Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm:

A Twentieth-Century Development

Dr. Abdulrahman Bin Mohammed Alangari

Introduction:

The traditional architecture of the city of Riyadh is specific and local, a characterization that of course applies to most traditional settlements around the world, at least in cases where they display unity and homogeneity. Sometimes such settlements actually share the same architectural elements (city walls and gates, streets, city centre, and neighbourhoods), depending on their political status, economy, social structure, and natural setting. This traditional character is due to a number of factors:

1. In a homogeneous society everyone shares the same beliefs;

2. changes and development are slow;

3. outside cultural influence is limited;

4. transporting building materials is expensive; and

5. most importantly, financial resources are limited.

At a later stage the unity of these traditional settlements has been challenged by modern technology (cars, steel, concrete, air-conditioning, communication technology, and so on) and new social conventions, a greater acceptance of individuality, and a growing influence from other cultures and societies. People were more exposed to ideas from other cultures; transporting building materials became easier, which made the choice that could be made among them much greater; and, last but not least, the increase in individual wealth gave people freedom of choice in building materials and construction techniques. All of these factors broke down the unity and homogeneity of traditional settlements.

Riyadh was one such traditional city. It had its own building style and character. In the 1950s, with the increase of wealth following the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in 1938, experiencing a more far-reaching impact from other cultures became inevitable. Engineers and architects from the Arab world started to practise in the region, and the transport of materials was facilitated by the railway between the Eastern Province and Riyadh opened in 1951 and by the opening of the airport in 1953. It was at this point that the homogeneity of the city started to break down, with this trend reaching a peak in the middle of the 1970s, when most of the city’s new planning and design bore no relation to the character of other, more traditional parts of the city.

Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm is the most important area in the Kingdom after the two holy mosques; it occupies 95 per cent of the total area of the old city. Its importance sprang from its historical background, since this was where his Majesty King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz started his mission to unify the Kingdom; thereafter it became the centre of government and the capital of Saudi Arabia. The term ‘Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm’ means ‘the Ruling Palace Area’,¹ which signifies the importance of the ruling palace in our culture: in the past, the ruling palace was the centre of government, the administrative centre, and the home of the treasury, as well as the ruler’s residence.

In the middle of the 1970s plans were initiated to rejuvenate Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm in a style that would preserve its authentic nature as the centre of the capital and of the nation as a whole. Many of these plans met with obstacles and opposition; but eventually the government succeeded in developing the area in a style that gave it a strong architectural identity that is only to be found in the Nejd region.

‘A twentieth-century development’ stands as the subtitle for this chapter, because who could have imagined that the town would expand from less than one square kilometre at the beginning of that century into almost 2000 square kilometres at the present time? Within a single century the city of Riyadh has seen a growth and development as rapid as that of any other city around the world. And at the heart of this city is its vibrating centre: Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm, which houses the political, administrative, commercial, religious, and residential centres of the city as a whole.

In this chapter we illustrate and document the architectural and physical evolution of Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm from 1902, when King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz conquered the city, up to the present time, laying stress upon the most important decisions and actions that have affected the physical evolution of the area.

The Birth of a Nation

Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm has housed the seat of government from the time of the Second Saudi State. Riyadh became the capital of the Saudi State in 1824, when Imam Turki bin ‘Abd-Allah (–1833) captured the city and used it as his base.

On 5 Shawwal 1319 AH (15 January 1902) King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (1880–1953) arrived in Riyadh from Kuwait with 63 of his close friends and allies.² He and seven other men went into the city, hiding overnight in the house of Àjlan³ the Governor, which stood in front of the al-Masmak building (the Governor’s palace). There he was joined by the rest of his team. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz asked Àjlan’s wife what time he was expected to return from al-Masmak, to which she replied that he was expected back in the morning. Àjlan was late in leaving the palace. When he did emerge the custodian of al-Masmak opened the main door⁴ and ‘Abd al-‘Aziz walked with his allies towards it. Àjlan had come out with ten other men and was walking to his house, where ‘Abd al-‘Aziz had stayed that night. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz and his men ran towards al-Masmak. Àjlan saw what ‘Abd al-‘Aziz was doing and tried to retrace his steps, upon which ‘Abd al-‘Aziz shot Àjlan but did not kill him. He ran back towards the main gate,⁵ which was already shut, except for a small opening in the main fortress door called al-Khokhah,⁶ through which Àjlan squeezed his way inside, though ‘Abd al-‘Aziz had grabbed his feet. But Àjlan managed to get inside. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz wanted to follow him through the small door, but ‘Abd-Allah Bin Julawai was closer. He succeeded in entering al-Masmak and killed Àjlan. Ten men seconded Ibn Julawai by opening the main gate, and the rest of the group followed. Àjlan’s followers inside al-Masmak numbered 80 men, while the allies of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz only amounted to 40. As the fight inside the palace intensified, half of Àjlan’s followers were killed and the rest surrendered. Then ‘Abd al-‘Aziz proclaimed himself as the new Amir (Governor) of the town, after which he ordered the rebuilding of the town wall. This task was finished within five weeks.⁷

The Physical Description of the Old City

The traditional architecture of the city of Riyadh reflected the faith, culture, and philosophy of generations of people; their continuing reinterpretation of a variety of rules and principles led them to adopt an urban form that met their physical needs, although the harsh climate of the Nejd region had forced people to adapt their building arrangements to protect themselves to the best of their economic ability and to the extent allowed by local resources. People maximized their use of local materials, and this in turn blended the natural and the physical environments and gave a regional identity to their environment. The city’s physical structure is a complex of cul-de-sacs and narrow twisting thoroughfares, often covered in by structural projections. The lower floors of houses are hidden from the gaze of passers-by. Windows are obstructed by gratings, screens, or shutters, assuring privacy from the exterior, while at the same time allowing the inhabitants to look out without being seen. However, the use of local building materials and local construction techniques helps to harmonize the natural and the built environments, minimizes the cost of constructing new buildings and reduces the cost of building maintenance and repairs. Another advantage is an improved ecological balance resulting from the re-use of building materials after an edifice’s demolition.

Al-Sharia and good practice maintained a set of building principles and guidelines that gave an identity to Islamic cities. Its principles stress the importance of satisfying the individual without harming others. The Qur’an and the Sunna forbid israf (wasteful extravagance). According to a Hadith, it is not acceptable to waste water while washing for prayer, even when one is beside an abundantly flowing river. These prohibitions teach Muslim society to minimize its wastage of all kinds of resources.

Climate was the main determinant in shaping the physical structure of the city. Hence the main physical characteristic of traditional Nejdi cities was a compact overall volume, with narrow winding streets and closed vistas. This street pattern helps to regulate the temperature by retaining the cool night air during the day. If the streets were wide and straight, the cool air would heat up after sunrise, or be blown away by the wind. Moreover, this irregular and narrow street pattern creates a large amount of shade, which protects people from the heat of the direct sun. A common feature of the built environment in the city is the use of party walls between neighbours, which minimize the exposure to direct sunlight, and assist financially by limiting building expenses. The only disadvantage of such sharing of walls is the lack of acoustic privacy.

Traditional Nejdi buildings used a number of typical local methods to moderate the effects of the hot climate: thick walls, which help keep the inner rooms cold during the summer and warm during the winter; small openings, which minimize the access of hot air into the rooms; orientation towards the prevailing winds, to provide ventilation; and utilization of the ground-floor rooms as sleeping quarters in the winter, the roof terrace being used in the summer.

The total area of the city of Riyadh did not exceed one square kilometre, and the general description of the town was summarized by Gerard Leachman, a British traveller, arriving in Riyadh in December 1912. He thus described the physical setting of the town and its surroundings:

This town ... lies in a depression 100 feet below the surrounding plain, and, together with its suburbs and date gardens, stretches for 2 miles north and south, while its southern extremity touches the Wadi Hanifa, here known as el Batin. The town, which is completely embedded on three sides in dense date gardens, is also surrounded by a massive wall of recent construction with towers every few hundred yards, some of them commanding the various gates of entry. On the north-west is situated an extensive cemetery traversed by the great roads leading to Mecca and to Hasa.⁸

Leachman continued by describing the gates, the main streets, the main saha (or public open space), and the King’s palace:

Entering the town by a high gateway having iron-studded wooden doors,⁹ we passed through a number of quiet by-streets and then suddenly emerged into a broad square with a bazaar in which business was at its height at this noontide hour of the day; as we passed through many curious eyes were fixed on us, and then we came to a large open space flanked on the right by a lofty castle, which proved to be the palace of abd el Aziz ibn Saud, the Wahabi Emir of Nejd.¹⁰

Leachman described people looking at his party when they entered the city in 1912, showing that the local inhabitants were not accustomed to seeing foreign visitors to the town. It is clear that any external cultural influence was very limited.

The name al-Riyadh means ‘the garden’, and it is interesting that Leachman’s description for the natural setting of the town refers to its being surrounded by palm groves. The recently constructed city wall mentioned by Leachman was the one that had been rebuilt by King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz when he conquered the city.

The Main Elements of the Old City

Riyadh, like most Islamic-Arab cities, is made up of a number of main elements: city walls and gates, streets, the Masjid al-jamia and other mosques, the main saha (square), the souk (market), and various neighbourhoods (Figure 12.1), the relationship between these elements determining the unique character of the city. In the case of the old town, a strong relationship between these elements gave a special identity and coherence to the city.¹¹

§ Figure 12.1 about here

§ Figure 12.2 about here

Philby’s¹² plan of 1919 (Figure 12.1) shows no details of the town; but the aerial photograph of the centre of Riyadh in 1967 (Figure 12.2), with the line of the old city’s walls superimposed where they are known to have run shows it in accurate detail, and from this photograph we can envisage the physical setting, and cross-refer to the map. The following sections constitute a general description of the main elements of the city.

The City’s Wall and Gates (al-Sur and al-Bawabat )

Most Islamic-Arab cities had a fortified city wall with city gates to regulate visitors. The main function of the city wall was defence. The city of Riyadh has nine gates (Figure 12.1). These gates were always shut at the time of prayer and after sunset, to be re-opened at sunrise. Of the city’s nine gates, the most important was Al-Thumairi. From this gate there is a direct and wide street¹³ leading visitors to the heart of the town, where the Grand Mosque, the Souk, the saha, and the king’s palace are situated. Philby¹⁴ describes his impression of the sur (city wall) when he first visited Riyadh in 1917:

The city is completely encircled by a thick wall of coarse sun-baked mud-bricks, about twenty-five feet in height and surmounted by a fringe of plain shark’s-tooth design at frequent intervals. Its continuity is interrupted by imposing bastions and guard-turrets, circular for the most part and slightly tapering towards the top, but some few square or rectangular, varying from thirty to forty feet in height and generally projecting slightly outwards from the wall-line for greater facility of defence (Figure 12.3).¹⁵

§ Figure 12.3 about here

§ Philby’s description of the city wall and the gates continues:

The perimeter of the wall is pierced in nine places by gateways [Figures 12. 1 and 12. 2], some of which have ceased to be in regular use except as means of access to the walled palm-groves in their vicinity; of the others the most important are the Thumairi and Dhuhairi gates, the first situate on the east side of the city and serving as a regular outlet to the main tracks to the north and east and also to the southern road towards Manfuha, while the other at the north-west corner gives access to the north-western route to Washm and the Qasim and to the western pilgrim road to Mecca … (Figure 12.4).¹⁶

§ Figure 12.4 about here

§ The Streets (al-sharia)

The planning of streets in the city was mainly the result of climatic factors, whilst also reflecting patterns of movement and traffic. The principal physical characteristic of traditional Nejdi cities was their narrow winding streets with closed vistas. As Facey mentions in his book Riyadh, the Old City, Amin Rihani¹⁷ believed that the streets of old Riyadh were much the same as those of other Arab cities.¹⁸ Philby confirmed this, saying:

The internal arrangement of the streets is without symmetry except for the natural convergence already mentioned of all main traffic lines on the central enclave; the chief street is that which leads in a straight line from the Thumairi gate to the palace and thence through the market-place to the Budai’a outlet, with a branch going off from it at right angles from the western end of the Souq to the Dhuhairi gate [Figures 12.1, 12.2 and 12.5].¹⁹

Moreover, the streets in Riyadh played an important social role, since they were where people met and talked. It was common to see old people sitting in the morning and in the afternoon at the side of the local roads talking with friends; passers-by would usually also talk to them.

The City Centre

The city centre is the most vital and important part of the city. It contained many focal elements, viz. the Souk, the Masjid al-Jamia and the King’s Palace (Figure 12.1). The centrality of these elements within the city meant that all the city’s residents had a limited travelling distance to them from all their various neighbourhoods.

The Grand Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Jamia )

The masjid plays an important role in all Islamic cities, and the mosque at Madinah is the earliest mosque in Islam. It was a centre for worship, a court of justice, an intellectual and educational centre, and an administrative centre during the establishment of Islam. Such a complex institution, serving so many purposes, had to be in a central location corresponding to its importance. This affected the urban form of the city, causing all the main roads to focus upon it.

§ Figure 12.5 about here

Since Riyadh was a small town by comparison with other Arab cities, the minaret was correspondingly small. To some extent this reflects the simplicity of the local style (Figures 12.1 and 12.6). Philby describes the Masjid al-jamia and its architecture as follows:

The Great Mosque or Jami’a of Riyadh is a spacious rectangular enclosure about sixty yards by fifty in area, whose main entrance faces the Suq through a gap in the row of shops lining its southern wall [Figure 12.6], while the Qibla or prayer-direction, by which the whole building is oriented, is marked by a very slight south-westerly bulge in the longer western face, near which as also on the east side is a subsidiary entrance. The internal space is divided into three sections, of which the central one forms an open court occupying about a quarter of the whole building, while the other two are covered by low flat roofs supported on several rows of massive stone pillars to form Liwans or cloisters for the convenience of worshippers during the hot hours of the day; the inward faces of these cloisters towards the central open court form colonnades of pointed arches of typical Wahhabi architecture and of considerable merit [Figure 12.7], though the workmanship is rough and simple; the Liwan on the Qibla side occupies about half of the whole enclosure, leaving the remaining quarter to the other; the roofs are without ornamentation, being encircled by a low parapet, with a low stepped structure of very ungainly appearance near the centre of the north side to serve as a minaret … .²⁰

Another structure found in Nejdi mosques is an underground prayer space called al-Khalwah. This may occupy almost the entire space beneath the prayer-hall. This space is used for prayer in the wintertime, because of its warmth. Facey refers to Amin Rihani, who says of this space in his description of the mosque ‘under the mosque is a replica of the surface structure for the winter’.²¹ This was an example of how people in the Nejd region developed structural solutions to meet their needs – although the architecture is very simple, they developed a variety of architectural solutions for different problems. The simplicity of the mosque design was derived from the simplicity of the people, and from the injunctions of the Qur’an that encourage worshippers not to be extravagant in building and finishing mosques.

In the city there is only one masjid al-jamia. There are of course other mosques, which are much smaller and simpler in design. However, the essential design of the Riyadh mosques has two main praying areas. One is outdoors (an open courtyard), and is used during the summertime (for early morning and evening prayers), while the other part is covered, to be used for daytime prayer in both summer and winter. There is no clear information on how many mosques there were in the old town, but it is probable that there were at least 12 mosques.²²

§ Figure 12.6 about here

§ Figure12.7 about here

The Market (Al-Souk)

The Souk is a place for buying or selling goods and other necessities, and its role in urban integration and socio-economic characteristics are one of the unique contributions of the Islamic city.

Since the city of Riyadh was a political capital and not a trading town, the size of its Souk, compared to that of those of other major cities in the Nejd region, was relatively small (Figure 12.8). In Riyadh the palace, rather than the Souk, was the principal engine of the economy, and this was noted by Leopold Mohammed Weiss²³ in the following terms:

The market in Riyadh is smaller than the one in Buraydah, even smaller than the one in Hail [two large towns in the Nejd region], despite the fact that Riyadh is a much more important city. But it is only the capital and not a trading centre. Its whole being derives from its destiny as the centre of a great realm, residence of the King and main artery for all political decisions. ... The market is also the Palace yard. It stretches – an oblong square – along the main front of the royal Palace; a low row of one-storey shops, each consisting of a tiny room with a single door but no window [Figure 12.9]; but then the door is always open. Between these shops and the front of the palace there is another parallel row of shops on both sides. At the eastern corner of the market place there is a camel market; at the opposite, western corner another double row of shops in which you will mainly find sandal-makers. At the extension of the market is a great number of traders who cannot afford their own shops; usually they make do with a blanket spread on the ground where various small goods are offered for sale [Figure 12.10].²⁴

Weiss also describes how the women’s Souk constitutes its own private realm, where women can trade in seclusion away from the men’s Souk: ‘A little distance away, close to the Palace walls, is the women’s market; it is hidden from view by a row of butchers’ shops. Here the women sit next to baskets full of eggs and vegetables spread on palm leaves.’²⁵ However, Weiss’s description makes it clear that the market in Riyadh was small by comparison with those in the other main cities in the Nejd region. But the main principle and structure of the market’s being attached to the mosque remained constant in most Nejdi cities. Nevertheless, the women’s market is a distinguishing feature of the city of Riyadh (Figure 12.11). Moreover, the Souk in the city is organized so that each commodity has its own particular section. This enhances trade – buyers know where to find the goods; and it also controls smell and noise. The architecture of the Souk was very simple, for many reasons: first – the simplicity of society itself; second, the narrow limits imposed by the meagre finances available; and third, the limited range of the external cultural influences affecting it (Figures 12.9 and 12.10).

§ Figure 12.8 about here

§ Figure 12.9 about here

§ Figure 12.10 about here

§ Figure 12.11 about here

Generally the main Souk in other Muslim cities is also located near the Masjid al-jamia, as these two elements together create a central gathering-point. The traditional Souk usually bears the specific name of the commodity traded in it (e.g. Souk al-Zal – the carpet market; Souk al-Thahab – the goldsmiths’ market; and so on). This subdivision is one of the main features of the Arab Souk, and the location of each group is determined according to a coherent framework. In a later stage, with the continuous development of cities, newly planned structures were added to existing spontaneously founded Souk, such as the Qaysariah (arcade).²⁶

According to Hakim, three hierarchical levels are observed when placing certain markets in relation to the Masjid al-jamia. At the first level are goldsmiths, clothing shops, perfumers, and bookshops, which are encouraged to be close to the Masjid al-jamia; at the second level are shops placed further away from the al-jamia, because of their smell or noise (e.g. copper-beating, blacksmithing, the sheep market, and so on); and the third category consists of the products of trade, such as household products. These are located with relative freedom within the hierarchy.²⁷

§ Figure 12.12 about here

The Plaza (Al-Saha)

Al-Saha refers to any square or public space. The Saha in the traditional city of Riyadh was developed as a public space between the king’s palace, the mosque, and the Souk. It is called the ‘open market’ (Figure 12.1), where traders can exhibit and sell their merchandise (Figure 12.8). The other main functions for the main Saha are to serve as a place of execution for criminals and as a gathering-space for people who come to greet the king or to listen to his speeches in front of the palace (Figure 12.12). The Saha is noticeably smaller than those in other Arab cities are, and that was for two main reasons: firstly, because the city of Riyadh itself was small; and secondly, since the weather in the Nejd is very hot, large open spaces are avoided there. In other Arab cities the main Saha was often used as an entertainment space for the city. It had clowns, conjurers, jugglers, and storytellers, as can be seen in the Sahat al-Fina in Marrakesh, Morocco.²⁸

The Ruling Palace (Qasr Alhokm)²⁹

The Qasr Alhokm was originally built by Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah around 1240 AH (1824). During King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz’s time, the size of the palace doubled. It was not an ordinary building; it was a centre of the government, an administrative headquarters, a defence headquarters, and a treasury. Housing all these functions and activities within the same premises shows how effective a well-planned traditional ruling palace can be. It also shows how large the traditional buildings in Riyadh could be (Figure 12.1). The king’s palace was the largest building in the city (Figure 12.13). Moreover, the palace was also significant as the place where HM King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz was born, and thereafter several of his sons: HM King Khalid (1914–1982), The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd (b. 1921), and Crown Prince ‘Abd-Allah (b. 1923).

The Qasr Alhokm and the Masjid al-jamia together form the administrative heart of the city. This same direct relationship was to be found in most Islamic cities, allowing the ruler direct access to the Masjid al-jamia through a connecting bridge or door. The location of the Qasr Alhokm next to the Masjid al-jamia made the mosque accessible to people who came to the palace for a variety of reasons, such as meeting the ruler or paying or receiving Zakat³⁰ from the Treasury House.

§ Figure 12.13 about here

§ Figure 12.14 about here

In 1918 Philby praised the palace and its architecture:

... there is, with the possible exception of the fort at Buraida, no building in all his territories so splendid in its proportions, so beautiful and so representative of all that is best in modern Arabian architecture as the royal palace of Ibn Sàud. Its merits lies in its superb simplicity of design and in an almost complete absence of ornament so appropriate to an edifice intended to provide not only comfort but security for those dwelling within its walls.³¹

Philby continued, describing the architectural details of the palace courtyard as:

whitewashed with gypsum-lime to a height of about ten feet, the top line being surmounted with a frieze of delicate stepped pinnacles, which they call Sharaf, and believed to be of great antiquity. The bare brown clay above the frieze is roughly moulded in various designs – inverted fleurs-de-lis, arches in low relief, leaves and the like, while pious texts are everywhere daubed upon the walls. Some of the doors too are highly decorated with confused patterns of red, yellow and blue spots, varied here and there with burned patches.³²

Facey also quotes Rihani’s description of the finishing of the palace reception interior walls: ‘the wall, after being plastered, is covered with another layer into which the designs are cut. The reception hall in the palace is an excellent example of this art; its walls, which are decorated in zones and panels from the floor to the ceiling, the white plaster over a fawn-coloured ground, look as if they were covered with Valenciennes lace.’³³

Development of the city after the unification of the nation caused King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz to enlarge his palace in March 1937, adding more spaces and decoration to accommodate the new responsibilities. Sir George Rendel and his wife³⁴ visited Riyadh at this time, and expressed their admiration of the architecture of the palace: ‘King Ibn Saud’s palace is a high, fortified building with two massive towers, and a simple line of perforated decoration across its great wall. Unquestionably beautiful in its own style, it was a revelation to me of how fine in line and proportion modern Arabian architecture can be [Figure 12.14].’³⁵

We can see how Rendel was impressed by and admired the palace architecture, which demonstrates the individuality of the local Nejdi architecture as displayed in this fine example. However, this uniqueness was a result of the compactness of the masses, the integration of building colour with the surrounding natural colour, the texture derived from local materials, and the individuality of the internal spaces. All these factors distinguish Nejdi vernacular architecture.

Throughout his reign King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz enlarged his palace a number of times. This was a natural result of the increase in the country’s wealth and responsibilities and the size of its administration, and of the increase in the size of his family. The most important point was that the architectural form and details did not change despite changes in the palace size, spaces, furniture, and decorations (Figures 12.1 and 12.14).³⁶ A comparison of the two photographs of the palace in 1917 and 1937 (Figures 12.13 and 12.14), taken from almost the same viewpoint, shows the addition of upper-floor windows (turma) and loopholes, while the decorations demonstrate the evolution of the local architecture. Although some of these elements and decoration were copied from other parts of the region, the palace retained the same form. Even when King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz furnished his Badiàh palace (summer palace), European furniture was incorporated within the local structural form.

§ The Beginning of the Fragmentation

§ The Introduction of Vehicles

It is believed that by the end of the 1930s the number of vehicles in the capital was around 300 (Figure 12.15). A garage had to be established, and consequently drivers and mechanics were needed.³⁷ By the end of the 1950s the number of cars had increased to around 5,000.³⁸ Most of these drivers and mechanics, plus the servants of the Royal household, settled in an area close to the government garage in the Qiri quarter in the south-eastern part of the city. This site was called Hillat al-Ábeed (the slaves’ quarter).³⁹ The first street to be widened was Thumairi Street, the main street linking the Thumairi gate with the city centre. This can be seen as the first physical act in breaking down the coherence of the traditional built environment (Figure 12.16).⁴⁰

§ Figure 12.15 about here

§ Figure 12.16 about here

§ Figure 12.17 about here

Thereafter other streets needed widening. This in turn increasingly broke down the coherence and general balance of proportion between building heights, street widths and human scale. These proportions were at the heart of Riyadh’s built environment. (Figures 12.16 and 12.17).

Automotive vehicles also had other effects on people, by allowing great distances to be travelled in less time and in more comfort by contrast with travelling by camels, donkeys or horses. This new technology allowed people to build their houses and palaces outside the city wall. Additionally, after the unification of the Kingdom in 1932, the level of security had increased, and the city wall thus lost much of its original function.

The Modern Era

In April 1953 King Saud ordered the demolition of the Qasr Alhokm and the adjacent buildings in the centre, to be replaced by a building housing the Governorate of Riyadh, the law-courts (Qasr al-Àdl), and a spacious audience hall where the King could receive visitors⁴¹ on ceremonial occasions (Figure 12.18).⁴² The mosque thereafter was demolished, to be replaced by a larger concrete mosque (Figure 12.19). By March 1954 the new Qasr Alhokm had been completed, and Philby visited King Saud there.⁴³ It is believed that King Saud used the al-Hamra palace as an office as well as as his residence during the time that the Qasr Alhokm was being rebuilt, between 1953 and 1954. Thereafter, he used the Qasr Alhokm as his office and the al-Hamra palace as a residence until 1957, when he moved to al-Naseriah palace.

Prince Fahad Bin Faisal Al-Farhan⁴⁴ and Saàd Bin Sultan⁴⁵ have confirmed that the first paved compacted street was completed in the 1940s: it was the street linking al-Murabaà palace (the king’s residence) with the Qasr Alhokm. The street was 2.5–3.0 metres in width, and workers from Egypt built the road, using cement, gravel, and sand. Then, in 1954–5, the first asphalt-surfaced street to be built was King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Road (linking the al-Baflha and al-Maflar roads).

During 1955 the government continued to demolish more buildings in the area to improve the vehicular approach to the palace from Thumairi Street.⁴⁶ Abul-Ela reports:

The houses bordering the crooked narrow streets and lanes were demolished to give place to new wide tarmac streets suitable for motor traffic. Modern shops lined the new streets radiating from the central enclave in every direction. So the residential belt in the kernel was invaded by the expanding commercial core and other central services [Figure 12.20].⁴⁷

§ Figure 12.18 about here

§ Figure 12.19 about here

§ Figure 12.20 about here

§ Figure 12.21 about here

The wave of modernization in the city started at that time. The city centre was the first area to have its streets widened for vehicles. Since this was the main commercial centre of Riyadh, with the increase of the city’s population the development of commercial and governmental activities there caused serious pressure on the area. Traffic was the most intractable problem. The streets were too small to handle the number of vehicles coming into the city centre, and there were insufficient parking spaces in the area to handle the increasing number of cars.

The 1950s witnessed the inauguration of the airport, the inauguration of the railway station linking Riyadh with the east coast, the transfer of governmental activities from Jeddah to Riyadh, the need to build hundreds of new housing and office units to accommodate government staff, and the influx of migrants and other experts who came to work in the city. This increased the pressure to demolish more houses and build new commercial and business buildings to satisfy the needs of the newcomers. New and hitherto unknown functions had been added to the urban mix, viz. hotels, restaurants, hospitals, clinics, schools, libraries, a zoo, shopping centres, and other services.

According to a survey of Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm made by Abu-Ela in 1964—5, the residential buildings in the area represented 74 per cent of the total buildings. Of these, traditional mud-brick houses with narrow street-plans represented 86 per cent of the total. The remaining 14 per cent were modern buildings. From these figures we can assume that the traditional building style remained the dominant aspect of the city centre, and small narrow streets remained the dominant pattern in the neighbourhood structure. Most modern buildings were on the main streets. A number of modern blocks 5 to 8 storeys in height were built along the main roads in the area (Thumairi Road, King Faisal Road (al-Wazeer), and Batha Road). Many of these buildings were used for commercial, business, and residential premises. Shops were located on the ground floor, and on the remaining floors were either offices (including those of professionals such as physicians, dentists, lawyers, architects, and engineers)⁴⁸ or residential flats.

The architectural character of these new buildings was different in style and character from the surrounding local architecture. The Doxiadis Report dated July 1968 described the visual incoherence of the architecture in the area: ‘The architecture of the elevations is not always interesting, as most of the new buildings lack the grace, harmony and plasticity of the old traditional buildings. Nor has the proportion of façade openings to solid surfaces and the interchange of masses yet reached a new agreeable style.’⁴⁹ This reference by the consultant (Doxiadis) demonstrates the incongruity of the new building style and character in the context of the dominant surrounding traditional one (Figure 12.22).

§ Figure 12.22 about here

§ The Need for Rejuvenation

The first approach to the redevelopment of the area was presented by Doxiadis to the decision-makers of the city in May 1970. It was purely an idea for reorganization. From the reaction and the comments of the decision-makers Doxiadis suggested a preliminary urban design for the area, which was submitted in July 1971. The main idea of the development was to provide a city centre that brought into being an interaction of the historical buildings with the proposed future development, creating a coherent entity.

Doxiadis’s Master Plan suggested modernizing the city centre. But such an action could not have been implemented without total rebuilding. According to HE Sheikh ‘Abd al- ‘Aziz Al-Thonayan⁵⁰ – the Mayor of the City at that time – the people who lived in the city centre started to leave to build new homes in the new suburbs, so that house prices in the city centre increased to an average value of SR. 15,000 per square metre.⁵¹ This move was a combined product of their wish to live in a modern residential neighbourhood, the need of more space for their families, and the fact that they were impressed with the design and modern services of the new villas. These factors led most Saudi families to sell their houses in the city centre and use the money to build large new villas on the outskirts, where the average price of land was SR. 200 per square metre. Eventually the city centre started to deteriorate, and the Mayoralty felt obliged to seek new means to deal with the problem.

At the beginning of 1960, there were no Saudi consultants specializing in planning or architecture. The Saudi government requested help from the United Nations, which recommended a number of experts in physical planning, particularly for the development of the cities. Dr Omar Azzam⁵² was among these experts who participated in the organization for development and planning, having been given the title of The General Director of Regional Planning Offices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dr Azzam reported that when he and his colleagues arrived in September 1960 there was no Saudi Planning Authority. There was only a small technical unit, which mainly undertook surveys of existing areas and the design of small projects for the Mayoralty; and at that time it was part of the Ministry of the Interior.

According to Dr Azzam the biggest problem they faced when they started work was the lack of background information such as general statistics and maps. The quickest way of collecting information was to initiate aerial mapping surveys of all cities and towns in Saudi Arabia (approximately 45 cities and towns). They then made some sample studies to collect information about the population and the density levels. They recruited a number of planners and launched a large programme to develop Regional Plans, a Master Plan, and a new process of involvement, described as Action Areas.

Qasr Alhokm Area was one of these Action Areas. At that time Dr Azzam was working on the development of the Master Plan and Action Areas in Kuwait. He held the post of ‘United Nations Regional Advisor for the Middle East’. He was selected together with Sir Leslie Martin and Professor Franco Albini to sit on a committee headed by the Kuwaiti Prime Minister to develop a Master Plan for the city of Kuwait, which had taken them four and a half years.

When the Action Area for Qasr Alhokm was called for, Dr Azzam recommended Professor Franco Albini to HE ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Thonayan, as a highly respected and sensitive architect.⁵³ A relationship was forged between the consultants (headed by Dr Azzam) and the Mayor of Riyadh to visualize how the area of Qasr Alhokm could develop and what influence it would have on the development of the surrounding urban areas.

According to Dr Azzam, when ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Thonayan left the post of the Mayor at the end of 1976 a new group had taken the responsibility for the planning of Riyadh, and these people were very much influenced by civil engineers and others who were fascinated by modern high-rise buildings of concrete, glass and steel. In their view this represented Modernism and Development.

Dr Azzam however tried to convince the authorities of the merits of traditional architecture and planning. Nevertheless, the rapid growth and the increasing need for new buildings, as well as speculation in land, became the main influences. Sensitivity to the traditional environment was seen as outdated and reactionary.

The al-Masmak Palace was deteriorating, and the mayoralty had to act to preserve this important building, for whose conservation they commissioned Professor Franco Albini to make a study. Albini made a site visit in June 1973 to make a visual survey and to study the character of al-Masmak to enable him to make recommendations on the methods to be followed in its conservation and restoration.

The urban fabric surrounding al-Masmak was in poor condition, detracting from the building’s significance. Professor Albini made it clear that: ‘Conservation will concern not only al-Masmak but also its siting and its character.’⁵⁴ Albini after his visit to al-Masmak palace summarized the existing condition of the palace, saying:

The fast development of the city of Riyadh in the recent past has surrounded al-Masmak with new buildings that do not co-operate in giving the right importance and environment to such a historical building; on the contrary, they kill the right scale and views. Al-Masmak should have open spaces or piazzas and green areas around it to allow the old fortress to emerge in relation to its surroundings (Figure 12.22).⁵⁵

Albini acknowledged the importance of the building when he made it clear that they should demolish the area surrounding al-Masmak and make a green zone in which the building could be appreciated by the public and could easily be distinguished in its urban context.

Professor Albini progressed the idea and worked on the redevelopment scheme for the area surrounding al-Masmak. He concluded by suggesting that the area could not be effective without global replanning. He presented a preliminary urban scheme for the area. HE ‘Abd al- ‘Aziz al-Thonayan and Dr Azzam liked the idea of the redevelopment.

While Albini was working on the redevelopment of the Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm scheme, another consultant was appointed to revise the Doxiadis Master Plan. In 1976 the SCET revision of the Master Plan: ‘Emphasizes that the city centre will require consistent and co-ordinated government action to prevent its further deterioration, and to provide encouragement to the private sector to participate in the redevelopment and improvement programme.’⁵⁶ Surprisingly, the new consultant’s study did not mention Albini’s work in redeveloping the city centre.

The objectives of the SCET redevelopment programme for the area were to:

1. redevelop the city centre to make it attractive for investment and as a place to live;

2. improve the accessibility of the city centre and provide proper parking facilities for private cars;

3. provide a comfortable public transport system;

4. implement a traffic management control system;

5. redevelop land along Makkah Road [King Fahd Freeway] for commercial and residential purposes;

6. create cultural and recreational facilities accessible to the resident population and the metropolitan area at large; and enhance the environment of the city centre by creating pedestrian ways and having better designed shopping areas.⁵⁷

The Various Alternatives for the Redevelopment

This section is divided according to the role of each governmental institution that undertook responsibilities in the development of the Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm project, in order to relate the decisions to the institution responsible.

The Mayoralty

This was the only governmental department responsible at that time for the physical development of the city. However, the Mayoralty were convinced of the truth of Albini’s suggestion, so they commissioned him to start making a comprehensive study on redeveloping the area that should cover all its most important elements: the Qasr Alhokm, the Masjid al-jamia, al-Masmak Palace, the Administration complex, the Souk, and the link between these elements.

Albini’s Scheme

Professor Franco Albini valued the historical importance of the area, and, since the majority of its buildings and most of its neighbourhood are traditional, Albini’s team conducted a thorough investigation of the traditional architecture of the region. This comprised a visual survey, photographing, and documenting the important buildings in the various cities, with plans, sections and elevations; and an analysis of the different architectural elements in the traditional Nejdi house. Their aim was to understand the principles of the local architecture so as to produce an urban and architectural scheme linking the development with the architecture of the region.⁵⁸

In March 1974 Albini submitted a complete report to the Mayoralty entitled Kasr-El-Hokm Area Redevelopment Project Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Feasibility Study. This report was a summary of his ideas and suggestions for the area’s future development, including:

§ a study of traditional examples of city centres from the Islamic world and of their various architectural elements – in particular: a study of the Arab palaces; coupled with a study of the architecture of the Nejd region;

§ a site survey for the area;

§ land use and space requirements for the different elements in the area;

§ design alternatives for the redevelopment of the area;

§ architectural design drawings for Qasr Alhokm and the office buildings (the Emirate and Police headquarters);

§ the construction phases for the redevelopment; and

§ costs and budgets for the various construction phases.

The aim of Albini’s study was to ‘propose a development plan for the area and to set the conditions for its implementation’.⁵⁹

Albini’s scheme covers 640 by 600 metres along the two external lines and 170 by 130 metres along the two internal lines. It is bounded to the north by Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Street; to the south by Thumairi Street; to the west by al-Suwailem Street; and to the east by King Faisal Street (Figure 12.23).

§ Figure 12.23 about here

The volume of data Albini gathered about the traditional architecture of the region was considerable. In 1979 Marco Albini presented most of the materials and the text to the Assistant Deputy Minister for Antiquities and Museum Affairs. The department printed and published a book in 1990 entitled Traditional Architecture in Saudi Arabia: The Central Region, by Marco Albini, translated into Arabic by Dr Osama al-Jawhari.

Albini’s Urban Design Philosophy

Albini’s scheme was based on the analysis of traditional cities and the relationship of their elements with the urban context. His major idea was the elevated plaza, designed to separate vehicles from pedestrian traffic and to allow people to walk freely in the area. The natural topographical difference in the levels between the northern and southern part of the development caused Albini to transform this idea by gradually elevating the main pedestrian level that links the al-Masmak area, first with the cultural centre and the commercial shops, and thereafter with the main plaza (Sahat al-Àdl) located between the mosque and the Qasr Alhokm building. Here the Sahat al-Àdl was surrounded by colonnades, giving people shelter from the direct sun. From this elevated plaza access to the ground level was by stairs, ramps, and a lift (Figure 12.25). The ground level was devoted to vehicular movement and access to the parking garage; also, from the main plaza you can move to the southern parts of the project (the administrative complex) by using pedestrian passages.

The essence and the style of the project was described by Francesco Tentori thus:

[the project] shows that, by means of [the] markedly horizontal progress of all the volumes, the desire has been to underline a principle of figurative continuity in harmony with the traditional city, without in any way referring, conversely, to the verticalism and “towerism” of the provincial “international” style, which has not failed in recent times to leave substantial footprints in the Saudi capital as well. Out of these, extenuated horizontalities emerge with emphasis, as we have seen: the sail-shaped roofs of the king’s rooms and the governor’s rooms (that is to say, of Power) and the modern-designed rooftops of the cultural centre.⁶⁰

It is also possible that Albini consciously made the roof structure of the Qasr Alhokm building resemble the tent shape, which symbolizes a traditional form of shelter for the Bedouin (Figure 12.24).

§ Figure 12.24 about here

§ Figure 12.25 about here

Albini also used number of techniques to counteract the effect of climate: inner courtyards or patios open to the sky provide light and fresh air; the northerly exposure; the introduction of vegetation; the use of ventilation shafts to generate a current of fresh air; ventilated open space beneath the flat roof; and the use of a minimal number of windows on the elevation to limit the external exposure of the inner spaces.⁶¹

The development was divided into various different parts:

1. The administrative complex, located at the southern part of the development, with a direct vehicular access from Tareq bin Ziyad Street, containing three governmental buildings (the Governor’s Office, the Mayoralty, and the Police Headquarters), each measuring approximately 110 by 140 metres (Figure 12.26);

2. The Qasr Alhokm building, located to the north of the administrative complex, which measures approximately 220 by 280 metres. It contains the King’s audience hall (22 by 55 metres), a dining-room, and a reception room for the Governor. This building was considered functionally and figuratively the hub of the project. The roof of this building was intended to be the prime landmark;

3. The main plaza, located between Qasr Alhokm and the Great Mosque, surrounded by the pedestrian arcade and shops and connected with Thumairi Street by a spacious and wide flight of steps, which also functions as an emergency access to the area;

4. The Great Mosque to the north of the main plaza, measuring 80 by 135 metres, to be designed by another architect; and

5. A large building divided into two parts to the east of the mosque. The larger part of this represented the shopping centre, developed as a classical type of bazaar on three levels with colonnades round a courtyard. The other, smaller, part was the cultural centre, which included an exhibition hall, a library, and two auditoriums (one with a seating capacity for 380 people, and the other with a capacity for 110).

The Administrative Complex⁶²

The use of courtyards is the common feature of these three buildings, for which they provide natural light and ventilation to the different spaces within (Figure 12.26). The step-down of the volumes to the south allowed the designer to balance these volumes with the surrounding environment (Figure 12.27). A small covered street is made to provide a drop-off for the three buildings; the use of Mashrabiah to cover the windows controls the amount of natural light; and, last but not least, the use of sand-coloured marble links the building visually with the local architecture.

§ Figure 12.26 about here

§ Figure 12.27 about here

However, the Mayoralty approved Albini’s feasibility study and commissioned him to make the detailed Master Plan and architectural drawings for the various architectural elements. It took him 24 months to finish these drawings.

At the end of 1976, a complete set of drawings was submitted to the Mayoralty. At that time ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Thonayan was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Administration and ‘Abd-Allah al-Noaiem was appointed Mayor. This delayed the tendering process. According to Dr Azzam and Marco Albini, this administrative change slowed down the development. The new Mayor took some time to familiarize himself with the project, and thereafter, in their view, did not reflect the earlier enthusiasm, which delayed the approval of certain phases of the project. However, in 1977, the Mayoralty approved the restoration of al-Masmak Palace, but without developing the area around it, as there were difficulties with land expropriation. In 1978 a tender was accepted, and in 1979 the restoration of al-Masmak actually started. Marco Albini was the consultant.

The Establishment of the Qasr Alhokm Area Development Office (QAADO)

With the difficulty the Mayoralty was facing with the land expropriation and with the sharp increase in its responsibilities, and with the importance of this project, the government decided to establish an independent design office solely to expedite the development of the Qasr Alhokm Area (Figures 12.28 and 12.29).

On 19 January 1979 the High Commission (HC) established the High Executive Committee for the Development of the Qasr Alhokm Area (HECDQAA) to undertake direct supervision of the development of the Qasr Alhokm Area. The HECDQAA then established the Qasr Alhokm Area Development Office (QAADO).

The QAADO Evaluation of Albini’s Scheme

Albini’s appreciation of the quality of local architecture made it clear that this development could be developed by linking it visually and functionally with the quality that was evident in the traditional architecture. Although the mayoralty did not proceed with Albini’s scheme, none the less his work was the basis of all the schemes that were to follow in the area.

At this stage, the already planned and approved scheme began to collapse as a result of the changes in governmental responsibilities towards the development of the area. Phase 1 of Albini’s scheme⁶³ was not fully implemented because of the problem of land expropriation the Mayoralty faced, owing to the multiplicity of the owners. Sometimes even a part of a room was separately owned as a result of the Islamic inheritance system. The Mayoralty decided to restore the al-Masmak palace, leaving the rest of the proposals for this phase to be completed once they had solved the land acquisition problem.

According to Dr Omar al-‘Abd al-Kareem, the director of QAADO, the first step the office made was to review Albini’s Master Plan and all the architectural designs previously approved by the Mayoralty.⁶⁴ The QAADO also asked the various governmental departments who were to move to the area to provide them with up-to-date requirements. After the gap of six years, the governmental departments asked for more space and additional elements, and the QAADO architectural team found many features that needed to be re-designed. However, the office was impelled by the need to finish the administrative complex in the shortest time possible.

The QAADO office proceeded with another tender for the required changes to the three governmental buildings, and Marco Albini’s office was one of the offices to participate in the competition, which a new Saudi firm, Beeah Group Consultants, won. With Beeah, the development of the Qasr Alhokm Area project took on a new dimension.

§ Figure 12.28 about here

§ Figure 12.29 about here

According to Dr Azzam, Franco Albini had been following the project closely until 1974, when he started to suffer from a heart problem. Beyond this point he could not follow up the project effectively, and he could not travel to Riyadh, where his son Marco was carrying on with the project. On 1 November 1977 Franco Albini died in Milan. Thereafter, according to Dr al-‘Abd al-Kareem and Dr Azzam, Marco Albini did not show the same enthusiasm towards the development. In fact, Dr al-‘Abd al-Kareem adds that, during his time as the director of the QAADO, Marco Albini came only twice to the city to discuss the project. All other correspondence was managed through the firm’s agent in Saudi Arabia, and this agent was not fully qualified to carry on with such a project.

The Beeah Scheme

The QAADO assigned Beeah Group Consultants to evaluate Albini’s architectural design for the administration complex and to review the scheme overall. They suggested a re-design of the whole area. The QAADO approved the re-design of the whole area, stressing the need to make the required changes to the three governmental buildings as soon as possible, with a recommendation that the elevations should be altered. Beeah created the additional spaces required, but they refused to change the elevation, because, out of ‘... respect for the profession, they felt unable to change just the elevations. They wished either to re-design the whole scheme, or to leave Albini’s elevations unaltered.’⁶⁵ The QAADO then commissioned their own team to change the elevations. A band of triangular decoration (Sharaf) was added on the roof parapet. They also changed the pattern of the external openings in the elevations, together with the material, and the colour of the cladding. Marco Albini wrote many letters objecting to these changes, but there was no reply from the QAADO (Figures 12.27 and 12.30).⁶⁶

Beeah worked on the urban and the architectural design for the whole project. After evaluating the condition of the area, they suggested that in order to make a coherent urban design they need a larger area than the one worked on by Albini. In 1981 the High Commission approved the required extension of the developed area, hoping to help the consultant create a coherent scheme for the area.⁶⁷

Beeah refined their ideas with design criteria based on:

1. a development of the area with minimal public funds and with no intervention by government agencies;

2. a high priority being given to the transportation system;

3. a thoroughgoing integration with the rest of the city;

4. the inclusion of a multiplicity of activities, including residential activities, to ensure liveliness in the project year-round and round the clock;

5. making shopping the key element in the development by comparison with other uses, i.e. offices and residential units. The development was to be viable from the investment point of view. Beeah analysed the maximum shopping permissible, working out income in comparison with the land prices and the construction cost. The capacity of the commercial area in the development was calculated on the total number of shops in the area to be demolished, adding 5 per cent to define the maximum growth;

6. an expected completion of the project within 10 years, on the basis of a 5 per cent annual growth rate for the city; and

7. the calculation that 8,000 car-parking spaces should be provided for shoppers, together with 700 residential units, since ‘to deal with traffic circulation it was important to limit accessibility’. Therefore, Beeah ‘proposed a network that would limit traffic to people who wanted to come to the area itself, and re-routed city traffic to take care of cross-circulation from east to west and from south to north’.⁶⁸

§ Figure 12.30 about here

The Urban Characteristics

The Nejdi urban and architectural style was adopted to ensure that the Qasr Alhokm Area would have a distinct architectural character. The design scheme consisted of contiguous attached buildings, to minimize exposure to the direct sun (Figure 12.31). The gradual stepping up of building heights from the centre to the periphery was implemented to ensure lighting and natural ventilation for the area and to ensure that the mosque’s minaret would remain a landmark.⁶⁹ The segregation between pedestrian and vehicular movement was the other key point of this scheme.

§ Figure 12.31 about here

Beeah wrongly assumed that the government would own most of the development area. When the ADA calculated the total cost it proved very expensive. The expropriation would have cost SR. 2,500 million, the construction cost of public and private developments SR. 3,300 million, building the services and the infrastructure SR. 700 million, and finally, the cost of the rehabilitation programme SR. 460 million. The total investment would have been SR. 6,960 million, excluding the cost of the temporary shops and parking spaces for the demolished shops.⁷⁰

The Establishment of the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA)⁷¹

The High Commission (HC) needed an executive arm to control the development of the most important projects in the city. The COM issued a decree no. 221 on 2/9/1403 accepting the recommendations by HRH The Governor of Riyadh and the chairman of the HC, to merge the QAADO with the Office of the Development of the Diplomatic Quarter Project, in one office called the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA). At that time there were two important projects that became the nucleus of the ADA. These projects were: the Development of the Justice Palace District (JPD); and the Development of the Diplomatic Quarter (DQ).

In order to provide administrative and technical support for the HC, ADA developed human resources in various fields, and the Authority also developed an advanced Urban Intelligence Service.

The development of the area had by now been delayed for over ten years, and people were losing hope and interest (Figure 12.29). The delay was mainly the responsibility of the QAADO and Beeah. Neither party had achieved a practical solution. Zaher Othman made it clear that the delay in the project was not only the consultant’s fault: the QAADO and the High Commission also shared a great deal of this responsibility, as both parties

... did not make effective use of the flexibility they had. The bureaucracy of the office and its technical capabilities allowed the design of the area to lag for a long time. The office involved the HECJPD [HECQA] and the HC in all details of the design, and these might be blamed for approving some major assumptions for the development of the JPD [QAA] that were not practical. For instance, they approved the complete negligence of private ownership on the assumption that all lands would be acquired by the government. Based on this decision, the Beeah Group Consultant assumed redevelopment without constraints. The High Commission and HECJPD were also involved in determining the locations of the Justice Palace [QA] and the Jamiè Mosque.⁷²

Therefore, in 1983, the Council of Ministers issued an order establishing the Arriyadh Development Authority.

The ADA Review of the Beeah Scheme

The ADA’s first action was to undertake a full review of the Beeah scheme. They concluded that it was not feasible to implement it for the following reasons:

1. Land prices were very high, producing a lengthy dispute over land expropriation, as most properties had more than one owner;

2. There was an assumption that the government owned or would buy the whole area;

3. The total cost for the redevelopment was very high, and the economic situation had weakened in comparison with the 1970s; and

4. There was great difficulty in the way of executing the project in phases, as their scheme centred on elevating the whole project on a podium, which would require almost ten years to reach completion.

The ADA Urban Design Scheme

The ADA revised the objectives for developing the area, stressing four interrelated objectives, listed by Dr Zahir Othman:

§ To re-establish physically a new urban core responding to today’s changed needs and conditions.

§ To generate a new sense of identity by expressing and enhancing the historic significance of the site.

§ To enhance the interaction between religious, civic, cultural and commercial activities.

§ To provide a pleasant and enjoyable landscaped environment within the framework of the new urban core.⁷³

The ADA developed a notion of understanding the importance of adopting an architectural solution related visually to the historical importance of the area and the importance of the development as the centre of the nation’s capital. The ADA acted quickly in setting up the design for the second phase. At that time, the Government owned only the ‘T’ area, so they needed various different consultants to think about an immediate design for the various architectural elements in the development. The ADA with the help of Saudconsult⁷⁴ created their own urban design scheme (Figure 12.32) and set up a design competition⁷⁵ for the various architectural elements in the area: Rasem Badran⁷⁶ to design al-Masjid al-Jamia; Beeah for the Qasr Alhokm (QA) and to rebuild part of the city wall, the Dira tower, and two gates (the al-Thumairi and Dokhnah gates); al-Shathri⁷⁷ for the cultural centre; and Saudconsult for the urban design, the engineering, and the landscaping. In a later stage, the ADA hired a British consultant – Buro Happold⁷⁸ – to work as the engineering co-ordinator for the consultants.

The ADA wanted to accelerate the approval of the design of QA, as the project was becoming delayed. So they asked Rasem Badran⁷⁹ to work on the QA scheme, hoping that two consultants working independently would stimulate the ADA to act quickly by choosing the appropriate scheme. When the two consultants submitted their preliminary design proposals for the QA building, the ADA favoured Rasem Badran’s scheme. The reason for choosing Rasem Badran was that he had succeeded in translating traditional architectural principles into a modern idiom, and his preliminary scheme for the Masjid al-jamia gave convincing evidence of his skills.

By this stage the ADA team were familiar with the development, and they decided on utilizing their own resources. The ADA questioned the idea of giving credit for the development to any outside consultant wherever they could hire individual expertise to work with their own team to implement the required policies. They commissioned their own team to make changes in the urban design scheme, reaching a solution based on the development of all the governmental buildings, the open spaces, and the infrastructure by the government itself. The ADA urban design scheme was similar to that of Albini, except for the main plazas, which were not elevated. The ADA circulation scheme was based on making the central area free from vehicular traffic – except for emergency and VIP vehicles; and also on transforming al-Thumairi Street into a pedestrian precinct (Figure 12.33).⁸⁰

§ Figure 12.32 about here

The ADA planning concept was based on:

1. The creation of a functional public centre: the importance of developing the area with respect to its centrality as a governmental core;

2. Establishing a central business and commercial hub to ensure the area’s vitality: the area needed to be alive with commercial and business activities encouraged by supporting individuals to develop according to a clear development policy in order to achieve its potential destiny as an active centre for the entire city;

3. Encouraging private redevelopment: Government should continue its support of the public services so as to allow the private development to be completed. This support could come in the shape of the development of roads and parking spaces and all forms of infra- structure. The government could also take some action towards stabilizing land prices;

4. The improvement of accessibility and circulation: these are the main problems affecting the city centre, requiring therefore a careful study of the traffic circulation and car parking; and

5. Integration with the rest of the city: the neighbourhoods surrounding the QAA are of poor urban quality, requiring close monitoring to avoid their having an adverse impact on the development.⁸¹

The development of the private areas was meant to be implemented by private developers with a minimum of governmental intervention. One of the ADA’s policies was to reinforce the incentives to the investor. The ADA scheme was an urban renewal, rather than a rebuilding of the entire area.

Analysis of the Urban Design Scheme

The majority of visitors to the area would come from King Fahd Freeway, which runs north–south through the whole city. The freeway leads to either Tareq Bin Ziyad Street or Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Street. The QAA emphasized the concept of a ‘sense of arrival’ by making the northern entrance to the project more distinct by forming an external edge of buildings along Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Street, so that as people drive along they will see a sharp edge of buildings, with colonnades of shops, and the 50 metre-high minarets that form a distinguishing boundary for the area and afford a proper sense of direction (Figure 12.35). This sharp edge leads to a wide opening between buildings, which is considered to be the northern gateway to the project (Figures 12.33 and 12.34).

§ Figure 12.33 about here

§ Figure 12.34 about here

§ Figure 12.35 about here

§ Figure 12.36 about here

Once you enter, you see a large plaza – Sahat al-Àdl – with a total area of 14,000 sq. m., furnished with water fountains and palm trees positioned to create natural shaded paths (Figure 12.36). The plaza is surrounded by a colonnade of shops and is connected visually and functionally with the other plazas: Sahat al-Masmak and Sahat al-Safat. Through the western colonnade of Sahat al-Àdl are entrances to the Masjid al-Jamia, integrated with the colonnades of shops, and with the same architectural configuration that existed in the old mosque. At the southern edge of Sahat al-Àdl is Aswaq al-Awqaf al-Khairiah and the clock- tower, another element retained from the old scheme (Figure 12.37).⁸²

The plazas are the most important elements in the urban design. They connect the different elements of the project, and are used for other functional activities, viz. for the celebration of festivals, as praying areas, and for entertainment. There are four plazas in the project, namely: Sahat al-Safat; Sahat al-Àdl – the main plaza in the city; Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud; and Sahat al-Masmak. During the Eid festivals and the national day celebrations the plazas are one of the main attractions in the city. They host national folk dancing, games, and the sale of goods, foods, and clothing, which make the area a lively scene during the festivities (Figure 12.38).

The urban design centred on a major pedestrian spine linking Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud from the west with Qasr al-Masmak in the east (Figure 12.39) and Aswaq Suwaiqah behind it, passing through Sahat al-Safat and Sahat al-Àdl. The essence of this spine is to enable people to see al-Masmak Palace while they are walking from Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud towards the east. This spine will be strengthened after the completion of Phase 3 of the QAA development to the west of Yahya Bin Aktham Street (west of Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Plaza). The east–west spine was also enhanced by planting palm trees along the main pedestrian routes leading people from Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud to Qasr al-Masmak and to the shops behind it. Other minor spines link the northern part of the area with the rest of the development. One is the entrance that passes through Sahat al-Àdl leading to Aswaq al-Awqaf al-Khairiah and al-Thumairi Street; the other spine, located between the Masjid al-Jamia and the Meàgliah commercial centre connects Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Street with Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud and is furnished with natural shrubs planted at the sides of the road (Figure 12.40).

§ Figure 12.37 about here

Sahat al-Àdl is connected on its eastern side by a wide space with Sahat al-Masmak. This emphasizes the importance of the al-Masmak building, given that people can see it from as far away as the end of the western edge of Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud (Figure 8.26). Sahat al-Masmak is the smallest of the plazas in terms of size, with a total area of 4,500 sq. m. The purpose of this Saha, as was emphasized by Albini, was to make the al-Masmak building appreciated within the urban context, and also to ensure that al-Masmak could be seen from Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Street.

§ Figure 12.38 about here

§ Figure 12.39 about here

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From Sahat al-Àdl you can walk west towards Qasr Alhokm and the southern edge of the Masjid al-Jamia, into the space between the mosque and the palace, which is called Sahat al-Safat (5,000 sq. m). Palm trees were also planted in this plaza (Figure 12.42). Two overpasses, linking Qasr Alhokm with the Masjid, define the entrances to this special plaza, which contains the Royal Entrance to Qasr Alhokm. This treatment also existed in the old palace and mosque. Beyond the second bridge heading west you will see another large plaza, Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud (with a total area of 14,000 sq. m.) (Figure 12.43). This plaza is surrounded by Qasr Alhokm to the east, the Meàgliah centre to the north, and the Mayoralty Building and Souk al-Dira to the south, and to the west by the third phase of commercial development, which was due to be finished in 1999. The plaza is furnished with palm trees and water fountains. In addition there are tent structures to break up the solidity of the space and to give it shade (Figure 12.43).

The landscape of palm trees and fountains provides a natural path from Sahat al-Imam Muhammad Bin Saud to Sahat al-Masmak. The fountains and the trees also provide a cooler microclimate, and help to break up the rectilinearity of the open space.

Street furniture is another element that defines and identifies the area. The pavements of Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Street, of part of Tareq Bin Ziyad Street, and Yahya Bin Aktum Street have been reconstructed and provided with special paving, trees, and street lighting and furniture. These elements should be enhanced to cover all other streets and public places in the area to make them distinctive. The use of granite for the paving of the open places has been a problem, as this material stores and radiates heat (Figure 12.43).

The ADA implemented the idea of rebuilding parts of the old city wall and gates in their original locations, to help people to know the limits and size of the old city. Part of the old city wall passed through main roads. The ADA showed this by changing the pattern of the paving to emphasize the nature of the location (Figure 12.35). The ADA also rebuilt parts of the old city wall and two gates: al-Thumairi and Doknah gates, and the Dira tower of the wall, using the original building materials and size and shape (Figures 12.44 and 12.45). This idea of rebuilding some of the old city gates links the area visually and functionally with the recent past, and enables younger citizens to envisage its character at the beginning of the twentieth century.

§ Figure 12.44 about here

§ Figure 12.45 about here

The Architectural Analysis

The importance of Phase 2 relates to its role as the host of the most important buildings in the development: Qasr Alhokm and the Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Mosque. In the following analysis we discuss their architectural characteristics in detail, so as to show how the architect translated the principles of traditional architecture into these two modern examples.

The Qasr Alhokm

The overall design of the palace and its detailing originated in traditional building. The palace as seen from outside is a large, fortified building with minimal external openings (Figure 12.46). It occupies a total area of 11,500 sq. m., and has a total building area of 35,000 sq. m. It contains the King’s Audience Hall and Banqueting Hall and the King’s Public Office. The King’s private quarters include a bedroom, bathroom, a meeting-room, and offices. HRH the Governor of Riyadh’s section includes: a Public Office, an Audience Hall, an administrative department, a retiring room, a meeting-room, and a private reception room. A section for HRH the Deputy Governor of Riyadh includes an office, a meeting-room, and rest quarters. The palace also includes other offices and meeting-rooms and other support elements (Figure 12.48).

The simplicity of their external appearance is one of the main features of the buildings of the old city. Rasem Badran comments: ‘The architectural features of the Nejd region with their simplicity, clear expression of the environment and rich heritage were the core of our analytical study to reach a clear understanding of these features.’⁸³ The external volume of the palace was divided into two parts. The southern part rises to six storeys, and has five distinguishing towers – four at the corners and the fifth in the middle – whose function is to bring light and ventilation to the spaces and courtyards below (Figure 12.46). The northern part has a lesser volume and height, rising to five storeys. The external distinction between the northern and southern parts of the palace makes it easier to distinguish the location of the various spaces that are to be found beneath its roofs.

§ Figure 12.46 about here

§ Figure 12.47 about here

§ Figure 12.48 about here

Figure 12.49 about here

The southern part is more solid, and evolves from a castle-shaped structure, which symbolizes force and power. The spaces underneath it are the King’s Audience Hall and Dining-Room, and the Public Entrance. The northern part is simpler, and accommodates the Royal Entrance, the Royal Public Office and the private quarters.

The Qasr Alhokm and the Great Mosque are linked by two bridges, as they were in the old city (Figures 12.46, 12.49 and 12.50). There are two balconies overlooking the two plazas (al-Àdl and al-Safat) (Figure 12.52). Al-Àdl Plaza is used by the King to address the people on important occasions.

The external character of the palace conveys solidity by the use of openings that are small in contrast with the overall volume. The only large external opening was the entrance: the main Royal Entrance located on Sahat al-Safat opposite the mosque emphasizes the spiritual and physical connection between the mosque and the Qasr (Figures 12.49 and 12.50). The use of projecting cubes (turma) on top of the entrance was widely practised in the traditional architecture of the Nejd region, but in this case the designer has used this space to project lighting on to the entrance and to house security cameras, utilizing this traditional structural shape to the benefit of distinctly modern purposes. The Public Entrance is located on the western side of the palace, which is close to the Emirate and Mayoralty buildings, as their functions complement each other (Figure 12.53). It too has the same treatment of the turma.

The Royal and Public Entrances meet inside the palace through a ceremonial axis in a ceremonial hall (Figure 12.54). The palace is also connected on the second floor with the Emirate building, as the functions of these two elements are integrated. This link shows the contrast between the first and the second phase of the development, which is seen in the use of colour and texture, and in the pattern of solids and voids (Figure 12.55).

§ Figure 12.50 about here

The use of a decorative band of small triangles around the palace breaks the solidity of the overall mass and carries a symbolic meaning for the people, as this treatment existed in traditional architecture (Figure 12.51). The use of the courtyard, which provides natural light and ventilation to the inner spaces, is seen in this project (Figure 12.54).

The use of the wind-catcher⁸⁴ and the water element at ground level provides a cooler microclimate. The use of fountains of running water on the ground floor serves to humidify the air that comes from the wind-catcher and also works as a pleasant element to see, hear and walk around. This natural feeling is enhanced by the use of natural light from skylights in the corridors and public places (Figure 12.55).

§ Figure 12.51 about here

§ Figure 12.52 about here

Figure 12.53 about here

In contrast with the monumentality of the exterior appearance of the palace, the interior spaces are strongly tied to the human scale. The uses made of lighting, decoration, and furniture constitute supportive elements that make people feel comfortable when walking around the various rooms. The main room is the King’s Audience Hall,⁸⁵ with a total area of 1,280 sq. m. (Figure 12.56). It has two rectangular spaces, one within the other. The larger is formed by the walls of the Audience Hall and the smaller is an inner rectangle emphasized by rows of columns running in all four directions. The wall of the inner rectangle has been pierced by square and triangular openings to break the solidity of the mass. A background lighting has been arranged that gives the effect of natural light (Figure 12.56). The internal walls are finished with natural stone and decorated with a wavy triangular band running in all directions. The side opposite the entrance, where the king sits, is enhanced by natural light coming from the roof, which symbolizes the importance of this area (Figure 12.56). On the other three sides is Arabic calligraphy consisting of Qur’anic verses, an element that was not originally native to the Nejdi style.⁸⁶ The columns are round, and finished with a capital; as with traditional columns, a simple and subtle decorative band at the top of the column effects a visual transition to the capital (Figure 12.56).

§ Figure 12.54 about here

§ Figure 12.55 about here

§ Figure 12.56 about here

The feeling of locality is to be found throughout all the different spaces of the palace, as each room and open space has a localized treatment. The internal design and decoration is translated from traditional finishes, as is shown in the use of internal colours for the walls and ceilings, the triangular decoration of the walls and ceilings, the pattern of the carpets, the shape of the columns, and the use of wooden structure in the ceiling (Figures 12.56–60).

Lighting is another important element. The architect tried to achieve natural lighting in the corridors, and in the King’s Audience and Banqueting Halls. The use of bronze lamp covers on the ceilings of the King’s Audience and Banqueting Halls is another distinctive feature, since these are decorated with small triangular openings, which match the general theme of triangular openings and decoration in the palace (Figure 12.56).

The furniture is traditional in character. A brown wooden frame is the common theme for the furniture, i.e. chairs, sofas, tables, doors, Mashrabiah, office tables, coffee tables, plant boxes, and so forth, and the sides of these elements are finished with bronze triangular decorations to match the rest of the triangular decorations on the walls, floors and ceilings (Figure 12.56).

The floor of the interior corridors is of coloured marble. The use of a green, brown and beige colour scheme for the floor makes a strong contrast with the rest of the decoration. A stronger link with geometry is also seen in the floor pattern. The interior rooms are carpeted, and here there is a powerful interpretation of triangular and other traditional patterns (Figures 12.56–60).

All the external walls and public areas of the interior are finished with Riyadh stone, unique to the area, which gives a unique colour and texture. Some of the internal windows and balconies have been finished with a band of gypsum decoration, which also exists in traditional building. The contrast between the sandy and the white colours gives a special character, used in almost every internal space. The dark brown wooden colour is used in the doors, the hand-rail, furniture, and the Mashrabiah (Figures 12.56–60).

§ Figure 12.57 about here

§ Figure 12.58 about here

§ Figure 12.59 about here

§ Figure 12.60 about here

Air-conditioning shafts were incorporated within the decorative openings of the walls and ceilings, providing a feeling of comfort without the necessary mechanical ducts visually obtruding themselves.

The use of triangular-shaped openings and decoration schemes throughout the exterior and the interior of the palace links the various parts of the project in a harmonious way. Triangular decoration was also extended, to be seen in the walls, columns, and ceilings, and in the minaret of the Mosque. Generally speaking, the interior design is highly finished. Every room and every corner has been carefully treated. You feel that you are walking through a special place that is certainly distinguished from any other project in the whole of Arabia and the rest of the world.

Rasem Badran said in conclusion: ‘[The] Qasr Al-Hokm district of Riyadh will be seen as a contemporary and intellectual architecture for Muslim communities. It is a master plan for a way of life, rather than just a visual exercise or a personal expression of man’s desires and cultural background. Architecture has to be an embodiment of human and moral concepts, and not just for Muslims. We should seek those special characteristics within the social environment that can offer society an identity.’⁸⁷

The Imam Turki Bin ‘Abd-Allah Mosque (al-Masjid al-Jamia)

The architectural configuration of the mosque is like that of the mosques of the Nejd. The open part – the Sahan – is usually used for prayer when the weather is moderate; and it is also used as an extension to the main hall for prayer on Fridays or at Eid prayer, when the mosque is full (Figures 12.61 and 12.62). The covered part has within it two sections: the smaller of these is for women, and is located on the mezzanine level, accessed from private stairs (Figure 12.63), the men’s praying area occupying the ground floor. The Masjid occupies a total area of 16,800 sq. m. It is divided into three main parts: the men’s hall, 6,322 sq. m.; the women’s praying area, 1,875 sq. m; and the Sahan, 4,794 sq. m. The capacity of the covered part allows it to cater for 10,500 persons, and the Sahan for 6,000, making a total of 16,500 worshippers. The residence of the Imam and the Mothen, the library, and the offices of Al-Amer Be al-Marouf Wa al-Nahi An al-Monker⁸⁸ are located on the first floor, adjacent to the mosque on the north. The ground floor is used by shops (Figure 12.64).

§ Figure 12.61 about here

§ Figure 12.62 about here

§ Figure 12.63 about here

The courtyard is a common element in most mosques in the Arab world. In this region, all mosques have courtyards. In the past the courtyard was used during moderate weather. Here the architect has used the same pattern as in the old mosques, with a slight modification in the treatment of architectural details and decoration (Figure 12.62). The mosque is surrounded by an arcade of shops on two sides (north and east), which also keeps the area busy with activities, especially after Friday prayer. The old mosque was surrounded by shops on four sides. This change in configuration was driven by security considerations. The integration of commercial and administrative activities within the body of the mosque strengthens its role as ‘the centre’ for the city (Figure 12.64).

All the external walls of the mosque, the buildings adjacent to the mosque on the north, and the minarets are built of reinforced concrete. The external walls, the internal walls of the covered part of the mosque, and the walls of the Sahan are faced with Riyadh stone, which matches the Qasr (Figures 12.65–7). The character of this material itself, with its special appearance, identifies the buildings with each other.

The minaret of the mosque is a landmark for the project, as it rises to 50 metres, and therefore helps people locate the mosque in its urban context. The minaret is square in plan, with a flat roof (Figure 12.67). The triangular openings and the decoration bands are another feature repeated in the minarets. The style of the minarets was a subject of debate. It was claimed that they were not in the style of Riyadh, although they do exist in Unayzah, elsewhere in the Nejd. Nevertheless, the overall balance and proportion is successful. It is important that the designer should not simply copy elements from the traditional architecture and then change the material, but should be creative in developing the architectural character typical of a particular region in order to achieve the appropriate style.

§ Figure 12.64 about here

There are many entrances to the mosque from the south, east, and north. The main entrances are from the Al-Àdl and Al-Safat Plazas. Both lead to a covered arcade, which leads to the open courtyard (Sahan) (Figures 12.62 and 12.67). The main prayer-hall has a range of wooden doors out to the courtyards. The main door is opposite the main entrance from Al-Àdl Plaza. The doors are of plain brown mahogany furnished with bronze triangular decoration at the bottom (Figure 12.68).

The men’s washing area is located at the eastern part of the courtyard and is accessed from the eastern and southern entrances (Figure 12.69). A separate women’s washing area is located next to southern entrance, where there is also a private stair to the women’s prayer space.

The use of a 9.6 by 9.6 metre column grid pattern for the main prayer hall was chosen after study of what was the most advantageous grid to accommodate so many worshippers (Figure 12.70). The design of the columns was similar to the design found in the old mosque, which contained three parts: base, shaft, and capital. The essential difference between the two sets of columns was in the building materials.

The most important modification of the columns in this building is seen in the use of the capitals for the location of the air-conditioning shafts. The air-conditioning shafts are concealed to avoid detracting from the building’s overall spirituality, and the simplicity of the decoration minimizes the distraction for the worshippers.

The architect used traditional characteristics as the basis for his design, and he sought to conceal modern technology within this design, by concealing the electrical and mechanical services within the shell of the structure. For example, the pre-cast columns with their pre-cast capitals carry a double layer of walls, and the walls carry double beams. The use of double walls helped in concealing the electrical and mechanical ducts. Each of these units is controlled individually to reduce the air-conditioning when the mosque is not full, so reducing the operating costs. But the overall traditional pattern of columns, walls, arches, and beams is similar to the treatment used in traditional mosques.

§ Figure 12.65 about here

§ Figure 12.66 about here

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§ Figure 12.68 about here

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§ Figure 12.70 about here

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Lighting is an important element in the design; the architect tried to incorporate natural light into the inner spaces by making a skylight. Despite this praiseworthy intention, on an afternoon inspection all the electric lights were in fact in use, as the natural light was insufficient (Figure 12.63). The architect may have intended to provide a lighting level equivalent to that of the old mosque, but this clearly is not adequate in modern times, and the resultant unnecessary use of electricity contributes towards waste of money and pollution. Lamp covers of decorated bronze were used in the design of the mosque. Triangular decorations and openings were also executed in bronze (Figure 12.72).

The architect also used traditional patterns in the purpose-made carpet, and incorporated the traditional colours of red, white, and blue in the design (Figure 12.72).

Although the report of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture’s adjudicators was relatively brief, the views of the authors very neatly summarized some of the qualities outlined here:

The architect has met the complex demands of a new programme on an old site with a solution that responds to the local lifestyle, climate and physical surroundings. The spatial character and iconography of the project provide a sense of continuity with the historical context, and the reinterpretation of the language of traditional Najdi architecture demonstrates a mastery of building techniques and a deep understanding of the culture of the area.

The use of modern materials and technology, such as air conditioning, is unobtrusive and does not detract from the quiet sense of spirituality inside the mosque.

The sequence of open courtyards is skilful and sensitive. The architect’s success in creating a modern urban complex while still retaining the essence of its traditional frame is a remarkable achievement.⁸⁹

§ Figure 12.72 about here

The Establishment of the Arriyadh Development Company (ADC)

After the ADA took responsibility for supervising the design and the execution of the project, they had to deal with the privately-owned property in the area (Figure 12.73). The government decided not to impose a particular policy on the people in respect of their properties. However, the living quality of these areas was not satisfactory. Therefore the government decided to establish a private commercial company whose owners and investors would create the capital. The property owners sold out their sites to the company, and in return they acquired a percentage of the company’s shares.

The ADC worked under the planning regulations and administration of the ADA, but the ADC provided the finance. The ADA updated its policies and monitored the progress of the ADC to ensure that the development would be co-ordinated with the overall objective and policy for the development of the QAA. The ADC was therefore established to give investors and owners an opportunity to participate in the development of the city centre alongside pursuing its main objective of profits for the shareholders. A Royal decree No. M/2 dated 9/2/1414 A.H. established the ADC as a Saudi joint-stock company with a capital of 1 billion Saudi Riyals, divided into 10 million shares, each with a nominal value of 100 Saudi Riyals.⁹⁰

The ADC Commercial Development

The ADC commercial development is the third phase in the development of the QAA (Figure 12.73), and it is designed by a consortium of architectural firms: Dar Almemar (Rasem Badran, Abdulhaleem Ibrahim, and Maher Estino), Arrow Street Inc., and SITE International. It is important to examine this work to investigate the difference in the architectural language that has been adopted by the architect.

The total developed area is 88,000 sq. m., lying between King Fahad Freeway to the west and Yahya Bin Aktum Street to the east, Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Street to the north, and Sebalah Street to the south. The project has several types of accommodation: commercial shops, offices, residential, and supportive elements, such as car parking, a plaza, and local streets and corridors. There are around 1,700 car-parking spaces in the project. These parking spaces were designed to minimize the travel distance between the parking space and the designated zone.

According to the architect Hamzah Al Àttas⁹¹ the ADC worked hard to persuade businessmen to participate in financing the project, but most of them were reluctant to do so, as they preferred to invest in other parts of the city, where they would own the whole project and there would be no problems over the decision-making. The other important point was that businessmen did not want traditional façades for the commercial development, preferring a high-tech architecture. The ADC and the architect took up their suggestions and blended advanced technology with traditional principles in their designs.

The failure of the Al-Meàgliah Centre⁹² to attract businesses led the ADC to seek the full involvement of businessmen and shop-owners in the design. The main difficulty found was a conflict of individual tastes and interests.

The provision of ‘Anchor Stores’ (i.e. strategically placed shops providing essential goods) in different parts of the project was aimed at encouraging other small retailers to participate. The ADC also met private shop owners to discover their views of the scheme and took their valid points into consideration. The first and second floors of a commercial development are always sensitive, as people tend not to go to the upper floors without good reason, so that the ADC provided car parking on all the different levels, with direct access to each floor (Figure 12.74).

The main entrance to the commercial complex is from King Fahd Freeway, and there the architect made two drop-off points, one at ground level, and the other on the first floor, to give shoppers a choice between the two main levels.

The architectural character of the project was handled in the same way as in the mosque and the Qasr Alhokm. The architect used a compact mass of buildings with a courtyard opening, and the façade was treated with triangular openings and Riyadh stone, which harmonized with the rest of the development. The architect also used a space frame and glass to lift the architectural language and ensure that the façades looked commercially appealing. This high-tech treatment was requested by investors, being vital from their point of view. The blend of high-tech architecture with the local form and materials has produced a new aesthetic that can be seen as developing a new dimension in the architecture (Figures 12.74 and 12.75).

§ Figure 12.73 about here

The development has many elements and serves the following functions.

The Festival Souk

The objective in this Souk is to convey a sense of festivity that will cause shoppers to spend more time in the Souk. The main pedestrian corridor is covered and air-conditioned, rising through four storeys connecting the shops on the ground and first floors with the upper levels, which consist of offices. There are 248 commercial establishments, including five main ones functioning as ‘anchor stores’, typically of 1,000–1,500 sq. m. in area. In the centre is the Gold Market of 102 shops, overlooking al-Atayef Street, which bisects the development and is equipped with traffic-calming surfaces (Figure 12.76). The Gold Market links this Souk with the Central and the Traditional Souks.

§ Figure 12.74 about here

§ Figure 12.75 about here

The Central Souk

This Souk has a total of 515 shops, most ranging in area between 30 and 50 sq. m., but with three shops of 200 sq. m. The most noticeable feature is the use of wind-catchers for ventilation. The wind-catcher brings in the fresh air across water in order to cool the incoming air. The corridors are 9 metres in width, giving access to the lower and upper levels (Figure 12.77).

§ Figure 12.76 about here

The Traditional Souk

This Souk is designed solely to accommodate all the traditional shops that previously existed in the area (i.e. carpets, sandals, perfume, and clothing accessories). The positioning of a large open plaza within the Souk functions as an auction market, in the spirit of the old market. The designer also used palm trees in the landscaping to create a stronger link with the traditional atmosphere (Figure 12.77). The ADC have moved in here the shops from the old traditional market, and have added 15 per cent for future demand, making a total of sixty shops.

The Offices

The use of the open plan in all offices allows people to divide the space according to their needs. The average area is 200–400 sq. m., and all offices have access from the street or a parking level without interruption.

Residential Flats

Flats are located on the second and third floors of the Central and Traditional Souks (Figure 12.78), and the most important consideration is complete isolation between these units and the commercial activities within the area. The designer has provided private parking and access to the various units. The design of these units centred on a courtyard, providing privacy, natural light, and ventilation.

§ Figure 12.77 about here

§ Figure 12.78 about here

In summary the ADC project, which differs in its function and nature from the mosque and the palace, proves to the people that modern Nejdi architecture can be developed to satisfy modern functions, i.e. office buildings, governmental buildings, airports, hospitals, and so on. This blending of modern technology with various characteristics of traditional architecture carries this project into a wider perspective that is again proof of Saudi ability to develop the built environment with an architectural pattern and style that is strongly related to the essential and peculiar qualities of the people and the region.

International Recognition

This redevelopment definitely constitutes an excellent step towards achieving harmony and identity in the city, and will achieve international recognition as a unique urban and architectural development. One of the earliest international responses was through the Aga Khan Award for Architecture: the Masjid al-Jamia was given the winning prize in ‘a critical architecture and urbanistic discourse’. The following quotation shows how the Masjid al-Jamia gained its international recognition:

[The] Jordanian architect Rasem Badran, who designed the mosque, [the] Justice Palace and the open area and enclosures that form the Maidan al-Safah, analysed the environmental, climatic and cultural factors, as well as local traditions and social patterns of behaviour, in order to re-create the spatial character of the Nejdi architectur[al] idiom without copying it. The mosque, set within public areas, recreates the traditional place of worship as part of the urban fabric. Traditional components, such as courtyards, arcades and the prayer hall, are emphasised, and two square minarets indicate the qibla direction on the skyline.

There are no domes over the prayer hall; columns on a nine-by-nine-metre grid evoke earlier palm trunk constructions and support a flat roof. Openings for natural light and ventilation are provided above each column head, and columnar structures and beams contain the ventilation ducts of the air-conditioning units on the roof. Each unit can be controlled individually to adjust cooling needs according to the occupancy of the mosque, resulting in reduced operating costs. The exterior walls of the mosque are clad in local limestone, and the restrained use of small triangular openings organised in patterns both resembles traditional building practices and helps to diminish the harsh glare of the sun in the interior spaces.

Courtyards and open squares are aligned towards the qibla so that they can be used as additional prayer areas during feast days and Fridays, when the size of the congregation exceeds the capacity of the main prayer hall and courtyard. Granite seats and benches, as well as drinking-water fountains, have been provided for the general public, and the area is landscaped with palm trees to provide shade. It is a popular place for families and children.

The massing of the buildings and the articulation of spaces and courtyards evoke a traditional character, even though the construction materials and the design of the buildings are completely modern. The project has elicited interest from the intellectual and academic communities, and its underlying methodology is likely to impress professionals.⁹³

This international recognition may be considered as the first reward for such quality as was invested within the built environment of the Qasr Alhokm Area development project.

Conclusion :

The traditional architecture of the city of Riyadh was coherent and had a strong visual identity. This coherence and identity resulted from a number of factors: the inherited Sharia laws, which unified building practice; the simplicity of society, which diminished architectural differences; the hot climate, which caused society to plan the city and design houses to minimize the climatic impact; and, last but not least, financial limitations that restricted the cost of building and maintenance by using local building materials. This resulted in a strong link between the natural and the built environment.

The city of Riyadh maintained its tradition and coherence for hundreds of years. When King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz decided to make Riyadh the base for the Kingdom, the size and the responsibilities of the city started to change; but meanwhile, the physical characteristics remained within the same framework and context. That was mainly as a result of the limitations on external cultural influences, a limited wealth, and difficulty in the transmission of building technology and the transport of materials. All these factors made the physical development of the city slow and consistent.

The city during the last sixty years has witnessed a number of actions that have contributed to the loss of its urban and architectural identity. The first was the introduction of vehicles, which led to the widening of major streets and the opening of new streets. Secondly, in 1938 King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz decided to build his new palace (the Al-Murabaà Palace) outside the city wall. Although the palace preserved the general characteristics of Nejdi architecture, this action affected the city by showing residents that the city wall was no longer a physical barrier to expansion. But I have to stress again that the Al-Murabaà Palace was an excellent example of the ability of Nejdi craftsmen to develop a monumental building.

These actions did not damage the city’s physical structure, because the number of cars, and hence of streets opened up, was limited. Not until 1953 was the city exposed to rapid development, through the influence of growing wealth, easy access to building materials and technology through the railway line, and the inauguration of the airport. It then changed particularly under the cultural influence of people immigrating from other parts of the Arab world. The city spread in all directions without adequate planning control, and people built their individual houses using building forms that differed from those of the original Nejdi tradition, breaking practical and social codes.

However, Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm during the 1950s and 1960s witnessed rapid construction development to meet the demand for more shops and offices. At this stage the city centre was overcrowded with the large influx of cars, the lack of parking spaces, and the uncontrolled building codes and patterns. Traditional buildings were demolished and replaced with modern concrete buildings, and with wide streets and parking spaces, which caused a complete divergence of style in construction and damaged the historical and traditional part of the city.

With the increased pressure on Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm and no clear guidelines to control the new development Doxiadis, in their Master Plan for the area, suggested an immediate conservation of the most historic building (Al-Masmak), and modernizing the city centre with respect for its historical value, and respect for the area’s symbolic importance as the centre of the nation. In 1973 the Mayoralty with its consultants commissioned a study on the area by Professor Franco Albini. He made a thorough investigation of the architectural and urban quality of the region and used it as the theme of his proposals; he recommended that the whole city centre needed reconstruction in order to create a city centre that responded to the importance of the area and the city as a whole.

Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm covers 95 per cent of the old city of Riyadh. The government required that the re-development should maintain the heritage of the area by rebuilding the original city gates and by the restoration of Al-Masmak Palace, and that the Qasr Alhokm and Al-Masjid al-Jamia buildings should be rebuilt in their original locations in recognition of their historical roles and importance.

A number of governmental agencies took on responsibilities over the redevelopment of Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm. In summary, every governmental agency and several consultants had contributed towards this development:

§ The Mayoralty took the credit for initiating the commission of Albini;

§ Albini set up the main base for the development to reflect the specific regional urban and architectural quality;

§ QAADO solved the problems of land acquisition and of compensating owners, negotiated with businessmen with investment in the area; and managed the temporary relocation of some business activities;

§ Beeah insisted on developing the whole area and trying to link it strongly with the rest of the city;

§ The ADA committed themselves towards setting up the urban design and the design of each building;

§ Rasem Badran studied the local regional architectural quality and transformed it into

§ a masterpiece of architectural quality; and The Arriyadh Development Company (ADC) involved the businessmen and shop- owners in the design process in the third stage of the commercial development.

The architectural style of the Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm was a development of the Nejdi style. This style was seen in the treatment of the exterior fa¸ades and the interior design and decoration of the mosque, the palace, the offices, and the commercial development.

This project demonstrates more than twenty years of continuous thought and development. The reason for this long time-span was the lack of clear guidelines; each governmental agency with responsibility for the area would take its time in familiarizing its people with the project, and they would then construct their own design criteria. The difference in the architectural character between the first and the second stages demonstrated the evolution of the architectural character of our built environment. The third phase of the development – the ADC commercial project – supported the use of modern technology blended with regional character. A new stage has been reached in proving that we can develop our own architectural style and character by identifying our built environment with regional qualities that exist only in Nejd. The Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm redevelopment project was a departure point from which the authorities of the Mayoralty and the ADA worked hand in hand to change the building regulations and the planning codes for the city, as the first essential step towards giving future city development the same spirit of place as has been given to the Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm. This evolution has demonstrated that regional character blended with modern technology can create a distinctive style appropriate to our era.

Notes

1 There is some confusion over the English and the Arabic names for the area. In Arabic the area is called Mantaqat Qasr al-Hokm, meaning ‘the Ruling Palace Area’, whereas in English the area is called the ‘Justice Palace District’, a phrase whose Arabic equivalent would be Mantaqat Qasr al-Àdl. In this chapter I shall refer to the area as Mantaqat Qasr Alhokm.

2 This is the story as told by King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz to Fouad Hamzah in a book entitled: Al-Bilad al-Arabiah al-Saudiah [Arabic], Um Alqurra Press, 1355 AH., pp. 12ff.

3 Àjlan was the Governor of the town appointed by Ibn Rashid (The Emir of Ha’il).

4 It is usually closed from sundown until sunrise on the next day.

5 The main gate of al-Masmak is 3.6 metres in height and 2.7 metres in width.

6 A small opening in the main gate of the fortress, where people had to bend and squeeze themselves through in order to get inside. It served to help the warders examine and control people seeking admission.

7 M. Altawbah, A. Alsubait and T. Alfara, Almasmak Ramz men Alturath [Al-Masmak: A Symbol of a Tradition], National Guard Press, Riyadh, 1405 AH, pp.147–57.

8 W. Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, Immel Publishing Ltd, 1992, pp. 196–7, quoting G. Leachman, 1915, pp. 515–18.

9 This studding was added by King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz to strengthen the city’s gates.

10 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p.197, quoting Leachman, 1915, pp. 515–18.

11 The first recorded plan of the city was produced in 1863 by William Palgrave. It was published in a book entitled Personal Narrative of a Year’s Journey Through Central and Eastern Arabia: 1862–1863 (Macmillan, London, 1868). (This book was later republished under the title Central and Eastern Arabia, Personal Narrative of a Year’s Journey through Central and Eastern Arabia: 1862–1863, Darf Publishers Limited, London, 1985.) Comparing Palgrave’s plan with Philby’s we find Philby’s plan to be much the more accurate, bearing in mind that the city could not have changed much since the 1860s in view of the obvious limitations to any possible increase in population and to the available financial resources.

12 St. John Philby arrived in Riyadh in November 1917 as part of a British mission to Nejd. Thereafter he stayed for a long time in Saudi Arabia, and converted to Islam, whereupon he changed his name to ‘Abd-Allah. His documentation of and observations on the city’s development are among his most important contributions to Arabic studies.

13 Bawabat Al-Thumairi is the most important gate in the town; the corresponding street, connecting the gate with the city centre, is also the most important street in the town. In 1862 Palgrave named this street ‘the Great Street’. Shakespeare and Philby also called it the main street.

14 St John Philby’s travels into Central Arabia were very significant in documenting national development. He was the first to draw a detailed map of the town of Riyadh. Later Philby became the British representative to the Kingdom.

15 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p. 227, quoting H. St. John B. Philby, The Heart of Arabia, 2 vols (Constable, London, 1922), Vol. 1, pp. 70–1.

16 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p. 229, quoting Philby, The Heart of Arabia, Vol. 1, pp. 71–2.

17 Amin Rihani was a Lebanese Christian who promoted Arab unity by travelling through the Arab world meeting Arab leaders. He wrote a book published in 1924–5 entitled Muluk al-Àrab (‘Kings of the Arabs’); his trip to Riyadh was for him a magnificent experience that he documented in a book published in 1928 titled Ibn Saòud of Arabia – His People and His Land.

18 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p. 249.

19 Ibid., p. 229.

20 Ibid., pp. 231–2 (quoting Philby, The Heart of Arabia, Vol. 1, pp. 73–4).

21 Ibid., p. 252.

22 M. Al-Hussayen, ‘Traditional Architectural Pattern of the City of Arriyadh’, Unpublished paper submitted to the Research Centre, Riyadh College of Architecture and Planning, 1993, p. 16.

23 Leopold Mohammed Weiss was a German Muslim who visited Riyadh in 1930 by invitation from HM the King. He published his impressions of the city in an article published that year in a German magazine called Atlantis.

24 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p. 260.

25 Ibid.

26 Usually it takes the form of a double row of shops opening on to a passage or court. It is usually roofed, and does not carry as wide a range of merchandise as the Souk.

27 B. Hakim, Arab-Islamic Cities, KPI Limited, London, 1986, p. 81.

28 A. Ismail, ‘Origin, Ideology and Physical Patterns of Arab Urbanisation’, Ph.D. Thesis, Karlsruhe, Germany, 1969, p. 160.

29 There is no clear record to show when the term Qasr Alhokm first came into use. During the time of King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz the palace was called ‘The Palace of the Imam’, retaining this title until the unification of the Kingdom. Thereafter people called it the King’s Palace. The name Qasr Alhokm may first have been used during King Saud’s time, when he demolished the old mud palace and replaced it with the stone one. The first recorded planning use was in 1973, in Albini’s report, as Doxiadis called the area the CBD.

30 Zakah is the money paid by rich people to the government treasury house to support other poor families.

31 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, pp. 234–5.

32 Ibid., p. 237 (quoting H. St J. B. Philby, Arabia of the Wahhabis, Constable, London, 1928, p. 65).

33 Ibid., p. 249.

34 Sir George Rendel – Head of the Eastern Department of the Foreign Office – arrived in Riyadh with his wife in 1937.

35 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p. 277, originally published by Rendel 1938, p. 170.

36 As we see in Figures 12.1 and 12.2, the size of the palace is very large in contrast with the size of the city.

37 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p. 272.

38 Ibid., p. 301.

39 Facey, Ibid., p. 301.

40 In the old city the relationship between building heights, street widths and the scale of the human body is respected; but when the government started to widen some streets to allow vehicles to move smoothly, the proportion between building heights, street widths and human corporal dimensions was broken, and hence the coherence of the built environment from then on became fragmented.

41 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, pp. 318–19.

42 M. T. Abul-Ela, ‘Some Geographical Aspects of Al Riyadh: Saudi Arabia’, Bulletin de la Société de Géographie D’Êgypte 38, Cairo, Egypt, 1965, p. 48.

43 Facey, Riyadh, the Old City, p. 318.

44 In 1953 King Saud issued a Royal Order appointing Prince Fahad Bin Faisal al-Farhan as the chairman of the Riyadh Municipality: he remained in the post for 13 years, and it was during his time that the major architectural development took place. Also during his time the size and responsibilities of the Municipality had grown, which led the government to change the Municipality into a Mayoralty. (This information was given during an interview with Prince Fahad Bin Faisal al-Farhan on 23 April 1993.)

45 This information was given during an interview on 8 April 1993. Bin Sultan was one of the people who was witness to the development of Riyadh at that time. He also worked for a long time as the Deputy Governor of Riyadh.

46 This fact was mentioned by Prince Fahad Bin Faisal Bin Farhan (the Mayor at that time), and William Facey supports its authenticity in his book Riyadh, the Old City, p. 318.

47 Abul-Ela, ‘Some Geographical Aspects of Al Riyadh’, p. 49.

48 There is no accurate information about the relative proportion of business and professional users occupying the area, but Doxiadis estimated that about 40 per cent of the floor area of multi-storey buildings was occupied by business and professional users (Source: DOX-SAU-A2, p. 266).

49 DOX-SAU-A2, p. 272.

50 This information comes from an interview with Sheikh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Thonayan, the Saudi Ambassador in Spain. He was the Mayor of the city from 1966 until the end of 1976.

51 The annual rent for these houses was very low, as a result of their poor quality and conditions. So most Saudi families started to leave them, which in turn caused the quality of the neighbourhood to deteriorate.

52 Born in 1930 in Cairo, Egypt, Dr Omar Azzam finished his first degree in architecture from Cairo University in 1953–4, and finished his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in urban planning from Zurich Polytechnic in Switzerland in the late 1950s. He then worked for the United Nations, and retired in 1980–1.

53 Francesco Tentori said: ‘The architecture of Franco Albini (17 October 1905 – 1 November 1977) was always, throughout his long and busy career of nearly fifty years, based on a search for a coherent connection, a symbiosis almost, with his surroundings, together, of course, with a quest for harmony and functionality’ (Source: F. Tentori, Lotus International, no. 18, 1978, p.104).

54 Kasr-El-Hokm Area Redevelopment Project: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feasibility Study Report, Studio di Architettura Franco Albini–Franca Helg & Partners, Milan, March 1974, p. 2/4.

55 Ibid.

56 A. Daghistani, Ar-Riyadh Urban Development and Planning, Ministry of Information: Interior Information and Saudi Arabian Printing Company, Riyadh, 1985, p. 175.

57 Ibid.

58 According to Marco Albini the original idea was to restore the Al-Masmak Palace and utilize it as a cultural centre. When Franco Albini started to make the preliminary analysis he concluded that it was impossible to proceed with this idea without damaging the original structure of the palace. Consequently the Mayoralty decided to preserve Al-Masmak and to use it as a museum, and to build another cultural centre adjacent to it.

59 For more information about Albini’s principles, see: Kasr-El-Hokm Area Redevelopment Project: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feasibility Study Report, Studio di Architettura Franco Albini–Franca Helg & Partners, Milan, 1974, p. 1.

60 F. Tentori, ‘From Architecture of Petroldollars to Architecture of New Man: Restructuring of Kasr-El-Hokm Area’, Lotus International, no. 18, 1978, pp. 106–7.

61 Kasr-El-Hokm Area Redevelopment Project: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Feasibility Study Report, Studio di Architettura Franco Albini–Franca Helg & Partners, Milan, March 1974, Section No. 1.

62 These were the only buildings built from Albini’s scheme.

63 The restoration of the Al-Masmak Palace and the administrative complex (the three Governmental buildings).

64 But no funds had been allocated for the execution of the project.

65 Interview with Ali Shuaibi, partner in Beeah Group Consultants.

66 Personal communication with Marco Albini.

67 Z. Othman, ‘Development of City Centres in Saudi Arabia: Development of the Justice Palace District, Arriyadh’, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1992, p. 209.

68 Ibid., pp. 38–41.

69 Beeah Group Consultants, Beeah Architectural Experiment, Al-Wafa Printing Press, Dammam, 1989, pp. 11–13.

70 Beeah Group Consultants, Urban Design – Technical Report No.3: Urban Design Implementations, a report submitted for the Redevelopment Project of JPD, p. 45. (Othman, ‘Development of City Centres in Saudi Arabia’, p. 272.)

71 For more information on the ADA development see: Arriyadh Development Authority, Arriyadh Development Authority ... March of Development, Support Industry Printing Centre, Riyadh, 1990. Or Riyadh Mayoralty and The Arab Urban Development Institute, Riyadh the City of the Future, King Saud University Press, Riyadh, n.d., pp. 79–84. Or Othman, ‘Development of City Centres in Saudi Arabia’, pp. 129–35.

72 Othman, ‘Development of City Centres in Saudi Arabia’, p. 240.

73 Ibid., p. 225.

74 Saudconsult is a Saudi architectural consulting office owned by Dr Tareq Alshawaf.

75 There is no clear information about this design competition. The ADA library and the archives centre where all drawings and documentation are kept could give no solid information about the competition.

76 Rasem Badran is a Jordanian architect who studied in Germany. His early response to and awareness of the need to design buildings that respect the indigenous quality of regional vernacular architecture has been evident in his projects. His main breakthrough was the winning of the design competition for the Masjid al-Jamia in the city of Riyadh, which led to a number of international prizes.

77 Alshathri Consulting Office is a Saudi office owned by the Engineer Abdulrahman Alshathri.

78 Buro Happold is an English consulting firm based in the city of Bath. Having participated extensively in the Diplomatic Quarter project, they were then appointed by ADA as the main consultants to carry out the engineering of the Qasr Alhokm project and to co-ordinate between the different architectural firms participating in the design.

79 The reasons for choosing Rasem Badran were that he had succeeded in transferring traditional architectural principles into a modern idiom and that his preliminary scheme for the Masjid al-Jamia provided good evidence of his skills.

80 Othman, ‘Development of City Centres in Saudi Arabia’, p. 221.

81 Ibid., pp. 221–2.

82 The Clock Tower was built in the 1960s. The ADA were debating whether to demolish it or to keep it, but eventually decided to keep it as an element that has established a recognition for itself in the area that will help people to employ it as a reference point.

83 SBA-Buro Happold, Justice Palace: Schematic Design Architectural Report, n.d., p. 8.

84 The wind-catcher is a physical structure designed to allow fresh air to be channelled from the top of the building through a vertical shaft to the bottom, thus creating a stream of fresh air to ventilate the house. This structure is widely used in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia and throughout the cities of the Gulf, Iran, and Pakistan. The incorporation of this climate-modifying device in the scheme is yet another illustration of the incorporation of new ideas so long as they serve a justified function.

85 I shall describe only the King’s Audience Hall, as it is the most important space within the palace, which will thus give a good example of the internal treatment.

86 The use of calligraphy as a decorative element is only a recent development in Nejd, as pictures and portrait drawings are not traditionally used in the Nejd region.

87 Interview with Rasem Badran by Akram Abu Hamdan, Mimar 25, September 1987, pp. 67–9.

88 A religious benevolent foundation.

89 C. Davidson and I. Serageldin (eds), Architecture beyond Architecture: Creativity and Social Transformations in Islamic Cultures, The 1995 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Academy Editions, London, 1995, p. 85.

90 The ADA commercial flotation brochure, n.d., p. 7.

91 Hamzah Alattas worked for the ADA architectural team, and when the ADC was established he was appointed as the manager for the design department.

92 A commercial centre privately developed between the Mayoralty and the Al-Meàgliah Company, built in 1992 as part of the second-phase development. The Al-Meàgliah Centre is located to the west of the Grand Mosque.

93 Davidson and Serageldin (eds), Architecture beyond Architecture, pp. 88–92.

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