- Site: MENA (Middle East and North Africa), Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan
- Time: From 2014 to 2017
- Program: To collect information on Danish building projects in MENA and visualize the data through maps and diagrams giving knowledge of the field with the intention to qualify building projects in the future.
- Project type: Research
This mapping provides an overview of the Danish building projects in MENA.
278 building projects have been identified (a building project is defined here as a proposal for a concrete change to a specific site). 119 of the projects have been realized while 159 have not. Besides the distinction between realized and unrealized, there is also a distinction in maps and the list between building projects where the location is correct and where it is incomplete.
Besides -THE FORMER DANISH CONSULATE in Essaouria, Morocco from 1765 and -SILOS (GRAIN STORAGE) in Marrakech, Morocco from 1768 both by Vilhelm Schrøder and -THE RAILWAYN STATION in Tehran, Iran by Knud Tanggaard Seest from 1935, the remaining building projects are all from after the Second World War.
Jørn Utzon went on a study trip to Morocco in 1947 while Vilhelm Wohlert went to Tunisia and Egypt the same year and this created an opening in Danish architecture towards MENA. Both Utzon and Wohlert contributed with building projects in several different places in MENA and also used inspirations from the regional architecture in their work elsewhere.
Utzon and Wohlert never worked directly together, but Hans Munk Hansen worked with both of them and since his engagement in Iran in the 1950's he has worked all over the region making him the architect of this study, which is responsible for most building projects.
The Danish construction activity in the MENA culminates in a series of major works that, apart from: -CENTRAL BANK OF KUWAIT by Arne Jacobsen with Dissing + Weitling from 1976, all are from the 1980's: -CENTRAL BANK OF IRAQ by Dissing + Weitling from 1985; -TECHNICAL TRAINING CENTER and HOUSING in Algeria by Hans Munk Hansen and Vilhelm Wohlert from 1982; -KUWAIT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY by Jørn and Jan Utzon from 1985; -MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS in Saudi Arabia by Henning Larsen in 1984; -BAHRAIN NATIONAL MUSEUM, CIVIC CENTRE in Bahrain by KHR AS (Knud Holscher) from 1989.
In the 1990's, there is almost no construction activity, but it slowly starts again after 2000, and it has grown ever since now approaching the same level as in the 1980's.
Several of the offices that were active in the region in 1980's, have resumed their activities:
-Dissing + Weitling with an extensive production of bridges and other infrastructural facilities.
-Wohlert Architects with a number of projects that relates to the unique heritage of Bahrain.
-Henning Larsen Architects have done the masterplan for King Abdullah Financial district (KAFD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and is responsible for several projects within this new part of the city, KAFD is one of the worlds largest construction sites today.
There are however also projects by other, newer offices as fx:
-MASTERPLAN "PRESERVING THE HERITAGE OF PAST FOR THE PEOPLE TODAY in Istanbul, Turkey by Gehl Architects from 2008.
-CENTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT in Abu Dhabi, U. A Emirates by CEBRA that is about to be realized.
-KAGITHANE GARDENS in Istanbul, Turkey by JDS (Julien de Smedt) that is under construction.
Building projects are distributed generally in many of the countries in MENA, but not at the same times. Whereas the building activity was high in the 1950's in the then Western-oriented Iran this stopped abruptly with the revolution of 1978, - and this is just one example of how building activities are affected by the often violent change and unrest, which has been and continues to be in several parts of MENA.
Much of the information for this survey comes from interviews with architects and I want to thank all of them for sharing their knowledge. The information also comes from written sources: Books, magazines, brochures, and project descriptions, as well as from websites.
I am very interested in additional information or comments, please write to: info@troelsrugbjerg.dk
The charts are developed using Google Charts, while the interactive map is made using Google Fusion Table.
This project is supported by DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION, THE DANISH INSTITUTE IN DAMASCUS and ESTHER OF JEP FINKS MINDEFOND FOR ARKITEKTUR OG KUNSTHÅNDVÆRK
