
Architecture of Culture
Design Labs II | Volume I
- Binding Paperback with flaps
- Size 16,50 x 22 cm
- Pages 640
- Illustrations 320
- Language English
- Year 2023
- ISBN 9788836655144
- Price € 63,00 € 59,85
Architecture of Culture is a project which explores the subject of craft preservation from a macroscale, looking at it in relation to local materials, local architecture, and local environments to study its everchanging role and impact on the Emirati community’s sustainability and to revitalize its role in today’s economy and environment.
Architects, designers, urbanists, curators, researchers, artists, geologists, biologists, chemists, and craft specialists across the MENASEA, have been invited to contribute to this publication. Crafting connections and empowering women from its base in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council operates a pioneering Council of creative, cultural and commercial initiatives designed to empower women through craft. Spanning the Middle East, North Africa and South-East and Central Asia, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council’s activities centre on the preservation and promotion of indigenous craft heritage, the engagement of young generations and the development of new international market opportunities.
Due to the cultural and sustainable significance of looking inwards and returning to the vernacular, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council set out to curate an experimental research on the Architecture of Culture by delving into the context of UAE’s cultural heritage, for its Design Labs II initiative: in which the first year focused on a research fellowship with the American University of Sharjah’s College of Architecture, Art and Design.
Foreword
Contributors
Introduction
Curatorial Statement
Table of Contents
Mapping
ENVIRONMENT I | PALM OASIS
Vernacular Materials
Bioplastics
Palm fronds
Palm fruit & pollen
Frankincense
Vernacular Architecture
Arish structures
Al Falaj systems
ENVIRONMENT II | DESERTSCAPE
Vernacular Materials
Sand
Clay
Wool
Vernacular Architecture
Rammed earth architecture
Mudbrick architecture
Tent structures
Vernacular Crafts
Al Zaffanah
Al Safafah
Vernacular Recipes
Palm Sheath x Frankincense
Date Skin Bioplastic
Vernacular Crafts
Al Sadu
Al Faroukha
Clay building
Vernacular Recipes
Sand x Sodium Alginate x Palm Sheath
3D printed clay
ENVIRONMENT III | WATERSCAPE
Seascape
Sabkhas
Mangroves
Vernacular Materials
Salt
Algae
Pearls & pearl shells
Fossil rocks
Carbonate rocks & Coral stones
Environment IV | MOUNTAINSCAPE
Vernacular Materials
Limestone
Sandstone
Semail Ophiolites
Cotton
Vernacular Architecture
Coral architecture
Vernacular Crafts
Al Talli
Al Gargour
Al Jalafa
Vernacular Recipes
Pearl shells x Sodium Alginate
Palm Sheath x Crystallized Salt
Wood steaming x Al Zaffanah
Vernacular Architecture
Stone architecture
Vernacular Crafts
Embroidery
Vernacular Recipes
Cotton Bioplastic
Limestone x Sand x Palm Sheath
Limestone x Sand x Oyster shells
L'âge d'or
Places as Constellations
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nougat
He Eats Alone
Eye's Delight
I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous
In conversation with Hans Ulrich Obrist
Turbulence
Images of Women in 19th-Century Iran