ABSTRACT
The 21st century sees the Islamic regions as becoming some of the fastest urbanized areas on the planet. Local urban fabrics and existing buildings are often demolished in the name of progress, to make room for new, and often ostentatious, mega-projects, creating a scenario that is problematic in terms of conserving past history as well as providing inspiration for future generations. As extensive urbanization and globalization take hold, the character and quality of established cities in the Islamic world are under assault, with dramatic conflicts between traditional tenets, foreign influences and diverse interpretations of ‘being modern’ having serious and often little understood consequences. The current research examines how the demands of modern urbanism impact traditional centers of the Islamic world by considering emerging trends in Islamic urbanism through a critical examination of the vernacular. Using the city of Doha, Qatar as a case study, the authors explore the shifts of architecture as a coherent expression of local culture and context and question the interpretation of modern development in this ethos, and posit how environmental design might better resolve conflicts between traditional Islamic cultures (and way of life) and Western ‘progressive’ design. The paper concludes by recommending a more appropriate path for innovatively designing next generation buildings, communities and spaces that deploy aesthetic and applied basis of vernacular traditions, fostering greater meaning, inspiration and dialogue between and among architects, planners, governments and end-users. A model is proposed for proceeding in such creative, constructive and compelling directions.
Keywords: Design, Planning, Islam, Modernism, Vernacular, Systems Thinking, Holism
