Dubai Municipality wins three Cityscape awards

Eng. Rashad Mohammed Bukhash, Director of Architectural Heritage Department at Dubai Municipality, said the prestigious awards were won by the department's three renovation projects that are: Renovation of Mosques of Historic Shindagha, Revitalization of the Old Souqs of Dubai, and Revitalization of Historic Bastakiya Area.

He said the Shindagha mosques renovation project involved six mosques which are: Ben Zayed Mosque which was built in 1964 and renovated in 1998; Harib Bin Harib Mosque which was built in early twentieth century, renovated in 1999, has a praying hall at the roof and ontained an old well and small garden, Al Sheuokh Mosque: built in 1897 and renovated in 2001, it is important as being the mosque of the ruler family, the largest mosque in the area of Al Shaindagha. It lies at the centre of area close to the ruler family residence; Al Mulla Mosque: built in 1920 by Said bin Rashid Al-Mulla, renovated in 1998. The only mosque in the area to contains a minaret; Al Mur bin Harir Mosque: built in 1900 by Al Mur Bin Harir, renovated in 1997. It has an elevated mastaba with simple decoration of the wall; and Al Otaibat Mosque: built in 1914, renovated in 2001. It lies at the southern end of Al Shindagha. It is relatively small in size but it has a very beautiful decorated capitals.

Bukhash said the defining architectural concept behind all these mosques is simplicity and their highly environmental response, providing a place for prayer for the community. The original layout is single story with rectilinear plan contained the primary elements of mosque; the prayer hall, mehrab, abolition place and open courts. In Al Otaibat mosques you can find a pleasant decoration on the capitals of columns in the main prayer hall. Building technique was masonry structures built on the beam and column principles. Shandal poles were used for ceiling joists and lintels in the earlier buildings and were often left projecting to provide maintenance scaffolding.

Mr. Bukhash noted that the Old Suqs of Dubai reflect an important aspect of everyday life of Dubai history. It is a testimony of living tradition and architectural achievements of local wisdom in the UAE. In the early twentieth century, Dubai became the largest market along the Gulf Coast with approximately 350 shops in Deira suqs at that time. Dubai was also a transit point along the trade route from Iraq to Oman, and for dhows between India, East Africa and the Northern Gulf. This eventually led to the city's establishment as a global centre of commerce where many cultures and traditions been blending allowing to develop a unique architecture character.

He added that Al Bastakia region was under threat of demolition and dilapidation in the second half of the twentieth century when pressures of development lead people who were living in Bastakia to leave their houses for modern ones in search for new modes of comfort. In 1995 a project for revitalization of Historic Bastakia was carried out by Architectural Heritage Department at Dubai Municipality to revive the historic fabric and to restore its beautiful courthouses. Within five years the Architectural Heritage Department was successfully managed to carry out a full restoration preprogram of 62 residential units, and to turn the area into one of the most visited places by tourists and people who are interested in learning about traditional architecture in the UAE.

The Revitalization of Historic Bastakia Project aimed at preserving the architectural heritage of historic Dubai together with its urban fabric which is considered to be one of good examples that represents traditional architectural in UAE. The main purpose set up by the Architectural Heritage Department is to implement a comprehensive program for rehabilitation of Bastakia through adaptive reuse for its wind tower courthouses. The project components are to create several nodes of activities along the Khor and in different part of Bastakia, grouping a cluster of visitor attractions, galleries, museum cafes, and other traditional activities such as specialized museums as well as traditional Majlis to be used by the local community.

Most houses in Bastakia were single or two storeys, with courtyard and wind tower cooling a ground floor room and screened roof terrace for sleeping in summer. The height of the roof terrace screen wall tends to give the impression of a two storey building. In the larger houses, a summer roof room and logia would be added to the first floor. The defining architectural concept behind all these houses is one of providing maximum privacy for the family from the outside world. the original layout and uses of the rooms may have changed over time and what exist today is a particular stage in the evolution of a house, some of the newer ones never fully completed and decorated, but there is something common in these house which is its adaptability to absorbs new needs and its significance in being a unique model for wind tower courtyard houses neighborhood in the UAE.