Architectural Heritage in the Middle East

Here in the US. when one mentions the terms architectural heritage or architectural preservation one gets mixed reactions. Some think positively of the work done by organizations like Heritage Preservation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in recognizing and preserving works of historical value. While others think less positively and are reminded of the overzealous attempts by some groups to preserve everything old in their cities, regardless of its worth to American culture and history, and shun everything new. Either way Americans are very much aware of the need to preserve our historic past, as short as that may be. In the Middle East on the other hand, a place with a much longer history, those same terms would typically draw blank stares and perhaps even disinterest. That's not to say that cultural heritage is ignored in the Middle East. On the contrary, some might say that Arabs are too proud of their culture. Its more that federal funds have historically been spent on preserving and maintaining important religious buildings and have ignored most other buildings. In addition some countries lack the resources needed to spend on preservation and maintenance and have had to rely on organizations like UNESCO for funding if any at all. This has meant that many valuable buildings have been left to decay and some have even been replaced with newer and cheaply made buildings. This is fortunately starting to change and because of the work of groups and individuals in various countries there is now an awareness of the need for architectural preservation as an important part of cultural heritage in the Middle East.

Architectural Heritage Day in Jordan

Because of the work of various governmental and private groups towards recognizing Jordan's Arab and Islamic heritage September 15 is now officially marked as Architectural Heritage Day and will be celebrated there annually. It was first celebrated in 1998, the same year that a separate department in the ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Environment was created by Jordan's government to document historic buildings dating back to the 1700's AD. Jordan has taken other steps in this effort including revision of laws related to preservation and requests to international organizations for funding assistance. Jordan sees these efforts as a way to not only promote their cultural heritage but also increase tourism to their country.

Architectural Conservation in Palestine

Thanks to an organization in Ramallah called RIWAQ- Center for Architectural Conservation the value of buildings and local craft in Palestine are starting to be recognized. Here more than anywhere else in the Middle East is the need for conservation and preservation of vernacular, or local, architecture the greatest. From my own visits to Palestine I was dismayed to see old homes and buildings, as simple as they might be, torn down only to be replaced with cheap, concrete buildings with no understanding of craft or local flavor. Some of the these cheaper buildings were unfortunately built by Palestinians from abroad, desperate to see a home on their land before even that disappears. This importing of cheap building technologies may seem like a positive step in the way of modernization but when one considers the fact that this technology is replacing individual craft and quality and contributing to the loss of Palestinian heritage, so endangered since Israeli occupation, one can see how this is becoming a serious concern. RIWAQ understands this concern and since 1991 has had as their main objective "the conservation and restoration of older buildings and the development and promotion of an indigenous Palestinian style of architecture based on firmly rooted building traditions and techniques" (quote taken from their website). Two of their recent conservation projects are the Baladna Cultural Center and the Mazare' Al Nobai which both have had to rely on outside funding. Hopefully with enough funding and support RIWAQ's objective can be realized.