The revival of the architectural identity : the city of Arriyadh

• Main Author: Alangari, Abdulrahman Bin Mohammed
• Published: University of Edinburgh 1997
• Subjects: 720
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.640338

Until the beginning of this century the city was like any other city in the Najd: quiet, with limited physical development, and surrounded by a thick city wall. The city was not very active commercially or economically. Trade was limited, but, most importantly, the physical structure of the city and the architectural style were unique, with a unified residential pattern (courtyard houses) and the streets were narrow and winding, which helped protect pedestrians from the sun. The city had a distinguished core containing the Grand Mosque, the Souq, and the Ruler's Palace. A thoroughfare connected this core with the city gates passing through different residential neighbourhoods. The only means of transportation were by foot or animals. Social change was limited by the closeness of Najdi society and the limitation of the cultural influence. With the discovery of oil on a commercial basis in 1938 the city witnessed a rapid development which caused it to spread beyond the city wall. A new transportation technology was adopted with the introduction of vehicles. The inauguration of the railway brought in new building materials and equipment. From 1953 onwards government agencies were transferred from the western province; as a result, housing projects and ministry buildings were constructed. This action led the government to ask Arab experts to participate in the design of the new structural concepts, in which they used their background knowledge. Up to that time the city had no planning and building codes. In 1968 the Mayoralty appointed Doxiadis of Greece to make the Master Plan for the city. Doxiadis recommended the adoption of the 'set back' building design and the 'grid-iron' planning pattern. Both regulations were incompatible with the needs of the people and climate of the city. Nevertheless, the government, represented by the Mayoralty went forward with these regulations, not allowing any alternative. This may be considered the main point from which the obliteration of the architectural identify of Arriyadh may be traced.