Post-Friday-Prayers/Pre-Lunch Sketch

So I had around an hour and a half after Friday Prayers and before I had to report back at my parent's house for lunch. I usually spend this time reading a book that I just can't get to finish. An interesting book about the man who built Singapore, entitled  "From Third World to First: The Singapore Store", by the man himself, Lee Kuan Yew. However, since the weather was amazing, I decided to take a quick sketch of this house, one of the few old traditional houses still around in East Riffa.

Conservation Areas in Bahrain

I've just been to Arad Fort lately and the visit got me thinking about some series issues in planning in Bahrain that are worth studying.

A "conservation area" is an area with a special architectural or historic interest. They range from natural spaces such as a park or a beach to urban centers of cities and towns. The goal of such areas is not limited to preserving specific buildings in it, it is intended to preserve and enhance the features of the whole neighborhood area including roads and street furniture.In the UK, the concept of conservation areas began in 1967 and there are around 8000 conservation areas today. Local authorities (which would be the equivalent to municipalities in Bahrain) have the power to designate those areas. They also have controls over demolition, development and greenery. This means that conservation areas are not forbidden from development and by no means are they supposed to be inhabitable for the sake of protecting the area. But controlled development will enhance and improve the area and at the same time preserve its architectural or historic significance thus achieving an equilibrium.

In addition to "conservation areas", there are "listed buildings" which are buildings that shows architectural characteristics which belong to a significant historical period. Even though they come in different categories depending on their value, the local authorities hove control over any change in all listed buildings even if they are privately owned. Any alteration, extension or demolition must be approved by the local authority after ensuring that the changes will not affect the significance of the building. There are some bridges and monuments that are listed as well as buildings, and the list contains around 400,000 entries.

Conservation areas and listed buildings are important planning regulations that are highly regarded in the UK, and visiting Arad Castle made me think how could people who are so attached to their history and cultural traditions allow historic areas and buildings to get destroyed to make way for new developments.

Perhaps a good example of that is the Financial Harbour which completely erased any trace of what used to be one of the main ports in Bahrain also called "El Fortha". Even though the port was gone long before the Financial Harbour came, I would have thought that retracing the original port, enhancing it and creating a landmark out of it that would celebrate and embrace its history could have been a great project. Don't get me wrong I am not totally against the Financial Harbour and do acquire some taste to it. But I think there could have been another option of creating a landmark which is both financially beneficial and culturally significant at the same time.

From what I heard, and I admit that I do lack knowledge in this issue, regulations that were very similar to the concepts of conservation areas do exist. Currently there are three conservation areas which are Tubli Bay, Hawar Islands, and Al-Areen Wildlife park. In addition there is Qal'at al-Bahrain which is included in UNESCO World Heritage List. However, conservation areas should not be limited to natural spaces and archaeological sites but also include old neighborhoods (ferjan) along with other significant sites that have special cultural characteristics. There are individual efforts to preserve some houses but I don't see a clear plan to bring all those important projects together. Besides I remember when the governor of Muharraq (the city which has most traditional houses in Bahrain) wanted to stop building new towers in old Muharraq Neighborhoods to preserve its traditional characteristic, people accused him that he doesn't want Muharraq to be developed like other cities. I guess the idea of being the center of the universe is an idea established in a lot of people's head. Thus they show disregard to the neighborhood and environment and go on doing whatever they want without thinking for a second about the effect and consequences their actions have on others.

I remember this scene in one of the best Arabic TV series that I saw which was Bab Al Hara 2. In this scene there was this man who wanted to build a room in his house for his newly wedded son. He wanted the room to be separate from the house and accessible from the street, so he decided to build a new door. The new door was going to be in front of his neighbor's door. The neighbor is an extremely conservative man and strongly objected on building a new door in front of his. He said that he has many young girls and he doesn't want a stranger accidentally seeing one of his daughters without the hijab or wearing inappropriate clothes, and for this very reason he bought the house because there were no doors or windows in from of his. The man took it personally and was insulted by the neighbor's actions, after all he is an honorable man who respects his neighbors' privacy and so is his son. Yet the neighbor insisted that no door should be built in front of his, and so they got into a fight. After others mediating between the two, the man decided not to build the door respecting his neighbor's wishes even though it is his home and he is free to do whatever he wants with it.

Even though the situation was an extreme one, my point is that neighbors should always consider the consequences of their actions on their neighbors. I doubt that such values would be as common in our society today. I leave you with this picture of Arad Fort, now I have nothing personally against the guy who owns the villa or whatever it is on the left, but the area around the fort should be a conservation area to protect and preserve the view of the fort. I think there should be a continuous line of palm trees and greenery surrounding the fort to isolate it from any modern development, thus creating a sense of going back in time when visiting the site.

Bahrain National Museum

Aerial View


Meeting space in front of the museum


Side view


View of the back


View of the entrance


View of the entrance from inside


Project: Bahrain National Museum
Architect: KHRAS Arkitekter (today known as KHR Arkitekter AS)
Year Completed: 1988
Location: Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain


An idea of a Civic Center was initiated when an old museum in Muharraq could no longer accommodate the growing collection of precious artifacts that are being discovered. A Danish architecture firm was appointed to design the proposal and the Museum complex was the first phase of this civic center which also included a congress complex, a library, a planetarium and an aquarium. The center was not realised due to economics, but almost 20 years later we begin to see the second phase in motion with the construction of a public library and a design proposal by Zaha Hadid for a new Museum for contemporary Arts.


The Danish architects didn't want to fall into shallow translations of architectural features. Instead they used reinterpretation of local culture as a design mechanism to achieve a mixture of Islamic/Western influence. The result is a stunning landmark that grasps the essence of Bahraini traditional values and present it in a modern contemporary building.

The main elements that make up the design strategy are the following:

1- Location
Bahrain literary means 2 seas, where fresh land water meats the sea. Its no coincidence that the museum, is located in a coast along the intersection of 2 highways that connect 2 cities; Muharraq the old Capital of Bahrain and Manama the present Capital of Bahrain. This way the sea, the land, and the fresh water pools express the meaning of Bahrain.

2- Water
The museum complex is surrounded by a water pool which signifies the importance of the water in an island where people earned most of their living from the sea. Its also a dramatic enhancement to reflect the museum and create a gathering place.


3- Simple Facades
The simple facades of the museum is a translation of the plain facades of old Bahraini houses that can be found even today in Muharraq and Manama as well. In these houses decorations can be found only windows, doors and in parapets.

4- Courtyard
Houses in Bahrain traditionally were courtyard houses, ranging from 1 up to 4 courtyards with varying functions. There are both environmental and cultural reasons behind this system which can be found in most Arabic countries. This feature is clearly evident in the meeting space in front of the museum in addition to other private courtyards in the museum complex.

5- Geometry
Geometry is clearly evident in the massing of the museum and the patterns of the facade stones. This concept is employed because it is rooted in Islamic Architecture and plays a significant role in Arabic spacial pattern.

6- Introspection
This concept is perhaps the most essential principle of Islamic Architecture which can be found in private houses or public buildings. Self-effacing exteriors are very common in mosques, houses, schools... etc. High attention to detail and decoration of the interior is much more important than exterior facade decoration. "One must look inward behind the surface, where Islamic architecture unfolds in a wealth of varied and often surprising spatial sequences, a sophisticated control of strong daylight and ornamentation that is always subordinate to the primary spatial expression."

Banyan Tree

Another Al-Areen development. Banyan Tree Desert Spa and Resort is part of a luxury resort chain in Asia. With other heavenly resorts in China, Indonesia, Maldives, Thailand and Seychelles, Bahrain is the latest unveiled destination. I went to check out the villas which were simply breath taking. The villas are all designed as a traditional arabic court yard house, they are either 1 bedroom for couples or 2 bedrooms for a family, they all have a private courtyard with a swimming pool and a jacuzzi, a majlis, and dinning and living areas. The interior decorations are all orienatal... I especially like the wall fountains at the entrance which produce light water sprinkling sound that is very relaxing. They are pricy I have to say which could get up to BD 1600 (US$ 600) per night.

On another note, there is something about Al-Areen area which makes it very special... travelling to it from Riffa, or Manama or any other city... you really feel like you are travelling somewhere else once you get to Sukheer... which I think is a really nice thing... it really feels like a getaway and an excellent opportunity for people to relax. With all the new developments going on in Al-Areen and around the BIC area... I just hope the desert landscape do not get destroyed because thats whats giving it its special character... the roads needs to be fixed and a proper route needs to be added to Al-Areen and everything... but I just hope that when we go there we still feel like we are in the middle of the desert... and all those new resorts and hotels do fit in the middle of the desert and not make it into something else.

The Lost Paradise of Dilmun

Picture Source

And another place that Bahrainis can be proud of. After the completion of the BIC, now we have The lost paradise of Dilmun.

A £15 million themed water park, "each aspect of the park is based on the history of the Dilmun period, reflected by unique stone architecture / sculptures and encompassing theming works. Over 14 slides and attractions are blended seamlessly to create a desert oasis and garden of paradise for guests to enjoy - spa pools, interactive children's wet play area and family raft ride to name a few. The park will also feature the gulf regions' largest wave pool, the first in the area with a natural sandy beach."

Developer: Al Areen Holding Company
Designer & Operator: Malaysia Sim Leisure Consultants
Equipment: White Water West
Total Plot Area: 77,682 square meters, Water Park area 45,000 square meters

More info here and here

Hermann Tilke

A German architect known for his work on motor racing circuits. He established Tilke Engineers and Architects in 1984 and today it has 2 offices in Germany and an office in Bahrain. It could be said that Tilke has a monopoly on designing new circuits for F1; those circuits include Sepang (1998), Bahrain (2004), Shanghai (2004), Istanbul (2005), Singapore (2008), Valencia (2008), Abu Dhabi (2009), Cape town (2009), and South Korea (2010). In addition to those circuits the office made many adjustments to existing circuits and high speed roads in Nunburgring, Barcelona, Japan and many more. Here are some of their projects in Bahrain, I can't say that I am fond of all of them... aside from the BIC and RUF, I can't see anything special about the other concept designs.



Bahrain International Circuit (completed)


Bahrain Racetrack Hotel (concept design)


BIC commercial center (concept design)


RUF automobile assembly complex (under construction)


Villas at Tubli (concept design for client; Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Khalifa)


Flugzeug Hangar (concept study for client; Shaikh Hamad bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa)

Bahrain-2030

In a previous post I mentioned that SOM & Muharraqi studios worked together to produce conceptual images of how Bahrain would look like in the future as an aid for the government and developers. The concept is supposed to encourage sustainable development with a lot of proposed greenery and environmentally friendly infrastructure that will help in stable economic growth. Well here are the images from Muharraqi studios

Project: Bahrain planning development strategy
Concept: SOM
Visualization: Muharraqi Studios
Completion Date: 2030 (Oh man I'll be as old as my dad by the time this happens... that is if I am still alive)

Nabih Saleh

Found this before and after image done by GEOMATEC of Nabih Saleh, an island in Bahrain... its a known fact that this island was once a green paradise full of gardens and public parks where the average family could go for a "kashta" as Bahrainis say which basically means going out and having fun... however with the continuous reclamation works, waste disposal into the sea and lack of care it got reduced to few private gardens and a club. With all the developments going on around the island it will sure be nice to see it restored to its former glory.

My second favorite building in Bahrain

Client: Al Zamil Group
Project Description: 2 linked office towers with parking spaces that creates a new gateway to Manama Souq
Architect & Civil Consultants: Gulf House Engineering
Project Manager & Quantity Surveyor: Hisham Abdul Rahman Jaffar
Main Contractor: Chapo
Electromechanical Services: Gemac
Completion Date: 2004
Project Cost: BD 8 million ($ 21.2 million)

This is my second favorite building in Bahrain. I've been trying to find some info about it but couldn't find anything on the net other than this promotional site... If you see my first favorite building (which I also couldn't find a lot about it on the net) you'll see a striking resemblance, yet they are completely different. Almost the same materials are used in both buildings yet you have 2 different experiences. And this is what modern Arabic architecture or Islamic architecture in the Gulf should look like. Buildings should relate to each other, they should relate to their surroundings, and most importantly they should relate to the inhabitants.

Both buildings have this idea of combining the old with the new... in the Zamil tower the new emerges from the old... so when you see the lower levels you'll see stone cladding with detailed geometric decorations that are known in Islamic architecture, and as you go to the upper levels the building gets stripped of those details to reveal a modern aluminum structure with tinted glazing as a gesture to relate new materials and technology with old traditional ones. However, in Batelco building you see abstract forms and shapes that resembles the traditional architectural elements from the lowest to the highest level of the building, it uses few details to achieve symbolic abstract geometry.

When you see the Zamil Tower or Batelco building there is no doubt in your mind that you are in an Arabic Islamic country... these sort of buildings give identity... identity gives soul and character... and that's what attracts people from other cultures. Its not just the glazed skyscrapers and the complexity of the shapes of the buildings that makes you admire the engineering work which will attract tourists and investors... that helps of course and its good to have some of it but not to the extent that it becomes the theme of the city... otherwise you'll have a generic city and although many may think that is a positive thing I don't believe stripping new emerging cities of their identities is the best way to go.

Rem Koolhas says that the generic city is a multi-national city... its population is mixed and that is why obsessing with giving the city identity should not be the dominant feature in architecture... he goes on to say that a small part of the city should be dedicated to old things like those London buses or telephone booth but that part is a sort of amusing park or outdoor museum... I would prefer to have it the other way around... to have a city with a strong identity which is revealed in the people and the architecture... and have a small part of that city freed of this identity where developers and architects can be free to show off their designing and engineering skills along with their big wallets by building whatever they want... and that area could be an outdoor exhibition. A good example of this that comes to my mind is Paris, walk through the Champs-Élysées and tell me can you get more French than that... then go to La Défense and see the difference.

My favourite building in Bahrain

Client: Batelco
Project Description: 8 levels mixed use building including car park, shopping mall and offices
Consultant: Mohamed Salahuddin Consulting Engineering Bureau
Contractor: G. P. Zachariades (Overseas) Ltd.
Completion Date: 1996??

I was thinking about my favourite building in Bahrain. I thought about the Bahrain World Trace Center, the Bahrain Financial Harbor and other new developments. But none of them touched my heart like this building. I mean most of the buildings in Bahrain today are taking the shapes of sails, boats, fish and other sea creatures... Which is justified since Bahrain is an island and the sea was once the main source of living... Not anymore though...

What I see in this building is a great step of what Bahrain's Architecture should move towards. A pure Islamic architecture that reflects the society's values and the vernacular traits of the island. Look at the carefully studied poetic reflection of the minaret in the glazing... Its as if the building was deliberately designed to embrace the mosque next door (Yateem mosque is designed by a famous Egyptian architect called Abdul Wahid AlWakeel. The cladding material is flamed white granite panels which has a strong resemblance to the traditional materials used in Bahrain. The decorative wooden mashrabiya at the entrance, the simplicity of the exterior, the geometric play with squares, all relate to the essence of what Islamic architecture is about.

The most important feature in my opinion is the balance between the glazing and the granite cladding. The glass takes up a decent amount of the facade which allows natural daylight, in addition to two atria that enhances the lighting quality which improves the interior space and saves lighting energy as well. Yet its not overdone that the entire building is wrapped with glass like some of the emerging buildings that are being erected today in Bahrain. Bahrain is an extremely hot country and we can't afford transparent buildings that will feel like ovens inside them and relying on mechanical air conditioners to live in those buildings... We have to adopt a more sustainable approach to our architecture... And this building is a great step in that journey...