Category: Exhibitions

Gulf cities like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha are receivers and exporters of contemporary shifts – in tastes, capacities, and urban consequences. Inspired by the classic book, Learning from Las Vegas produced in 1972 by architectural scholars Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, we can learn from new, even ‘outlandish’ cities. They often reveal trends otherwise obscured by attention to more traditional urban sites. By means of photography, maps, infographics, data and narration, this exhibition shows that Gulf cities share striking features not only with each other but also with cities elsewhere in the world.

In conjunction with the opening, Nasser Rabbat (Agha Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT) gave the lecture “Historical Memory and Coca-Cola: Reflections on the Arabian Gulf Cities”

Link to gallery

Leaflet of the 2017 Learning from Gulf Cities exhibition

Inspired by the classic book, Learning from Las Vegas produced in 1972 by architectural scholars Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, we can learn from new, even “outlandish” cities. They often reveal trends otherwise obscured by attention to more traditional urban sites. Rather than ridicule or deplore, we look for lessons relevant for other cities around the world. Seemingly arising out of isolated desert locales, Gulf cities are in fact both receivers and exporters of contemporary shifts – in tastes, capacities, and urban consequences. This is because, more than ever, urban places interconnect across the globe; their spectacles travel, their investments travel, and their buildings travel. This prompts both intra-regional and international comparisons.

In conjunction with the opening, Amale Andraos (Dean of the GSAPP, Columbia University) gave the lecture “Old Centers, New Centers: Architecture, Representation, and the Arab City”

Link to gallery

Leaflet of the 2016 Learning from Gulf Cities exhibition