Petroleum Modernism workshop investigates the ways in which the discovery and export of petroleum from the Persian/Arabian Gulf during the first half of the twentieth century led to cultural, economic, and social changes with significant architectural and urban consequences in the region and beyond. While recent research is focused primarily on exploring contemporary developments, our workshop seeks to present and discuss new historical research regarding key decades between the 1960s and 1980s that witnessed the pioneering efforts to transform the built environment of the Gulf. During those years, despite a shared climate, geography, and culture, most Gulf countries developed distinct ‘national’ agendas that generated different ‘modern’ architectural identities. Against the backdrop of historical ‘modern’ developments the workshop participants will also discuss how the national identity of the Gulf countries have been challenged by the rise of a generic globalization.
INTRODUCTORY SESSION
11:30 Lunch
12:30
Introduction: Modernization, Modernism, and the Role of ‘Resource Extraction’
Michelangelo Sabatino, PhD Professor and Director of PhD Program in Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology
12:45
Keynote presentation: Petroleumscapes
Carola Hein, PhD Professor and Head, Chair:
History of Architecture and Urban Planning, TU Delft
SESSION 1
02:00 Dwelling, Education, and Recreation
1. Dwellings Beyond Oil: Residents Perception & Spatial Transformation
Saad Alghamdi, PhD Candidate at Illinois Institute of Technology
2. Kuy-e Narmak: A Resilient Heritage of Modern Housing in Iran, Tehran
Seyed Mohamad Ali Sedighi, PhD Candidate, TU Delft
3. Spatial & Social Connectedness: Gendered Educational and Recreational Spaces for a ‘Modern’ Islamic Society Ghadah Alghamdi, Independent scholar
Respondent: Maureen Flanagan, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Lewis College of Human Sciences, IIT
SESSION 2
25min presentations, 15 min response and discussion
03:30 Urbanism and Infrastructure
1. Gulf Cities as a (Post-) British Project
Bader AlBader, PhD Student, University of Michigan
2. Consequences of Contrived Urbanism: funded by oil and caught between tradition and modernization
Saud Alkhaled, Independent scholar
Respondent: Kheir Al-Kodmany, PhD, Professor of Sustainable Urban Design, Department of Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago
SESSION 3
25min presentations, 15 min response and discussion
04:35 Transportation: Airplanes and Automobiles
1. Petroleum Infrastructure: Jet-Age Transportation
Mohammed Alkhabbaz, PhD Candidate, Illinois Institute of Technology
2. Automobiles and Infrastructure on Urban Planning in the Gulf
Omar Almahdy, PhD Student, Illinois Institute of Technology
Respondents: Amy Thomas, Collegiate Assistant Professor, The University of Chicago
SESSION 4
25min presentations, 15 min response and discussion
05:40 Technology, Building and Craft
1. Death of a Desert
Mohammed Khesroh, PhD Student, Illinois Institute of Technology
2. Gulf Petroleum economy manifestation on Architecture & Urban Landscape during the 1960s & 1970s
Amjad Alkoud, PhD Student, Illinois Institute of Technology
Respondent: Mahjoub M. Elnimeiri, Professor, College of
Architecture, Illinois Instite of Technology