International Journal of Architecture (IJA)

Volume 4, Issue 2, July–December 2018, pp. 1–10, Article ID: IJA_04_02_001

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THE ARCHITECTURAL IDENTITY OF ARAB AND ISLAMIC

CITIES
Waleed Khaled Yasser
Faculty of Architecture, University of Technology, Iraq

ABSTRACT
One of the problematic issues currently being addressed is the question of the
identity of Arab-Islamic cities, where there is a multiplicity of visions in the way of
achieving spatial identity, accompanied by a multitude of trends reflected in the
production of contemporary Arab-Islamic architecture and its differing trends in
conservation the local heritage and the orientations that embrace modern architecture
in a holistic manner.
The loss of identity in contemporary urban societies has become a phenomenon for
many states with a physical renaissance, and most of the modern buildings that are
created are not suited to environmental and cultural conditions, and depend on
imported architecture language and vocabulary that blur local identity in various
architectural and physical aspects.
The aim of the research is to identify the architectural identity of the Arab-Islamic
cities, which coincides with urban development and the problem of architectural
identity, and examines this issue by reviewing the architectural expression of the local
identity and architectural heritage and its relationship with contemporary identity by
reviewing of the planning features of the Arab-Islamic cities and the problem of
contemporary identity. The research concludes with a return to architectural heritage
to preserve and rehabilitate them and to reach conclusions that can be used for future
projects
Key words: Identity, Architectural Identity, Arab-Islamic Cities, Architectural
Heritage, Preserve and Rehabilitate.
Cite this Article: Nallapareddy Sireesha, Happiness In Architecture. International
Journal of Architecture (IJA), 4(2), 2018, pp 1–10.
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1. INTRODUCTION
The city is a social, economic, political, cultural and physical unit that grows and develops
dynamically within a given spatial space, works and connects to its own system that differs
from one city to another. The population represents the social and cultural aspect and
represents the economic aspect of the nature and type of activity. The political aspect is the
administrative and political authority of the city, while the urban side (the building blocks) is
the urban component of the town. And that the cities have different distribution Spatial and
temporal dimensions, they share three characteristics:

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 Waleed Khaled Yasser

• Contain a certain number of people, who live in them-

• Physical structure (physical structure), which represents the spatial space in which people
exercise their life activities .
• The functional relationship of the city's elements among themselves, and the city's relationship
with its territory and other cities, on the other hand.

2. NEED FOR THE STUDY

As a step toward gaining a better understanding of the construct of the architectural identity of
the Arab-Islamic cities, this study was designed to analyze whether the identity of the Arab-
Islamic cities Including common principles and characteristics of their distinction from other
cities, and on the other hand can be dealing with these principles and employment in modern
Islamic cities and thus maintain the continuity of modern Islamic cities identity and prevent
the deterioration and the occurrence of so-called social alienation of cities and the subsequent
disadvantages to its inhabitants.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• To identify the characteristics and principles that characterize the Arab and Islamic cities,
which constitute a single identity of those cities.
• To investigate the possibility of overcoming the disadvantages of contemporary architecture
and return to the Arab Islamic architecture, and whether it can be presented with a new
approach and access to a modern architecture with a distinct and clear Arab and Islamic
identity.

4. METHODOLOGY
As a first step to identify the identity in general and then the investigation of the architectural
identity and its relationship to time and place, and then move to analyze the Arab and Islamic
cities and identify the characteristics of the identification of their unique identity and then
read the Arab and Islamic cities in contemporary time, then investigate these cities still retain
their identity, or should we find ways to preserve their original identity?

4.1 Concept of identity

The concept of identity is one of a broad and general nature and refers to the range of unique
and intrinsic qualities that characterize the entity [1] , whether physical or moral, and some
of the intrinsic qualities of any entity that may be involved with other entities, leading to a
similarity and Varying degrees. Here comes the role of non-shared qualities or differences to
be directories or indicators to differentiate the entity in question from others.
Identity is based on the existence of a common language, a known geographical boundary,
and a national culture shared by all its members. People rely on the transmission of this
culture from generation to generation in the use of the common language.

4.2. Identity in architecture

Architecture is one of the greatest achievements of human civilizations, and it is the product
of the interplay of moral intellectual values on side and material on the other [2], so that the
form of architecture is a vivid and truthful expression of the past and present intellectual
values of society, i.e. the form of architecture reflects the identity of any society.
The concept of identity in architecture in particular is based on the theoretical principle
that elements, shapes and architectural vocabulary reflect the lifestyle of the people or society
they produce, and the lifestyle includes customs, traditions, ways of thinking, religious
beliefs, moral principles, social values, etc.

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 The Architectural Identity of Arab and Islamic Cities

Referring to the pioneers of architecture in their reference to identity, al-Jadraji pointed

out that identity is an amorphous concept in architecture through form and characteristics and
that the local identity is a concept linked to architecture through physical entities that are
linked in temporal and spatial terms [3].
Architectural identity is a part of the cultural identity of peoples. It is in this spirit that the
architectural model cannot be unified because it is a cornerstone of the diversity of the
cultural life of the peoples of each geographical region and the built environment is felt and
centered on the idea of social identity [4].
The architectural identity is a sign in the language of architecture, so the characteristics of
architectural identity are associated with the extension and breadth of the geographical signs
associated with shaping the identity of the place and the cultural identity of the person in
which he lives.

4.3. The identity of the place

The architectural and urban identity is one of the characteristics associated with its spatial and
temporal reality, which takes on many forms and variations. By associating identity with the
place or so-called identity of the place, three essential elements contribute to the formation of
this identity [5]
• Physical features and appearance -
• Events and functions prevailing
• Meanings and symbols aware
Each of these words includes an unlimited range of contents, which in turn overlaps and
overlaps through methods and manners that may be un-measurable and calculated. In the
opinion of some, there is no discernible threshold for the degree of diversity of spatial
identity. Each place has a characteristic or set of unique characteristics and patterns of
Relationships are expressed and expressed in the personality of that place, yet this uniqueness
in the identity of the place corresponds to the same time involved in a range of characteristics
with other places. Such participation produces a specific harmony and harmony that
contributes to the crystallization of a broader identity for such places, for example the areas of
heritage markets in Islamic cities.

4.4. The identity with time

In terms of time, the urban identity or the identity of architecture in the urban environment,
according to the views of many researchers, is a continuous dynamic mechanism consisting
mainly of interventions and interactions between social and cultural values and norms on the
one hand and different urban forms on the other [6]. This does not necessarily mean that this
identity will change from time to time, but it will move through levels at one time in a state
where the interaction between social, cultural and urban forms is so great that it can reverse
collective moral identity. And later weaken this interaction and generate convictions in new
forms and may contain the meanings of their own strength. This can be explained by the fact
that the architectural form or the physical composition whenever associated with religious
beliefs, traditions and social norms was part of the collective memory and has the viability of
time.

4.5. The Planning Principles of the Arab Islamic City

The composition of the space is related to the city's urban formations, the spaces it represents,
and the architectural elements that appear in it. This composition appears in two different
angles: the general view of the city from the atmosphere and the local view of the city from

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 Waleed Khaled Yasser

the inside. It is connected to the human scale and its sense of sizes and spaces, of the
traditional Arab city through the traditional urban fabric, which has three main advantages:
• Unity and heading inward, and begins to feel lonely when entering the city through its gates.
• The part and all have the same importance in the formation of the fabric where they affect and
affect each other (unlike the urban fabric of our modern cities, where all the most important
part).
• The harmony and interaction in the behavior and views of the city's population reflected in the
form of urban fabric organically and automatically.
The traditional Arab city is characterized by impressive planning foundations that show
the Arab-Muslim plan, and this is illustrated in the following characteristics [7]

4.5.1. Hierarchy
The principle of hierarchical hierarchy is illustrated by the organization of spaces in a clear
hierarchy from public to private space, which is reflected in all levels of urban formation
beginning with the city as a whole, through the traditional fabric of residential buildings and
then the totals of residential units. The space is organized within the residential unit around
the open courtyard, The levels of traffic axes in the city that ensure that each part of the traffic
system fits with the characteristics and character of the space it serves, as the hierarchy of the
traffic routes is the basis for the pattern of the urban body

4.5.2. Variety
We find variety in the general unity and within it, space is narrowing at times and expands at
other times, and extends straight and bend, and there are stops and containment and the
transition from space to the other, and all this within the rhythm of natural automatically
linked to the nature of movement in space, in the alleys movement is free, Facades of
buildings on either side of the alley.
The urban fabric of the traditional Arab city enjoys a great deal of harmony, balance and
unity. It is not far from the variety of the building yards and the urban structure of the social
structure, which helps to guide the movement of individuals and to determine the degree of
privacy and generality in the place. This variety has enriched the atmosphere. City, and to
meet the human need for diversification and change on the sensory and psychological level.
The urban fabric of the traditional Arab city enjoys a great deal of harmony, balance and
unity. It is not far from the variety of the building yards and the urban structure of the social
structure, which helps to guide the movement of individuals and to determine the degree of
privacy and generality in the place. This variety has enriched the atmosphere. City, and to
meet the human need for diversification and change on the sensory and psychological level.

4.5.3. The human scale

The human scale is one of the important principles in the planning of the traditional Arab city.
The components of the city are designed to fit the human scale. These are relations with all
levels of the city's urban structure. The traffic network in alleys and streets whose dimensions
are determined by the possibility of absorbing comfortable and safe pedestrian movement.
The public spaces in the open courtyards, the markets and the mosque of the city with their
horizontal and vertical dimensions are of a human scale, while the details of the facades of
openings, entrances and other elements (such as Al- Shanashaniel) are proportionate in the
human scale. The human was characterized by a sense of intimacy and familiarity, embracing
human and absorbed, unlike many part of the contemporary city that are beyond human scale.

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 The Architectural Identity of Arab and Islamic Cities

4.5.4. Cohesive and Interrelating

It is one of the most important concepts that influenced the building of the urban environment
of the traditional Arab city in its urban aspect, where the continuity of the space and its spread
to include the whole city as a single connected space, an interconnected entity as a single
body with a dynamic system which is difficult to divide internally due to the difficulty of
separating its interconnected parts, The pattern and function are interconnected with an
organic dialect, and this is not just the sum of the parts, but their interconnection and
interaction. The traditional city has been characterized by its principle of unity, where the
complex buildings, with one facade and continuous and one horizontal level and similar inner
spaces, It gave the city a picture of its appearance as one unit is interconnected,
interconnected and coherent.

4.5.5. Organic
The organic of the Arab Islamic city is a result of harmony with the climate and thus reflected
in the organizational structure of the urban fabric as evident in its narrow streets and narrow
streets, which are protected by the walls of the facades.
The characteristics of organic in the Arab Islamic city, automatic growth, as the urban
organization is subject to human conditions and needs and natural data and climate, so the
streets stretched this way with the extension of the need for housing.

4.5.6. Directional
The mosque is the main nucleus in the development of the Arab-Islamic cities, thus affecting
the direction of the urban fabric of the city. The mosque is facing the Kaaba. This hidden axis
has the main role in directing the main streets that intersect the city center at the mosque. This
principle applies to the narrow and winding alleys of urban fabric parts in residential areas.

4.6. The deterioration of Arab cities and the loss of identity

It is necessary to see architecture with a serious perspective on the grounds that it is possible
to live without architecture and worship without it also, but it cannot be remembered without
architecture. This means the importance of the historical dimension in architectural work by
referring to two facts:
First: See history through architecture.
Secondly: that the architectural products contain qualities that qualify them to be human
The multiple attempts to disavow cultural and social values due to their lack of validity
for modernity are behind an undefined architectural pattern [8]. While the traditional urban
fabric is characterized by elasticity, order and balanced growth, and it is lost by the property
of stability and preservation of cultural specificity. Contemporary Arab architecture has
exceeded most of its growth parameters without regard to the social, economic, environmental
or ideological background of the country to which it belongs due to the theoretical debate
isolated from the crisis of reality. This has led to environmental destruction, distortion of
identity, economic depletion and social alienation, where environmental destruction is the
forced change of land uses, which has negative effects on the sanctity of the natural
environment, the destruction of agricultural and animal resources and the loss of ecological
balance.
Identity is a problem in which architecture occupies a large role by trying to form the
symbolic values of the product. These values often accumulate through the historical,
unconscious connection between society and architectural output.

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Economic attrition is what we mean by creating a very expensive built environment and an
architectural output that exceeds the actual need to meet human requirements and a tolerant
architecture that does not respect the other and the recipient.
Social alienation is generated by ignoring the demographic structure within the urban fabric
and its social values in the modern planning, which has many functions and uses, while the
Islamic vision is based on the principle of brotherhood, harmony and synergy and taking into
account the rights of the neighbor and preserving privacy within the urban fabric without
leaving the cultural and social heritage

4.7. Preservation and rehabilitation of Arab and Islamic cities

The problem of traditional architecture (the architectural heritage) in the modern era
(contemporary identity) and what draws it from two contradictory directions, the first is the
originality that lies in the inevitability of returning to traditional architecture with its origins
and values and trying to benefit from them and apply them in our modern architecture. This
trend is contrasted with another trend called " Modernity" calls for liberation from the old,
and necessitates architectural realism here, the outlook and impossibility to return to the past,
as this trend calls for today's architects responsible for the introduction and creativity of the
new, without adhering to what produced by the predecessor, and between these two trends
highlight the value of the problem of traditional architecture between the data and the
possibilities of the era, without rejecting or losing the features of yesterday with all the
cultural roots it carries linking the human community and history, and acquire identity and
belonging.
The contemporary construction in terms of its concepts and method of application carries
modern planning concepts that have had a great impact on the formation of modern
architectural identity. These concepts are based on the goal of achieving public health,
security and safety, and beautifying the city to create a good urban environment without
considering the extent of its impact and its suitability with the values and customs of society.
Its traditions and the prevailing natural and climatic environment that is at the core of its
urban identity [9].
It does not mean sticking to and preserving the architectural heritage, adhering to the old
and fearing the experience of modernity and keeping pace with it, but rewriting the old in the
spirit of the modern era in harmony with the originality, values and roots of civilization. The
preservation of architectural heritage is a matter of great importance and a means of
measuring the degree of civilization of a particular people in relation to the degree of
protection provided by society and the laws of the state to the values of the urban and rural
environment or allow sabotage. Architectural preservation aims at several aspects:
• Extend the life of the inheritance and make it usable for both present and future use
• To combat damage to cultural property, whether natural or human
• Reviving societies intellectually, culturally and technically
Therefore, the concept of rehabilitation and understanding of the heritage characteristics
of heritage buildings is of great importance and importance in maintaining the positive
balance and challenges of the times, between tradition and innovation [10], which can be
achieved through high design skill saturated with a clear and objective understanding of the
characteristics of the heritage and its creative ability to employ it in contemporary
frameworks.

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 The Architectural Identity of Arab and Islamic Cities

5. CASE STUDY (KADHIMIYA CITY)

The Office of the Diwan presented three alternatives to a proposed development plan and
according to the study entitled "Competition for the development of the area surrounding the
holy shrine of Kadimiyah" published in the International Conference for the Conservation of
Iraqi Cities Centers in 2010 [11], which are:
Scenario 1: The demolition and removal of most of the old urban fabric and heritage and
historical buildings to ensure the provision of open spaces around the shrine, with the
construction of a number of high residential buildings and hotels on the perimeter of the site
of the old area.
Scenario 2: Involves giving priority to preserving the old urban fabric and the historical
structure of Kadhimiya. Acceptance of this proposal will determine the possibility of the
expansion of Al Haram Al Sharif and the surrounding areas towards the areas that were
demolished in the 1970s under the plan of the PaulServ Company. On the main streets with
the reconstruction of destroyed housing within the old urban fabric.
Scenario 3: It is based on a balanced approach that reconciles contradictory solutions. It
combines the preservation of historic areas within the old urban fabric and the renewal of
some of its parts, with the comprehensive redevelopment of other areas around the study area

5.1. Criticism of the most important design and planning principles of the project
The designer (Office of Diwan) adopted the design of the project on several design and
planning principles which are far from the schematic thought and lack of identity of the Arab
Islamic city, namely:

5.1.1. Remove a large part of the traditional urban fabric

The designer neglected the special features of the Arab Islamic cities, ignoring them as part of
their local identity and value, which is an important part of the interaction of the society, and
the extent of the relationship with this urban environment and its characteristics expressing its
cultural identity and the extent of its daily interaction with the city. This leads to the exit of
this part of the fabric from its urban context (open large open spaces), (principle of Cohesive)
, as in figure (1), and the value and scarcity and extension and harmony.

Figure (1) Air Perspective to the proposal (Office of Diwan)

5.1.2 .Neglect of the climate environment

The proposal submitted by the designer did not take into account the climatic factor that was
part of the design of the old city by opening large areas exposed to harsh climatic

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conditions(principle of human scale), as in figure (2). The old fabric was not so suitable for
users, with the climate in areas or so-called (spaces), areas of small and clear within the old
fabric

Figure (2) Neglect of the climate environment

5.1.3. Weakens for the concept of spiritual communication

One of the most important features of the holy sites of the holy shrines or the communication
is the transition from the narrow alleys to the vision of the immediate shrine (principle of
hierarchy) and the extent of spiritual connection with a sense of high symbolism which is the
deep dimension of the place's revelation (principle of directional) as in figure (3), which is
very clear in the Islamic cities according to Kfin Leng[12].

Figure (3) Weakens for principle of hierarchy and directional

5.1.4. Loss of hegemony of the shrine

One of the most important characteristics of the cities of the holy shrines is the hegemony of
the holy shrine on the fabric of the city and the promotion of the hierarchy principle, the
visual scope and the space of the courtyard, and the spatial hierarchy, making it a prominent
visual focus with the value and symbolic and expressive significance of the social as in figure
(4), therefore, attention to the meaning is one of the most important concerns of modern
architecture, the first written by the Italian writer Eko Emberto entitled " Semiotics in
architecture," as architecture as a language of communication with the community[13].

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 The Architectural Identity of Arab and Islamic Cities

Figure (4) Weakens for principle of hierarchy and directional

5.1.5. Tearing up the morphology of the city

The opening of the perpendicular and straight streets in the proposal submitted by the
designer (Office of Diwan) ignored the old urban fabric and exceeded one of the most
important features of the Arab-Islamic cities, namely membership in its planning of street
forms and organic alleys, which are characteristic of the identity of the Arab Islamic city and
This makes the design does not meet modern trends in urban design [14].

6. CONCLUSIONS
• The urban structure of the Arab Islamic city is distinguished by the characteristics of a unique
identity characterized by the urban structure, its spatial composition and its architectural
elements, which is the result of human interaction with the factors of its cultural and natural
environment.
• The city is the product of the interaction of intellectual and moral values, on the one hand, and
physical property on the other, so that the structure of urban expression vivid and true of the
previous intellectual values and civilization of the community, that the form of the city reflects
the identity of that community.
• The negatives of contemporary architecture can be overcome by returning to the Arab Islamic
architecture and presenting it with a new approach by creating a modern architecture with an
Arab and Islamic specificity that meets the needs of the need and adopts the legacy as a
historical reference to its identity.
• The adoption of the human scale is one of the most important factors influencing the
reciprocal relationship between the architectural output in terms of functionality,
expressionism and the urban environment, which is one of the characteristics of the identity of
Arab Islamic cities.
• Despite the great diversity of architectural characteristics of Arab and Islamic cities in terms
of location, climate and soil, the diversity of the space configuration symbolically indicates
common features of the identity of Arab-Islamic cities based on common sources.

REFERENCES
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[3] Al-Diugy, Hazim Mimtaz, Place Identity of Residential Environment in Iraqi
Contemporary Architectural Trends and its Impact on Academic Architectural
[4] Product, Journal of engineering and Technology, Iraq, 2012 [4]Mahdi, Habeb Salih, A
study in the concept of identity, Center for Regional Studies, no 5, Iraq, 2010

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 Waleed Khaled Yasser

[5] Thwainy , Ali , Architecture and place ,

[6] Zhan, Ahmed Abdel Wahed. Local Attributes in Islamic Architecture, a study Presented to
the University of Mosul, Iraq, 2009
[7] Kamouna, Haidar Abdul Razzaq Al-Adnan, Planning and Design of the city of Najaf and
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[8] Maamouri, Abdullah Saadoun Salman. Humanity of Arab Islamic Architecture,
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[9] Al-Diugy, Hazim Mimtaz, Place Identity of Residential Environment in Iraqi
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[10] Mubarak, Saleh Mohammed. Architectural heritage and problematic identity in the city of
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[12] Lynch, Kevin (1981). A Theory of Good City, sense of place, pp. 131-150.
[13] A Hale, Jonathan (2000). Building Ideas an Introduction to Architectural Theory, Systems
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the morphology Dimension, pp.61-86.

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