and domestic investment it had hoped for, the streets of downtown Beirut remain lively but its buildings are largely empty.

Having said this, Beirut is still an ambivalent city, in transition from a turbulent past to an uncertain future. How can you expect investment to flow in?

Images via Virual Tourist

The post Reconstructing Beirut by Demolishing its Identity appeared first on Green Prophet.

Find out what it takes to build your home and neighborhood, and then find out about the latest developments in earth architecture. Which is better? You be the judge.

Most people agree that having shelter is one of the most fundamental human needs, but for more privileged communities around the globe, a basic necessity has evolved into one of the most destructive industries on earth. Put together by the folks at SIREWALL, the video below describes in just a few crucial details exactly how the construction industry is destroying the planet: how much energy the industry uses, how many trees are sacrificed in the process, and how much waste is generated as a result. It also lists the motley of chemicals that we inadvertently store within our walls. You’ll never look at your house the same way after watching one of the most important clips to hit the architecture world.

The numbers are staggering, particularly since for over 1,000 years, we have had knowledge of a different but recently overlooked methodology that has always respected nature’s boundaries – earth architecture. And while it doesn’t behoove us to revert to past practices, we absolutely need an architectural/cultural/design revolution that can at least learn from it.

There are many excellent examples of earth architecture in the Middle East, including Hassan Fathy’s work, the Beehives of Syria, and Yemen’s gorgeous clay castles. But SIREWALL has perfected a rammed earth system that is exceptionally more sturdy, energy efficient, and easy to use than any other material on the market.

Better still: none of the Volatile Organic Compounds are present in these homes and offices, nor any other cancer-causing chemicals, and they are beautiful.

Although this company is not based in the Middle East, SIREWALL offers an extensive body of useful information on their website, as well as courses. Also included are galleries depicting numerous residential and commercial projects that meet the highest architectural and environmental standards.

Anyone who is interested in sustainable architecture will benefit from visiting SIREWALL, and once you’ve finished reading their statistics, all of the absurd, irresponsible building projects taking place in our region will drive you so nuts, you’ll want to do something about it.

:: WAN

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