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DOHA • Municipalities should see to it there are guidelines to ensure buildings have a coherent character. While Doha's skyline is impressive, many of the buildings are jarringly different from others, giving everything a rather random look.
Dalila ElKerdany, a practising architect and Professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering, told The Peninsula, "Any place should have character. Urban character is like a language composed with letters, words and sentences. A letter is the item such as a window or door, a word is the building with its formal character and style formed by rhythm, balance and function and the sentence is the collective relationship between a group of buildings."
ElKerdany, who is also on the jury of the 'ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture Awards', said: "Even if architects are not familiar with the local context, the municipality should put guidelines in order to achieve a coherent character. I do not mean these should be put blindly or the architect should abide literally to the extent originality and creativity are sacrificed. If we just put the question, the architect should defend his ideas in front of such a question and results can be achieved."
These days, function and economy are stressed upon, while character, harmony, aesthetics and sustainability are given the go-by. "Development and the real estate sector in the region are booming. Consequently, architects and engineers are much in demand. I imagine this will continue for a while. However, there must be some reform to the practice (architecture) in general on many levels, such as regulations, the profession, policies and so forth," she said.
ElKerdany, for whom rehabilitation of historic and valuable buildings is something of a passion, said: "It is a pity this (historic buildings being brought down) is happening in many of the Arab countries. Saudi Arabia has lost a lot of interesting and valuable buildings as they made way for new structures. Civil society and interested professionals should gather and make an effort to educate and support positive initiatives."
She is not too happy about the architectural trends in the region either. The Arab world has been known through history for its distinctive architectural style. "There are fewer positive than negative trends. Among the negative ones are the bad imitation of classical western styles in a blind manner that does not realise the natural, cultural or environmental contexts," ElKerdany said.
The architect-academic rued the imitation of work done by well-known architects like Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid. "By this, architects just take forms without meaning or reasons," she said.
DOHA • Municipalities should see to it there are guidelines to ensure buildings have a coherent character. While Doha's skyline is impressive, many of the buildings are jarringly different from others, giving everything a rather random look.
Dalila ElKerdany, a practising architect and Professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering, told The Peninsula, "Any place should have character. Urban character is like a language composed with letters, words and sentences. A letter is the item such as a window or door, a word is the building with its formal character and style formed by rhythm, balance and function and the sentence is the collective relationship between a group of buildings."
ElKerdany, who is also on the jury of the 'ThyssenKrupp Elevator Architecture Awards', said: "Even if architects are not familiar with the local context, the municipality should put guidelines in order to achieve a coherent character. I do not mean these should be put blindly or the architect should abide literally to the extent originality and creativity are sacrificed. If we just put the question, the architect should defend his ideas in front of such a question and results can be achieved."
These days, function and economy are stressed upon, while character, harmony, aesthetics and sustainability are given the go-by. "Development and the real estate sector in the region are booming. Consequently, architects and engineers are much in demand. I imagine this will continue for a while. However, there must be some reform to the practice (architecture) in general on many levels, such as regulations, the profession, policies and so forth," she said.
ElKerdany, for whom rehabilitation of historic and valuable buildings is something of a passion, said: "It is a pity this (historic buildings being brought down) is happening in many of the Arab countries. Saudi Arabia has lost a lot of interesting and valuable buildings as they made way for new structures. Civil society and interested professionals should gather and make an effort to educate and support positive initiatives."
She is not too happy about the architectural trends in the region either. The Arab world has been known through history for its distinctive architectural style. "There are fewer positive than negative trends. Among the negative ones are the bad imitation of classical western styles in a blind manner that does not realise the natural, cultural or environmental contexts," ElKerdany said.
The architect-academic rued the imitation of work done by well-known architects like Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid. "By this, architects just take forms without meaning or reasons," she said.
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