Atlas of the Unbuilt World is only a few days away from opening. There are a number projects from across the Middle East by architects based in Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Jordan. We interviewed some of them ahead of the exhibition to find out more about their projects.

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This project is located at Petra, one of the seven wonders of the world.Maisam Architects proposal suggests solutions for a place that has witnessed uncontrolled development over many years. Within this context the brief was to design a gate that streamlines the movement of visitors in and out of Petra. The project seamlessly blends within the desert landscape by carving into the rocks to reveal walls and planes of different heights, lengths and directions that define a relevant spatial experience into this historical place.

Q. What do you find most exciting about working on this project?

A. Designing at a place full of history, the foremost historical and archaeological city in the region, carved out of the red-rose rocks, as the capital of the Nabataeans; the city of Petra, currently one of the seven wonders of the word. The location is one of the most interesting aspects of the project, sensitive to any architectural additions on site.The History and Building for the present  of Petra, and Wadi Musa while finding innovative architectural solutions to a place full of culture and identity while also a place that has gone through periods of terrible planning and urban development sprawl in recent years.The user (visitor) of the project, as it is a place that gathers the people of the world, merging them with the people of the place. It attracts millions of visitors per year to experience a journey into the most famous archaeological, historical site; Petra.

Q. What materials do you like to work with when you make architectural models and why?

A. We usually work with cardboard and foam for conceptual models, as it’s quick and easy to manipulate while still in the concept and design development phase. However we use acrylic in its different forms for the final representation of the architecture design, as it provides a neat, rigid, clean and presentable final image of the architectural solution/design.

Q. What are some of the interesting emerging trends in architecture in your region?

A. In our region, the Middle East, there has been a recent increased awareness to sustainable architectural design, the use of solar energy, and insulation has been demanded due to the hot climate in the area. And water conservations and water recycling/ water treatment is also needed due to the shortage of water available in the area. Incorporating sustainable building techniques in modern architecture, while merging the traditional values and local materials with modern construction techniques is the current trend to improve the building performance, reduce energy consumption and enhance occupant comfort.

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Nabil Gholam Architects are presenting Saifi 178, a mixed-use development that has been in the fruit of many years of planning. The Arts Centre is the most architecturally prominent piece of the Saifi Village project. A cube, it sits above a weathered steel gallery space, designed to shield the centre from the busy adjacent ring road. Internally the cube takes the form of a series of airy floors wrapped in the fractal skin of the external facade. Designed to pick up changing patterns of light, the facade transforms the centre into a great fragmenting mirror which becomes an ever changing and distorted tapestry of light and shadow.

Q. What do you find most exciting about working on this project?

A. The site is a frontier site in more than one way.  It borders two very distinct urban fabrics (North South) that have been redeveloped after the civil war in almost opposite ways, and physically severed from each other by a virtually impossible to cross elevated highway.  It also has a frontier history as well as a major conflict line (East West) during the Lebanese Civil war where snipers for years would shoot down anybody attempting to cross on that highway from one camp to another. Finding the right language to try to re-weave the urban fabric yet keep some of its memory alive is an interesting challenge.

Q. What materials do you like to work with when you make architectural models and why?

A. Mostly it depends on what we are after.   For this project in particular, it was important for us to strip the context down to its bare minimum (metaphor for our concrete built city turning the abstracted volumes modelled in concrete into a mute background against which our new additions in “crude” materials would stand in contrast.  We used an oxidized Cor-ten steel base and a polished translucent plexiglass office cube on top to reflect the symbolic reality of the project once built without being entirely literal.   The heavy materiality chosen for the entire model is meant to lend some gravitas to the place’s history and context.

Q. What are some of the interesting emerging trends in architecture in your region?

A. Much of the new architecture in Beirut seemed traumatized following the civil war of 1976 - 1991.  New buildings were emerging at first very conservatively in their expression, as if architects had lost their voice and tenuous link to the times, adding poor new buildings to the war devastation, further damaging in the process some of Beirut’s architectural essence and charm, beyond what the war had already torn down, but paradoxically in a more permanent way (as these new structures were here to stay).  However, over the last decade, there has been a fast growing awareness for design pertinence, physical and historical context, and environmental impact on the long term.  As if a generational gap is finally being bridged again by more daring and innovative architectural solutions that respond to complex urban problems, paradoxically at a time when the region is again engulfed in a deeper crisis, and try to address the scars, mend and build towards a more hopeful future.

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White Tranquility Cubes is the result of architect Reza Pourvaziry's consideration of the factors that are currerntly effecting architects in Iran. The confined space in which this seven storey residential building sits is seen by the architect as a metaphor for the pressures exerted on architects by municipal regulations and the sometimes uncompromising architects. These creative challenges are transformed into a t

ranquil and ambient living environment.

Q. What do you find most exciting about working on this project?

A. What excited me in this project was the process of the creation of ‘architecture’ within ‘limitation’. In fact, architecture in Iran is confined by the aggressive forces of two cubes. One being the outer force regulations, which continuously seeks to diminish the built volume and the other being the uncompromising force of the market which only encourages the explosion of the built volume in order to gain more revenue and surplus. ‘Quality Architecture’ seems to be the inevitable victim within the confined area between these two cubes. Creation of a tranquil environment of living in this limiting ambience proved to be exciting to me.

Q. What materials do you like to work with when you make architectural models and why?

A. It totally depends on the type and specificity of the project. I believe that the identity of any architectural design should be expressed and maintained in the model, and thus, models could benefit from various types of materials in order to communicate the identity of the design to the viewer. I personally prefer abstract models which offer a fluid and open comprehension of architecture. I believe that an ‘architectural model’ is in fact an ‘artistic understanding’ of the project, and not necessarily a technical tool. Although technical models are also important and much needed, but ‘architectural model’ should remain, in my understanding, quite artistic.

Q. What are some of the interesting emerging trends in architecture in your region?

A. Like other historical regions, architecture in the Middle East is positioned between past and future. It can neither disconnect nor return to the past. In Iran, there does not seem to be a commitment to quality in many new buildings. Creating architecture requires enormous amount of energy and struggle. A true architect needs to go beyond the everyday routine. The task of architecture must go beyond architecture.