Middle Eastern Books

Construction fever in the Gulf The small emirates and states located on the Gulf, at the eastern edge of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, are building new cities in the desert at an astonishing rate, from Bahrain to Doha, and south to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Comprised of Abu Dhabi, ...more

" The Alhambra has long been a byword for exotic and melancholy beauty. In his absorbing new book, Robert Irwin, Arabist and novelist, examines its history and allure. The Alhambra is the only Muslim palace to have survived since the Middle Ages. Built by a threatened dynasty of Muslim Spain, ...more

revised & updated edition With a wealth of historical splendors matched by few other countries, Syria has remained almost undiscovered by mass tourism. As a result, little has been spoiled, much is unknown, and there is much to discover. It is a land of immense antiquity, boasting cities and archaeological ...more

-- James W. Allan, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ...more

From mosques to markets, from citadels to cemetries, this text is a survey of the entire field of Islamic architecture. Although Islamic buildings may make an immediate visual impact, it can be useful to know something of the society which they serve. This text relates the architecture to the social ...more

New developments in design in Dubai have changed forever the face of world architecture. Here, the traditional Islamic culture co-exists with a radical movement towards modernity, resulting in a futuristic architecture, dominated by skyscrapers that seem to defy gravity, and constructions that embody the cutting-edge of technology. A valuable resource ...more

When it was first published, Godfrey Goodwin's study immediately established itself as a definitive work on the subject. It remains the only comprehensive survey in English and virtually the only account of the last two centuries of Turkish architecture. The author treats his subject chronologically and in its historical perspective, ...more

Damascus, reputed to be the world's oldest continually inhabited city, has enjoyed a history of immense grandeur, enormous political and mercantile power, and great cultural and artistic achievement. In addition to some of Islam's most magnificent architecture, such as the Umayyad Mosque, the city boasts a heritage of fairy-tale palaces ...more

Empire building and modernity dominate the history of the nineteenth century. The French and Ottoman empires capitalized on modern infrastructure and city building to control diverse social, cultural, and political landscapes. Zeynep Celik examines the cities of Algeria and Tunisia under French colonial rule and those of the Ottoman Arab ...more

Bringing together essays and photographs by leading Israeli practitioners, and complemented by maps, plans and statistical data, A Civilian Occupation explores the process and repercussions of Israeli planning and its underlying ideology. It demonstrates how, over the last century, planning and architecture have been transformed from everyday professional practices into ...more