Journal article
Landscape practice in the Middle East between local and global aspirations
S Moosavi, J Makhzoumi, M Grose
Landscape Research | Published : 2016
Abstract
Abstract: In the Middle East today, there are strong tensions between global and local aspirations in landscape architectural projects. Modernism, introduced to major cities in the Middle East, led to design approaches that are detached from local context, some adopting a tabula rasa attitude to site or inspired by Western models with little adaptation. Ambitious designers who seek to celebrate local values through context-based designs face dilemmas between client-driven global aspirations and local contextual particularities. This perspective essay critically reviews landscape design approaches in the region against discourses of Modernism, regionalism and critical regionalism. Projects in..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Jillian Walliss for her insightful comments and valuable guidance, and the generosity of designers interviewed for this project. This research was partly undertaken during the research stay of the corresponding author at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. This research was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award, and by travel grants from the University of Melbourne for undertaking research in Lebanon, Oman and Canada.