مختارات من عمارة العالم العربي 1914-2014 (ص 45)

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مختارات من عمارة العالم العربي 1914-2014 (ص 45)

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The 1960s / ‏:و1970‎ the Independence
Right after Independence, an important setup is put in place for
the construction of new projects. The political and media-related
issues of this vast project aim to reaffirm the sovereignty of the young
Algerian state and to spread the image of modernity. Large-scale pro-
jects, which are symbolically powerful, are entrusted to brand-name
architects. Oscar Niemeyer builds the Universities of Constantine
and of Algiers (1971), as well as the Olympic City of the Sth of July,
ushering in a new era in architectural production. Fernand Pouillon
is entrusted with the tourism plan for the country around the end of
the 1960s. The many hotels he designed show his borrowing from
the vernacular and the Mediterranean style. The Matares complex
at Tipasa (1969), the El Gourara Hotel in Timimoune (1971), or even
the M'Zab Hotel in Ghardaia are examples of this crossbreeding
logic. By willfully rejecting the international style of the Aurassi Hotel
(1963 - 1973) erected in Algiers, projects such as this one revealed
the general context in which they were built.
The 1980s/1990s
The 1980s were known for the erection of many luxury buildings.
in Algiers, the construction of the cultural and commercial complex
of Rhiad el Feth and of the martyrs monument, both inaugurated
for the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of Independence in
1982, as well as the Palace of Culture (1984), the National Library of
Hamma (1994), the Sofitel Hotel (1995), probably make up the most
emblematic realizations of the period. However, although this produc-
tion is close to the postmodern language of architecture constituting
the general trend at the end of the Twentieth Century, some atypical
realizations reflect a kind of crossbreeding where modern require-
ments and local know-how intersect, as is the case in the Hydra and
Tala Amara Mosques.
The Twenty-First Century: a new era?
The twenty-first century is witnessing a diverse and varied architec-
tural production. The new center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(2010), by architect Halim Faidi connects modern architectural lan-
guage and Neo-Moorish vocabulary. Faidi renovated the Galeries
Algériennes of Henri Petit (originally named Galeries de France) on
Larbi Ben M’Hidi Street, Algiers, and converted the building into a
Modern Art Museum (2007). Facing that building is I'Historial (2012),
a deliberately purist building, which integrated successfully with the
streets’ buildings and the rhythm of the existing facades. It is the
work of Larbi Marhoum, the same architect who built the Library of
Ain Zeboudja (2004) and the extension project of the old Institut
Pasteur building in Algiers. Other large-scale projects were launched
around the same time, such as the towers of the Bahia Center in Oran
and the new business center of Bab-Ezzouar in the East of Algiers.
Tunisia
Adnen El Ghali - Zoubetr Mouhli
Tunisia at the dawn of the twentieth century offered great opportuni-
ties for architects from all over the world; it was a kind of open-air
laboratory for enterprising contractors and building owners. With
some enticement, Tunisia allowed the crystallization of European
imagination to take place on its soil.
The Beginning of the Twentieth Century
Arriving in the country for the most part as implementers of the “Style
of the Victorious”, and expressing the imperial agenda of the French
Republic, architects were trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition would
initially indulge in the most austere of Neo-Classicisms, before see-
ing their vocabulary evolve considerably, under the influence of the
genius loci.
The local heritage and arts that the Orientalists discovered, and
that painters such as Paul Klee and August Macke searching for inspi-
ration rediscovered, had an clear influence on the architects arriving
inthe country. Importing Western architectural models was no longer
common practice, rather architects aimed to use decorative ele-
ments of the local architectural vocabulary: as such the Arabisance
style was born, and, notwithstanding the numerous criticisms of
Orientalist cladding (which in its early stage juxtaposed minarets
next to clock tawers of town halls) the style was in vogue and marked
the minds of the people and the cities alike.
Eclecticism, which appeared in Europe around the middle of the
nineteenth century, was reborn in Tunisia where numerous buildings
constituted syncretic works aimed at conveying the many influences
thatthe “Protector” carried and which reflected the original diversity
of the big cities’ mixed populations. Eclecticism, especially in Tunis,
nonetheless cohabited with Liberty, the other name of Art Nouveau
that flourished through private commissions and bequeathed the
Capital with architeotural jewels.
At the end of World War One, the International Style made its
appearance, although it was already somewhat present in the crea-
tive Art Nouveau style that was free of historical references. In the
1920s, the desire for distinction was shared by architects and clients
alike, and the decorative idioms inherited from the first decades of
the century, seemed increasingly outdated. Such desires were served
by the opportunities offered by reinforced concrete technology, as
well as by the constructive substructure systems. Buildings with
smooth fagades and discreet architecture began to appear in the
main cities of the country. These new buildings were conceived in
the classical spirit of their predecessors (1880 - 1920), where fagade
symmetry was the prevailing rule, but where moldings were stylized
or disappeared altogether. The buildings showed a juxtaposition of
simple voids and simple volumes. The horizontal was privileged and
the effect was rendered more pronounced by the use of balconies
that followed rigorous curves and alignment. The urban landscape
had changed; corner turrets and canted bay windows floating on vast
cantilevered canopies, so dear to Michel Roux-Spitz, were integrated.
The 1930s
The Paquebot movement, inspired by Art Deco, spread in cities
causing the admiration of locals of all ages who visited the futuris-
tic structures on family outings. These achievements of the 1930s
cohabited with the joyful Belle Epoque work that was flourishing in
the country despite the unwavering rationality that dominated at
the time. Italian architects, backed by the renewed interest in their
country’s diplomacy for its subjects, developed the Rationalism of
which the Duce was such a fan, and which was the pride of the EUR
42 neighborhood in Rome. Historicism, Milanese Novecento, and
Italian Art Deco fueled the Rationalist production of the inter-war
period. On the sidelines of this official urbanism the ‘Gourbis' (those
first informal neighborhoods) appeared on the periphery of the now
over-populated large cities.
World War Two and the destruction that followed put an end to the
creative laboratory which Tunisia had become, that knew neither his-
torical frontiors nor style dictatorship. The effects of the war on the
country were disastrous. After the trauma of the German occupation
and the allied bombings of 1943, production picked up again in a par-
tially destroyed Tunisia, under the protection of France whose image
and imperial power had greatly declined. Reconstruction attempts
started quickly, but with limited means.
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مختارات من عمارة العالم العربي 1914-2014

تاريخ

2014

المنشئ

جورج عربيد