| Author(s) | Mohammed Abdullah Eben Saleh |
| Affiliation | College of Architecture and Planning, King Saud University, P.O.Box 57448, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Title | Significance of Prominent Urban Design Projects: Inherited Meaning and Symbolism in King Abdulaziz Historic Center in Arriyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Architecture & Planning. Volume 15, No 1. (2003/1423) |
| Abstract | Abstract. Over the past four decades, the built environment in Saudi Arabia witnessed phenomenal change and reconstruction as a result of rapid urban growth and modernization trends stimulated by economic and demographic development. Today, Saudi physical environments are often characterized by harsh visual contrasts between indigenous and modern urban pattern and architectural character. The designed buildings and their settings are physical evidences of such attitude. In the past, the local building materials, the construction methods, and the traditional features of the human settlements not only had practical value, but also authentically conveyed the indigenous architecture and its culture. The paper aims to describe the relationship between the urban pattern and the architectural character and urban form and the culture of the society through study of a prominent project in Arriyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia like the King Abdulaziz Historic Center (KAHC). The urban designers, landscape architects and architects of KAHC arranged its elements in a memorable historical setting to convey embedded meaning and symbolism whereby the viewers draws their meaning and derivation from cultural, political and social significance. Every element in KAHC is derived out of a concept that represents an entity of its own. Each creates an environmental “domain” that shapes and influences human perception and behavior. Activities in KAHC take place not only in the immediate proximity of the urban element but also extending outward to a larger behavioral and “domain” thereby helping to shape larger behavioral and environmental patterns. The paper attempts to show how prominent spatial and physical structures in urban landscape projects link humans to their environment through their symbolic, social, ritual and practical functions. The citizens and visitors of KAHC will discover such link through observation and exploration of multiple visual images of traditional and modern architectural shapes and urban forms. |
