The third of ten films about contemporary architecture
Islam: The Search for Identity The newly-acquired oil wealth has brought an unprecedented boom to the Middle East and, as a consequence, a massive programme of new buildings. At first the Arabs looked to the West, at a time when architecture there had reached its worst phase in history. They imported a style that totally ignored climate and traditions.
This programme looks at Kuwait, Doha and Jeddah where signs of an Islamic contemporary architecture are now emerging. The State Mosque in Kuwait, the University of Qatar and the Suleiman Palace in Saudi
Arabia were all built by Arab architects. The new
Parliament Building by Utzon, the spectacular Haj
Terminal by SOM show that
Western architecture can give a feeling of place.
Sheikha Hussa (daughter of the Emir of Kuwait), Sheikh Farsi
(Mayor of Jeddah), Egyptian architects Kamal El Kafrawi and Abdel El Wakil are all working towards an Arab identity based on tradition. Narrator Andrew Sachs
Film cameraman JOHN GOODYER Film editor PAT O'GRADY
Associate producer ROGER LAST Written and produced by PETER ADAM