DE sign: (Deconstructing in-order to find new meanings)
A blogging space about my personal interests; was made during training in Stockholm #Young Leaders Visitors Program #Ylvp08 it developed into a social bookmarking blog.
I studied #Architecture; interested in#Design #Art #Education #Urban Design #Digital-media #social-media #Inhabited-Environments #Contemporary-Cultures #experimentation #networking #sustainability & more =)
Please Enjoy, feedback recommended.
p.s. sharing is usually out of interest not Blind praise. This is neither sacred nor political.
The City might win after all, if it doesn't follow after Damascus Urban Organisational Planning Model! If one can make such a description (Praying, that God might help Middle-Eastern cities) I'm sharing a session on Rethinking the City of Aleppo post-war future, and hopeful civic thinking, enjoy...
Rethink Aleppo: The City Always Wins (EN) from Pakhuis de Zwijger on Vimeo. Imagining and designing a city of the future. With talks, a variety of workshops and an Eat to Meet 'vrijheidsmaaltijd'. Aleppo is one of the oldest cities in the world and has been rebuilt many times before. We will dive into history and the elements that make Aleppo, a distinct city with AlHakam Shaar from The Aleppo Project and Dutch Historian Geert Mak. Then we look into historical examples of rebuilding cities from Afghanistan to Macedonia. After that, young Syrian designers will share their sense of design of Syrian homes. We are then ready to imagine future scenarios for Aleppo. You can choose one of three workshops on future city making. Join us and contribute to cutting edge ideas, disruptive innovations, out of the box efforts, hardcore research and diverse networks about place making and building future cities. Naturally, exercises in hopeful futures include music, films, beauty and dinner!
"City Debates 2017 explores the emergence of urban-based political movements in various national contexts where “the city” and/or some of its ingredients (e.g. housing, public space, services, livelihoods) have been serving as the basis for new forms of claims. By documenting comparatively these movements through profiling the actors, strategies, tools, networks of solidarity, forms of lesson sharing, and the frames through which claims have been formulated, the Debates seek to investigate critically and comparatively these new forms of collective action. We ask: Are we indeed witnessing emancipatory political claims or, to the contrary, a reduction of the horizons of the political to the minimal necessities of everyday life? Furthermore, as professionals of the built environment, how do such movements affect our practice? How do they change the premises and assumptions of our profession? On what grounds should we engage such social movements and the spaces they create? What can we learn from their tactics and strategies? ..."
City Debates 2017 Panel 1: The 'Urban' in Social Movements
City Debates 2017 Panel 2: Alternative Urban Ideals
City Debates 2017 Panel 3 Discontent and Mobilization in the Face of Neoliberal Policies
City Debates 2017 Panel 4 Urban Social Movements and Local Governance City Debates 2017 Panel 5 Urban Struggles at the Margins City Debates 2017 Ananya Roy - The Politics of Space & Scale in the Age of Trumpism City Debates 2017 Roundtable 1: Mobilization Experiences: Emerging Strategies and Frames City Debates 2017 Roundtable 2: Towards an Urbanisme Engagé City Debates 2017 Closing Panel Wrapping Up the Debates
As part of its Urban October celebrations, UN-Habitat has launched “Paper City”, a stop-motion video animation portraying today’s urban challenges using a paper and cardboard mock city.
Aimed at an audience not yet familiar with urbanization processes, the video intends to draw attention on current issues caused by rapid and uncontrolled city growth. It points out possible urban solutions in a visual and attention-captivating way that is fun and easy to understand.
The video was done using a stop-motion technique. Over 1500 photo stills where taken of a 4 sqm mock city including buildings, streets, trees, cars and people made out of paper, cardboard and polystyrene. The frames were then added together to create motion.
The “Paper City” video is currently available on UN-Habitat’s website (unhabitat.org) and on YouTube.
Visit unhabitat.org/papercity for more information
"This College is for all conditions and classes of men, without regard to color, nationality, race or religion. A man, white, black, or yellow; Christian, Jew, Muhammedan or heathen, may enter and enjoy all the advantages of this institution... and go out believing in one God, in many Gods, or in no God. But it will be impossible for any one to continue with us long without knowing what we believe to be the truth and our reasons for that belief".
(at the laying of the cornerstone of the central building in 1871)
Dr. Daniel Bliss, Founding Father
"Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut bases its educational philosophy, standards, and practices on the American liberal arts model of higher education. A teaching-centered research university, AUB has around 800 instructional faculty and a student body of around 8,000 students. The University encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, life-long learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership."
The American University of Beirut launches its 150th anniversary celebrations and inaugurates its 16th President, Dr. Fadlo Khuri
"Inspirational addresses were given by distinguished speakers from the United States: Dr. Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC; Dr. Elias R. Melhem, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine; Dr. Waun Ki Hong, former Head of the Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas; and Dr. Ruth O’Regan, Division Head of Hematology/Oncology and Associate Director of Faculty Development and Education at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
Keynote speaker Bermans J. Iskandar, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin spoke of education as the key, not just to individual success, but to the very survival of nations and civil society. “Today’s events are deep affirmations of faith, symbolizing a renewed commitment to Lebanon’s greatest resource--its people.” He advised the audience to “…keep your focus on the goal of education as the equalizer and harmonizer…” The keynote speech was followed by a musical interlude and the official induction of President Fadlo R. Khuri by Chairman Philip S. Khoury.
With a nod to AUB’s milestone 150th anniversary, President Khuri’s inaugural address began with a description of his first 150 days in College Hall, during which he focused on “formulating an organic and inclusive vision of excellence and shared governance.”
Khuri asked the question “How will AUB continue to inspire current and future generations of smart and ambitious students?” and committed to leading through example for the promotion of “a real and durable renaissance in the humanities in the Arab world”.
more (at) http://aub.edu.lb/news/2016/Pages/150-inauguration.aspx
"...it has brought students of all nationalities, religions, and backgrounds together in an atmosphere that fosters intellectual inquiry, mutual tolerance, and respect. A crossroads between East and West, AUB is a place where cultures meet and learn from each other.""
The Honorable George J. MitchellFormer Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
"...........Damascus' Roman map remains imprinted on the city's plan. With the introduction of Christianity in the Byzantine era, Damascus became an important center where the Christians and the Bishop of Damascus were perceived as second in rank of religious importance only to the Patriarch of Antioch. When the Roman Empire was divided in 395 AD, Syria joined the eastern province of the Byzantine Empire. It maintained a strategic link between Anatolia and Egypt, the two most important provinces of the Byzantine Empire.
Architecturally, additions to the city did not occur on a grand urban scale, but rather through the insertion of religious structures into existing sites. The Temple of Jupiter was transformed into the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The Church of the Musallaba was situated inside the city walls between Bab al-Sharqi and Bab Touma on the site of the house of Ananias. Other Christian additions include the Church of al-Maqsallat near the middle of the Street Called Straight, the Church of Saint Mary along the same main access, and the Church of Saint Paul near the current Suq al-Khayatin.
In 635 AD Damascus began its transformation into a Muslim city, the first political center of the Muslim people. That year, the city was taken over by Islamic armies who had traveled north from the Arabian Peninsula. A strong majority under Roman control welcomed the Muslim armies and the city saw mass-conversions to Islam, which strengthened the Muslim military power. As Damascus shifted from its western focus to an eastern one, it faced severe opposition from the Romans.
At the center of the rapidly expanding Islamic Empire-even if only for a brief 100 years-this position was crucial to Damascus' development. Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan made Damascus the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661. Although the dynasty lasted for less than a hundred years, it had a great impact on the cultural and artistic heritage of the city. Adding yet another layer to Damascus's multi-textured urban and architectural fabric, the lasting Islamic symbol, the Umayyad Mosque was built above the remains of the Roman temple of Jupiter. The site had already seen the Aramaic temple and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
The mosque embodies the architectural influences of former empires (Aramaic, Roman, Byzantine) while suggesting a model for a mosque typology that would develop in the following centuries. As a physical monument acknowledging the strength and power of the growing Islamic Empire, the mosque served not only as an important religious center but also as a political, social and scientific gathering point for leaders, scholars and visitors from all the surrounding regions.
The capital of the Islamic Empire was transferred from Damascus to Baghdad in 750 under the newly formed Abbasid dynasty. This shift left Damascus as a provincial town with a declining population. Political rivalries between the Abbasids and Umayyads left physical scars and damage as a result of assaults, raids and attacks. Defense towers, palaces and public buildings (including the Umayyad mosque) suffered the most. Later in the Abbasid period Damascus assumed a new role as a place of leisure, leading to the building of palaces in the area. An Abbasid approaches to rule affected the city's fragmentation. Quarters became isolated and self-contained, each one developing independent markets, mosques and institutions for security reasons. The historian Ibn Asakir counted more than 242 mosques within the city walls in the 12th century, which is a direct effect of this fragmentation
The Seljuk and Ayyubid periods beginning in the late eleventh century triggered Damascus to regain stability. During the reign of Nur al-Din (1154-1174), large-scale restoration projects throughout the city were initiated. The city walls were repaired and fortified with new defense towers. City gates were rebuilt and new ones were added such as Bab al-Salaam and Bab al-Faraj. Nur al-Din also founded many institutions across the city that were important in stitching the community back together through central public buildings like the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din, the Madrasa of Nur al-Din, and Dar al-Adl (Hall of Justice). Major urban shifts in the Ayyubid period, with large expansions outside the city walls and the development of al-Salihiyya on the slope of Mount Qasyun and Hikr al-Summaq to the west of the city, can be mapped by tracing the Ayyubid madrasas and mosques in each area. Some of these Ayyubid monuments include al-Madrasa al-Murshidiyya, al-Rukniyya and al-Badra'iyya.
Timurid armies invaded Damascus in 1400 slaughtering hundreds of Damascenes and destroying many of the city's buildings. After the Timurids departure from the ruins of Damascus, the Mamluks took control of the city. The Mamluk period was one of reconstruction. Ayyubid monuments were restored and Mamluk additions were constructed. Dar al-Adl was restored and readapted as Dar al-Saada, the governor's residence. Mamluk buildings in Damascus include the Mausoleum of Baybars, the Tankiz mosque, Hisham mosque and the Madrasa al-Jaqmaqiyya. The Mamluk period also witnessed the expansion of the pre-existing, Ayyubid extensions so that the areas were linked together forming a greater Damascus outside the old city's walls.
In 1516 Damascus was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire that would rule the city for four centuries. Political stability and the city's increased importance created an atmosphere of architectural resurgence. Most of the prominent Ottoman additions are complexes built outside the old city walls. The first was in al-Salihiyya around the tomb of Sheikh Muhi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi that included a mausoleum and a takkiya. Another Ottoman complex is the Darwishiyya built in 1574 that included a mosque, a madrasa, a mausoleum and a water fountain. In addition to the religious additions of mosques and madrasas, the Ottoman era established commercial building types in the forms of the suq and khan. These suqs and khans served the flow of travelers passing through the Ottoman regions especially during pilgrimage season. Some commercial Ottoman buildings include Khan al-Jawkhiyya, Suq al-Harir (Khan al-Harir and Hammam al-Qishani) and Suq Midhat Basha.
The 18th century saw projects by the Azm family who governed Damascus for nearly a century take on great significance. The Azm family was responsible for projects that encompassed commercial buildings (Khan Asaad Basha and Suq al-Jadid the western wing of Suq al-Hamidiyya), governmental buildings (Hall of Justice) and residential architecture (Azm Palace).
Damascus' urban fabric in the 19th century began to evolve as the suburbs connected to absorb the growing population and the old city walls and defense systems ceased to have any military importance. The 19th century also witnessed a change in architectural style as European influences appeared in the buildings of 'modern' Damascus. For example the Hamidiyya barracks (currently part of the Damascus University campus), the old Republican Palace in al-Muhajirin, the National Hospital and Dar al-Mu'alimin (the House of Educators). Other late Ottoman interventions included building channels to supply the city with fresh spring water and linking Damascus to its neighboring regions (Beirut and al-Hijaz) by railroad transportation. New streets were built throughout the city to connect different suburbs and accommodate new tramlines that linked the quarters.
Modernizing interventions continued under the French Mandate that began in 1920. Urban development, in tandem with the destruction of parts of the city during revolts against the colonialist occupation characterized the first half of the twentieth century. After Syria regained its independence in 1946, Damascus quickly transformed into the country's modern capital city.............................."
Danger, Paul, and Michel Écochard. Damas (Syrie): Dossier du plan d'amènagement et d'extension. Esquisse de la Ghouta. Damascus: Service des Travaux Publics, 1936
" as a chronological journey, the exhibition was a showcase of the city’s most prominent design and architecture achievements, illustrating all the important milestones of the city’s design history. The visitor's journey (which was staged as a series of long boulevard-like corridors) began in the flourishing 1950s, when the Hotel Carlton (1957) and the Pan-American Building (1953) rose to dominate Beirut’s skyline and the Cinema al-Hamra was constructed on Hamra Street (1958); also the same time when Lebanon’s first group of architects such asGeorge Rais, Assem Salam, Khalil Khoury and Karol Schayer emerged. Moving forward to the maturing era of the1960s, which came hand-in-hand with an economic boom and the formation of new companies, the first “starchitects” such as the Finnish Alvar Aalto and Polish Karol Schayer arrived in the city."
