GLOBALISATION

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

CHALLENGE+

As an architect, an artist, a writer, and a designer, I always had an extended pas-sion about architectural critique, relating its to social, behavioral, political phe-nomena. As a native of an Arab and Is-lamic culture, I always believed that it is my duty to enhance the quality of design, and to recall the richness of our heritage, and to explore. As a Fulbright scholar, my goal was to present my heritage in the western world, and to build new bridges of interaction and enhance the chan-nels of communication and progress the knowledge in my field.

Door detail in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia

inspiration

00

Through our research, we aim to study the Architectural heritage of major cit-ies in the Muslim world, and to analyse the struggle and/or progress of those societies. Also, our goal is to study how Islamic Architecture is being reshaped in a western country, for instance Australia, through the exploration of mosques and insights into the practice of architecture and art inspired from Middle east with Australian based firms, for isntance the firm “Desypher”, which has a vision of advancing community based structures within Australian diverse communities.

mapping world

01

>>> Muslims in Australia since the 1600s>>>Land of diversity and tolerance>>> Muslim rich contribution to Australia>>> Australian Muslim communities concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne>>> Enhacing the levels of educational coopera-tion and exchange between Aus-tralia and Tunisia, and the Muslim world in general

why Australia ///

why now ///

winds of change /// 2011...arab world...revolution...

politics? soc? eco?

architecture? design?

The process of globalisation and the cen-tered tendencies of massive urbanisation are shaping our world of today. Archi-tecture is bring reshaped simultaneously with the society and culture. Architecture is a very important part of our lives, as it is a representation of history, social functions, political power, science and technology. In today’s world, architecture is the ‘mirror’ and the ‘facade’, and an im-portant symbol of nations. Our world is affected by global phenomena and is be-ing reshaped in a same-manner trend. Is this the start of the end? Or is this a new era to build healthier communities?

muslim world

02Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE 2010

power

new

modern

global

re THOUGHTDISCOVER

In the modern world, the issue of glo-balisation has attracted different re-searchers and scholars. The term “glo-balization” was coined in the latter half of the 20th century, but the term and its concepts did not permeate popular consciousness until the latter half of the 1980s (Chris, 2006). In an ongoing dia-logue between architects and society, ar-chitects consider globalization a distin-guishing trend of the present moment, whereas theorists see it either as a neces-sary and positive vehicle of progress and diversity or as a force of insipid homog-enization and destruction. Architecture addresses our metaphysical, philosophi-cal, and cultural identities within a ma-terial context. It challenges us to look at history and, therefore, at architecture in a new way (El-Husseiny, 2004)

Fadhloun Mosque Minaret, Djerba Island, Tunisia

memories lost

Alleyway in the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia

The ministry of finance, Al Kasbah, Tunis, Tunisia

where are

WEfrom all this?

Persian Carpet, Iran Arabic Calligraphy

Food court at a Shopping Mall, Dubai, UAE

re CONSIDEREVALUATE

STYLESTRENDSHABITSCULTURETASTECRITERIA

Pictures taken in Jeddah’S Center, Saudi Arabia

re CONSIDEREVALUATE

identityvaluesheritagemodernityinspirationtastecreativityhegemony

Office buildings in Tunis, Tunisia

re CONSIDEREVALUATE

international?

mix international?local?

limits? ofcreativity loss of taste?

03

re CONSIDERED

'By "globalisation" is meant the cumula-tive processes of a worldwide expansion of trade and production, commodity and financial markets, fashions, the media and computer programs, news and communi-cations networks, transportation systems and flows of migration, the risks engen-dered by large-scale technology, environ-mental damage and epidemics, as well as organised crime and terrorism'.

Jurgen Habermas, The Divided West, Polity Press, 2006, p175.

GLOBAL ARCH ?

STAR ARCHITECTS ?

CONTEXT IDENTITY ?

CLASH IDEOLOGIES ?

AESTHETIC DIVERSITY ?

LOCAL MODERNITY ?

PSYCH IDENTITY ?

PHILOSOPH REFLECTION ?

‘In many instances these build-ings look as if they might house just about anything: an office or a school, a bank or a research centre, a hotel or apartments, a shopping mall or an airport terminal.’

Hans Ibelings, Supermodernism: Architecture in

the Age of Globalisation, NAi Publishers, 1998, p88.

'Western consumer conformity is descending on the less industrialised parts of the world like an ava-lanche. "Development" brings tourism, Western films and products and, more recently, satellite television to the remotest corners of the Earth. All provide overwhelming images of luxury and power. Adverts and action films give the impression that everyone in the West is rich, beautiful and brave, and leads a life filled with excitement and glamour ... [A]dvertisers make it clear that Westernized fashion accessories equal sophistication and "cool". In diverse "develop-ing" nations around the world, people are induced to meet their needs not through their community or local economy, but by trying to "buy in" to the global market.' Helena Norberg-Hodge, ‘The March of the Monoculture’, The Ecologist, Vol 29, No 2, May/June 1999, p195.

HUMAN POSITIVE ENERGY

THINKING INTER-ACTION DESIGN

INTER-ACTION

tools world

URBAN INSTALLATION

DIGITAL FAB

URBAN ANALYSIS

SOFTWARES REVIT+CAD+3DS

VIDEOS INTERVIEWS

ANALYSIS POLIT+SOC+CULT+ECO

ETHICS WORLD

KNOWLEDGE

REACHING-OUT ARCH WORLD

ART

04

INTERACTIV

firms australiaMelbourne based office, associated with offices in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.Their vision is to advance the establish-ment of community based infrastructure as a means of building communities under the themes of approachability, participation and inculcating respect.

Their mission is to:

•act as agents of positive community contribution;•propose architectural solutions that are socially, economically and environmen-tally integrated;•create regionally based architectural expressions that although drawing upon Islamic design principles are unapologetically modern.

re CONSIDERED

Daniel Libeskind, resident while working on the Jewish Museum, considered these to be rules 'that are transforming ... the city into banal unifor-mity'. Stimman for his part told Libeskind that his muse-um was 'an architectural fart'. Libeskind left Berlin for Los Angeles...

Globalisation and architecture: the challenges of globalisation are relentlessly shaping archi-tecture’s relationship with society and culture

by Robert Adam

re CONSIDERED

Architecture addresses our metaphysical, philosophical, and cultural identities within a material context. It challenges us to look at history and, therefore, at architecture in a new way.

El-Husseiny M (2004), A view on contemporary architecture in EgyptHijacking

Documentary into Video Installation ArtDr.OnacloVLecturer in Digital Media, Design ComputingFaculty of Architecture, Design & Planning, Sydney University

tools me, experience

travels

DIGITALFAB

REEXPLOR-ING MY HERITAGEUSA 2010

2008-2009 france, arch studio, Paris2008-2011 USA, HKS arch, Detroit2012.... ambassador of my country

Majdi Faleh, Tunisian Architect and Fulbright scholar, graduated with a professional master of Architecture from Ball State University in the United States, and with a degree of Architecture from the National school of Architecture in Tunisia. Fluent in 5 languages, and very eager to engage in architectural critique and social justice.

“My admiration of Majdi Faleh stems not only from the fact that he is a strong architectural designer, but more importantly from the fact that he is concerned about societal issues and social justice concerns. He is engaged in critical inquiry in this regard and is com-mitted to utilizing his architectural skills to improve the physical environment and overall quality of life for society in general.”

Olon Dotson, Professor- Ball State University, USA