Building Arabia | Laura Daglio

The extent of development in the Arabian Peninsula has

been phenomenal: this region now has some of the most advanced

contemporary architecture in the world. During the

last few years, in order to adjust to the imminent depletion

of the natural resources that have provided the regionâs

wealth for the past decades the countries on the southern

coast of the Persian Gulf have restructured their economies,

which were based on the export of hydrocarbons, towards finance

and tourism, but without forgetting their cultural

roots. Tradition and modernity either stunningly contrast or

beautifully fuse in the architectural projects by the most important

architects and design studios. These projects are inspired

by Islamic architecture, incorporating Islamic decorative

motifs and age-old structural solutions for coping with

the extreme Arabian climate. The architectural plans also

reinterpret the urban layouts of Arabian cities.