New Islamic Urbanism

Since the dawn of the oil era, cities in Saudi Arabia have witnessed rapid growth and profound societal changes. As a response to foreign architectural solutions and the increasing popularity of Western lifestyles, a distinct style of architecture and urban planning has emerged. Characterised by an emphasis on privacy, expressed through high enclosures, gates, blinds, and tinted windows, ‘New Islamic Urbanism’ constitutes for some an important element of piety. For others, it enables alternative ways of life, indulgence in banned social practices, and the formation of both publics and counterpublics. Tracing the emergence of ‘New Islamic Urbanism’, this book sheds light on the changing conceptions of public and private space, in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, in the Saudi city of Jeddah. It challenges the widespread assumption that the public sphere is exclusively male in Muslim contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where women’s public visibility is limited by the veil and strict rules of gender segregation. Showing that the rigid segregation regime for which the country is known serves to constrain the movements of men and women alike, Stefan Maneval provides a nuanced account of the negotiation of public and private spaces in Saudi Arabia.

Since the dawn of the oil era, cities in Saudi Arabia have witnessed a rapid growth and profound societal changes. As a response to foreign architectural solutions and an increasing popularity of Western lifestyle, a distinct style in architecture and urban planning emerged. Characterised by an emphasis on privacy protection through high enclosures, gates, blinds, and tinted windows, "New Islamic Urbanism" constitutes for some an important element of piety. For others, it enables alternative ways of life, banned social practices, as well as the formation of publics and counterpublics. Tracing the emergence of New Islamic Urbanism, this book sheds new light on the changing conceptions of public and private space in the Saudi city of Jiddah in the twentieth century. It challenges the widespread assumption that the public sphere is exclusively male in Muslim contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where women's public visibility is limited by the wearing of a veil and strict rules of gender segregation. Stefan Maneval provides a nuanced account of the negotiation of public and private spaces by men and women in Saudia Arabia and shows that the rigid segregation regime for which the country is known serves to constrain the movements of men and women alike.

This book scrutinizes the spatial making of new Islamism in Turkey through comparisons with relevant cases across the globe.

Wide range of case studies across the Islamic world Provides a new interdisciplinary perspective on the Islamic city Well illustrated with maps and photographs The mix of contributors is good, from well established and highly respected academics to younger, upcoming talents The issue of urbanism in the Islamic world is an enduringly popular area of study and investigation

First published in 1994

The two-volume Companion to Islamic Art and Architecture bridges the gap between monograph and survey text by providing a new level of access and interpretation to Islamic art. The more than 50 newly commissioned essays revisit canonical topics, and include original approaches and scholarship on neglected aspects of the field. This two-volume Companion showcases more than 50 specially commissioned essays and an introduction that survey Islamic art and architecture in all its traditional grandeur Essays are organized according to a new chronological-geographical paradigm that remaps the unprecedented expansion of the field and reflects the nuances of major artistic and political developments during the 1400-year span The Companion represents recent developments in the field, and encourages future horizons by commissioning innovative essays that provide fresh perspectives on canonical subjects, such as early Islamic art, sacred spaces, palaces, urbanism, ornament, arts of the book, and the portable arts while introducing others that have been previously neglected, including unexplored geographies and periods, transregional connectivities, talismans and magic, consumption and networks of portability, museums and collecting, and contemporary art worlds; the essays entail strong comparative and historiographic dimensions The volumes are accompanied by a map, and each subsection is preceded by a brief outline of the main cultural and historical developments during the period in question The volumes include periods and regions typically excluded from survey books including modern and contemporary art-architecture; China, Indonesia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sicily, the New World (Americas)

This book discusses architectural excellence in Islamic societies drawing on textual and visual materials, from the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT, developed over more than three decades. At the core of the discussion are the efforts, processes, and outcomes of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA). The AKAA recognises excellence in architectural and urban interventions within cities and settlements in the Islamic world which are continuously challenged by dramatic changes in economies, societies, political systems, decision-making, and environmental requirements. Architectural Excellence in Islamic Societies responds to the recurring question about the need for architectural awards, arguing that they are critical to validating the achievements of professional architects while making their contributions more widely acknowledged by the public. Through analysis and critique of over sixty awarded and shortlisted projects from over thirty-five countries, this book provides an expansive look at the history of the AKAA through a series of narratives on the enduring values of architecture, architectural and urban conservation, built environment sustainability, and architectural pluralism and multiple modernities. Architectural Excellence in Islamic Societies will appeal to professionals and academics, researchers, and upper-level students in architectural history and theory and built environment related fields.

This book sheds light on a particular facet of the link between politics and Islam through the analysis of the relationship between Islamism and the built environment. The relationship between Islam and politics has always been controversial, yet it has possibly never been as controversial as it is at the time of writing. This new edited volume sets out to explore the interactions between Islamisms and the built environment through issues such as: spatial negotiations between nation and Islam in the definition of national identity; everyday spaces and the making of Islamic milieus; the role of Islam in the making (and/or remaking) of state ideology via architecture and urban planning; the influence of globalization and transnational links on the spatial manifestations of Islam(ism); and transnational architectural exchanges through global Islam. It expands on these issues through case studies analysing the role of the built environment and the urban realm as major media in the making of Islamist politics. The case studies incorporate manifestations in Muslim-dominated countries, including those where Islam has been at the heart of state ideology (Pakistan and Brunei), those with influential grassroots Islamist networks (pre-revolutionary Iran and Indonesia), those that identify with Islam through global exchanges (United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Turkey) and countries where Islam is an increasingly significant reference utilized by political actors (Algeria and Lebanon). This book will appeal to students and scholars of architecture, urban studies and cultural studies, as well as those interested in the social and political aspects of the built environment.