2nd Track : Rethinking the Mosque Architecture of the Future
Role/Contribution
Author 1: Dr. Venus Suleiman Akef
Director of the Historic Preservation Technology Unit, ,University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
Author 2: Dr. Shamael M.W Al-Dabbagh,
Department of Architectural Engineering, ,University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
Research paper Title
The Alienation Of The Architecture Of Mosques: Reconnecting The Architecture Of The Mosques With The Contemporary Islamic Contexts
Personal Biography
Dr. Venus S. Akef is an awards-winning architect and scholar; a Postdoctoral Weinberg Fellow in architectural history and preservation - The Italian Academy, Columbia University, NY, USA, 2021-2022. She received her PhD in Architecture in 2019 in addition to a graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation in 2018, both from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Currently She serves as the founder director of the Historic Preservation Technology Unit at the University of Technology in Baghdad, Iraq. The coordinator and in charge of the University of Technology membership at the United Nations Academic Impact UNAI. Dr. Akef is the first Iraqi architect and scholar to speak at the General Assembly of the United Nations, introducing the concept of her PhD dissertation, Architecture for Positive Peace: The Role of Architecture in the Process of rebuilding Peace within conflict and postwar contexts. She is also the winner of the Many Languages One World (MLOW) international competition, organized by ELS Educational Services, Inc., and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), 2016. In 2020, She worked as the research assistant at the Iraq Hub for the international project led by the University of Leeds, United Kingdom: (Re) Contextualizing Contested Heritage: Building Capacity & Designing Participatory Approaches to Preserve Cultural Heritage by the Youth (United Kingdom, Iraq- Lebanon- Kosovo), 2020. She is the first female winner of Tamayouz, the Excellence Award in Architecture, for the Rising Star Category of Women in Architecture and Construction, 2014. She is the first female winner of the Architect Prize of the Arab World, organized by the Arab League in 2009. Dr. Akef has participated in many distinguished national and international conferences and journals with contributions at different capacities (researcher, speaker, member of scientific committee, chairing sessions, and editorial board) such as – but not limited to: Barcelona – Urban Futures – Cultural Pasts (Sustainable Cities, Cultures & Crafts), 2024; The 16th International Conference on the Developments in eSystems Engineering, 2023; TEDx Baghdad 2021, STEPS (Science, Technology, Engineering, Post Graduate Students) 2020, The 2017 National Humanities Conference by National Humanities Alliance (NHA) co-hosted with the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Boston, Massachusetts, USA; and the Eighth Annual Conference, Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA). Washington, D.C., USA.
Paper Abstract
The Alienation Of The Architecture Of Mosques: Reconnecting The Architecture Of The Mosques With The Contemporary Contexts
The other possible title
Mosques as Generative References to Rebuild the Architecture Identity in Contemporary Contexts
Mosques, have long been the core organizational structure of their contexts. In the traditional Islamic cities, the mosque, was never separated from its context. Rather, it was the center -physically and spiritually- where the traditions and the believes of the society have long been enacted, consented, and translated into architecture. In traditional Islamic cities, such as Baghdad, the architecture of the mosque was in complete integration with its greater context to comprise a holistic structure distinguished with its unique architectural identity that has long reflected the core social and cultural principles of the society, the character of the place, and local climate requirements. Today, in the contemporary Islamic urban contexts, despite the increasing number of mosques within the continuously expanding cities, the impact of the mosque on its greater context has decreased. Physically, the mosque is no longer the organizational center nor the context is integrated with the architecture of the mosque. As this paper highlights this case of the alienation of the architecture of mosques, it also focuses on the disturbed architectural system in contemporary Islamic cities where in the architectural identity is not anymore defined. Using a comparative analytical methodology, this paper focuses on this relationship between the architecture of the mosque and the context. The discussion in this paper includes an analytical review of two examples of mosques, both designed by Iraqi pioneer architect Mohamed Makiya, in two different contexts (the first in Baghdad, the second in Muscat).
The aim is to reveal the impact of “reintegrating the mosque with its context and reactivating the architecture of the mosque as a generative organizational reference” on shaping the architectural identity in contemporary Islamic cities.
The conclusions include the discussion of the responsibilities of the architects to adopt the design strategies that particularly ensure enriching the architecture with potentials to reconnect the architecture of the mosque with its context and reactivating the mosques as a generative type and a reference to rebuild the architectural identity in contemporary Islamic contexts.
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