ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on a case study of a building type illustrative of Kuwait’s Golden Era: the multi-purpose souk, showing how memory can play a part in urban design by forming a reinterpretation of history and by reintroducing traditional Arabic architectural features in contemporary design. To many people, preserving a segment of that project would have been an appropriate addition to Kuwait’s historical narrative, one that could transmit the optimism and spirited vision of that progressive decade. In reflecting on the post-oil cultural environment Suhair Al-Mosully, Iraqi architecture and planning consultant observes: Kuwaitis managed to dismantle the traditional city and eradicate the memory with which it was associated. The potential convergence of additional new housing, preservation planning, and the sustainable adaptive reuse of existing structures offers an effective strategy for revitalizing and reconnecting Kuwait’s inner city and preserving its historic urban fabric.
