Government House Square, designed by Halcrow in 1984, as seen from

Emiri Diwan (see p. 331). Mahmood AlSawan, who contributed many

photographs to this book, was born in Gaza in 1929 and, after working
at Saudi Aramco and Shell in Qatar, moved to Dubai in 1962 where he
served as secretary for the Trucial States Council. A legal translator
by training, AlSawan documented Sharjah and other Gulf cities with
his Canon 35mm camera. In 2015, he published a selection of his
photographs in A Tale of Beginnings. AlSawan died in 2021, the year of
this book’s publication. Mahmood AlSawan.
BIRKHAUSER
Note on images:
This project has been made possible for the most
part by the personal archives of residents and former
residents of Sharjah as well as those of building-
industry experts who once worked in the city. These
images therefore do not usually conform to the
expectations of professional photography. There has
been an editorial decision to maintain these images
largely in the state they were found, as a testament to
the state of a modern city’s historical documentation.
Sharjah’s landscape has been preserved through the
eyes of its builders and users.

Note on transliteration and translation:

In transliterating individuals’ names from Arabic,
we have used the spelling preferred by that person,
wherever possible. For this reason, there are shared
family names that are transliterated differently
for individual family members. For place names
in Sharjah, we have sought to use official English
spellings provided by the municipality; otherwise we
have chosen commonly found spellings. For titles
of publications and productions, we have largely
depended on the preferences of the various writers
and any transliterated titles already published. We
have usually opted for transliterated terms that do
not include diacritical marks. In terms of translations
from Arabic and other languages, we have followed
each writer’s preferences.

An erstwhile “Smile, You Are in Sharjah” sign along the

Dubai–Sharjah road. Sharjah Municipality, courtesy
of Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage.
7
With contributions by
Ammar Al Attar
Mohamed Elshahed
Roberto Fabbri
Reem Khorshid
Michael Kubo
Hind Mezaina
Abdulla Saad Moaswes
Mona El Mousfy
Hammad Nasar
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
Talal Al-Rashoud
Todd Reisz
Alia Al Sabi
K. V. Shamsudheen
Łukasz Stanek
Suheyla Takesh
Deepak Unnikrishnan

Acquisitions Editor:
David Marold, Birkhäuser Verlag, AUT-Vienna

Content and Production Editors:

Angelika Gaal, Bettina R. Algieri, Birkhäuser Verlag,
AUT-Vienna

Proof reading:
Ada St. Laurent, AUT-Vienna
Cover:
Printing: Two women leaving the Central
Holzhausen, die Buchmarke der Gerin Souk. Above them is one of the
Druck GmbH, AUT-Wolkersdorf souk’s two pedestrian overpasses.
Seen in background is the Crescent
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020948457 Petroleum headquarters, designed
by Tony Irving and Gordon Jones,
Bibliographic information published by the German Design Construction Group.
National Library Regnault & Partners.
The German National Library lists this publication
in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed Book’s first image:
bibliographic data are available on the Internet at Ramesh Singh in the offices of Page &
[Link] Broughton, Dubai, 1970. The following
year Singh opened his own practice on
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are Al Arouba Street in Sharjah (p. 432).
reserved, whether the whole or part of the material
is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, Book’s final image:
reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, Elevation, building for Sheikha
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other Sheikha Sultan Bin Saqr Al Qasimi
ways, and storage in databases. and Mariam Abdulrahman Saif,
For any kind of use, permission of the copyright Gulf Consulting Office, 1977. The
owner must be obtained. architecture and engineering firm
was the first to be established
in Sharjah by Emiratis, Ahmed
Al Ghroobti and Ali Al Shamsi.
There was scant archival material
ISBN 978-3-0356-2276-8 available to feature the firm’s
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-0356-2277-5 contributions to Sharjah. Whatever
could be found included documents
© 2021 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel filed with the municipality for
P.O. Box 44, 4009 Basel, Switzerland construction of this landmark
Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston building at Al Zahra’a Square.
Courtesy of Gulf Consulting Office,
[Link] Sharjah Municipality.
Editors: Acknowledgements
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi The Building Sharjah team thanks: Abdul Kareem A.R., Salma Al Abdouly, Abdul Khaliq Abdulla,
Todd Reisz Shadi Abdulsalam, Elias Abou Rjeily, Omar Aboulnaga, John Adams, Shereen El Agamy, Farida El
Agamy, Zaidi Tanweer Ahmad, Bruce Aitken, Altug Ajun, Necdet Ajun, Hassan Abdallah Mohamed
Lead researcher: Akram, Waleed Al Dabal, Manar Alawni, Abdul Sattar AlAzzawi, Badr K. Al Badr, Khalid AlBanna,
Reem Khorshid Nujoom Alghanem, Amna Yousif Saleh AlMasoud AlHemeiri, Asma Ali, Hadi Ali, Fatima Mohamed
Al Ali, Khalid Al Ali, Ibrahim Aljarwan, Latifa Saeed Abdullah Alketbi, Ihsan Alkhateeb, Hassan
Graphic designer: Salem Alkhayyal, Louis Allday, Ahmed Y. Almaazmi, Wedad Saeed AlMashgoni, Faten Saeed
Farah Fayyad AlMashgoni, Dana AlMathkoor, Hatem Mohammad AlMosa, Ahmed Amin Ahmed AlMulla, Rana
Almutawa, Mohamed Ibrahim AlNakhi, Saif AlNuaimi, Mariam Alnuaimi, Anas Alomaim, Ahmed
Photo editor: Khairi Alomari, Zainulabdeen Ahmed Alomari, Maath Alousi, Sheikh Faisal Saoud AlQassimi,
Ammar Al Attar Sheikh Rashid Saqer Alqasimi, Monjed Alqenaei, Mahmood M. AlSawan, Sami Alwash, Mustafa
Ismail Alzarooni, Samaj Angolkar, George Arbid, Sulaiman Al-Askari, Bariya Ataya, Manal Ataya,
Researchers: Myrna Ayaad, Prema Babu, Lamia Bahaie, Elisabeth R. Baldwin, Humaid Abdelqadder Al Bannah,
Azza Abou Alam Saleh Barakat, Devkishan Bhatia, Damien Brook, Brian Broughton, Rosie Bsheer, Pablo Bueno,
Noura Al Mahmoud Khalaf Bukhatir, Jonathan Burr, Miriam Butti, Melis Cankara, Jean-Paul Cassia, Fahad Chalabi,
Fadi Chammas, Susan Clark, Gabriel Colboc, Eric Cooley, Barry Cruse, Adib Dada, Rashed Demas,
Copy editor: Farrokh Derakhshani, Dheyaa Younis Dheyaa, Viktor Dimas, Shikha Duggal, Rida Ekhail, Rudi
Eyad Houssami Eller, Rania Fahmy, Basil Al Farhan, Baha Fathi, Arlene Feinberg, Josephine Finzi, Mark Furrer,
Ismail Abd el Samei Gaafar, Mohamed Gaber, Patricia Maria Garcia Kilroy, Mohamed Fouad
Image editing: Al Ghanem, Mohammad Obaid Ghubash, Rafia Ghubash, Sultan bin Khalifa Al Habtoor, Samir
Edo Smitshuijzen Abdel Hadi, Ali Abdallah Al Halabi, Michael Hamilton-Clark, Carole Harris, Mark Harris, Taimur
Hassan, Osama Hassanien, Hanna Hawa, Jamal Hazbun, Fadi Helal, Nadim Helal, Adina Hempel,
Administration: Khaldoon Heneidy, Sven Hertner, Alex Hoehe, Amy Howard, Jonathan Hubbard-Ford, Peter
Ahmad Imran Ahmad Kamal Hudson, Mostafa Mohammed Al Husseini, Ali El Ibrashi, Fakhar Ul Islam, Joumana Al Jabri, Peter
Asma Faizal Jackson, Sabha N. Al Jalili, Turath Jamil, Hazem Jamjoum, Khaled Jamous, Kiran Jathal, Neil
Jennings, V Rory Jones, Rafeeq Kallil, Randa Kamal, Reem Kambris, Rania Kataf, Fadi A. Khalaf,
Mohammed Parvez Khalidi, Nafees Ahmad Khan, Amer Khansaheb, Abdulaziz Al-Khateeb,
Ibrahim Al Khawaja, Hassan Khayal, Omar Kholeif, Naif Khoury, Nina Kler, Sham Kolhatkar, Nick
This publication has been produced Krebs, Haro Levonian, Alejandro Lopez Palma, Daniel Lowe, Jeremy Lyell, Matthew Maclean,
through a diligent process of making Angus MacNab, Jasser Al Madi, Mohamed Mahran, Marianne Makdisi, Najeeb Maktari,
contact with any copyright holders Sheikh Butti Bin Suhail Al Maktoum, Ahmed Al-Mallak, Steve Matthews, Kambar Mahmood Al
of the images used. Any omission Mazem, Ahmad Al Mazemi, Mey Al Mazroua, Margaret McCowan, Medina Publishing, Sammi
or inaccuracy can be brought to the Mesmari, Jack Meusey, Jim Meusey, Samar Mikati, Salwa Mikdadi, Saeed Mitrif, Lubna Mobied,
attention of the editors to be addressed Mohamed Moez, Yasser Momen, Karima Momen, Nagwa Galal Momen, Magdy Galal Momen,
in future editions or publications. Robert Montague, Omar Mujaes, Hana Mujaes, Talal Murad, Abdulla Mohammed Al Murad,
Mohammed Abdul Haq Musa, Nadia Mohammed Abdul Haq Musa, Mina Naguib, Bahaa Nahawy,
Hala Nassar, Asef Nassef, Asma Nasser, Mohamed Riyas Nellissery, Varouj Nerguizian, Catherine
Page, Fiona Page, Hazelle Anne Page, Esra Par, Selena Patton, Per Pedersen, Peichär GmbH &
Co., Carlos Perez Martinez, Salem Yousef Al Qaseer, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi,
Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Sheikh Faisal
bin Khalid bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Sheikh Salem Faisal Al Qassimi, Sheikh Saud bin Majid Al
Qassimi, Sheikha Hana Hamed Al Qassimi, Abdalla Mohamed Al Quraidi, Abdalla Mohamed
Al Quraidi, Radisson Blu Resort–Sharjah, Asseel Al-Ragam, Shamsa Ali Rashed, Guillaume
Project made possible by Regnault, Mahmoud Mohamed Riad, Matt Saba, Mohamed M. Sadiyyah, Muhammad Saeed,
Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah Rasha Saffarini, Noora Saffarini, Nima Sagharchi, Tarik Salama, Balsam Saleh, SALT Archive,
Mohamed Saqr, George Sarkis, Hanan Sayed Worrell, Anna Seaman, Ola Seif, Marah Shaaban,
Abdallah Al Shamsi, Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sharjah Public Library, Nadia
Simeon, Sue Simpson, Moonmoon Singh, Akram Skaik, Huda Smitshuijzen Abifarés, South and
Southeast Asian Video Archive, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Mel Stewart, Karim Sultan,
Dina Taha, Abdulrahman Taha, Ahmed Taleb, Noor Tannir, Aysha Taryam, Nitin Tavkar, Omar
Thawabeh, Richard Thompson, Charlotte Todd, Saeed Al Tunaiji, Obaid Al Tunaiji, Graham Turner,
UAE Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, Guillaume Vannier, Jesús Velasco, Pilar
Velasco, Bill Woodburn, Naomi Woods, Diaa Younis, Eissa Yousif, Ismail Al Zarooni.
At Sharjah’s Al Ittihad Park, municipal workers maintain gardens planted as
part of citywide “beautification” efforts, undated. In background: Al Arouba
Street overpass above the “Smile, You Are in Sharjah” hillock. Al Saud Co.
Building (p. 183), Sharjah Cinema (p. 201), and SNTTA Building (p. 187) mark
the horizon. Khaleej Times Archives.
 Nick Ruehl, director, Sharjah office, Fowler Hanley, Inc. (left),
and Bahram Danish, Fowler Hanley’s locally based aide for
administration, translation, and client relations, at the Novotel
construction site in Sharjah’s Al Khan district, early 1970s.
 While we can name some members of the design and
development team, we can only provide a photograph of
members of the Novotel construction team, early 1970s.
Images: Michael Fowler, Fowler Hanley Inc.
Contents 21 Foreword
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi

29 The Longest Nights with Joy Are Short

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi

55 Writing Sharjah’s Landscape

Todd Reisz

105 Sharjah: Snapshots of an Emirate in the

Nascent Union of the Arabian Gulf
Salim Zabbal and Oscar Mitri

133 Performing Modernity at the Central Souk

Suheyla Takesh

163 Unraveled: Making Building Sharjah

Reem Khorshid

217 Schools for the Arab Homeland:

Kuwait’s Educational Mission in Sharjah
Talal Al-Rashoud

249 Land, Houses, and Homes:

A Palestinian History of Al Fayha
Abdulla Saad Moaswes

271 Good Vibrations: Living It Up

in Sharjah’s Hotels
Hind Mezaina

283 An Unrelenting Lens: Social Engagement

as Journalism in Al Azmenah Al Arabiya
Alia Al Sabi

359 When Men Glow in Sharjah

Deepak Unnikrishnan

379 Sharjah in a Photography Studio

Ammar Al Attar in Conversation
with Prem Ratnam
Featured 37 Airport Mosque 257 Al Meena Street Housing
Projects 43 British Petroleum in Sharjah 259 Al Majarrah Buildings
45 Royal Air Force Camp 263 Golden Gate Project
49 Sharjah International Airport, 265 Sharjah Carlton Hotel
King Faisal Street 267 Marbella Club of Sharjah
51 Residency Agent House 269 Seashore Development Proposal,
81 Arab Bank & British Bank Khor Fakkan
of the Middle East Buildings Text by Łukasz Stanek
85 Mothercat Building 277 Hotel Meridien Sharjah
87 Sharjah Post Office 293 Sharjah State Telecommunications
93 Sheba Hotel Building
95 Sharjah Clock Tower 295 ETPM Building
99 Córdoba and Granada Buildings, 297 Elevated Water Tanks
Bank Street 303 Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
121 Rolla Square Monument Text by Hammad Nasar
127 Central Souk 305 Sharjah Sports Club
Text by Suheyla Takesh 309 Inter-Continental Hotel, Sharjah
139 Vegetable Souk 312 Inter-Continentalism: The Architects
145 Kuwait Tower Collaborative in Sharjah
147 Qasimia Tower Text by Michael Kubo
149 Sharjah Gate Development 323 Momen Architects in Sharjah
153 Khalid Lagoon Master Plan Text by Mohamed Elshahed
157 Bin Laden–Amoudi Center 327 A Mandate for Local Islamic Architecture
159 Lake Khalid Tower 331 Emiri Diwan
173 Expo Centre Sharjah 333 Sharjah Civil Court
179 Al Saud Co. Building 339 Volvo / Caterpillar Buildings
183 SNTTA Building Text by Roberto Fabbri
189 Al Seef Palace 341 Choithrams Building
191 Al Qassimi Hospital 345 Al Shamsi Housing
193 Holiday Inn Khor Fakkan 347 1000 Villas
197 Sharjah Cinema Text by K. V. Shamsudheen
201 Shell Filling Station 351 Al Ramla Houses
207 King Faisal Mosque 355 Spinney’s Supermarket & Office Block
231 École Française de Sharjah 367 The Flying Saucer
235 National College of Choueifat Text by Mona El Mousfy
239 Elementary and Intermediate School 369 Arab Academy for Science,
Prototype / Al Qasimiyah Primary Technology & Maritime Transport
School for Boys 377 Jat Kamala Gaya Dubai and
Text by Mona El Mousfy Vilkkanundu Swapnangal
243 Kindergarten Prototype 387 Sharjah International Airport
247 Modern Miniatures, Sharjah 395 Anchor Motor Inn
National Park 399 Charles de Gaulle Center
255 Adnan Saffarini in Sharjah 403 Hotel Aladin

Appendices 410 Sharjah, 1700–1995 431 Index

414 Other Projects in Sharjah
420 Biographies & Company Profiles
Map of Sharjah, based on one from the mid- to late-
1980s, identifies new and old districts, roundabouts,
and famous landmarks. Cast across Sharjah is the
clear grid of roadways prescribed in Halcrow’s master
plan (see p. 62). English translations and other
landmarks have been added. Names reflect those in
use in the 1980s. Dar Al Khaleej Printing & Publishing.
17
 By the time oil wealth seemed imminent in the early 1970s, Sharjah’s old city
center was being transformed by both a growing municipal government and
a private market of local and foreign investors. Old residences like this one—
memorable with its enormous wind tower—were replaced with concrete and
steel buildings along Sharjah’s waterfront. Demolitions preceded the eventual
recreation of these districts to recall a past that, during the 1960s and 1970s,
could not be forgotten fast enough. Zainal Al Khaja.

18
19
Sharjah Fire Department, designed by Egyptian firm Momen
Architects & Consulting Engineers, 1975. Momen Architects.
Foreword Being born and brought up in a city certainly does not
make one an expert in its history, which became even
clearer to me when we started working on this book. The
seven years I spent as an adult with my dad between 1998
and his passing in 2005 exposed me to the older generation
of Sharjah’s natives, experts in their own right and
witnesses to vast and largely undocumented change. We
would visit his friends at their offices and majlis gatherings.
They would make jokes in honor of those who had already
moved on: “Imagine if our late friend were still around and
you told him that there are now rooms whose doors close on
their own, and when the doors open again, you find yourself
in another place!” or “What would so and so say if we told
him there are now faucets extending from the wall that,
when you turn them slightly, fresh, drinkable water comes
out? He’d think we’re making it up.” Then they would all
break out in collective laughter. Many of these bearers of
knowledge proved indispensable in creating this book.
As it wasn’t until 1974 that Sharjah began to export oil,
the city could be considered the last oil boomtown of the
Gulf region, presenting a final opportunity for the flow
of experts and consultants who had already made their
mark, for better or worse, in Sharjah’s sister Gulf cities.
A slew of architects, engineers, and developers from the
world over descended upon Sharjah, applying tested
strategies and repeating mistakes. Over the next decade,
these confluent forces produced a city ever in search of an
identity, vacillating from efficient modernism to vernacular
architecture and to sources from elsewhere in the Islamic
world. In the tussle among these three tendencies, the
city seems willing to revisit the last two categories at the
expense of the first.
I recall being astounded, even at the turn of the
millennium, at the scope of demolition endured by this
city. And while it is impossible to save many of Sharjah’s
modernist structures, which became painfully evident to me
as I tried and failed, due to mounting maintenance costs, to

21
save our own family’s building, one could at the very least
attempt to preserve their memory, if only for a generation
that has not been exposed to these structures. Indeed, they
have played a major role in forming the post-oil generation’s
identity, offering them directional references, landmarks,
and above all a sense of belonging to the city.
We didn’t set out to write an encyclopedic survey of
Sharjah. Rather, this book offers a chance to reconstruct a
landscape of a city that, in some ways, no longer exists and
parts of which never did.
We sought to capture an era that once seemed enduring
but now has proven fleeting. The story many know of
Sharjah, like other cities made rich with oil, is that a
mere fifty years separate mudbrick houses from today’s
glass skyscrapers. What existed in the in-between?
What structures did people of this land live in after they
abandoned areesh, or palm frond huts, and mudbrick
homes and before the advent of twenty-first-century glass
and aluminum towers? Through this book, we attempt to
construct a landscape as well as a context to consider
these questions and more.
I am proud to have collaborated with my co-editor Todd
Reisz in realizing this book. Our book’s lead researcher
Reem Khorshid was the first recruit to this project. We then
approached photographer Ammar Al Attar, whose Sharjah-
based photo archive proved essential in obtaining material
and documenting the city. Finally, our texts and images
came together seamlessly thanks to the skills of graphic
designer Farah Fayyad.
Our featured authors provide a great diversity of voices,
shedding more light on communities that have not only
lived in the city but have also shaped it.
Working on this book in the second decade of the
twenty-first century posed challenges just as it offered
numerous opportunities. Many buildings we sought to
document were already demolished or renovated beyond
recognition. Meanwhile, a number of people involved in

22
the city’s development have passed away or were unable
to communicate with us. Still, we took great advantage
of digital technologies such as social media networks to
connect with their descendants around the world to obtain
photos and biographies. Looking back, it may have been the
perfect time to write this book.
The availability, or unavailability, of images and
information certainly influenced what we were able to
include, promote, or demote. Much of what we were able
to find came from family archives, taken by amateur
photographers and passed down through generations
often with scant information or context. Aerial images—
sometimes wobbly and out of focus—were taken from
fast moving planes and helicopters; they may tell as much
about the building as they do of the person behind the
lens. In spite, or perhaps because, of several years of
research on Sharjah, I am left with as many questions as
answers about the city. These remaining questions have
shaped my understanding of the city’s modern history. It
is my hope that this compendium will afford readers both
a greater understanding and a deeper appreciation for this
city, which has never fully come to terms with any identity
applied to it. If there is a consistent theme in the stories
of Sharjah, it is of a city that has given way to economic
conditions and political affiliations: from mudbrick
architecture, to the faintest advancements under British
protectionism, to the Pan-Arab modernity of the 1950s
and 1960s, to the oil boom of the 1970s, and finally the
Islamic tide of the 1980s. The search for an identity has left
behind an urban patchwork: traditional, modern, Islamic,
and global all at once. It would be an amazing testament to
history, if only it could continue to exist.

Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi

Sharjah
January 6, 2021

23
 Two-story buildings that for a while survived the asphalting of Sharjah’s corniche
road, one of the first hardened roadways to be lined with streetlights. Once the
corniche’s souk was displaced, the road was widened according to the Halcrow
master plan. John R. Harris Library, courtesy of Mark Harris.

24
25
Dubai-based photographer Ramesh Shukla arrived in the Trucial States in
1965, when he took his earliest photographs of the coastal cities. His archive
is an important documentation of ongoing urban development in Sharjah and
other regional cities. For this photo, Shukla climbed to the upper floors of an
unattended construction site to capture ongoing construction of Sharjah’s Al
Wahda Street, 1978. © Ramesh Shukla, Four Seasons Ramesh Gallery.
01

28
Sultan Sooud THE LONGEST NIGHTS
Al Qassemi WITH JOY ARE SHORT

The exact year of Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Majid’s life was cut short by sudden illness. A few
Qasimi’s birth remains a mystery. She gauges her days before he passed, he noticed a skin rash, and his
age not by the passing years, but instead in relation fingertips turned greenish. His wife and Nama’s mother,
to important events. She was maybe twelve, maybe Mouza Al Mashghouni (1930–2017), took him to Dubai,
fourteen, when her father Majid died on a hot summer where the region’s only clinic functioned under the
day in 1958. He was a member of Sharjah’s ruling purview of a British doctor named “Macooly.”1 Realizing
family and had earned a reputation during his life that his time was nearing its end, he called for Nama
in Sharjah’s busy Al Arsa Souk as an adjudicator of and recited to her a famous poem:
disputes. Amidst the shops, people could always
recognize him by his daftar, or notebook. Later in life, ‫فقصارهن مع الهموم طويلة وطوالهن مع الرسور قصار‬
Majid bin Saqr was able to afford the construction (The shortest nights with sorrow are long …
of three mudbrick houses, makhzans, for his three And the longest with joy are short.)2
wives and seven children. One makhzan was in Al
Shuwaiheen (also known as Al Sharq), and the other Nama’s mother Mouza, now widowed, was in her
two were close to Sharjah Fort, Al Hisn, in an area twenties and bereft of a male breadwinner. To
known as Fareej Al Shyookh. Majid’s main house, provide the family with a livelihood, their first cousin
constructed in the 1940s just south of Al Hisn on what Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, who would become
later became Bank Street, or Al Burj Street, was the ruler of Sharjah in 1964, gave them a brand-new
largest. For months, contracted laborers, women Singer sewing machine. Their mudbrick house
and men, mixed mud with rocks from the sea before came to double as a workplace, where they tailored
baking the bricks to complete the three makhzans. dishdashas and nafnoofs (women’s dresses, also
Majid spent each night in one of the houses, traveling called gawan after the English word “gown”). Mouza,
between them on horseback and later by Jeep. Nama herself illiterate, knew that education was key to
was Majid’s eldest daughter and recalls that, around her daughters’ success. Despite the conservative
the time when he was building the makhzan where society’s norms, she chose to never marry again and
she lived, Sharjah’s ruler Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi II focused instead on sending her daughters to school.
(who reigned from 1924 to 1951) died in London. In 1960, the family moved to a small new brick house,

02 03

29
which Mouza had built with her inheritance. The government. It included two sets of garments, one
house consisted of four adjacent units under a liwan, for the winter and one for the summer, and a pair of
or colonnaded veranda. Mouza had sketched out the shoes. By the mid-1960s, the kiswa also included
design herself on a piece of paper which she handed vitamins, but Nama had graduated by then.
to the Iranian contractor named Hussein.
In 1953, the Palestinian teacher Kafa Al Sarraj handed
Although Nama cannot confirm the year of her out copies of a first-grade lesson book from the
birth, she does know for certain that she was born Kuwaiti benefactors and asked each student to read
in winter because her mother gave birth to her in a aloud from it. Depending on their reading proficiency,
khaima, a tent made of palm tree fronds woven, or students were then separated into grades. As Nama
“stitched,” together as tightly as possible to protect had learned to read and write from her maternal
inhabitants from cold winds and rain. Even as late grandfather, Hamad Al Mashghouni (1898–1988), a
as the mid-twentieth century, concrete and even merchant who studied religion in Qatar and officiated
mudbrick structures were few and far between in marriages, she recited the text effortlessly and was
Sharjah. The majority of them were inhabited by assigned to a higher grade.3
members of the ruling family, wealthy merchants,
and Western officials. Most of the indigenous
population lived their winters in areesh, also called
barasti, homes. Rectangular in plan, the areesh
summer homes were, like the khaimas, constructed
of stitched palm fronds, but the weave held together
loosely, letting in not only more air but also snakes
and spiders. Nama’s family fetched water from the
town’s well, a long walk away. She recalls having to
use her sheila, a light garment worn by women over
their shoulders, to filter sand and small seashells
from the water she collected.

For a teenage girl in 1960s Sharjah, balancing work,

study, and life was a challenge. While food and
income were in short supply, Nama benefited like
many others from the largesse of Kuwait’s emir,
Abdullah Al Salim Al Sabah. By 1952, he had ordered
his government to build schools and send supplies to
inhabitants of towns in the lower Arab Gulf. Sharjah’s
ruler, Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi, regularly
traveled to Kuwait to request aid from the emir, who
had visited Sharjah in November 1951. Kuwaiti aid
proved instrumental to hundreds of individuals who
otherwise would not have had a chance to study.
Nama recalls that, as a student, she would receive
a kiswa, a package of clothing, from the Kuwaiti
05

Between 1953 and 1964, Nama studied at the

Kuwait-funded Fatima Al Zahra School. The school
attracted a number of visitors including Abdulaziz
Husain (1920–1996), who served as Kuwait’s first
ambassador to Egypt and later as education minister.
He inspected classrooms and assessed the education
level of the students. The school occupied a large
house owned by the Bin Kamel family not far from
Al Hisn, initially accommodating both girls and boys
until the latter were moved to Al Qasimiyah School,
also funded by Kuwait. To graduate from high school,
Nama had to pass final exams administered in
Kuwait. The head of the Kuwait Office for Education,
04

30
06
Hamad Al Moumin, organized a trip to Kuwait for
the Sharjah girls to complete their studies. During
that trip, Nama stayed in a girls’ dormitory for a few
weeks with three other girls from Sharjah: Aisha
Sayyar, Aisha Al Qasimi, and Amina Salim Al Hajri.4
Upon returning to Sharjah, Nama became a teacher
at Fatima Al Zahra School, where she taught Arabic,
mathematics, religious studies, and science.

Kuwait’s presence in the Trucial States would have

a further impact on the young teacher. During her
last year of high school, a distant cousin landed at
Sharjah’s airport, returning from his nearly twelve-
year stay in Kuwait. Saud bin Khalid (1939–2005) had
grown up between Bombay and Kuwait City. Living
with his grandmother and younger brother, Saud first
studied at Salahuddin School before working as a
myaoumiya, a daily wage earner, and at a hospital.
In 1961, upon hearing that Kuwait planned to open
an office in his homeland, he applied for a job. On
Wednesday, January 2, 1963, the Kuwait Office was
officially inaugurated in Dubai, and twenty-four-year-
old Saud bin Khalid became its first treasury secretary,
responsible for distributing Kuwait-government
salaries to judges, imams, and teachers. At first, Saud
lived in the house of his wealthy merchant father,
Khalid bin Khalid Al Qasimi (1906–1982), adjacent
to Mouza Al Mashghouni’s mudbrick home. A first 07

08

32
 attempt at marriage had faltered when the fiancée’s
father asked Saud to build a makhzan for his daughter
close to his own, a prohibitively costly request for the
young clerk. Saud’s stepmother Mariam Al Shamsi
suggested he marry his half-sister’s neighborhood
friend, Nama. Saud and Nama married on July 2, 1964.
Following the wedding, Khalid bin Khalid offered his
son the house’s annex, which featured a large barjeel,
or wind tower, to which Saud added two rooms. Saud
and Nama lived there for six years.

In 1970, Saud and Nama asked their close family

friend Ismail Al Zarooni, who operated one of
Sharjah’s few modern construction firms, to build
them a house in Sharjah’s Al Fayha district based
upon a design by the Palestinian engineer Adnan
Saffarini.5 The single-story, two-bedroom house
was finished in the summer of 1971 and cost 75,000
dirhams, the equivalent of $15,800. The Fayha
house was a significant upgrade from the mudbrick
structure in which Nama had grown up. It included
a larger garden with a fountain and was situated in
a district famous for its tarmac road. Opposite their
home was a German colony of engineers working on
Sharjah’s new port. Next door was the ruler Sheikh
Khalid bin Mohammed’s diwan.

Saud encouraged his wife to continue working.6

During Nama’s seven-year career as a teacher,
from 1964 to 1971, she often earned more than her
husband. She had faith in his business acumen,
nevertheless, and handed him her entire salary at
the end of each month. In 1972, Nama became a
member of the Sharjah Women’s Association, the
first such organization in the country. The association
was chaired by Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed’s wife,
Noura bint Sultan Al Qasimi, and managed by Aisha
Mohamed Al Noman. The Women’s Association,
registered in 1974, later merged with the federal
General Women’s Union on August 27, 1975. In
09 1977, the Women’s Association moved to a purpose-
built facility.7 It was there that the seeds of a new
organization, the Sharjah Cooperative Society,
were sown. Nama, along with forty men and women
including her sister and mother, as well as Aisha
Mohamed Al Noman and Aisha Ahmed Abdul Rahman,
each invested 10,000 dirhams, or $2,500, to start the
Sharjah Cooperative Society in March 1977, the first
of its kind in the UAE. The co-op’s small grocery store
operated out of the Maysaloon neighborhood until a
store built for the purpose was opened in Al Fayha.8
10

33
By the late 1970s, Nama and Saud’s family had of catching a breeze. To maintain privacy, a parapet of
outgrown their two-bedroom home. They now had five perforated gypsum tiles, about a meter high, crowned
children and a sixth on the way. Conny Fernandes, a the roof of Nama’s small villa. The parapet may have
live-in maid from Goa, joined the household in 1972. kept peering eyes at bay but did little to contain the
For the next half century, she played a major role in rumble of airplanes flying overhead, departing from
raising two generations of the family. the nearby Imperial Airways Airport.

Having quit his Kuwait Office job in 1967, Saud It was on this rooftop, one afternoon in early 1964,
started investing in the construction of shops in that a friend took a snapshot of her using a new
Sharjah’s expanding souk. He leased the new spaces camera that she had bought for four rupees (or
to the increasing number of expatriates arriving in Qatari riyals) at Souk Sager. Nama had climbed
town to set up new lives. This influx converted into up to the roof overlooking Al Hisn’s mushrif tower,
a booming business. Saud’s business deals brought wearing a green polka-dot dress, a pair of earrings,
him into contact with Ashok Mody, an architect from a few golden bracelets on her right wrist, a watch on
Bombay who designed the family’s new home in her left, and the only pendant she owned around her
Sharjah’s Al Ramla district. Mody had just finished neck. The photograph taken that afternoon captured
work on Al Zahra Hospital and the 1000 Villas project.9 a moment in Nama’s youth before she knew the
His design for Saud and Nama’s new house was future that life held for her. It shows Nama smiling,
so imposing that the architect nicknamed it “The and behind her lies a spare concrete tile featuring
Citadel.” As the house took shape, one of Saud’s a five-pointed star inside a crescent. On that
cousins remarked that the house was “so large that, afternoon, Nama was unaware that, in the next few
if invaders came, they would think that it is the ruler’s months, her life would take a major turn. As a new
house.” Without any adjacent roads, Saud and Nama ruler assumed power, she would receive a marriage
had to walk over sand from Al Fayha to visit the new proposal and graduate from school to become one
construction site. The project was overly ambitious of the first two teachers of Sharjah’s modern school
and stood idle for months. It was only after a wild curriculum. Ultimately, she would play a vital role
animal entered the Fayha house and bit one of the in helping educate a generation and propel the city
children that Saud decided to call Sharjah’s ruler forward into the twenty-first century.
Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad to ask for help. The
ruler visited the house and donated doors, a Persian
carpet, and a framed work of art bearing the word
Allah, also suggesting that the master bedroom be
expanded by knocking down a wall. Nama hired an
Italian woman known as “Um Juliana” to design the
interior and the family moved in by 1980.

By this time, Nama had retired from teaching and was

playing a major role in her husband’s construction Notes:
business. In the afternoons, she visited construction 1. British medical officer Dr. 5. For more information on
sites of the buildings and shops that she co-owned Desmond McCaully operated Al Fayha, see Abdulla Saad
Al Maktoum Hospital in Dubai. Moaswes’s article, p. 253.
with her husband. She used the labor lifts to 2. Translation of poem (author 6. In 1967, her third year as a
inspect the room layouts. Bricks would be laid out contested) by Labiba Laith. teacher, Nama headed the
3. Other Palestinian teachers student delegation to Kuwait
to outline floorplans, on which she would base her included Sharifa Al Ba’ba’, for the final exams. Most of
design modifications. In one instance, when Saud Laila Al Mazeeni, and Itidal Al the eight or so high school
Saffarini who taught English. students accompanying her,
was about to buy a plot of land, she brought up the The school’s director, also including her younger sister
site’s major shortcoming—it lay directly under the Palestinian, was Muhammad Mahra, Noura Abdul Rahman
Diyab Al Musa. Al Midfa, and Aisha Salem Al
nearby airport’s flight path. Saud took her advice and 4. In order to supplement her Hajeri, also became teachers.
decided against the purchase. family’s low income, Nama 7. The Sharjah Women’s
participated in writing Association facility
competitions. In the early was designed by Arab
Perhaps she gained this foresight about the skies in 1960s, she submitted Engineering Bureau.
her work to one such 8. The store was designed by
her childhood days, spent in her father’s home. Like competition sponsored Egyptian architects M. F.
many other Sharjah residents in the 1960s, Nama by Al Arabi magazine, Howeedy & Associates.
under the pseudonym of 9. See Al Zahra Hospital, p. 325,
sought nocturnal refuge from the summer heat by Janet Al Qasimi, and won a and 1000 Villas, p. 351.
laying modest mattresses on the rooftop in the hope considerable sum.

34
 11

Images:

01. Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi with front row. Author, courtesy of Shaikha Khalek Hassouna, Ambassador of
her students at Fatima Al Zahra School, Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi. Saudi Arabia to Kuwait Mohamed
1970. Author, courtesy of Shaikha Nama 07. Nama (top row, left) during a visit Mansour, and Iraqi delegate to the
bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi. by the Arab League delegation to Arab League Mahmoud Ali Daoud. Badr
02. Nama (right) and her sisters Mahra Fatima Al Zahra School, October 1964. Khalid Al Badr, courtesy of Center for
and Farida in their areesh house, 1956. Standing next to her is fellow native Research and Studies on Kuwait.
Author, courtesy of Shaikha Nama bint Sharjah teacher Amina Salim Al Hajri. 08. Front and side elevation of a prototype
Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi. Fifty years later, both women were for the Sharjah Cooperative Society,
03. Areesh houses in Sharjah, 1961. recognized by the UAE government Consulting Architecture & Civil
Collection of Mohammed Shamis Al as the first woman Emirati teachers Engineering Bureau (CAB), undated. CAB.
Maazmi, courtesy of Ahmad Al Maazmi. in formal education. To the right of Al 09. The Ramla house under construction,
04. The liwan house, 1966. Author, courtesy Hajri is Egyptian teacher Zainab Al late 1970s. Architectural Consultants,
of Shaikha Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Araby. Third from left in the second Ashok Mody.
Al Qasimi. row is Layla Al Mazini, recruited with 10. Sharjah Women’s Association, late
05. Conny Fernandes, Majid bin Saud, and her husband Abdul Moti Morad by the 1970s, Arab Engineering Bureau. Al
Noura bint Saud in the Fayha house, Kuwait Office in 1957. First row (from Azmenah Al Arabiya.
1972. Author, courtesy of Shaikha right): Assistant Secretary General of 11. Nama photographed by her friend
Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi. the Arab League Sayed Nofal, Sharjah on the roof of the liwan house, 1963.
06. Students of Fatima Al Zahra School, Ruler Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Author, courtesy of Shaikha Nama bint
1953–54. Nama is second from right, Arab League Secretary General Abdul Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi.

35
01

36
Airport The Airport Mosque, or Masjid Al Matar,
Mosque was built along the main road from Sharjah
to Dubai, now King Faisal Street, across
the tarmac from a BP filling station and
adjacent to the runway of Sharjah’s earlier
airport. After the airport’s demolition and
move to its current location much further
inland, many were left confused by the
name left behind with the mosque.

Designed for fewer than 100 worshipers,

the prosaically named mosque was
commissioned by Sheikh Khalid bin
Mohammed Al Qasimi to serve travelers
to and from the airport and those en
route between Sharjah and Dubai. It is
said that the ruler wanted a beautiful
building to greet arrivals. The mosque was
also referred to as the Bedouin Mosque
because, back when no other buildings
surrounded it, petitioners would wait there
for their appointments with the ruler.1

Atop a raised platform, the building

was bedizened with many recognizable
elements of mosque architecture, all
compressed into the building’s tiny
cubic volume. The building carried two
large domes not in proportion with its
profile: one a part of the elaborate canopy
entrance and another the central element
of the roof. The facades were draped in
screens, and the roof was finished with
a carved wood spirelet on each corner
and trimmed with arayes al samaa, a
decorative parapet. The protruding mihrab
had its own pair of scaled-down spirelets
while the even more elaborate minaret
stood apart on the concrete platform.
The architect employed similarly intricate 02
workings on the fence and gates of
Sharjah’s musalla al eid, an open prayer
space outside a mosque used during Eid
and other occasions.2

The building’s expressive, traditional

Architect
Mohamed Al Azhari ornamentation foreshadowed a
preference for embellished details,
Contractor
Bin Hadda referred to as Islamic, in the 1980s; its
scale made the ornament seem less
Client
Sheikh Khalid bin a social statement than a visual treat
Mohammed Al Qasimi amidst tarmac and sand.
Completed
1969
1. Michael Tomkinson, The United Arab Emirates
Status (Hammamet: Tominkson, 1975).
Demolished 2. See p. 212.
03

37
04

38
01. Sharjah Airport
Mosque, or Masjid
Al Matar, on King
Faisal Street,
undated. H. Brey,
Peichär, courtesy
of Sharjah Finance
Department.
02. Minarets and
ornamental
detail, from rear
elevation including
the mihrab. Prem
Ratnam, Hemlyn
Photography Studio.
03. Sharjah residents
watching flight
arrivals and
departures at the
airport, 1960s. The
photo was taken by
Narain Sawlani, an
Indian businessman
in the UAE since
1958, during one
of his trips to wish
traveling friends
farewell. Narain R.
Sawlani.
04. An aerial photograph
captures fenced-in
accessory areas for
Sharjah’s airport.
Above, left to right,
along the road
from Dubai are the
Airport Mosque
and executions of
design prototypes
for Shell and British
Petroleum filling
stations (p. 205 and
p. 47). Mahmood
AlSawan.

39
Construction of the British-controlled air base, used for civil and military flights,
1934. Its establishment in Sharjah, as well as its gradual expansion into a vast
Royal Air Force camp, was one of Sharjah’s first demarcated sites of urban
development. The site eventually included a tennis court, sports fields, and
a cinema with two to three screenings per week. The fence around the site,
prescribed by the ruler, was initially meant to keep British subjects inside it. By
1965, the guest house for overnight layovers had been branded the Fort Hotel,
offering air conditioning. Even though its earliest showers spouted saltwater, the
vast site still stored more than half of Sharjah’s total fresh water supply as late as
1969. Kenneth Mackay, courtesy of HH Private Collection, Mahatta Museum.
01

02

42
British Petroleum On land wedged in between a silty corner that Sharjah’s major port works were
in Sharjah of Sharjah Creek and a cemetery, a later positioned near BP’s early marine
site demarcated for early oil explorers works. The Sharjah jetty would be built in
became two enclosed compounds of parallel to the BP pipe. Extending from
British Petroleum (BP). In May 1952, the jetty was Al Meena Street, or Port
the oil company signed a lease with Road, that for a while defined Sharjah’s
Sharjah’s ruler for what became known commercial and infrastructural axis. In
as the “Old BP Depot.” In August 1958, the opposite direction, underground oil
another contract was signed, for an lines connected the compound by to the
annual payment of 15,000 riyals (less than Royal Air Force camp.1
$30,000 today), allowing BP to pursue
expansive domestic and infrastructural BP’s presence was not only characterized
projects on its leased site. by the enclosed Western comforts that
were accommodated inside the compound
Inside one compound, the company walls; it was also dispersed throughout
assembled prefabricated offices and the Trucial States by means of a filling-
01. A BP guard and
official welcome bungalows for employee families, station prototype. The simple and quickly
guests, including accessorized with thick curtains that, when executed design was modestly reminiscent
ruler Sheikh Saqr
bin Sultan Al Qasimi, closed, repelled the bright daylight and of the curves and angles associated with
to BP compounds, achieved an interior with a closer likeness European and American car culture. The
date unknown. © BP
plc, courtesy of BP to mid-century British domesticity. The drawings here were issued for a filling
Archive. second, larger, compound housed the station in Deira, Dubai, dated 1959, but
02. Sheikh Saqr is
welcomed at plants and industrial equipment. Though the design was more or less the same for
BP’s residential situated a distance from the center stations in Sharjah, including the one on
compound. © BP
plc, courtesy of BP
of town, the compounds were not cut the future King Faisal Street.
Archive. off. Quite the contrary, their plant was
03. Perspective and
elevation drawings,
connected underground to the Layah
BP filling station peninsula by a buried pipe that extended
prototype, 1959.
National Archives
out beneath the seabed to a hook-up for
United Kingdom. passing oil tankers. It is no coincidence 1. See p. 45.

03

43
44
Royal Air Force On August 1, 1966, the British government The building schedule was rapid, until it
Camp made the first annual payment of £100,000 was called off. In January 1968, the British
to the ruler of Sharjah for use of a vast tract government announced plans to vacate
of land for its expanded military presence. the Trucial States, leaving the fenced-off
Since 1934, British civil and military city for British officers and staff behind.
officials had been housed in and around In preparation for the departure, the
the air station (no. 3).1 The new British- compound became an ad-hoc outdoor
controlled territory would extend north market. According to the Kuwait-based
from the air station toward higher land magazine Al Arabi, British officials
and in the direction of the built-up city. In were selling off scrap metal and auto
1966, the air station site accommodated parts to ease the burden of transferring
about 2,700 people, including some British supplies elsewhere.2 Abandoned
officials but mostly Arab and South Asian barracks became the first school rooms
staff housed in tents. At the time, Sharjah of Beirut’s displaced National College of
city’s population was estimated at 8,000. Choueifat.3 Other parts were designated
Through a later land deal, tent living was for churches (some of them still in what
relegated to a “modest” new Trucial Oman is now Al Halwan district). Except for the
Scouts site further out. Air conditioning original air station, the camp was cleared
was deemed essential only for British staff out, opening the land up for Sharjah’s
at the new Royal Air Force (RAF) camp. The development in the direction of Dubai.
layout was a quick planning solution to the
pending loss of a military base in Aden at
the end of 1967.

The camp was enclosed with high-

security steel fencing. Its interior roads
were paved before those outside the
fencing. Beyond the exclusivity of its
air-conditioned quarters, the RAF camp
also enjoyed a private oil pipeline from
British Petroleum’s storage units on
the Sharjah coast, its own supply of
electricity, and a secure source of water
that at one point accounted for more
than half the city’s storage capacity. The
camp included its own sports fields, and
there was an exclusive beach nearby for
water recreation. The cinema (no. 60) held 02
screenings two or three times a week.
While it is not clear whether the design
was the actual one realized, a 400-seat
cinema was proposed by the UK-based
firm Tripe & Wakeham in 1962.

1. See p. 40.
2. See p. 113.
3. See p. 235.

45
03

04 05

46
06

01. Site plan details, stamped April 23,

1968. UK MOD © Crown copyright,
courtesy of the British Library.
02. Residential bungalow interior
at RAF Camp, undated. Peter
Hudson.
03. Travelers approach an RAF “Aden
Airways” airplane, undated. Clive
E. M. Adams, courtesy of John S.
Adams.
04. Sharjah residents greet an arrival.
Narain R. Sawlani.
05. South Asian employee of British
air base serves British official
at bar cafe. Clive E. M. Adams,
courtesy of John S. Adams.
06. Passengers’ view of air base
and control tower, later added,
undated. Rahma bin Nasser
Al Owais, courtesy of Abdallah
Mohamed Al Quraidi.
07. The earliest lease contracts
signed by British officials
included payment clauses for
salaries of local guards, undated.
Clive E. M. Adams, courtesy of
John S. Adams.
07

47
Sharjah International Airport,
King Faisal Street

The decommissioned Royal Air Force

compound housed Sharjah’s first airport
until 1968 when it was moved to new,
more civic-minded premises, designed by
Sir William Halcrow and Partners. Built
almost equidistant between Sharjah’s
city center and Dubai’s Deira district,
the blue terminal building served as
a landmark for those arriving to join
the Gulf’s latest oil boom. With green
landscaping, designated pick-up areas,
and shaded porticoes, Sharjah’s second
airport signaled an attempt, made in
vain, to slow the shifting of air traffic to
Dubai’s three-year-old airport.

The new terminal stood along the tarmac

laid by British forces, now King Faisal
Street, for less than a decade. Deemed
critical to Sharjah’s economy, it was the
reason that two of Sharjah’s earliest
hotels, the Sheba and the Federal, could
galvanize a real estate market in the area.
Having worked on this building, Halcrow
urged the government to select a site for
a new and larger airport, arguing that the
current location impeded Sharjah’s urban
expansion in the direction of Dubai.1

1. See p. 387.

Architect
Sir William Halcrow &
Partners

Client
Government of Sharjah

Completed Kuwaiti and Saudi

1968 Arabian flags raised next
to Sharjah’s flag in front
Status of airport terminal, 1970s.
Demolished Mahmood AlSawan.

49
01

50
Residency Agent Starting as early as 1890, the British
House government hired a succession of Arab
residency agents to live in Sharjah and
report to the political resident in Bushehr,
Iran, and later Bahrain.1 At least some of
these agents occupied a rented courtyard
house on Sharjah Creek among the few
houses made from coral and stone, parts
of which were coated in gypsum and lime
mortar. Situated in a central and prominent
area of Sharjah, the agent could interact
with Sharjah’s most powerful families,
observe the goings-on at the modest port,
and report his “intimate knowledge” to his
British superiors.

In 1948, when the British government

sought to increase its political presence
02
in the Trucial States, it was decided that
a white British officer would replace
the resident agent. Soon thereafter,
the decades-old agency was deemed
inadequate as housing for the new
officer. Unlike accommodations at
the Royal Air Force camp and the oil-
company compound, there was hardly
enough electricity to run a light bulb,
much less an air-conditioning unit, at the
agency. The bathroom was no more than
a galvanized iron tub. A visiting expert
found the house of “poor construction,”
which probably just meant it was made
from unmanufactured parts. Soon after
the expert’s report on these deficiencies,
the British government decided to move
its premises to Dubai. Once vacated by
the agency in 1954, the building was
renovated into the Seaface Hotel. It
remained in operation into the 1970s
when the business moved to a three-story
building with twenty air-conditioned
Status
rooms on Al Arouba Street. The waterside
Demolished building was soon after demolished.
03

Images:
01. British government car in front of residency along
Sharjah Creek, 1947. Images: National Archives
United Kingdom.
02. The bathroom consisted of a galvanized iron tub
1. Rosemarie Said Zahlan, The Origins of the United and “bucket closets” to be cleaned by hand.
Arab Emirates: A Political and Social History of the 03. The dining room whose furniture was reportedly
Trucial States (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978). borrowed, 1947.

51
Progress Report, Dubai–Sharjah road, 1966. As early as 1944, the British government mapped how Dubai
and Sharjah were connected by a naturally occurring trail of sabkha, a crystallized formation hard enough
for cars to traverse—that is, until it dissolves in a flash rainstorm. Michael Hamilton-Clark, working for Sir
William Halcrow & Partners, created this drawing. It demonstrates how the existing road was transformed by
converting the sabkha into lower-level fill, covered with sand and cement layers, and finally capped with an
economically thin layer of asphalt. It was from this artery that Sharjah city’s first asphalt roads would extend.
Connecting Sharjah’s center to Dubai’s both supported and threatened Sharjah’s economic survival; it also
foretold an urban convergence undeniable by the late 1970s. Michael Hamilton-Clark.

52
53
01
Todd Reisz WRITING SHARJAH’S
LANDSCAPE

Sharjah’s twentieth-century history was shaped by Deira and Bur Dubai—scrambling to dominate a
those empowered to tell it and by the audience they temperamental inland harbor known in English as
chose to tell it to. Storytellers crafted plots upon Dubai Creek. In June 1950, a British official briefly
the city’s contours—slabbed in concrete, steel, and visited Dubai and issued “A Note on the Wealth of
asphalt. Megatons of imported materials—stirred Dubai,” a five-page report that heralded decades
with local petroleum, water, and sand and assembled of future reporting about the city, by both British
by a legion of migrants—hardened into an admixture officers and journalists. Without much evidence, a
of architecture and infrastructure, the unyielding handicap he never admits forthright, he claims that
evidence of history professed. The power to tell Dubai, fifteen kilometers away from Sharjah, was
Sharjah’s history has been intricately tied to the “destined to become a centre of real importance.”
power to build the city. More than just the setting of There was “a business-like air about the place.”2
a history, Sharjah’s built landscape is the story. And There was more “hope” in Dubai.3 He estimates that
predominant tellers of that story have been British: the port would survive even without the expectation
first military strategists, then government officials, of oil being fulfilled; and, if oil ever did materialize,
and later private-sector consultants. it was “urgent” that the British government begin to
establish an influential role for itself immediately
In 1819, British naval officers ransacked Sharjah by addressing the only identified deficiency—the
and the extended coast stretching beyond it. They lack of “any administrative progress whatsoever.”4
decimated Sharjah’s maritime fleet and, presumably, The report does little more than affirm a decision
its harbor. Soon thereafter, their superiors gave the that had already been taken, namely to move British
greater coast a name: the Trucial States. Around the surveillance from Sharjah to Dubai. There was no
same time, an Arab emissary, working out of a house mathematical way to measure Dubai’s economic
along Sharjah’s harbor, started reporting to British landscape against Sharjah’s at the time. Any verdict
officials in Bushehr, Iran.1 His placement in Sharjah, was based on impressions, and impressions are best
as opposed to any of the other Trucial States, conveyed in stories. Plans went ahead to build a
indicated the city’s regional prominence and the need British government compound in Dubai.
to keep a surveilling eye on it. In the 1930s, nearly a
century after destroying Sharjah’s seafaring capacity, At the end of that summer, the same officer issued
the British government planted an ad hoc pier on a second report that further validated Dubai’s
its shore to supply the construction of an inland air prominence, another five-page report, this time titled
base. The air station, as it was called, resulted in “Notes on the Finances of Sharjah.” It begins, “No
both Sharjah’s increased prominence and its further detailed picture of Sharjah’s economic condition
subjugation to British oversight. can be drawn because no records are available.”5
Whereas “wealth” in Dubai was corroborated only
Just over a decade after the completion of the air by impressions, “finances” in Sharjah were deemed
station, British officials started to assess nearby untraceable. Like Dubai, Sharjah still operated with
Dubai as a more promising location than Sharjah from a dearth of steel, electricity, clean drinking water,
which to secure impending oil contracts for British telephones, and steady radio signals. Whereas Dubai’s
companies. By 1950, British officials were using the scarcity had signaled resilience, Sharjah’s scarcity
name Dubai as a collective name for two towns—Bur professed deficiency. Dubai’s profit sources had

55
proven no more quantifiable to the official; it was just IMPARTIAL ADVICE
a matter of how one framed the story. In fact, there While stationed in Sharjah, British officials thwarted
were enough known facts available to calculate that the advancement of their host city. In Dubai, they
documented sources of income actually tallied higher aimed to galvanize it. Four years after the 1950 reports,
in Sharjah than in Dubai. But impressions outweighed they acknowledged that Dubai’s harbor also needed
facts. And there was what one could observe on the “artificial improvement” to escape obscurity. This time,
landscape: compared to Dubai’s “bustling port,” however, the infrastructural proposal was not deemed
Sharjah’s was often clogged with sandbars, sometimes grandiose but rather correlated to British economic
to the point of being unnavigable. Dubai’s own interests. Apparently without alerting local officials,
sandbars were overlooked. Sharjah was described as the British Foreign Office commissioned Sir William
“a sleepy town of two to three thousand inhabitants.” Halcrow and Partners, a British engineering firm with
Its harbor was “silted beyond recovery,” leading to a portfolio full of government contracts at home and
the entire city’s “ebb of prosperity,” now “stolen” abroad, to design a plan to save Dubai’s harbor.
by Dubai. In “striking contrast” to Dubai, “moribund
Sharjah” seemed trapped in its own decay.6 Consultants commonly base claims of objectivity on
proclaimed expertise and past experience. They are
Sharjah’s ruler, Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi, also aware that paying clients have outcomes they
rejected the British framing of the two cities. His wish to hear; in this case, the British government was
tenacious drive revealed an ingredient absent in the the client that had just completed construction of its
Dubai report: a leader who actively sought to “rescue new compound in Dubai and was already shaping the
Sharjah from her decline.” He championed the city into its logistical hub in the region. Halcrow was
transformative potential of infrastructure—what the also tasked with completing a corresponding study of
report called his interest in “artificial improvement.” Sharjah’s harbor. Again, Dubai’s and Sharjah’s histories
Saqr endorsed a decades-old plan to create a new were to be written in contrast. Halcrow personnel
coastal harbor for the city, to replace the silty inland visited both harbors in 1954 and delivered two reports
creek. Before him, his father Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr in January 1955, one on Dubai—its cover blue, the color
Al Qasimi II petitioned the British government to help of clear skies—and the other on Sharjah—its cover red,
him find financing for such a solution. The “Notes on the color of cancellation. In their Dubai report, Halcrow
Finances” report discerned neither resolution nor engineers made clear the need for the company’s
initiative in the ruler’s pursuits, dismissing them as continuing services and outlined an engineered solution
“wishful optimism.” In contrast, again, Dubai was for the city’s harbor. For Sharjah, Halcrow did not
already blessed with “a good harbor,” one official consider Sheikh Saqr’s proposed shoreline harbor;
observed.7 The ruler’s infrastructure plan was instead, it focused on Sharjah’s silted creek. To repair
therefore criticized as “grandiose,” with another it, Halcrow estimated a cost nearly three times as high
official remarking that any physical improvement as the proposal to repair Dubai’s harbor. Halcrow’s
to Sharjah would have consequences on Dubai’s assessment affirmed the British narrative of Dubai’s
prosperity. “Nothing,” the report boldly concluded, ascendancy. One reader of the reports concluded,
“except the discovery of oil on her territory can rescue “Sharjah must face the fact that its present harbour
Sharjah from her decline.” facilities must continue to decline.”8

02

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03

Whereas plans for a new harbor in Sharjah had private British companies (Halcrow and another
local political backing, there was no indication that engineering firm, Costain) in pursuit of the harbor
Dubai’s de facto leader, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed project he believed would revive Sharjah’s economy.
Al Maktoum, saw any political value in improving By seeking assistance elsewhere, Saqr threatened
his city’s harbor at the time. After issuance of the the established British narrative. One British official
Halcrow reports, British officials set out to convince wrote that they needed to get “this notion out of
him to back the proposal. Instead of offering British [Sharjah’s] system.”10
funding for the improvements, they urged Rashid to
accept an inordinate amount of debt. The high-risk Left to their own assessments, other countries and
plan, in short, proved successful, thus helping trigger companies might have determined that Sharjah
Rashid’s esteem for the eye-catching benefits of was a hopeless case, especially in light of the
infrastructural projects—piers, public sanitation British support for Dubai. To quash any doubts,
systems, asphalt roadways, hospitals, power plants. British officials made their “strong views” known
A common falsehood ensued: that Sheikh Rashid to traveling consultants, emphasizing that Dubai
dared to save Dubai Creek while Sheikh Saqr allowed was destined to be the region’s port.11 Abandoned
his harbor to flounder. Even the British government and left to his own devices, Sheikh Saqr reportedly
propagated the story, as early as 1964, when the “felt so severely the loss of prestige … that he felt
Dubai-based political agent James Craig recorded it it necessary to do something immediately.” He paid
for the Foreign Office. No one challenged his story. for the construction of a breakwater on the coast—a
Before long, Craig’s revised history was the preface fragment of his harbor plan—“entirely with his own
to countless English-language press pieces about resources.” A British official, surprised, reported of
Sharjah having “allowed” its harbor to perish.9 the breakwater’s “remarkable effect”: Sharjah could
again receive light ships.12
Halcrow’s index of contracts for work on Dubai Creek
began in 1958. In Sharjah, rather than conceding Sheikh Saqr’s persistence was depicted by British
to the prescribed doom calculated by Halcrow, papers as irrational and quixotic—and as a thorn in
Sheikh Saqr canvassed help from other countries resolute plans. While it may not have been apparent
(Qatar, West Germany, and Denmark) and went at the time, Saqr had a lasting impact on not only
behind the British government’s back to approach Sharjah’s landscape but also Dubai’s. An example:

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58
the portrayal of Sharjah as a forsaken corner of the Halcrow still identified Sharjah’s deficiencies:
Arab world in an Arabic-language magazine, likely a residents had trouble finding work; its environs were
1959 issue of Al Arabi, allegedly attracted a wealthy “relatively barren”; its silted harbor suffered from
Iraqi sponsor who offered to build a new hospital twenty years of “progressive deterioration”; there
there. The secured funding was reportedly enough to was no electricity save for that provided by a few
start work on the building’s foundation, but it appears generators; there were no systems for sanitation,
that the hospital was never completed.13 Still, the waste disposal, and drainage; and the building
possibility, the story, of a future hospital in Sharjah stock suffered from an “inherent weakness of
was enough to motivate Dubai’s leadership to secure construction.” In 1955, such inauspicious findings
funding for its Al Maktoum Hospital, which had had led Halcrow to dismiss Sharjah by delivering an
reigned as the region’s premier health-care facility for impossible proposal—one that fed with ease into
already more than a decade.14 Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh the British government’s Dubai narrative. By 1963,
Rashid, recognized by then that the juxtaposition Halcrow recast the same ingredients into a new
to Sharjah defined Dubai; he also recognized storyline for a new client.
what Sheikh Saqr already knew—the potential of
infrastructure to tell a story. Dubai’s health-care The planners concluded that Sharjah “provides an
facility was a signpost of a modern, hygienic city, excellent opportunity.” Opportunity—in case the client
and something similar to which Sharjah could not yet became too complacent—was also outfitted with
claim. It was not the last time Saqr’s pursuits would threats: the first, if Sharjah ever became an oil state,
provoke ambitions in Dubai. it needed to be prepared “in a comprehensive manner”
for “rapid expansion”; the second, if Sharjah did not
MASTER PLAN become an oil state, it needed a backup plan to bolster
Saqr’s persistence could not bend the narrative its economy. The setup was that, no matter what
woven around Sharjah. Traders based in Sharjah happened, Sharjah was faced with a predicament that
were attracted to Dubai’s logistical ease and the could be abated only by a comprehensively planned
smooth new harbor surfaces built by Halcrow. They and expanded city. At least now the predicament
were lured by Sheikh Rashid’s promises of business was framed as surmountable, albeit necessitating
discounts, land opportunities, and cheap electricity. additional contracts granted to Halcrow.15
Once based in Dubai, opportunistic traders were also
met with Rashid’s censuring of supplying Sharjah too Report and Description of Proposals for Sharjah Town
generously. Sharjah’s residents were precariously Plan includes a section on Sharjah’s topography. The
reliant upon Dubai’s port, which charged them high British engineers had good reason to examine Sharjah’s
tariffs. To pay these fees, they remained reliant upon subsoil, as they had already once underestimated
remittances sent from family members working how menacingly volatile the region’s shoreline could
abroad in the oil fields of Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and be. Two years prior, in 1961, when seasonal storms
Saudi Arabia. There was one arena, however, in which whipped Dubai’s new harbor works into a stew of
Sharjah was doing better than Dubai: it had cornered debris and mud—causing lost days of Dubai’s sea
the regional gold trade that Kuwait’s traders, made trade—Halcrow’s resident engineer saw firsthand how
rich by oil deals, no longer pursued. To excel in the miscalculations could wreak havoc. The training walls
gold trade, Sharjah’s traders used the local airport and groins designed by Halcrow caused that year’s
and, possibly, Saqr’s small new harbor to shuttle storms to flood entire areas of Dubai, inundating the
the gold. Profits made from the trade might very well palm-frond houses which still sheltered a majority of
have given the ruler confidence to consider his next the city’s population, and causing a surge in deaths
attempt at changing Sharjah’s prescribed narrative. from influenza and disease. If it hadn’t already been
obvious before, Dubai was being built at a dangerously
By 1963, when Halcrow had already completed a low elevation, with a threateningly high water table.
second contract for Dubai Creek, they were called back
to Sharjah. This time, the request came not from the While Halcrow’s 1955 reports preferred Dubai’s
British government but from Sheikh Saqr. A different harbor as the more “flourishing,” the 1963 town
client requires a change in tone, a new framing of the plan found Sharjah to be the more advantageous
story. Three years prior, the British government had location for building a modern city. Sharjah, Halcrow
pushed a town plan upon Sheikh Rashid. Sheikh Saqr engineers concluded, was a coastal town auspiciously
instigated one for Sharjah of his own volition. Halcrow protected, geographically and geologically, from just
returned to the city it had written off and, within four such storms and flooding. In one of the few explicit
months, produced the Report and Description of references to Dubai, the plan reported, “Unlike
Proposals for Sharjah Town Plan. Dubai which is built almost entirely on the low-lying

59
[sabkha], Sharjah is mainly built on a gently sloping, The plan proposed casting a web of wide roadways
firm sand ridge.”16 And while drifting sand dunes may over the existing city and beyond, knotted together
have appeared to characterize Sharjah’s topography, by expansive roundabouts. The voids within the web
“The ground is generally firm, only the top 6 inches or were where the plan imagined “residential areas” cut
so of the surface consisting of loose sand. Below this, off from each other by the foretold car traffic. Roads
the sand is everywhere firmly compacted.” Sharjah would not just accommodate cars; they would also
had the bedrock foundations of a future city. delineate the new districts. Some of the resulting
districts, for example, would be outfitted with
To take advantage of this auspicious foundation, communal toilets and ablution spaces, an apparent
the Halcrow plan recommended sweeping away suggestion that at least one enclosed district would be
what existed above ground and making way for “an exclusively for low-income residents. By assembling
immediate redevelopment area.” Sharjah’s urban “blocks of dwelling plots, squares, mosques, and
fabric was dominated by the palm-frond walls of shops,” each designated area would be marked by
its areesh homes and shops; sturdier houses were “particular localities” with which residents identified,
made of “roughly shaped coral blocks set in a very allowing them “to live in the traditional manner as far
weak mortar.” “The whole area,” according to the as may be desired.” While not explicitly organizing
plan, was “built haphazardly.”17 Deemed inadequate, the city by its demographics—whether determined
Sharjah’s housing stock was targeted for a large- by income level, race, or provenance—the confined
scale plan for redevelopment. districts provided a means to segregate the city.

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There is no apparent set of guiding principles in traders considered nearly sixty years earlier. The
the plan. One can, however, start a list of proposed plan does not propose such a harbor, though Saqr’s
development projects that lengthens with each page shallow haven appears in drawings, with a proposed
turned. That list is what makes the plan so relevant to jetty. Months after the plan’s issuance, Saqr visited
review today. Many of the proposals on that list were Beirut and communicated with West German experts.
eventually realized, often through future Halcrow He was in discussions with two banks, outside the
contracts: a gridded roadway system, vast public regional monopoly of British Bank of the Middle East,
“concourses” around the palace and Rolla Tree, a bus to fund something larger than the jetty inscribed
depot, a new and enlarged airport outside the city in the plan. The political agency could not keep up
limits, large-scale market halls, and land reclamation with him, reporting that Sharjah’s development
around Khalid Lagoon. plans remained “mysterious.”18 In May 1964, the
British government and Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Rashid
The plan also makes an enigmatic suggestion: “There caught wind of Saqr’s plan for a large, two-berth
may be other possibilities for the expansion of trade, harbor, likely Halcrow’s “specialized” idea. Sharjah’s
possibly of a specialized kind where Sharjah could be ruler was ready to risk any income source he had
first in the field. This would require special study.” on the idea. Dubai’s leader was proportionately
These “possibilities” are not further elucidated, ruthless in maintaining his ascendancy. “In a burst
but the reference is probably to a deepwater port, of characteristic energy and duplicity,” Rashid
a proposal not unlike the one Sharjah’s leader and hastily commissioned Halcrow for a nearly $5-million
port, with four berths.19 It seems Halcrow was likely
promoting the same idea to both leaders, exploiting a
rivalry that British officials had only exacerbated. The
result was that Halcrow’s profits increased in Dubai
at Sharjah’s expense. “It was obvious,” a British
official reported, “that a Dubai deep-water port
would kill the Sharjah project stone dead.” Sharjah’s
supposedly “more foolish actions,” according to
British sources, once again had fueled Dubai’s
avaricious development.

A SECOND MASTER PLAN

Sharjah’s harbor plans were reduced to the jetty
Halcrow had drawn in the 1963 plan. Halcrow
secured the commission for both Dubai’s matchless
Port Rashid and Saqr’s conciliatory jetty, the first a
massive acquisition and the latter a placeholder for
possible future contracts. The jetty was connected
by an eventual causeway to an onshore point
between the British Petroleum compound and the
edge of Sharjah’s Al Mareija neighborhood. Here,
at the terminus of Al Meena Street, the 1963 plan
designated a “commercial centre.” Along this road,
Sharjah was reported to be developing “modern
flats” to connect to lines being laid for electricity
and running water. For the time being, the road’s
appendage projecting out to sea was the most visible
of Saqr’s efforts to harness concrete and steel for
reviving Sharjah. He was not around for the jetty’s
completion. In June 1965, with the finishing details
underway in the rising heat of summer, Sheikh Saqr
was deposed in a coup.

The British Foreign Office claimed no role in Saqr’s

removal, a far-fetched assertion according to Pan-
Arab media reporting at the time.20 While news outlets
in Cairo and Baghdad presented Saqr as a legitimate

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Zoning Proposals, Sharjah Town Plan, Sir William Halcrow & Partners, 1963. The plan reveals
how zoning was determined largely by laying a grid of wide thoroughfares, called “primary
distributors.” From 1963, Sharjah’s form was determined by idealized traffic patterns. In between
proposed roadways (most of which were executed) were designated zones, including a civic
sector, education center, and residential neighborhoods, called “precincts.” The new jetty (left)
was completed in 1965 near BP’s compounds and a proposed commercial center to rise along Al
Meena Street. Three coastal roundabouts already reveal Halcrow’s proposal to reclaim Sharjah
Creek. Instead, the narrow waterway was preserved and dredged, and the labeled sand spit was
earmarked for expansion into a reclaimed peninsula for the future Port Khalid. The legend’s scale
has been shifted for legibility. Halcrow/Jacobs. Courtesy of John R. Harris Library.
Layout Plan, Sheet One, Sharjah Town Plan, Sir William Halcrow &
Partners, 1963. Detail portion of zoning plan reveals how widespread
clearance was proposed to make way for “concourses” and
“precincts.” Halcrow/Jacobs. Courtesy of John R. Harris Library.
 07

07

ruler in forced exile, other forces rallied to support 1969, when the plan was issued, “Sharjah continued
his cousin and named successor, Sheikh Khalid bin to prosper, for reasons which nobody can quite
Mohammed Al Qasimi. British officials endorsed explain.” The jetty, by then in full operation, was
the new ruler as “enthusiastic” about pursuing their active, so much so that its supply of cheap cement
recommended reforms. From 1966, after a coup that threatened Dubai-based merchants’ profitable hold
brought him to power, Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed bin on the building staple. “The main streets of Sharjah
Sultan Al Nahyan bolstered Khalid’s ascent with cash are wider than those of Dubai, and at night they
gifts to fund more development.21 And while Saqr are better lit. Water and electricity supplies … are
did not last, his advisors, Sir William Halcrow and now improving under the hands of British engineers
Partners, did. Khalid commissioned them to revisit imported and paid for by the government of Sharjah.”
the town plan in 1969. The resulting Town Planning All of these projects, initiated by the deposed
for the State Capital of Sharjah report did not define ruler and executed by his hired advisors, were now
a new era of leadership. Instead, it followed “very endorsed by the British government. At this point,
closely the recommendations of the 1963 Town the British saw good reason to support Sharjah’s
Planning Report.” To counterbalance the destabilizing expansion, but the rivalry between Sharjah and Dubai
coup, the plan was a blueprint for expansion based had already taken hold: “Sheikh Rashid was trying
on continued progress. It speaks confidently of future to strangle Sharjah’s port, kill Sharjah truck driving,
“stages” and “phases,” in which Halcrow would play put Sharjah travel agencies out of business.” The
a major part.22 observing British official surmised that Sheikh Khalid
didn’t “want to compete with Dubai, but neither
A new asphalt road, completed by means of yet will he accept the status of a suburb.” The summer
another separate contract for Halcrow, connected before the plan’s issuance, Khalid traveled to London,
Sharjah to Dubai, easing the flow of people and “not seeking pleasure but talking to businessmen,
materials from one city to the other. Thereafter, any and returned with a parcel of signed contracts in his
proposed projects in Sharjah were framed not as a pocket.”24 Khalid wasn’t more successful because
challenge to Dubai’s dominance but as part of an his plans were less “grandiose” than Saqr’s; his
expanded field of private-industry contracts.23 In predecessor had successfully demonstrated that

66
Sharjah could also be a generator of contracts for impede vehicle movement. The city was defined as
British companies. If there was now any British a conveyor system for cars. Today, one immediately
concern about hindering Dubai’s development, it was feels the repercussions of this planning when trying to
redeemed by the perpetual rivalry that only produced walk from one “self-contained” district to another; the
more British-sourced contracts. pedestrian’s movement is often necessarily illegal.

Like the previous one, the 1969 town plan refers to The 1969 plan paid little attention to the older
designated “residential areas,” just more of them. sections of Sharjah, which had been laid out in
Each of these “precincts,” confined by Halcrow’s “rigid gridiron pattern” but not attentive to the 1963
prescribed roadways, was still conceived as a plan’s proposed districts. The proposal had been to
“self-contained element,” whose inner growth and flatten the old neighborhoods to make way for vast
changes could be monitored and isolated from other “concourses” encircling civic centers and shopping
zones. “Each residential area,” according to the plan, complexes; the land was mostly cleared, but it
needed to be “accurately planned and assessed” proved unamenable to the planner’s pen. Despite the
for its “ultimate population.” Beyond this, there is absence of improved roads, or maybe in anticipation
no evidence of any demographical analysis or even of them, the real estate market had surged in these
a mere observation that Sharjah had a tenuous areas, causing the unmanaged razing of the palm-
and fluid population, whose growth was largely frond complexes and a whirlwind of demolitions of
determined by unmonitored migration. The plan the old coral buildings for private developments.
acknowledges that “it is not possible to determine the
rate of growth of the population of Sharjah as there While the 1963 plan had prized the elevation of this
are no available statistics.” What is especially strange area of Sharjah, the 1969 plan focused on the city’s
about this claim is that, in the previous year, Sharjah low-lying region, on the water-soaked lands toward
had taken part in a regional census, an effort that for Dubai. This was also where larger tracts of land had
all practical purposes attempted to provide not only not yet been apportioned for sale. Deemed “unsuitable
an accurate population count but also more granular for building development,” the area around Khalid
data about residents, including their home countries Lagoon was available for Halcrow’s planning proposals
and their employment status in the city. Halcrow and thus for potential contracts. The site was also
makes no mention of having access to the results, but propitiously adjacent to the Dubai–Sharjah road,
the plan also appears to have no need for them. The recently surfaced with asphalt, situated conveniently
census had been pursued to gather a clearer picture in relation to Dubai and to Sharjah’s extending road
of how immigration and population growth were network.27 Halcrow’s plan foresees the indeterminate,
transforming Sharjah. The plan functioned according marshy land transformed through a tactic that had
to different reasoning: that the city is transformed made the company a profitable part of Dubai’s ongoing
not by its residents but by the deliberate arrangement overhaul: land reclamation. An estimated 4.5-million
of property rights, infrastructure, and architecture. cubic meters of earth had to be excavated from
Rather than to respond to an existing reality, the 1969 the temperamental lagoon’s floor to create a deep
plan aimed to create one. “recreational lake.” The gathered earth was then
redistributed to raise the area’s lowest points and
Wide new roads, or “primary distributors,” provided ready them for development. In addition, a new channel
the figurative and actual guidelines for shaping the was cut through the shoreline to provide a more
city. The plan conceded that Sharjah’s unquantified constant flow of water into the now deep lake. The
level of vehicle traffic did not yet require a “modern water levels raised as a result of this massive project
urban road system”; such a system, however, could entertain a constant stream of “local craft”—a
needed to be laid out and reserved for the time when reference to the wooden ships, which, though still
automobile traffic would expect “to enter and leave fueling most of Sharjah’s sea trade, were held in regard
the town rapidly and to circulate freely.”25 When for their aesthetic contribution to lake views.
the plan was issued, the city likely had a mere two
kilometers of hardened roads, Halcrow reserved Halcrow pitched the land reclamation work the same
swaths of land large enough to accommodate eight way as in Dubai: project costs would be recouped by
lanes of traffic. These roadways were designed to be “making available large areas of valuable land” for sale
void of building frontage and pedestrian access.26 The to developers. Halcrow’s plan brought forth a whole
plan also proposed that “in the foreseeable future” new realm of solid land no one could lay claim to, except
the city’s prosperity would demand a “two-level road for the government that created it. Today, the lagoon
system”—not to separate cars from city life but is known as Lake Khalid, indeed a recreational lake
to ensure that the network’s intersections did not that has served few purposes other than to absorb

67
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68
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69
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water runoff and offer waterfront views to real estate.28 ascent in 1972 coincided with the confirmation of
Halcrow envisioned it fringed with beach umbrellas, pending petroleum wealth. The resulting landscape
water skiers, and grassy lawns, a district of pleasure of identifiable and quantifiable projects—hotels,
and tranquility rendered by municipal mandate and real mosques, office towers, and recreation centers—were
estate development—all set against the backdrop of both a testament to new wealth and a down payment to
the disarray of the existing Sharjah beyond. Halcrow’s attracting more investment from abroad.
proposed roadways kept the lake and its lifestyle sealed
off from the rest of the city, just as with the plan’s other In 1974, Sharjah received its first earnings from oil
“enclosed areas.” sales, most of which had already been spent. That
same year, Sheikh Sultan commissioned Halcrow to
While municipal administration, education, health determine the site for a new airport, as recommended
care, and public transit are cursorily mentioned, the in both master plans.29 Halcrow engineers allegedly
1969 plan hardly pondered how residents would live in accompanied the new ruler one day out to the chosen
the city. Besides recreation and unimpeded roads, the site, over a packed sand road that would soon be
report also proposed a coherent approach to bolstering surfaced with asphalt to become one of the tendrils
industrial areas in Sharjah, including a district larger connecting the old coastal city to the expensive
than that around Lake Khalid, with origins in the airport fifteen kilometers inland. The motorcade
1963 plan. Set inland from the “primary distributor” crossed unbuilt territory, toward which the expanding
that enclosed the lake district, the industrial areas city could stretch on an array of wide roads, giant
were still “sporadic” in development in 1969 but soon roundabouts, and sweeping underpasses, all
spread, seemingly infinitely, inland. These zones were orchestrated by the attending engineers. A seven-
instrumentalized as part of Sharjah’s aspirational berth port to replace the jetty, sanitary souks,
economy as a low-cost, business-friendly home to massive greenspaces, and imposing government
a “light industries” sector. Placed beyond Halcrow’s buildings were situated, like pieces on a board
proposed lake district, they were also strategically game, on the maps Halcrow maintained. Sharjah, it
located on the road leading to Dubai. Sharjah could was reported, was also “bent on becoming a tourist
offer affordable real estate just a short distance from center.”30 The city more than just followed the
the escalating prices of Dubai. It could house the Halcrow plans; it continued to be defined—through
warehouses and work sheds that supplied industrial media campaigns, travel brochures, and investment
services not only to its own urban center but also pitches—as a city whose form was shaped by
to Dubai. By 1980, with no small contribution from engineers, carved out by infrastructure.
this area, Sharjah was described as surviving on the
“relative cheapness of lands and rents.” Its most “Our basic approach,” according to one short-lived
prevalent commercial sector, auto repair shops, kept advisor to the ruler, “is that we don’t have rules.”
the roads drawn by Halcrow well populated. No rules, but apparently a plan. “Town planning,”
according to a 1976 Financial Times article, “was
MORE CHANGE, MORE CONTINUITY one of the ruler’s main enthusiasms.”31 Planning,
As with the 1963 plan, the 1969 plan was issued toward though, was divorced from rules because the plan was
the end of a ruler’s reign. In 1972, Sheikh Khalid was a business offering, a visualization, a technocratic
assassinated by his predecessor, Saqr, in the latter’s promise that a seemingly endless desert could be
attempt to return to power. Once again, Sharjah faced apportioned to stoke a real estate market. A plan to
potential political turmoil, quickly defused by the presuppose resourcefulness and therefore deny any
appointment of Khalid’s brother Sheikh Sultan bin spoor of desperation. Sharjah’s resources were its
Muhammad Al Qasimi as the new ruler. And, once again, delineated land bank, a catalogue of offerings, and
Halcrow survived political change through its ability to rumors of more petroleum wealth to come. A plan
render transformation on the landscape into a conduit with no rules, just opportunity. A matrix of real estate,
for investments. Halcrow’s plans did not so much transforming desert into “a pleasant environment
envision a city as deliver the topography of coordinates, almost from scratch.” Sharjah could claim being “the
schedules, and measurements necessary for doling fastest growing state in the Middle East” because
out future contracts. Announcement of a new ruler was it still had so far to grow. The plan was supposed
followed by announcements of a new litany of projects. to be self-generative. “Development fed on itself
The city, more than ever, was described in the kilometer exponentially,” according to the Financial Times.32
counts of water pipes, the price of a new project, Change was the only constant, that is in addition to
and the number of new commercial and residential the single British engineering firm that tallied and
buildings. To maintain the image of a stable city, Sheikh extolled the possibilities. In 1978, Sharjah residents
Sultan eagerly presented more transformation. His looked out over a landscape designed for dealmaking,

71
a “near-catastrophe … because its planners [had] red tape than elsewhere.”34 By the mid-1970s, the
created a state infrastructure and are now searching Abu Dhabi–based federal government was paying
for an economy to drop into place.”33 In 1984, Halcrow Sharjah’s bills for education, policing, health care,
submitted a new master plan—the third for its third and even road building. This freed up the city’s
ruler-client—that pushed the grid further inland to leadership to focus further on defining their city as an
attach to the new airport. investment opportunity. The Financial Times observed
that Sharjah’s “booming economy reflects the
Sharjah’s narrative was no longer driven by a economic buoyancy of the UAE.” No longer framed as
simplistic rivalry between two cities too near to the underdog to Dubai’s boomtown, Sharjah bore the
each other. Dubai was once pitched as the free and mantel of Abu Dhabi’s magnanimity and solvency. Abu
lawless port, but now Sharjah, the lesser-known Dhabi would guarantee the rescheduling of mounting
and more inchoate city, could be pitched according loans. Sharjah was merely the latest chapter in a
to the old Dubai playbook. But that did not hinder regional story of cities created “out of the desert” on
Dubai. The same year Sharjah announced its new the premise of oil wealth. In a 1976 Financial Times
airport, Dubai proclaimed a new city for 500,000 supplement focused on Sharjah, there was at least
people and another airport. The city at Jebel Ali one prophetic observation about Sharjah and Dubai:
didn’t materialize, but the port city of mega-industry “The two cities must eventually merge physically.”
around it did. There was little more of note in the That merging happened, not only through the
intercity competition, once Dubai’s proposals proved entangling of built environments but also in the knots
impossible to match. Sharjah, at least, was now a of vehicle traffic, both of which now stretch from
city that offered a handshake with autocratic power, Dubai, through Sharjah, and into Ajman, the result
without bureaucratic paperwork, to secure a business being a single indistinguishable conurbation. Without
deal. It was the truer realm of “no taxes and less rules, Sharjah’s plan has merged into greater ones.

Notes:

1. Rosemarie Said Zahlan, The Origins of a fraudulent scheme led by a Swiss currently occupied by City Centre Mall.
the United Arab Emirates: A Political huckster. See Head of Chancery, British 21. Sheikh Zayed came to power in Abu
and Social History of the Trucial States. Embassy, Jedda to H. B. M., Political Dhabi after a coup in 1966, in which the
(London: Macmillan, 1978), 28. Agency, Dubai, 14 May 1963, NA, FO British government played an explicit role.
2. H. J. Evans, “A Note on the Wealth of 371:168926. 22. Sir William Halcrow & Partners, Town
Dubai,” 24 Jun. 1950, The National 14. See Reisz, “Piecemeal: Al Maktoum Planning for the State Capital of
Archives, United Kingdom (NA), FO Hospital,” in Showpiece City. Sharjah, 1969.
371:82047. 15. Sir William Halcrow & Partners, Report 23. See p. 52.
3. Pelly to Secretary of States, 26 Jun. and Description of Proposals for Sharjah 24. “Dubai and the Northern Trucial States
1950, NA, FO 371:82047. Town Plan, July 1963. Review of the Year 1969,” 30 Dec. 1969,
4. “A Note on the Wealth of Dubai.” 16. Sabkha is a characteristic element of the NA, FCO 8:1509.
5. H. J. Evans, “Notes on the Finances regional landscape where saline deposits 25. The plan claimed that the amount of
of Sharjah,” 12 Aug. 1950, NA, FO result in hardened surfaces traversable roadworks underway precluded any traffic
371:82047. by cars and trucks. Rain or tides, surveys to be completed for the plan.
6. Ibid. Note from C. M. Rose, 22 Aug., NA, however, cause them to disintegrate into 26. A comprehensive and illustrative plan of
FO 371:8204. Documented sources of deep, mud-like morass. Sharjah is absent from the copy of the
Sharjah income included the following: 17. It is not surprising that Sharjah’s most plan used for this article. The 1963 master
land rent paid by the British government prominent houses were dilapidated, as plan’s roadways, however, are largely
for air and military compounds, their inhabitants may have either gone drawn as they were eventually laid.
payments from oil prospectors (about a to oil states to earn income or moved 27. The area’s marshy condition had been
third more than Dubai), and profits from their businesses to better-serviced intensified by the infrastructure works
red oxide mining (ibid.). Dubai as early as the 1930s. The plan that gleaned the hardened sabkha
7. British Residency Bahrain to Principal listed the neighborhoods of Al Mareija, surfaces to create road surfaces for
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Al Shuwaiheen, and Freej bin Darwish more built-up areas of Sharjah. See
12 Aug. 1950, NA, FO 371:82047. as those needing rebuilding. Halcrow, Town Planning for the State
8. Adams, “Minutes of discussions 18. Craig to Brown, 30 Jun. 1964, NA, FO Capital of Sharjah, 27.
regarding Halcrow’s survey of Dubai 371:174713. 28. See the proposed master plan for
and Sharjah Creeks,” 28 Jan. 1955, NA, 19. The port in Dubai would become known Khalid Lagoon, p. 157.
FO 371:114696. as Port Rashid, with an estimated cost 29. Halcrow would secure several
9. Craig to Acting Political Resident, 20 that ballooned to $57.5 million by 1969. commissions for the planning and
Sep. 1964, NA, FO 371:174711. See 20. British government files deny any role design of the new Sharjah International
also Todd Reisz, “Hardened Edges,” in the coup against Sheikh Saqr, though Airport. See p. 387.
in Showpiece City: How Architecture British officials reported that Saqr “flatly 30. “Sharjah Moves Rapidly to Modernize,”
Made Dubai (Redwood City: Stanford refused to reconsider the permission The Times (London), June 19, 1975.
University Press, 2020). he had given for the opening of an Arab 31. Kathleen Bishtawi, “Sharjah V:
10. Note, 28 Oct. 1959, NA, FO 371:140143. League Office in his State.” Before Environment,” Financial Times,
11. Griffith to Craig, 5 Dec. 1961, NA, FO his departure, Saqr had also carried December 10, 1976.
371:157025. By the time construction out other important developments, 32. James Buxton, “The Economy: Sharjah,”
of Dubai’s airport and Port Rashid was including the initiation of an electric grid Financial Times, June 26, 1976; Michael
underway, Costain was also securing scheme and power station, completed Tingay, “Sharjah: A New Framework,”
contracts in Dubai. jointly by Halcrow and Kennedy & Financial Times, June 26, 1976.
12. Burrows to Macmillan, 28 Nov. 1955, Donkin, whom the British political 33. “Sharjah: A New Framework.”
NA, FO 371:114656. agency had also brought to Dubai. The 34. James Buxton, “Sharjah II: Economy,”
13. The hospital project seems to have been original power station was on land Financial Times, December 10, 1976.

72
11

Images:

01. Report and Description of Proposals Large swaths of the city, indicated in not accurately. In a 1970 publication
for Sharjah Town Plan, cover, Sir William yellow and brown, were classified as on Sharjah, London-based Middle
Halcrow & Partners, 1963. Halcrow/ being in poor condition and made up East Economic Digest summed up
Jacobs. Courtesy of John R. Harris Library. of palm frond buildings and therefore the early achievements of British
02. Sharjah ruler Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al designated for demolition to make way industriousness in Sharjah with a pair
Qasimi listens to Palestinian teacher for Halcrow’s proposed precincts and of before/after aerial photographs: the
Mohammed Abo Foul’s explanation roadways. Halcrow/Jacobs. Courtesy of first, allegedly from 1968—Sharjah
of model demonstrating al yaazra, a John R. Harris Library. portrayed in yet another year of dusty
local irrigation technique. Scouts and 07. Halcrow’s 1969 plan included sand trails—and, “exactly a year apart,”
students of Al Qasimiyah School listen architectural proposals for Al Zahra’a the second, 1969—a landscape seared
during annual end-of-year exhibition, Square, the oblong open space by viscous ribbons of tarmac ready to
1962 or 1963. In center, head of Sharjah also known today as Clock Tower sustain real estate investment. As of
courts Sheikh Majid bin Sager with his Roundabout. In order to accommodate late summer 1969, however, Halcrow
two sons: Hamad bin Majid peering over the growing population, the plan counted only two tarmac roads in
his shoulder and Saeed bin Majid to his proposed shifting the city’s commercial Sharjah, affording good reason to doubt
right. Courtesy of Shaikha Nama bint center from Al Meena Street further that the after-image was taken in
Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi. inland to here. For the new center, January 1969. A reduction of accuracy,
03. General Plan, Sharjah Town Plan, Sir the Halcrow planners provided the a folding of the timeline, for the sake
William Halcrow & Partners, 1963. The plan’s limited architectural proposals, of a good story further accentuated
drawing was largely based on aerial both peculiarly large, round buildings Sharjah as a city of profitable and
photograph on p. 72. In Al Layah (top and each at the end of the oblong malleable landscapes. UK MOD ©
left) one can see an early jetty, likely roundabout, one a “market site” (where Crown copyright, courtesy of MEED.
completed in early 1930s to supply Al Zahra Hospital is today) and another 10. The Halcrow plan’s guiding principle
construction materials for British air a “hotel site.” On the longer edges, was a grid of major roadways knitted
station, and also the C-shaped shallow Halcrow’s plan proposed buildings not together by roundabouts. It was
harbor Sheikh Saqr had built after unlike what stand today—tall office replicated as Sharjah expanded inland,
British refusal to help rebuild Sharjah’s towers and low-rise shops. Halcrow/ reaching beyond Sharjah International
port. Halcrow/Jacobs. Courtesy of John Jacobs. Courtesy of Peter Jackson. Airport, also sited and designed by
R. Harris Library. 08. Aerial of Sharjah city taken in January Halcrow. This drawing, produced by
04. Sharjah Port, undated. The 720-meter- 1960 by Hunting Aerosurveys as part engineers and planners working for the
long jetty could receive two ships of contract to photograph Abu Dhabi, municipality, reveals that Halcrow’s
at a time. Contractor, Beton- und Dubai, and Sharjah. Halcrow would plans were by 1980 internalized in
Monierbau. MEED. base Sharjah’s first master plan on the daily operations of ordering new
05. Interior, Sharjah Trade School, British- this photograph three years later. The designated sites for development.
funded project to train local male existing city was concentrated at the Dated November 1980, the plan was
students for the intensifying building coast. The British-controlled air base, drafted by Abdul Khalil Shaikh, under
boom, circa 1960. Students and below, can be read as a fenced-in site the direction of town planner Afzal
graduates from the Sharjah program apart from the rest of the city. National Ahmed Khan, chief engineer Tanweer
helped construct the trade school in Collection of Aerial Photography, Ahmad Zaidi, and director general
Dubai. Al Arabi. courtesy of Peter Jackson. Obaid Essa Ahmed. Afzal Ahmed Khan,
06. Existing Development, Sharjah Town 09. In the years after Halcrow’s issuance courtesy of Sharjah Municipality.
Plan, Sir William Halcrow & Partners, of the 1969 plan, the British press 11. Halcrow’s 1984 master plan extended
1963. The master plan included a color- also started to chronicle spectacular the grid inland toward the new airport.
coded zoning of construction quality. development in Sharjah, but perhaps Halcrow/Jacobs, courtesy of Peter Jackson.

73
 The hardening of the road leading from the Dubai–Sharjah road to Al Layah
district, as part of Halcrow’s road-building contract, 1968. Rahma bin Nasser Al
Owais took this photograph from a Gulf Air flight to Bahrain, the first leg of his
return to English studies at University of Baghdad. The new asphalt road was
part of an infrastructural package to integrate the expanding port into the city of
Sharjah. Rahma bin Nasser Al Owais, courtesy of Abdallah Mohamed Al Quraidi.

74
 Workers laying the new asphalt road toward the port in Al Layah, circa
1966. At left, the construction staging site for the port’s expansion. Michael
Hamilton-Clark took this photograph while working as engineer on Halcrow’s
road-building contracts in the Trucial States. Michael Hamilton-Clark.

75
 Orient Travel and Touring Agency, Al Arouba Street. In 1974, the
company moved its offices to another building designed by Khatib &
Alami on the same street. Hamid Durani, Honeymoon Studio.

76
US-based First National City Bank’s Sharjah branch on Al Arouba Street, Khatib &
Alami, 1969. Left of the bank was the four-story building owned by contracting and
engineering company Darwish Engineering. Courtesy of Badr Al Ansari.

77
78
Al Wahda Street, just over a decade after the construction photo on p. 30, 1991.
The thoroughfare connected the old center of Sharjah to Dubai. Its mid-rise
buildings housed South Asian and Arab (largely Lebanese) newcomers, who
made the ground floors into Sharjah’s most active commercial strip. Two
buildings at left, Khatib & Alami, 1975; building, right, Sharjah Engineering
Office, 1974. Dar Al Khaleej Printing & Publishing.

79
80
Arab Bank & Like the kilometers of asphalt, the number Both mixed-use buildings were designed
British Bank of of international banks was a commonly by Consolidated Engineering Company, a
the Middle East referenced indicator of Sharjah’s viability Lebanese company that established its
Buildings in the 1970s and 1980s. Banks, one British Sharjah office after securing the contract
magazine noted, embodied “expectations for the Arab Bank Building. In a subtle
of oil wealth.” In September 1970, Sharjah manner, the two buildings shared similar
counted ten banks, an increase from architectural expressions, particularly
four in the mid-1960s. The British Bank their use of complex facade screens—
of the Middle East, or BBME, was the often compared to mashrabiya—that
first to open in February 1953, thanks to unified the facades and provided shading
coordination with the British government. for the interiors. The BBME Building’s
BBME’s first branch in Sharjah was inner courtyard accommodates open
described as a single-story, single-room staircases and corridors, which increase
building in the palm frond–shaded souk. air circulation and induce a sense of
The twenty-year contract signed by BBME community. The upper floors are still
and the ruler at the time, Sheikh Saqr bin used as residences today. The attention
Sultan Al Qasimi, stipulated that the bank to the screens and environmental
would open at least two mornings every concerns are attributes not often found
week and would hire Sharjah subjects as in the design firm’s later work in the UAE.
“clerical and menial staff if available and Eventually renamed Khatib & Alami, the
found suitable.” The bank paid an annual company became one of the most prolific
rent of 1,600 riyals, equivalent to about architecture firms in the country.
$3,300 or AED 12,000 today.
Today, the BBME Building is often
Arab Bank Around 1967, Sharjah’s then ruler, Sheikh affectionately referred to as the Juice
Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, allegedly World Building, a nod to the building’s
Architect
Consolidated took an active role in real estate deals currently most visible tenant. The Arab
Engineering Company that would cultivate Sharjah’s reputation Bank Building was demolished in the
(Khatib & Alami)
in international banking. BBME agreed to 1980s, rendered but a vague memory in
Contractors partially finance the construction of a five- the city’s architectural history.
Darwish Engineering,
Consolidated story block building situated prominently
Contractors across from Sharjah’s Rolla Square. As
Company (CCC)
part of the agreement for what came to
Completed be known as the BBME Building, the bank
1968
rented the ground-floor retail space with
Status a twenty-five-year lease; the floors above
Demolished
were situated around an open central
Client courtyard and leased as apartments and
Sheikh Khalid bin
Mohammed Al Qasimi office space. Sharjah Municipality also
occupied some of the upper-floor space.

Before BBME relocated to the Rolla

British Bank of the Square location, Amman-based Arab
Middle East Bank had already opened its Sharjah
Architect branch in a three-story building on a
Consolidated neighboring plot. With its two upper floors
Engineering Company
(Khatib & Alami) of residences, the building was one of the
city’s first modern mixed-use buildings 01. The British Bank of the Middle East Building,
Contractors from Government Square, Al Arouba Street,
Darwish Engineering and often advertised as evidence of the 1970s. Reproduced with the permission of HSBC
city’s progress. Following the bank’s Holdings plc.
Completed 02. The Arab Bank, right, just as early streetlights
1972 completion in 1968, more buildings of a marked Al Arouba Street as the city’s primary
similar scale and even larger began to line axis. The BBME Building would rise behind
Status the bank. On the left is a remaining traditional
Existing
Al Arouba Street. house of coral and stone. Its screened rooftop
once provided privacy for sleeping outside in
Client summer, until the arrival of taller buildings.
Sheikh Khalid bin To its right is the Grey Building (see p. 168).
Mohammed Al Qasimi Mahmood AlSawan.

81
02
01

02

84
Mothercat On his way to becoming a prominent
Building Lebanese businessman, Emile Bustani
returned to Lebanon in 1933 after
graduating with a civil engineering
degree from Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. He soon thereafter founded
the Contracting and Trading Company, or
CAT, which specialized in constructing roads
and oil pipelines throughout the region.

In 1951, Bustani’s company merged

with the British firm Motherwell Bridge
Engineering Company to create the Middle
East heavyweight construction company
Mothercat LTD. Mothercat was active in
the Levant and the Gulf throughout the
1960s and 1970s despite Bustani’s sudden
death in a plane crash off the coast of
Lebanon in 1963.

Following the outbreak of the Lebanese

Civil War in 1975, the company’s board
elected to move its headquarters from
Beirut to Sharjah. They commissioned
the Cypriot-born and British-educated
architect Mesut Cagdas to design the new
Mothercat offices on Al Wahda Street, the
boom-induced road leading to Dubai.1
The company remained there throughout
the war in Lebanon. Cagdas had previously
worked with Mothercat in 1971 on a
project to design and construct Al Falaj
Hotel in Muscat. Among the projects
carried out by Mothercat in Sharjah are
the Sharjah–Ras Al Khaimah road and the
03
Sharjah Sports Complex, designed by the
British firm RMJM.

An intersection near the company’s

headquarters was known as Mothercat
Roundabout, indicative of the prominence
of Mothercat Building in Sharjah.

Architect
Mesud Cagdas, Cagdas
Associates

Contractor
Mothercat LTD

Client 01.−02. Mothercat Building on Al Wahda Street, late

Mothercat LTD 1970s. Dr. Naman Al Jalili Archives Collection.
03. Perspective rendering of early proposal for
Completed Mothercat Building, as shown in Cagdas
1976 Associates’ marketing brochure, undated
and unnamed, but confirmed after review of
Status municipality documents. Cagdas Associates,
Demolished, 2000 1. See p. 78. courtesy of Dev Bhatia.

85
01

02

86
Sharjah In 1978, a new main post office for
Post Office Sharjah opened, prominently located
on Government House Square. The roof
was the most expressive element. Its
wing-like, precast sections seemed
at once to lift up from and enclose the
rest the building. Glazing lining the
eaves between the roof and brick walls
allowed a cascade of soft daylight
into the building’s interiors. Today,
the post office still stands, but its
original design is barely discernible.

The building’s initial gestures of a

modernist architectural language were
somehow realized despite Sharjah’s major
turn in the late 1970s toward excessive
ornamentation, often inspired by Islamic
architecture, for new government
facilities. The post office survived in its
original form until a massive renovation
in the early 2000s, which included a
Architect and
Engineering Consultant complete transformation of the building’s
Dar Al-Handasah, outer elevations: its wings were clipped.
Shair & Partners
The result was a massive, monochromatic
Client recladding of the building in patterns
Ministry of Public
Works and Ministry of
and textures, a so-called Islamicization
Communications of the building’s architecture. A new
Completed
portico with decorative, structurally
1978 superfluous columns was also added
Status
to accentuate the new design’s
Significantly renovated aspirations to a classical temperament.

03 04 05

87
06

88
 07

01. Front elevation along Government 03.–05. Roof and elevation details, 07. Two roadside snapshots from
House Square. In the background 1980s. Dr. Naman Al Jalili Government House Square
is one of Sharjah Expo’s tents (see Archives Collection. after installation of the fountain
p. 173), 1980s. Dr. Naman Al Jalili 06. Side and main entrance designed by Halcrow, late
Archives Collection. elevation drawings as 1980s. In background, left of
02. Site plan as submitted to Sharjah’s submitted to Sharjah’s Ministry post office, stands a residential
Ministry of Public Works, 1970s. of Public Works, 1970s. Dar block designed by Adnan
Dar Al-Handasah, UAE Ministry Al-Handasah, UAE Ministry of Saffarini, completed in 1988.
of Infrastructure Development. Infrastructure Development. UAE Ministry of Infrastructure
Courtesy of Najeeb Maktari. Courtesy of Najeeb Maktari. Development.

89
Students and teachers from a local school visit the brick plant for an ongoing
construction site not far from Mothercat Roundabout and Sharjah’s designated
Industrial Area, early 1980s. Other images from this field trip, including the class
of girls, appear throughout this book. DAFCO.

90
91
01

92
Sheba Hotel In 1968, the Yemeni contractor According to Al Arabi magazine, the
Mohammed Saeed Al Husseiny moved to hotel was where arriving entrepreneurs
Sharjah when the British evacuated Aden. assembled to see and be seen.1 In addition
Having built his contracting company to its fifty air-conditioned rooms, the hotel
on British-sourced contracts in Yemen, housed a swimming pool, a restaurant,
Al Husseiny hoped to regain his footing two cocktail bars, and a garden casino
in Sharjah by tendering for new road situated in the atrium between the two
construction projects connecting the city adjoining blocks. Interiors were decked
to Ras Al Khaimah. He also saw enough out with luxurious, patterned wallpaper
potential in Sharjah to purchase a plot of and plush upholstery. In 1971, one
land near the airport, on what is now King could enjoy a twin room, graced with red
Faisal Street. There, he imagined building bedspreads and pale magenta curtains,
a large department store. When the ruler for 100 Qatari riyals (about $20) per night.
Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi Downstairs, lobby walls were lined with
heard of his plans, he thought it a lost framed photographs charting the history-
opportunity. Based on current demand in-the-making of Sheba Hotel as the
and the site’s strategic location near center of Sharjah deal brokering.
the airport, the ruler argued, the project
should be a hotel. The resulting building, According to Al Husseiny, the hotel hosted
whose architect could not be identified, a twelve-day summit of Trucial States
may have been based on drawings for a leaders before the union and meetings
hotel built in Aden or elsewhere in Yemen. between the governments of Sharjah and
Iran. He also recalled Sharjah leaders
The eventual hotel comprised two holding drawn-out discussions there with
Contractor rectangular blocks of concrete bricks, representatives of American oil companies
Aden Engineering &
Contracting Company embellished by shading elements. for the early oil contracts.
The rooftop shading was wing-like,
Client
Mohammed Saeed recalling the nearby airport. The most
Al Husseiny overwhelming element was made up
Completed of slender, precast concrete slabs
1969 painted in bright red and gleaming white.
Status
The resulting facade bears a striking
Demolished, 1999 resemblance to the Sharjah flag. 1. See p. 110.

01. Front entrance along King Faisal Street, early

1970s. Images: Collection of Mohammed Saeed
Al Husseiny, courtesy of Mostafa Mohammed Al
Husseiny.
02. Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed
Al Qasimi with owner Mohammed Saeed Al
Husseiny at hotel’s opening, 1969.
02

93
94
Sharjah Clock Tower

A bygone landmark, once described as

the “centrepiece” of Sharjah’s nocturnal
panorama, was a gift to the city from the
Dusseldorf-based company Beton- und
Monierbau AG, delivered five years after
they secured contracts to design and build
the city’s expanded port.

After completion of the port’s first phase,

known as The Jetty, the clock was installed
in 1969 at Al Zahra’a Square, which quickly
became known as Clock Tower Roundabout,
like similar sites in Gulf cities, including the
one in Dubai’s Deira district.

The structure was a monument, as affirmed

in its appearance on the bygone one-AED
note and a postage stamp. It became a
favorite destination for evening leisure
and a backdrop for public festivities,
when the structure would sometimes be
festooned with colorful lights. The societal
role it played accelerated development—
the creation of the public space and
apportionment of the adjoining land plots—
around the oblong Al Zahra’a Square.

The clock tower’s base was inspired by

flower petals, out of which rose a cylindrical
obelisk, bearing a cubic clock, all of this
ensconced in a water fountain. The arrival
of the clock tower coincided with the ruler’s
campaign to light Sharjah’s streets at night
and embellish them with public fountains.
He spoke of “fountain therapy.” Whenever a
news item promoted Sharjah as the “Garden
City of the Gulf,” it was often accompanied
by a photograph of the clock tower’s
fountain surrounded by colorful flowerbeds.

The campaign to feature more explicit

references to Islamic design in Sharjah’s
public architecture increased in the 1980s,
leading to the blue clock tower’s replacement
with a more compliant design when
renovation work on Al Zahra’a Square and
its surrounding roadways was carried out.

Architect and Contractor

Beton- und Monierbau AG

Completed
1969

Status
Demolished, 2006. Replaced

95
02

96
 03

01. The clock tower at night, 02. People gather around Al was often draped with strings
photographed by Noor Ali Zahra’a Square—or as most of lights during gatherings.
Rashid. Often referred to as people call it, Clock Tower Narain R. Sawlani.
the UAE’s royal photographer, Roundabout—designated in 03. Sharjah resident Mohammed
Rashid was born in what is today Halcrow’s master plans to be Shamis Al Maazmi and his
Pakistan and eventually became the new center of an expanded friend in front of clock tower,
a naturalized citizen of the UAE. Sharjah. While the roundabout 1980–81. Collection of
His photographic archive bears never acquired such a role, Mohammed Shamis Al Maazmi,
witness to a nation’s history. © it did host celebrations and courtesy of Ahmad Al Maazmi.
The Royal Photographer Noor ceremonies throughout the
Ali Rashid. Provided by Noor Ali 1970s. The clock tower,
Rashid Archives. manufactured in Sharjah,

97
Córdoba and In 1974, Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Each row of buildings is named after an
Granada Buildings, Muhammad Al Qasimi commissioned the Andalusian city—the Córdoba Buildings
Bank Street Spanish firm Tecnica y Proyectos, or TYPSA, (southwest) and the Granada Buildings
to design and manage construction of (northeast)—as a nod to the Spanish
what allegedly aspired to be “a Wall Street designers, though they were based
in the desert.” The project comprised in Madrid. For both sets of buildings,
24 eleven-story buildings on either apartments with balconies were set above
side of a landscaped boulevard. Burj Al commercial ground floors and mezzanines.
Kubs, the remaining watchtower of the Each building also offered communal
demolished fort, determined the large- recreational spaces to residents.
scale project’s central axis. The buildings’
continuous concrete bands conceal Construction contracts for the first twelve
partitioned balconies and accentuated buildings were awarded in 1975 to two
the axial perspective. The result was companies, Eastern LLC (founded by
Sharjah’s most memorable site of modern Abdulrahman Bukhatir) and Bombay-based
architecture, until its pieces, one by one, Kalpataru Limited. All members of the
started to be demolished. construction team were Indian nationals.
Second-phase construction started in
Each building is owned by either the ruler, 1976 and was concluded by 1979.
who according to the architects actively
participated in the design process, or a Despite the project having delivered
member of the ruling family. Design and some of Sharjah’s most recognizable
construction costs were estimated at AED architecture, two of the Córdoba Buildings
Architect
Juan Paradinas, José 138 million, or about $35 million. Around were demolished in 2016. Plans to
Carlos Laredo, Tecnica y the time of the project’s announcement, demolish the remaining twenty-two
Proyectos (TYPSA)
seventy-nine American and European buildings have been put on hold, though
Contractors banks applied to open branches in the more demolitions are expected without
Eastern LLC, Kalpataru
Limited, Costain
city. Recent oil announcements meant published redevelopment plans.
International, Arabian that lending opportunities were rampant.
Contracting Company
(ACC), Gulf General
The banks to be housed in the lower floors
Projects Co. were urged to contribute to the financing
Completed
of the project’s construction, thus shifting
1979 the city’s banking center from Al Meena
Status
Street to the newly named Bank Street,
Partially demolished also known as Al Burj Street.

02

99
 03

04

100
Model of the Bank Street buildings,
as featured in the Financial Times,
reveals how land in between one-way
roads was to be landscaped. Formal
landscaping design was later replaced
with parking lots. The remaining Burj
Al Kubs was intended as the axis’s
centerpiece before plans to reconstruct
Sharjah’s old fort. Source: Kathleen
Bishtawi, Financial Times, December
10, 1976, “Sharjah III: Banking.” Used
under licence from the Financial Times.
All Rights Reserved.

101
 05

102
 06

01. Sharjah’s most striking 03. The Córdoba Buildings, capped drawings of the city’s most
architecture was a boulevard. with construction cranes, iconic project in Sharjah,
Featured here are the Granada rise over the first instances research led to the Madrid
Buildings on the north side of of concrete structures in offices of the design firm, which
Bank Street. The photo predates Sharjah. In the foreground are provided drawings and archival
installation of bank branch small concrete block buildings photographs. TYPSA.
signage, late 1970s. TYPSA. and work sheds arising in 06. The parallel rows of Córdoba
02. Jaseera Abobaker, daughter of response to Sharjah’s promising and Granada Buildings in
Sayed Abobaker Mohammed, economy. Regnault & Partners. direction of Port Khalid,
poses on the roof of Al Saud Co. 04. The Granada Buildings upon with Rolla Square still under
Building, where she lived and completion, displaying a “blend construction in the foreground,
where her father was owner [of] Islamic architecture with circa 1980. TYPSA.
of Al Jasar Supermaket (p. modern technology.” Dr. Naman
183). Behind her, left, are the Al Jalili Archives Collection.
Córdoba Buildings. Collection of 05. Elevations, Córdoba Buildings.
Sayed Abobaker Mohammed. With no trace of archival
 Above: Cover of Al Arabi magazine, Issue 156, which included the original article
abridged and translated here. The following English captions are translations
from the original reporting. Permission to reprint the article provided by Al Arabi.

Right: “Smile, You Are in Sharjah.” The fountain jets reflect the serenity visible on
citizens’ faces, despite the mighty transition from Bedouin to modern urban life.

104
AL ARABI SHARJAH: Reporting by An abridged
NOVEMBER SNAPSHOTS OF AN Salim Zabbal English translation
1971 EMIRATE IN THE Photography of original text by
NASCENT UNION OF by Oscar Mitri Karim Traboulsi
THE ARABIAN GULF

The following article is one of Gulf states and Yemen. It was also The magazine’s dissemination
several that Kuwait-based Al Arabi widely available in Arab capitals signified that Kuwait’s role vis-
magazine published on Sharjah such as Beirut and Cairo, offering à-vis its lower Gulf neighbors
and its ongoing development in the readers a first glimpse into corners was not only to offer financial
1960s and 1970s. From this series of their own region. assistance but also to provide
of articles, many people in the Arab support, sometimes moral, in the
world gleaned their first and only Founded in 1958 by Emir form of print media in addition to
impressions of the emirate, largely Sheikh Abdullah Al Salim Al radio and later the establishment
isolated from the rest of the region Sabah (1895–1965), Al Arabi is of a Kuwait television station
until the UAE’s independence from considered the first major Pan- outpost in Dubai in 1969.
the British in 1971. Al Arabi enjoyed Arab publication based in the Arab
global distribution, its influence Gulf states, most of which had Lebanese journalist Salim Zabbal
often compared to that of National yet to gain independence from (1926–2018) was commissioned
Geographic. What distinguished Al Britain. At the height of the Gamal to write the pieces on Sharjah,
Arabi from other Arabic-language Abdel Nasser–led movement of accompanying the images of
publications was the spotlight it Arab Nationalism, Al Arabi bore Cairo-born photojournalist
shed on often overlooked parts of the motto «‫»اعرف وطنك أيها العربي‬ Oscar Mitri (b. 1927), a magazine
the Arab world such as the lower (“Know your nation, O Arab”). contributor since 1960.

105
Magnified map of the borders of the emirates of the
Coast of Oman before the establishment of the six-
emirate union. One will notice the odd, chessboard-like
border lines. The shaded part of the map represents
the Emirate of Sharjah, divided into four parts,
one bordering the Arabian Gulf and three exclaves
bordering the Gulf of Oman.

The first map of the United Arab Emirates to be published, consisting of the
following emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, and
Fujairah. Their total surface area is approximately 31,500 square miles, Abu
Dhabi being the largest emirate at 26,000 square miles. The total population
(1968 census) is 155,500. The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, which may accede to
the UAE, has an area of 650 square miles and a population of 24,500. [Ras Al
Khaimah joined the UAE in 1972.—Ed.]

106
A THIRD EXPEDITION But promoting education is not enough. It needs to
The emirates of the Arabian Gulf are today undergoing be coupled with a new way of life that suits the new
a crucial transition. Early next year, the once- thinking of graduates and intellectuals and to respond
everlasting treaties established by Britain with to their ambitions and long-term visions. … They will
various emirates in 1820 will become void, and British no longer accept living under roofs made of palm
forces will withdraw from their bases in the region, fronds. For this reason, I am building, developing,
including the massive British base established in and planning for the future, not just for today, but
Sharjah in 1940.1 also so that future generations do not curse me.”

Sharjah is a land of authenticity and history. It is the We then left Sheikh Khalid, his grand hopes already
home of the Qawasim family, once so mighty that coming to fruition, and went out to tour the city. Wide,
they controlled the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, levying paved avenues and towering buildings had replaced
taxes on every ship that crossed the Strait of Hormuz. the old mud houses of yesteryear. We reached the
A few months before the birth of the union, we British base by foot. Located at the southwest
traveled to Sharjah for our third expedition. We had entrance of Sharjah, the base blocks the city’s
visited it twice before for issues 20 and 114 of Al Arabi expansion [toward Dubai].
magazine, and each time we have found something
noteworthy and new. A SMALL PERMIT
We tried to enter the base and were taken under
OUR YOUTH IS OUR REAL WEALTH heavy guard to the chief officer. He welcomed
When we flew to Sharjah this time, we could not us with an innocent smile, saying: “I don’t mind
believe our own eyes. Is this the Sharjah we have assisting you at all, but you need a small paper, a
always known? It was astounding how the people permit from the British High Commission, to take
have made a leap from Bedouin to twentieth-century photographs here.”
life in one great stride.
We left and made our way to meet the British High
But before we recount the tales of our expedition, let Commissioner. He was “unavailable,” preoccupied
us first hear Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, with the handover and decommissioning, so we met
the ruler of Sharjah who works sixteen hours a day, his assistant who told us, “I will send a telegram to
tell us about his country in his own words: “We are command HQ in Bahrain, but I don’t think they will
very proud of the educational renaissance in our give approval. We have already declined requests
country, our university students, and our students from correspondents from Life and Time magazines
studying in universities abroad, who number around to enter the base and take pictures … so I don’t think
eighty. Those youth are our true wealth and fortune. they will let you … but call on us again anyway.”

107
The top and bottom
pictures are ten years
apart. The tree is the
same Al Rolla Tree, the
most famous tree on the
Coast of Oman. People
would come with their
falcons to rest under its
shade. Today, Al Rolla
Tree is on the corner of
bustling Al Arouba and
Al Dhaid Streets. It is
no longer an inspiration
for poets looking for a
muse, but such is the
price of progress!

108
For years, this square
was barren desert.
Now it is a lush public
garden and acts as the
lung of the modern city
of Sharjah. [This was
the precursor to Rolla
Square, which was
sited across from Al
Arouba Street seen in
background.—Ed.]

109
AL MUQAWQIS BIN HASSOUN IN SHARJAH! covering the whole world, and it will cover Sharjah
We went to the Sheba Hotel.2 It has fifty rooms, all and immortalize your name, making you more famous
air-conditioned. We paid 100 riyals (10 British pounds) than Al Muqawqis bin Hassoun!” But when we asked
for a twin room with three meals.3 We sat in the knowledgeable people about this alleged figure Al
grand lobby and spotted people from all nationalities Muqawqis bin Hassoun, no one had ever heard of him.
conversing and divulging their secrets—it is hard to
find a secret that people in all the seven emirates do SPECULATION
not gossip about! Our sixth sense, so to speak, led us In the hallway, we heard a man loudly telling the story
to listen more closely. Diverse groups of people from of his investments in Sharjah. Three years earlier, he
the four corners of the world were here in Sharjah, said, he had purchased a plot of land in Sharjah at a
whispering and chatting with the locals and discussing very cheap price, no more than one riyal per square
all kinds of interesting and even strange topics. Some foot. A while later, he was offered seven riyals for the
called for the right to invest in the land parcel of the square foot, but he refused to sell and insisted on ten
huge base after the British withdrawal, saying in riyals. As time passed and the buyer vanished, the
both English and Arabic, “We are first-class business man was left cursing his luck and his greed.
partners!” and, “Wow, it is really hot in your country.
How can you bear this heat? Why don’t you leave?” A so-called “land battle” began in 1969. Arabs from
outside Sharjah had been transferring large sums of
We also overheard an old man sitting on a large sofa money in to purchase plots of land in the emirate.
saying, “We will publish a special issue of our magazine Estimates say Arabs bought up to 20 million riyals

110
 Sheikh Khalid bin
Mohammed Al Qasimi
has been working on
building a modern
city in Sharjah for five
years: “The funds are
scarce, but we have not
stopped working. We
are fully confident that
there is oil beneath the
ground, but we do not
want to lose time so
that future generations
do not curse us!”

worth of land in 1969, totaling an area of 5 million Here, you still feel the presence of authentic
square feet. Land prices in Sharjah have thus risen Arabs, unchanged by the false promises of modern
from an average of one to seven riyals and from 30 to civilization. “Our doors, our homes, and our chests
150 riyals in the city center. are open to our kin and loved ones,” they say.
Indeed, as soon as you sit with a “Sharjawi” and
But not all land in Sharjah is for sale. Some land is have some ghawala, the sweets served before
divided into plots of 10,000 square feet and offered coffee, with bananas, oranges, almonds, Muscat
by the ruler for free to Arab citizens who want to sweets, chocolate, and melon, you will have become
develop a commercial, residential, or industrial their dear friend.
building in Sharjah.4 The belief Sharjah’s people
hold in their Arab identity prompted them to name FOUNTAIN THERAPY
the main street bisecting their capital Al Arouba, or We stood admiring a large, great fountain jetting
Arabism, Street. forth water into the sky, the glimmering multicolor
lights reflected in the waters. The ruler of Sharjah
SMILE, YOU’RE IN SHARJAH! told us, “I feel delighted when I see people standing
We left the hotel and headed into Sharjah. Wow! Is and admiring its prancing waters. When I see their
this really Sharjah? Neon lights, fancy cars, cinemas, faces, I see reassurance and peace. This is why
and an illuminated sign reading, “Smile, You Are in we’ve built a fountain in every square, as a form of
Sharjah.” And so we smiled, feeling a strange sense fountain therapy.”
of inner peace.

111
An antique cannon
dates back to Sheikh
Saqr bin Khalid
(1883–1914). From
Sharjah, its rounds
could reach Dubai. The
sound of the blast made
the city tremble, thus
earning the cannon the
nickname “Ar-Raqqas,”
or “the shaker of things.”
Today it is a relic of a
bygone time.

112
A city of ghosts. This
is what became of the
British base after the
withdrawal of British
armed forces. Above,
two officers lay out
scrap for sale to the
locals. As a result of this
fire sale, prices of trucks
went down from 10,000
to 4,000 [Qatari] riyals.

Since October 1970,

scrap at the British
camp has been sold
in preparation for
the withdrawal of
British forces from
the Gulf region at the
end of 1971. Here, we
see British officers
overseeing sales.

113
 and work was moved from blueprints to the streets.
By 1969, Sharjah was a huge construction site. The
first phase concluded with the development of long,
paved roads lined with streetlights. Then, buildings
went up, some ten stories high, ushering in the
Sharjah of tomorrow.

Speaking to Al Arabi, the municipal expert Mr.

Mukhtar Al Toum said, “We are planning for the next
fifty years. Our plan envisages 120,000 people living
in the city of Sharjah alone.” He continued, “Although
its revenues increased from 300,000 riyals in 1966 to
around 2 million riyals last year, Sharjah Municipality
has found itself unable to cover the cost of projects
and infrastructure development; however, the deficit
is being covered by the country’s ruler.”

SHIFTING SANDS DEVASTATE SHARJAH’S CENTER

The city of Sharjah is located on a khor, a small inlet,
like many cities of the Omani coast. This khor was
once the main artery for its prosperity and lucrative
commerce. However, Sharjah lost its position when
the natural pearl trade collapsed in 1930 following
the invention of synthetic pearls. However, Sharjah’s
Education is for everyone. In the evening, schools reopen for adults real tragedy struck when shifting sands blocked the
who missed out on a formal education. entrance of the khor to ships and boats. Starting in
1950, many ideas for projects to reopen the khor were
We left the fountain and went to explore Al Arouba put forth, but nothing happened until 1968 when the
Street. When we visited Sharjah for the first time, it ruler of Sharjah Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi
was a dirt road no more than fifteen feet wide. Today, signed an agreement with an international company
it is a paved modern road 120 feet wide, crisscrossed to resurrect the khor.
by cars in both directions and straddled by streetlights
installed here in 1968, turning night into day. Work began in a frenzy. People had built huts over
the sands that blocked the khor, and they had to
MISPLACED REMORSE be compensated and evacuated. The contractor
Some feel remorse for the bygone days when camels immediately began removing tens of thousands of
and falcons roamed free in Sharjah: “The splendor tons of piled sand and blasting hard rocks; then, they
of the past will never return,” they say, “We all knew launched concrete and steel works to build piers for
each other then because we were small in number. the ships. After two years of round-the-clock work,
Today, we are a large and diverse society.” (The Khor Al Sharjah finally opened last month (October
splendor of the past may have also meant the right to 1971). This was just the first phase of the plan to
fisticuffs without the threat of police intervention!) revive Khor Al Sharjah, and it cost £1 million.

This may carry some truth. No doubt, the Bedouin THE STORY OF OIL
society had enjoyed things like familiarity, stability, People have been talking about oil in Sharjah for fifty
pride, and chivalry as well as a steady life in the years, making it a charged and emotional subject.
shade of old tents. But at the same time, it was a Interestingly, almost everyone in Sharjah firmly
society that lived at the mercy of nature; a rogue believes there is oil beneath their feet. In 1968, new
storm could easily uproot it, flash floods could easily companies entered the fray with much publicity and
displace it, and a dry spell could easily decimate it. began to talk about advanced modern techniques and
machinery to explore and find oil by the end of 1971.
WE ARE PLANNING FOR THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS
Aware that Sharjah had entered a new era of LARGEST MAINTENANCE YARD IN THE REGION
development, Sheikh Khalid engaged the services of A day before we were set to leave, permission came
an international planning consultancy. Large-scale from the High Commission in Bahrain for us to
planning was launched for both old and new districts, photograph the sale of British army scrap, and thus

114
we entered the base. It was an entire city for 5,000
people and contained 1,200 homes, all air-conditioned.
It had its own power plant, with an output double
that of the Sharjah and Dubai plants combined,
plus 300 telephone lines. It had huge water tanks, a
fifty-bed hospital to treat all kinds of diseases, and
an elegant club with a swimming pool, restaurants,
and playgrounds. All this alongside the massive
airstrip, a radar working round the clock, and a modern
maintenance workshop for all kinds of planes with
equipment worth more than £6 million pounds.

BROTHERHOOD OF THE GULF PEOPLE

When Sharjah’s government started naming streets,
Kuwait was at the forefront (for source material). The
ruler of Sharjah told us, “This is an acknowledgement
of Kuwait’s great efforts in the region. Kuwait has
played an honorable role in our country: it laid down
the foundations of our education system and has and
continues to help build our health care system.”

We went to meet with Sheikh Badr Muhammad

Ahmad Al Sabah, head of the Kuwait Office in the
emirates, to ask him about Kuwait’s role in the region.
Two thousand and ninety-two female students are enrolled
He invited us to lunch at his elegant home and served in Sharjah’s schools. They are taught by 116 female teachers,
us a delicious meal, yet we left hungrier than when including eleven young women from Sharjah, who had graduated
we came—at least for information, as Sheikh Badr as the first class of the Women Teachers’ Academy, and five
teachers who only hold secondary school diplomas.
only told us, “We are here among brothers … the
brotherhood of the Gulf people in every sense of the
word, and what goes on between brothers is private work. We saw him work from morning to evening,
and not for publication.” trying to get the most possible from the least
available. On Friday, when people go to rest, Sheikh
SEVEN THOUSAND LEGAL CASES EACH YEAR Khalid opens his doors to meet them and talk to them
What is remarkable in Sharjah is that it is developing in his open shura council.
despite the near absence of material resources:
“True, oil has not been discovered in our country yet, What is happening today in Sharjah is truly unique.
but we are not sitting idle. We are preparing for the The odds for success are high and will overcome the
age of oil, when it gushes forth from the ground.” potential for stagnation. Yet the change underway is
not just taking place in buildings and streets. It is taking
Based on the principle of participatory governance, place in people, their purpose, their direction, and their
the ruler established twelve government departments ways of life. This change will make Sharjah the crown
with various fields of responsibility. Some of jewel of the nascent state of the United Arab Emirates.
these departments—such as the land registry and
survey department, the municipality, the education
department, and the justice department—have
begun to produce astounding results. In the past, the
ruler would hear and adjudicate complaints in his
majlis, but today, there is a comprehensive judiciary
in Sharjah that includes Islamic courts, civilian Editors’ Notes:
courts, an appellate court, and five judges. In 1970,
1. Construction of a British air base
they heard more than 7,000 cases. began in 1932 (see p. 40). The British
departure began in December 1971.
2. See p. 93.
A WAY OF LIFE TRANSFORMED 3. At the time, Sharjah recognized the
We envision this ruler as a great sculptor of a Qatari riyal as local currency.
4. See “Land, Houses, and Homes:
masterpiece, an entire city. He gave it everything he A Palestinian History of Al Fayha,”
has, pouring his love, labor, and sacrifice into his p. 253.

115
The social system in
Sharjah is undergoing
radical change.
The propagation of
education and the
country’s opening up to
the world have brought
in new ideas to this
society, once dominated
by family and tribal
traditions.

116
On the right, we see the
grand restaurant at the
Sheba Hotel, teeming
with male and female
teachers and foreign
workers. The other three
images contrast old and
new snapshots of life in
the streets of Sharjah
and schoolgirls in their
modest uniforms.

117
 One of Sharjah Municipality’s first beautification projects was known as
Government Square. Opposite the wall on the right was Sharjah Fort, which
housed the ruler’s majlis until its demolition. To the left is Al Arouba Street, on the
other side of which would be designated Rolla Square. The road perpendicular to
Al Arouba would become part of Bank Street. Mahmood AlSawan.

118
119
01

02

120
Rolla Square At over 36,000 square meters, Rolla
Monument Square is among the most prominent of
public squares in Sharjah, or the UAE
for that matter. It owes its origin to a
massive banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis),
named the Rolla Tree, that is said to have
survived for some 150 years until 1978
when it allegedly “fell.” It had witnessed
Sharjah’s development over the course of
two centuries, since before the arrival of
British forces in 1820 to their departure in
1971 and then the feverish first few years
of post-oil development.

Sharjah’s Rolla Tree was more than an

old tree. It was both a meeting point and
a sanctuary from the sun and heat. Its
shade hosted wedding ceremonies and
national celebrations. Sheikh Sultan bin
Saqr Al Qasimi I, Sharjah’s ruler from 1814
to 1866, is said to have imported the tree
from the Indian subcontinent. Toward the
end of its life, the tree was 15 meters tall
and its crown was 30 meters wide.

In 1979, Spanish sculptor Carlos Marinas,

who had come to Sharjah at the invitation
of Hotel Aladin’s architect Ramzi Shaker,
was asked by the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh
Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, to
design a fitting memorial for the much-
loved tree. The design included a bronze,
tree-like sculpture housed in a triangular, 03
concrete structure pointing toward the
sky. Marinas asserts that the final design
was achieved through a collaboration
with the ruler, resulting in what some say
resembles the latter’s signature. The tree’s
bronze branches were victims of their own
success, breaking off as a result of visitors’
perching upon and swinging from them,
much to the chagrin of the designer.

In 2012, after a first attempt to

reconstruct the monument out of
fiberglass, Marinas delivered a new
Design monument, this time made of reinforced
Carlos Marinas with concrete and with the profile of a tree
Sheikh Sultan bin 01. Residents gather and children play around the
Muhammad Al Qasimi cut out from its center. The tree, now Rolla Tree monument constructed as part of
represented only by a void, offers no more Rolla Square, September 1983. The original
Contractor sculpture included the bronze depiction of the
Contractors Group branches to swing from. deceased tree. © Gulf News, Dubai.
International 02. The original banyan tree was situated opposite
Government Square and the old Sharjah Fort.
Completed Ahmed Abdulrahim Al Mulla, courtesy of Wafa
1979 Ahmed Al Mulla.
03. A Sharjah resident poses on steps leading to
Status the original monument. Prem Ratnam, Hemlyn
Existing, replaced Photography Studio.

121
 A family poses across the street from Government Square. Behind them is Al Arouba Street,
which runs along the front of Sharjah Fort. Before its demolition, the fort was extended by a
four-story tower, which housed an office for police and a ground-floor garage. Behind the new
tower is the older Burj Al Kubs, which is the only part of the fort that survived demolition. To
the left, along Al Arouba Street, is another watchtower, built, according to the architect, with
more aesthetic than practical purpose. Both new towers were designed by Syrian architect
Mohamed Al Azhari and built by Consolidated Contractors Company, 1970. Rudi Eller.

122
123
Dubai-based newspaper Al Bayan reported on cyclists
competing in the Arab Youth Cycling Championship as
they pass Sharjah’s Central Souk, 1983. Al Bayan.
126
Central Souk Sharjah’s central market, commonly associated with Islamic architecture,
referred to as the Blue Souk, the Islamic including barrel vaults, rounded arches,
Souk, and sometimes the Gold Souk, is one blue ceramic tiles, latticework screens,
Text by
of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. and decorative geometric patterns. The
Suheyla Takesh
Designed by the architects of Michael building’s roof is punctuated with twenty
Lyell Associates, the complex opened on barajeel, or wind towers, an architectural
December 2, 1978. Imagined by its British feature adopted in the Gulf region to
designers as a modern rendition of a catch and channel air currents into the
traditional Arab or Islamic marketplace, interior of a building. While the towers
the idiosyncratic structure was intended were designed as a functional ventilation
to compensate for the loss of the souk in system, they were eventually superseded
the district of Al Mareija, displaced as a by mechanical air-conditioning units. The
result of Bank Street’s build-out. The new labored and ahistorical fusion of multiple
market’s cost, estimated at $30 million regional aesthetics and styles into the
when it was near completion, constituted market’s overall concept—although
a considerable investment in view of the intended to represent a broadly “Islamic”
government’s “acute shortage of liquidity” character—resulted in a hybrid structure
in April 1978 and its mounting debt, of unrelated genealogies. The London
reported to total somewhere between $600 Times architecture correspondent Charles
million and $1 billion in January 1982.1 McKean went so far as to suggest that the
building’s hybridity resulted from a lack of
The project was a prominent component a local “fixed culture” to guide designers,
of the city’s ongoing urban transformation indicating that architectural projects
intended to boost the local tourism like this one embodied aspirations
industry. It was designed to host 600 in architecture to fix and stabilize an
shops and provide 400 parking spaces. otherwise fluid culture.
Attracting customers, however, proved
to be a challenge. The souk reportedly The Central Souk, still lauded as one of
had “everything except people.”2 The new Sharjah’s most photographed buildings,
market lacked the organic configuration continues to attract tourists with
and chaotic allure of a traditional its unique interpretation of regional
marketplace. At the same time, its layout, architectural style. An image of the
particularly on the upper level, made building is also featured on the UAE
it a challenge to navigate through the five-dirham banknote.
marketplace. In 1981, the municipality
installed escalators in a bid to lure visitors
to the neglected upper levels.

The souk complex comprises eight vaulted

buildings, or “pavilions,” arranged in two
parallel rows, with a road between them
Architect for car traffic. According to the architect’s
Michael Lyell
Associates, Associated correspondence, the two parallel parts—
Continental Architects at the advice of Sharjah’s ruler—were
Structural Engineer to be connected by sixteen elevated
White Young & Partners pedestrian walkways inspired by Florence’s
Contractor Ponte Vecchio. After construction had
Joannou & commenced, however, a decision was made
Paraskevaides
(Overseas) Limited to reduce this number to two, requiring
demolition of some finished bridges.
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin 1. “New Sharjah Souk,” Middle East Construction,
Muhammad Al Qasimi In an effort to encapsulate regional April 1976. “Dubai Shopping Centre,” Concrete,
June 1978. Jim Antoniou, “Sharjah Souk,” Middle
Completed building aesthetics and promote the East Construction, August 1978. M.T., “Sharjah: A
1978 ambiance of a traditional souk, the New Framework,” Financial Times, June 26, 1978.
2. Celia May, “Sajaa Field Signals Success For
Status
market’s design brings together a highly Sharjah,” Middle East Economic Digest (London),
Existing, modified eclectic mix of elements commonly January 1, 1982.

127
02

128
129
03 04

05 06 07

130
 08

Images:

01. Wind-tunnel tests at Bristol University’s Makiya, and Frei Otto, the souk was pedestrian overpasses. Seen in the
Aeronautical Department purportedly associated with ongoing interpretations background is Crescent Petroleum
helped design the souk’s wind towers, of Islamic design. ® ATOM Ltd, courtesy headquarters, Tony Irving and Gordon
or barajeel, provide natural ventilation of RIBA Collections. Jones of Design Construction Group,
(with some mechanical assistance). 03. Sharjah resident Mohammed Shamis 1974. Regnault & Partners.
Their function was later fully replaced Al Maazmi and friend outside Central 07. Naturally ventilated interior walkway.
by air conditioning. Mahmood AlSawan. Souk, 1981. Collection of Mohammed Fabian Leidig.
02. An early model of the souk (by Thorp Shamis Al Maazmi, courtesy of Ahmad 08. Early design rendering. Tony Peters and
Modelmakers) reveals that more Al Maazmi. John Knight developed the conceptual
gold and colored surfaces were once 04. Interior walkway before installation of design for Michael Lyell Associates.
planned. The final design was featured escalators and sealing of interiors for According to Knight, Sharjah’s ruler
in Architecture in Islamic Countries, air conditioning. Dr. Naman Al Jalili “produced a ‘thumbnail’ sketch” at
published as part of the second Archives Collection. the start of the project and requested
Venice Biennale of Architecture, 05. Exterior view of the souk’s barrel roof that “the design should, if practicable,
1981–82, curated by Paolo Portoghesi. and barjeel. Fabian Leidig. incorporate local architectural
Mentioned alongside projects by 06. Two women leaving the Central features.” Michael Lyell Associates,
Hassan Fathy, Kamran Diba, Mohamed Souk. Above them is one of the two Tony Peters, and John Knight.

131
 01

132
Suheyla Takesh PERFORMING
MODERNITY AT
THE CENTRAL SOUK

On Friday, April 19, 1985, outside Sharjah’s Central artists included Marcel Duchamp, Wassily Kandinsky,
Souk, nine bundles of red, orange, and blue cloth— and Paul Klee. Alghanem and Albudoor both had a
each sized to fit in the palm of one’s hand—were laid background in journalism prior to meeting Sharif and
out in a grid on the terrazzo pavement. Each bundle shared an affinity for language as a creative medium.
contained a small rock, wrapped like a cherished They worked on developing experimental, avant-
object. Two sculptures atop white plinths stood in garde methods of free verse, frustrating the Emirates
attendance. From a certain angle, the yellow one, no Writers Union, whose other members pursued more
more than fifty centimeters in height, resembled the conventional approaches. While their interest beyond
stacked vertebrae of a camel’s spine. The white- orthodox literary forms reached back to the late
and-gray piece was a more nebulous formation, its 1970s, Alghanem and Albudoor say their fascination
shape obscured in the old photographs. The assembly with performance art was sparked by Hassan Sharif
was complemented by a number of paintings leaned after he returned to the UAE from London’s Byam
against the souk’s outer wall. The paintings showed Shaw School of Art in 1984.
abstract shapes, amorphous drops of paint, and
stylized drawings of hands. Two of the largest Today, Alghanem and Albudoor share a studio in
comprised black-and-white geometric patterns, Dubai in a refurbished pool house across from their
reminiscent of oversized boards for games like chess. residence. Surrounded by art supplies, books, and
These paintings were displayed either flat on the numerous works in progress, they recall their younger
floor or slightly raised off the ground using plastic years as artists over tea and an array of sweet treats.
water bottles. The collection of objects cannot be Alghanem pulls up photographs on her telephone
called a composition because there was no apparent while Albudoor brings in an old scrapbook filled with
order; it was more an anomaly in a public space. The diary entries, sketches, and newspaper clippings.
coincidental audience, mostly Friday worshippers They recall that, upon his return from London, Sharif
coming from a neighboring mosque, was intrigued brought with him a book of essays on various schools
and bewildered. of performance art, titled Performance: Live Art, 1909
to the Present by Roselee Goldberg, a 1979 anthology
“If there is meaning, it is not art,” was a principle of texts on the Futurists, Russian avant-gardists,
that guided much of Emirati artist Hassan Sharif’s Bauhaus, Dadaists, Surrealists, and artists active in
work, including this display at the footsteps of one of Europe and the United States. The worn copy, which
Sharjah’s most recognizable modern landmarks.1 The Sharif signed and gave to their daughter Fatima
unannounced exhibition was carried out not only by in 2015, contains his numerous marginal notes
Sharif but also by two other members of the Aqwas and in-text annotations. It also includes scribbled
collective, Nujoom Alghanem and Khalid Albudoor. translations of several curious English-language
The three artists were intellectually drawn to one terms into Arabic, such as polemical art, austerity,
another in the early 1980s: they shared an interest in intima, predatory (misspelled predactory), corpse
experimental art forms and an appreciation for the (misspelled corse), slot, and trash. Alghanem claims
work of pioneering international modernists, pivotal that exposure to the Dada movement in particular
in expanding what constitutes plastic arts. These was significant for them because they related to its

133
rejection of structure and logic and its accentuation The construction of the Central Souk was but one
of nonsense, irrationality, and chance through various component in the city’s ongoing urban transformation.
mediums of expression.2 It was conceived as a replacement for the old market
once situated along the coastline in Al Mareija and
In 1985, Sharif, Alghanem, Albudoor, and Yousif displaced by the construction of Sharjah’s Bank
Khalil—a mutual friend and writer involved in theater Street.6 The new souk materialized as an illustrious
who had established a local cinema circle—came manifestation of an Arabian fantasy while also
together to form the Aqwas collective.3 Operating out responding to the more pragmatic concerns of
of Sharif’s atelier in Sharjah’s Al Mareija district, the providing a public marketplace, attracting tourists,
short-lived collective became known for launching and stimulating the city’s economy. By staging their
the experimental Arabic-language journal Silsilat Al performance in this space, the Aqwas collective
Ramad (The Ashes Series). The journal’s contributors created a curious dichotomy between the building’s
submitted original content, including abstract carefully choreographed visual identity, achieved
illustrations and experimental poetry, and Silsilat through the conscious manipulation of traditional
Al Ramad also published prose, concentrating on forms, and the collective’s own declared rejection
artistic practice rather than on theory and critique. The of traditional forms in their work as artists and
publication’s free and idiosyncratic format eschewed writers. While the Central Souk relied on architectural
conventional modes of writing, composition, and configurations from the past in an attempt to convey
graphic design. In one mischievous, playful gesture, an Arab or Islamic character, members of the Aqwas
the creators inserted a stick of chewing gum into each collective sought to break free from conventional
of the first issue’s twenty Xeroxed copies “to add some structures in literature and art, opting instead for
sweetness to [the public’s] reading experience.”4 The amorphous free verse, “number poems,” and an
quirky format and seemingly bizarre content, however, improvised exhibition of seemingly found objects.
quickly resulted in state authorities’ demanding that
the Aqwas collective obtain official authorization to The deliberate forethought that distinguished
distribute their publication. In an effort to circumvent the Central Souk design echoed in many ways the
this formality, the collective (which had become a prevailing ideas of Sharjah’s first master plan created
trio after Yousif Khalil’s departure) staged a public by Sir William Halcrow and Partners in 1963. Setting
exhibition and performance as an alternative way to out to fashion a city that was modern, rational, and
release the second issue. Sharjah’s Central Souk was efficient, the master plan proposed a calculated set
the chosen stage. of practical constraints for how the city would be
experienced. Similarly, the designers of the Central
Often referred to as the Islamic Souk, or the Blue Souk relied on an orchestrated set of attributes to
Souk, its buildings were, for some, a vibrant guide and inform a modern interpretation of a historic
embodiment of regionalism in the larger plan for the souk. The Aqwas collective’s intention to deliberately
city of Sharjah and had become a well-known marker create “nonsense”—to use Hassan Sharif’s word—in
in the urban landscape.5 As a location for their their art, therefore, diverged starkly from the central
intervention, Alghanem recalls, the Central Souk was idea of the 1963 master plan for the city, which took
selected for its “cultural significance.” The shopping it upon itself to inject sense into Sharjah’s urban
complex, opened in December 1978, was conceived domain. And at the footsteps of the souk, the artists
as a modern rendition of a traditional souk, at least juxtaposed their performance with the building’s
according to its British designers. The result of calculated assemblage of token architectural
the collaborative effort between the firms Michael elements from across the region.
Lyell Associates and White Young and Partners
brought together a notably eclectic and disparate Using the building as a backdrop against which to
mix of elements commonly associated with Islamic stage their presentation, Aqwas wittily brought a
architecture. This broad fusion included features number of diametrically opposed notions into close
like rounded arches, latticework screens, twenty proximity. They confronted the structured with the
sculptural wind towers dotting the vaulted roof, open-ended, the rationalized with the nonsensical,
inscriptions of Arabic calligraphy, and blue decorative the empirical with the seemingly absurd. Did the city’s
tiles on the building’s exterior. The contrived increasing regularity—architectural and otherwise—
amalgamation and ahistorical interpretation of prompt an artistic response that was, conversely,
multiple regional aesthetics and styles, however, devoid of express purpose? The collective’s actions
resulted in a distinctly hybrid outcome that also can be read not only as an effort driven by the need for
prompted comparisons to London’s Crystal Palace or artistic expression but also as a reflection of human
a Victorian railway station. experience in response to installed systems of order.

134
In 1985, the year of the Central Souk performance, and conceptual qualities of architecture come into
many large-scale projects, begun in the 1970s when existence, and while chance and speculation may at
oil reserves were confirmed, were either completed times be integral to architectural thought, it seems
or nearing completion. The artists—consciously or like neither Sharjah’s master plan for a modern city
not—were responding to institutionalized control, nor the design of the Central Souk relied on them in
progressively more palpable in their environments. their conception. Both imagined human experience
While the souk may have been designed as a as regulated and choreographed, which is why
calculated embodiment of regionalism in the larger the Aqwas collective’s intervention appeared so
plan for the city of Sharjah, its use as a stage for impromptu and unscripted in comparison.
extemporaneous artistic interventions challenged
reigning structures of order and premeditation. Modernity is often framed as development driven
by administrative, organizational, and rationalist
“The city fosters art and is art; the city creates processes. In Sharjah’s case, the performance
the theater and is the theater,” was the critic of modernity was inextricably tied both to a
Lewis Mumford’s answer to his own 1937 article reinterpretation of tradition—carried out in a
titled “What is a City?”7 The 1985 performance by thoughtful or at times discernibly ahistorical
the Aqwas collective brings Mumford’s words to manner—and to a consolidation of national identity
mind. The Central Souk can be thought of both as in the early decades following Sharjah’s incorporation
“fostering” an avant-garde art performance because into the United Arab Emirates. A collective identity
it “creates the theater” and as embodying artistic formed through the expression and celebration of
qualities itself, such as a pursuit of harmony, order, local heritage as well as of Arab, Gulf, and Islamic
and compositional congruity. It seems, however, that motifs in architecture and urban spaces. Thus, the
Mumford and the Aqwas collective held divergent Central Souk performance conveyed representations
notions of art. While Sharif maintained that art should of modernity and the nation on the same stage,
be nonsense, “a game, not to be taken seriously,” eliciting an ever-evolving set of responses.
both architecture in general and the Central
Souk in particular are entrenched in purpose and In his discussion of national identity and its
intentionality.8 It is often through planning, structural construction, cultural geographer Tim Edensor
rigor, and mathematical precision that aesthetic addresses the use of symbolic sites as stages for

02

135
 03

performing various aspects of national character. Sharjah’s modernity in the 1980s was interpreted and
These sites, by virtue of their physical or symbolic negotiated by artists in idiosyncratic ways that often
boundedness, are organized—or “stage managed” defied institutional frameworks and the sequential
—to regulate which acts or actors belong and which processes they entailed. “We felt that people here
do not. While behaviors on these sites may sometimes just wanted to gradually go to the next level while
be spatially guided like in a museum, convention may we were ready to jump. They thought that in order
also be upheld through didactic forms of instruction for one to ‘grow’ one would have to do this or that.
(for example, warning signs or informational We were past that, in a way, because we already had
announcements) or through institutionalized regulation something going on,” Nujoom Alghanem said in a
(for example, bureaucratic procedures for official 2017 interview.10 These artists, sensitive to the UAE’s
permits or deployment of force).9 If one can imagine ongoing systematic modernization, were ambitious
the Central Souk as a bounded “symbolic site” or in their choice of performance art as a medium. The
stage, where Arabness and commerce are performed, performance at the Central Souk, while not intended
it then becomes evident how the Aqwas collective’s to provoke per se, did nevertheless raise questions
intervention unsettled the norms of behavior that about ascribed meaning and accepted artistic
actors on this platform were expected to maintain. The forms. It also called attention to how the country’s
artist trio, unsurprisingly, was interrupted by a security increasingly structured modern institutions often
guard shortly after the performance began, who—in constricted—consciously or not—the parameters of
an act of “stage managing”—asked to see their license artistic experimentation. At the time of its execution,
from the municipality. It goes without saying that they the eccentric performance as well as the short-lived
didn’t have one. Silsilat Al Ramad triggered little beyond a general
denouncement by peers and critics. The collective’s
The 1985 event at the Central Souk was not the collaborative work from this period, however, became
only instance of performance art set against pivotal to ways in which conceptual art critically
Sharjah’s urban fabric. Hassan Sharif staged a approached a scripted and controlled modernity as a
number of performative acts by himself, as did reality, a dynamic stage of unforeseen circumstances,
Nujoom Alghanem and Khaled Albudoor, either as unplanned leaps, spontaneous urban developments,
a duo or with other collaborators, including Naji and improvised quotidian practices.
Al Hayy, though these other interventions were
not well documented. The artists selected sites
for these performances strategically, taking into
consideration the architectural, cultural, or social
significance of each context in the city of Sharjah.
Notes:
These locations included Al Ittihad Park adjacent to
the Central Souk, Al Majaz Park on Corniche Street, 1. Christiana de Marchi, “Interview – Hassan Sharif,” in But We
Cannot See Them: Tracing a UAE Art Community, 1988–2008,
and a cemetery. Though the planned performance at ed. Maya Allison (Edinburgh: Akkadia Press, 2017), 263.
the cemetery —an effort to “entertain the dead,” as 2. Conversation with the artists, June 2019, Dubai.
3. Aqwas translates to “arches” in English.
Nujoom Alghanem humorously put it—never came to 4. Rand Abdul Jabbar, Uns Kattan, and Hammad Nasar, “A
fruition because the artists failed to secure formal Dialogue between Rhythm and Form,” in Rock, Paper, Scissors:
Positions in Play, ed. H. Nasar, (Abu Dhabi and Milan: National
permission from the city’s municipality. Resistance Pavilion United Arab Emirates, La Biennale di Venezia, and
on the part of official institutions in authorizing Mousse Publishing, 2017), 165.
5. See the Central Souk, p. 131.
these interventions was not the only challenge. The 6. See Bank Street project, p. 103.
public, too, was often bewildered and confused 7. Lewis Mumford, “What is a City?” in The City Reader, eds.
Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout, 5th ed. (London:
by the seemingly random and peculiar acts. While Routledge, 2011), 91–95.
performing at Al Majaz Park dressed as clowns, for 8. Excerpt from Khalid Albudoor’s diary, which he kept in the 1980s.
9. Tim Edensor, “Performing National Identity,” in National
example, the artists were attacked by a group of Identity, Popular Culture and Everyday Life (London:
children and forced to leave the site. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016), 69–70.
10. “A Dialogue between Rhythm and Form,” 165.

136
04

Images:

01. Friday afternoon shoppers stroll 02. Souk customers observe rocks Western-style clothing inspect
in front of Sharjah’s Central Souk wrapped in fabric and laid peculiar paintings leaned
as the Aqwas collective stages out in front of the building. against the souk’s ornamented
an impromptu art exhibition at Originally arranged in a grid, walls, April 19, 1985.
the footsteps of the building, the rocks were soon kicked out 04. A man and boy in kandooras
April 19, 1985. Images: Hassan of position by passersby and continue their shopping
Sharif © Sharjah Art Foundation children who used them for during the Aqwas collective
Archive Collection. Courtesy of play, April 19, 1985. installation, April 19, 1985.
Nujoom Alghanem. 03. Men in both traditional and

137
01
Vegetable Souk When Sharjah’s old, palm frond– Halcrow’s design provided space for
covered souk along the corniche road coiffured green landscapes, and the
faced demolition in the late 1970s, new complex included new separated
premises were planned. There were facilities for each of the vegetable,
4,000 applications for the 186 new meat, and fish markets. The entire
shops, with priority given to the old complex counted 710 parking spaces
souk’s shopkeepers. The limited slots and was located adjacent to a new bus
were additionally reserved for “UAE station. A local paper reported that
subjects with income above a certain the complex was designed “on the
limit.” In the new complex, architecture lines of the ruler’s sketches of Spanish
met the modern hygiene standards architecture.” Mel Stewart, Halcrow’s
set by Sharjah Municipality’s health chief representative in Sharjah at the
department. A shopkeeper interviewed time, claims that he sent initial sketches
at the time of the opening praised the created together with the ruler Sheikh
new “semblance of order.” Regarding Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi
the shops that did not make their way to architects and engineers at the
to the new premises, one lucky shop company’s London offices, from which
owner predicted that their regular the final designs were completed.
customers would shift to the new site
because the old shops “reeked with Adjacent Al Arouba Street, raised
overflowing drains.” around the same time to alleviate traffic
congestion, cut the new markets off
The 4,000-square-meter vegetable from the Central Souk, another recently
market was housed in an arc-shaped completed project intended to reshape
building, trimmed with precast arched Sharjah’s commercial dynamics. Part of
facade panels to express a “distinct the vegetable souk is currently slated
sense of Islamic architecture.” A central for demolition.
arcade, double-loaded with shops,
extended through the building as a
circulation spine. The adjacent meat
market included a public abattoir.

Architect
Halcrow International
Partnership

Contractor
Arabian Contracting Images:
Company
01. The vegetable souk was designed to provide
Client a “much-required and long-felt healthy,
Government of Sharjah clean, and excellent atmosphere,” and “to
bring all shopping into one area.” Prem
Completed Ratnam, Hemlyn Photography Studio.
1981 02. Interior scenes at the vegetable souk, mid-
1980s. Carole Harris.
Status 03. Workers complete final details on the
Disused, scheduled for vegetable souk, November 1980. Khaleej
partial demolition Times Archives.

139
02
03

141
144
Kuwait Tower By the mid-1970s, several Kuwaiti from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, and
businessmen were focusing upon Umm Al Quwain helped Sharjah
Sharjah as a real-estate opportunity. firefighters extinguish the fire by
Much like his compatriots Mubarak morning. Sharjah’s seventh major fire
Al-Hassawi and Mohamed Al-Bahar, that year exposed the widespread use
Abdulmajeed Behbehani was working of antiquated construction techniques
with a Kuwait-based consulting and marked a turning point for the
firm when he developed his Sharjah emirate toward stricter building
project, Kuwait Tower, with seventy- regulations. The tragedy’s capture
two spacious apartments over three on mobile phones contributed to an
floors of commercial space. With undeniable spectacle online.
unrivalled views of the Gulf shoreline,
pod-like balconies defined the tower’s A decade after the devastating fire,
prominent elevations. The curved corner Kuwait Tower has been neither
accentuated the design’s use of precast restored nor demolished and instead
concrete units to create efficient yet stands in testament to both its fragility
enviable residences. For over thirty and resilience.
years, Kuwait Tower remained one of
Sharjah’s most iconic buildings.

Following the 1990 Iraqi invasion of

Kuwait, tens of thousands of Kuwaiti
refugees fled to neighboring Arab Gulf
states. According to the building owner’s
nephew, Kuwaiti refugees, including the
Behbehanis’ own family members, were
Architect offered free accommodation in Kuwait
Arab Consultants Tower. It was during this time that the
Client building suffered its first fire.
Abdul Jalil Sayed
Hassan Behbehani,
Abdulmajeed Sayed At 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6, 2010,
Hasan Behbehani Kuwait Tower suffered an even more
Completed
debilitating fire: flames broke out on
1976 the second floor and quickly spread
Status
throughout the building. Local news
Disused sources reported that fire brigades

Exterior view of Kuwait

Tower, built along
Al Sharq Street in
Sharjah’s Al Butaina
district, late 1970s. Dr.
Naman Al Jalili Archives
Collection.

145
146
Qasimia In ongoing appraisals of the UAE’s The tower was once an elegant, earth-
Tower architectural history, it is often recalled toned deployment of solids and voids.
that the Palestinian-Jordanian architect Its front facade has been clad in the
Jafar Tukan designed a kindergarten tinted glass and aluminum paneling
prototype for the country together with his that plagues many of Sharjah’s original
partner George Rais. Often overlooked is reinforced concrete buildings. The result
Tukan’s design for a nine-story, mixed- is a powerful example of market-driven
used tower in Sharjah’s Al Soor district, overhaul vanquishing potential modern
completed in 1977, a few years after the architectural heritage.
delivery of the school prototype. Upon
its completion, the tower rose defiantly
among other sand-covered plots, waiting
for the arrival of neighbors. Today, its
renovated appearance can be dismissed
as non-descript among other residential
towers that went up in response to
Sharjah’s building boom.

Photographs of its original state are rare,

but they make clear that Tukan’s design
was a restrained and sophisticated
answer to the ongoing profit-driven
housing boom. The architect produced a
design that folded the apartments inward,
Architect with compressed window openings
Jafar Tukan & Partners and articulated concrete columns that
Contractor expressed the apartments’ configurations.
Allied Contracting, The ground floor and mezzanine level
Sogex Contracting &
Trading Company were programmed for commercial use and
offices, with apartments above. Upper-
Client
Hammad Hassan floor fenestration was covered during the
Al Harazeen day with delicate metal louvers, no longer
Completed present. Originally proposed as a fifteen-
1977 story building, Sharjah Municipality
Status
approved only nine stories, which today
Significantly renovated accommodate offices.

01. Exterior view of Qasimia Tower, also called the

Hammad Hassan Al Harazeen Building, as seen
from Al Arouba Street overpass. The photograph
shows the building’s exterior shading devices
before they were removed. The incomplete Al
Ittihad Park is in the foreground. United Colour
Film, Ajman, courtesy of Abdulla Al Murad.
02. Mr. and Mrs. Babu, along with their family,
lived in an apartment for thirty-eight years in Al
Saud Co. Building. Their balcony faced toward
Qasimia Tower. To the right of the tower is an
early Sharjah Expo site. Further to the right, King
Faisal Mosque is under construction, 1980s.
Prema Babu.
02

147
01

148
Sharjah Gate In 1972, Australia’s Department of residential project to be a prototype for
Development Overseas Trade organized a trade mid-rise development “providing the
mission, wanting to find work for density necessary to be financially viable.”
Australian consultants in the Gulf However, no others were built.
region’s development boom. One of the
companies it hoped to promote for the The second prototype was a pair of
region’s building market was Professional identical apartment blocks known
Group Australia, or PGA, a consortium of as High-Rise Lagoon Apartments in
various consultants headed up by director Al Majaz district with views of Khalid
Ivor Lloyd. The mission achieved quick Lagoon. The project was intended as a
success: by the following year, PGA had housing compound for the staff families
finished a ten-story residential building in of Sharjah’s Water and Electricity
Sharjah and calculated there was enough Department. Later, the apartments were
work to open an office there. occupied by single men, living there
dormitory style. The project comprises
Sharjah Gate
Development At the same time that the consortium two seven- and eight-story residential
secured the development of the seaside buildings on a large rectangular plot of
Architect
Professional Group
Garden City Villas in Sharjah’s Al Khan land, perhaps originally intended to be
Australia district, they were also working on landscaped. The buildings’ northern
Client
a potentially transformative, large- elevations bear formal similarities with
Sheikh Sultan bin scale development project called the the low-rise prototype. When they were
Muhammad Al Qasimi built, the towers’ expressive forms
Sandgate Development.1 Sited on
Status Sharjah Creek on land that includes could be seen from many vantage points
Unbuilt the present-day Radisson Blu Resort throughout the city, thanks to the unbuilt
(formerly Inter-Continental Hotel), the plots of Sharjah’s Al Majaz district. Now,
proposed high-end waterfront project the towers are tucked among the district’s
was commissioned by Sharjah’s ruler tall glass towers. In 2018, they were
Sandgate Low-Rise as a residential and shopping district evacuated and marked for demolition, but
Housing
containing 325 apartments and spreading spared by a demolition stay. No new use
Architect across seven precincts. The development for the buildings has been announced.
Professional Group
Australia plan, however, was never realized.
Instead, two prototype residential
Contractors
Nitco-Miller Limited buildings from the proposal were
executed at two other sites in Sharjah.
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin
Muhammad Al Qasimi One of those instances was the Sandgate
Completed Low-Rise Buildings in the Abu Shagara
1978 district. Walled in later to create a gated
Status compound primarily serving the expatriate
Existing personnel of Sharjah TV, the project is
made up of three blocks oriented north
to protect balconies from direct sun
Sandgate High-Rise exposure. Each block offered flexibility
Lagoon Apartments by making the units adjustable in size,
Architect providing between one and five bedrooms.
Professional Group Units could be single, split, or double level,
Australia
depending on residents’ requirements.
Contractors PGA’s consideration of flexible units
Contractors Group
International was a smart acknowledgement of the
capricious demographics of Sharjah at
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin the time. The project comprises two- and
Muhammad Al Qasimi three-story vertical units with outdoor
Completed communal and semi-public spaces,
1978 including a playground. Even though it
Status
was a mere fraction of a larger and more
Disused lucrative proposal, PGA intended the 1. See p. 415.

149
02
03

04 05

01. Sandgate low-rise housing complex during Gate Development along Sharjah Creek,
construction, Abu Shagara district, late unbuilt. PGA.
1970s. Professional Group Australia (PGA). 04. Sandgate high-rise lagoon apartments,
02. Sandgate high-rise lagoon apartments, Al 1978. PGA.
Majaz district, late 1970s. Dr. Naman Al 05. Sandgate low-rise housing complex,
Jalili Archives Collection. 1978. PGA.
03. Aerial rendering of proposed Sharjah
Town planner Afzal Ahmad Khan, under direction of Sharjah
Municipality’s chief engineer Tanweer Ahmad Zaidi, designed this
waterfront proposal. Working as a draftsman after office hours, another
municipal worker Mohammed Ishaq prepared the final drawing. All three
municipal workers credited their municipal jobs to recruiting efforts
pursued by British municipal officials in Pakistan in the mid-1970s.
Courtesy of Sharjah Municipality.

152
Khalid Lagoon Master Plan

Working off Halcrow’s proposal to

transform Khalid Lagoon into lakeside
resorts and suburbs, Sharjah Municipality
officials produced this profit-fueled plan.
Beginning about halfway down the northern
coastline (right), curved and slanted lines
maximize waterfront views. Conspicuous
trapezoidal city blocks begin on the
lagoon’s eastern edge (below) and wrap
around the southern coast, alternating with
triangular wedges of open space. Greenery
and fountains were proposed for the
wedged “avenues,” but aside from creating
unobstructed view corridors to the water
for as many properties as possible, these
no-build plots do not contribute much in
the way of public amenities.

Halcrow produced the 1969 master plan

with more than a decade’s experience
creating waterfront property in Dubai, where
land reclamation created a cheap supply
of land for great potential gains during a
financial frenzy. Sharjah’s 1969 master plan
reimagined Khalid Lagoon transformed by
the frenzy into a waterfront idyll.

The sawtooth plan was never realized:

More land was added on the northern edge
to make way for the Marbella Club and
Holiday Inn (notated on this drawing). The
entire eastern edge of the lagoon became
Al Majaz Park, perhaps when Sharjah’s
real estate market was floundering in the
mid-1980s. Other drawings suggest that
Halcrow’s reclamation contracts couldn’t
lift the land of the coastline high enough
to make it suitable for construction. Land
along Gamal Abdel Nasser Street (the
wide road on the eastern edge connecting
the two roundabouts) was lined with
apartment blocks—an architectural wall
shielding waterfront residents from the
dusty industrial area inland.

Urban Planner
Afzal Ahmed Khan, Tanweer Ahmad
Zaidi, Sharjah Municipality

Client
Sharjah Municipality

Completed
1978

Status
Not realized

153
154
 Above: Foreground left, Holiday Inn designed by David Firmin &
Partners; center, Marbella Club by Peter Hudson & Partners. Both
were built on reclaimed land along Khalid Lagoon, according to the
Halcrow plan. In the background, Central Souk under construction
on what was formerly a waterfront site. In front of the souk are tents
for construction workers. Dr. Naman Al Jalili Archives Collection.

Left: Professional Group Australia’s high-rise lagoon apartments

overlooked the reclamation work that converted Khalid Lagoon into
Lake Khalid. Dar Al Khaleej Printing & Publishing.

155
156
Bin Laden–Amoudi Center

In the mid-1970s, Cairo-based Riad

Architecture produced schematic
drawings for a lively, mixed-use tower
in Sharjah. During that time, Riad
Architecture often produced initial designs
for Arab Engineering Bureau (AEB), a firm
active in Sharjah’s urban development. A
significant example of their collaboration
is the Hassan & Hussein Al Fardan Building
on Al Zahra’a Square.1

This unbuilt project, labeled the Bin

Laden–Amoudi Center, was situated on
Sharjah’s waterfront, likely along what
was to become known as Buhaira Corniche
around Lake Khalid. The tower was the
largest, most ambitious project proposed
by the collaboration. Exactly who the
clients were remains unconfirmed, but
the center’s name indicates two Yemeni-
Saudi families who participated in Saudi
Arabia’s urban development, the former
known for the Saudi Binladin Group, which
may have been the project’s proposed
contractor. Representatives of these
families possibly consulted with AEB on
an investment option in Sharjah that was
never realized.

The base’s expressive structure houses

a parking garage, restaurants, offices,
a shopping center, a hotel, and—on its
roof—gardens and a swimming pool.
The tower offered spacious apartments,
including floors of duplex “villas.” It was
to be topped with a panoramic restaurant.
Though large in scale for the time, the
23-story project’s mixed-use program is a
common development scenario on Buhaira
Corniche and elsewhere in Sharjah today.

1. See p. 414.

Architect
Riad Architecture

Architect of Record
Arab Engineering
Bureau

Proposed
1975
Tower elevation and
Status base, 1975. Riad
Unbuilt Architecture.

157
Lake Khalid Tower, background right, as seen from
Lake Khalid during Open Polka Sailing Regatta,
undated. © Gulf News, Dubai.
Lake Khalid Tower

After the kindergarten prototype for the

UAE government, Beirut-based Rais and
Tukan Architects completed a second
project in Sharjah, this time a mixed-
use commercial property on what was
becoming the city’s most exclusive
waterfront strip, eventually known as
Buhaira Corniche.

The property’s developer was Dubai-

based businessman Sultan bin Khalifa
Al Habtoor. He first encountered
architect Jafar Tukan during his time as
undersecretary at the UAE Ministry of
Public Works (1972–1974), which had
overseen the kindergarten prototype.1

Erected on a site surrounded by vacant

lots, the building offered its residents
views in all directions. Each unit was
also assured views toward what was still
known as Khalid Lagoon. Eventually,
the Halcrow plans artificially bound the
limits of the water, leading to a change
in name to the more urbane Lake Khalid.

Initially, the building proposal came

with its own custom-designed street
lampposts and offered residents new
amenities, including a service elevator and
garbage chute. At thirteen stories, it was
one of the tallest towers in Sharjah. From
the tower’s opening until 1982, the Arab
Cultural Club occupied the 800-square-
meter penthouse, prior to its official
registration and relocation to a purpose-
built compound across the street. The
club hosted various Pan-Arab cultural
events, including art exhibitions and
poetry recitals, and also commemorations
of the Arab states’ national days, military
victories, and the Nakba.

1. See p. 243.

Architect
Rais & Tukan Architects

Contractor
Marwan Engineering &
Construction Enterprise Completed
1979
Client
Sultan bin Khalifa Status
Al Habtoor Existing

159
 Above: A typical juice bar in Sharjah, early 1980s.

Right: A dry-goods shop from the disappearing souk along

Sharjah Creek, early 1980s. Images: Peter Hudson.
 01

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Reem Khorshid UNRAVELED:
MAKING BUILDING
SHARJAH

In 1974, when an oil company’s announcement Oil-industry companies and banks, taking advantage
framed Sharjah as a prosperous city for architects, of Sharjah’s discount properties and regulation
three university friends came to the city to set up rates, commissioned foreign architects to construct
an architectural practice. After graduating from the headquarters in the UAE’s third-largest oil city.
School of Planning and Architecture Delhi in 1967, Architects from all over the world performed on
Kanwal Krishan Duggal, Harbhajan Singh Vedi, and the city’s stage, before their stories were lost in
Karnail Singh Kler had gone separate ways—Dubai, the rubble in preparation for the next round of
Kuwait, and the United States—until the Gulf boom development.
brought them to Sharjah’s Al Arouba Street, where
they opened a practice together. By then, roving A leading challenge we faced was access to archival
cranes and earth movers defined Sharjah’s skyline. materials, as we were sometimes unsure if they
Scenes of prodigious construction vigor were featured even existed. In pursuing an exhaustive investigation
in photographs, newspapers, and magazine articles of Sharjah’s architectural and urban legacy, we
previewing the city’s future. It was no surprise that were confronted with the convoluted nature of
the small office found work opportunities in this swirl archival practices in the Arab world, with constant
of activity. It was, however, a shocking loss when one uncertainties about preservation, cataloguing,
of the friends, Duggal, died in a car accident in 1985, authorship, and ownership. We faced recurring
an incident from which the business partnership questions about the term “modernism,” specifically
never recovered. in the context of Sharjah. Aware of a critical need
for authoritative architectural and urban research
When we first began the research for this book, Gulf studies of the Arab world’s cities—very much a
Design Group seemed like just another nondescript motivation behind Building Sharjah—we encountered
office name stamped on drawings filed long ago with many archives within the region still waiting to be
the Sharjah Municipality. It wasn’t until we stumbled viewed, collected, treated, or preserved in the midst
on filings at the Delhi High Court in the late 1980s that of a charged political climate that threatens tangible
we were able to trace the story of short-lived Gulf and intangible histories. Even searches at London’s
Design Group. Published proceedings led us to the British Library led us to microfilms and folios viewed
daughter of the only surviving founder, Karnail Kler. for the first time since being filed. The difficulty of
Only because there had been over three decades of research has itself become a theme of this book.
litigation could we trace this architectural legacy.1
Another search for the archive brought us to the
For dozens of architectural practices and building- work of Naman Al Jalili, a project manager for the
industry professionals like the partners of Gulf United Nations’ aid program dedicated to the UAE’s
Design Group, Sharjah was a work opportunity. Ministry of Public Works and Housing. Accumulated

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during his time in the UAE, from 1977 to 1982, his
archive ended up in the basement of an abandoned
house in Baghdad. These artifacts included at least
fifty documentary photographs of the UAE’s modern
buildings, many of which we would not have otherwise
found. Coming across Al Jalili’s archive raised many
unanswered questions about the making of the
photography collection. Was he paid by the United
Nations to document the UAE’s newest structures?
Or was he just another architect curious about his
surroundings? And what were the criteria for choosing
which buildings to photograph, and not to photograph?

A local contractor first told us about Adnan Abu

03
Shaar. A Syrian architect, Abu Shaar established an
office in Sharjah in the late 1960s with yet another BUILDING SHARJAH
forgettable name, the Sharjah Architects Office. To make Building Sharjah, we had to unravel the city.
Office letterhead dated 1970 revealed that Abu We relied on traditional methods of investigation:
Shaar had partnered with town planner and architect site visits and interviews with architects, engineers,
Ziki Homsi, best known for the design of the Deira planners, contractors, practitioners, photographers,
Clock Tower. Arriving in Sharjah in 1966, Abu Shaar and residents. Whatever archives we could access
designed mostly houses and the two-to-three- provided indispensable details: we pored over master
story, mixed-use buildings prevalent in the Trucial plans, aerial photographs, architectural and working
States at the time. The architect’s name came up in drawings, and periodicals. Corporate portfolios,
conversations with several other practitioners active brochures, legal documents, and contracts illustrated
in Sharjah in the 1960s. No one, however, could point the professional setting of Sharjah, especially around
us to one of his buildings. They were either forgotten the 1980s. We investigated multimedia, including
or demolished. Our original source recounted that Abu film footage, microfilms, and advertisements bearing
Shaar left Sharjah in 1972 as a result of non-work- evidence of Sharjah’s evanescing modern identity.
related allegations—an incomplete narrative that Some projects designed by international firms were
bespeaks to the difficulty of finding out more about fairly well documented, albeit scattered across the
him. We returned to our files and found that we had world in public and architectural libraries, national
drawings from 1969 of a two-story building designed archives, and architects’ private files. In Beirut’s
by his office. It had been demolished, but through this Hazmiyeh suburb, for example, the Choueifat
project, his work started to reappear. school’s in-house architect kept his photographs
of the Sharjah campus construction in his personal
We sought more information about him in Damascus. collection. In Amman, a design studio preserved piles
“I actually walked the streets of Damascus and of publications pertaining to Jafar Tukan’s work,
asked around,” said research contributor Rania including his project portfolios.
Kataf about how she tracked down Abu Shaar’s
second cousin. It took Kataf numerous phone calls
with extended family members to finally find the
architect’s son, Fawaz. The family informed her that
Abu Shaar had died in 1974.

The family had compiled a comprehensive portfolio

about the architect, although they knew little of
his career. Flipping through documents Kataf had
scanned, we stopped at a black-and-white photograph
of the architect posing with a pipe in front of a model
of a four-story building. In a serendipitous encounter
with another photograph from another collection,
we confirmed that this was a model of a completed
building on Al Arouba Street in Sharjah, its curved
balcony identical to that of the model. Fragments of a
forgotten past were coming together, piece by piece.
04

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Without systematically organized archives of unbuilt schemes. The documentation on buildings,
architectural and urban documentation, we were left whether or not still standing, inspired manifold
with the task of outlining the old skyline of Sharjah imaginings of how this new environment was being
by comparing photographs. Architectural drawings constructed. Some cityscape photographs reveal plans
provided insight into the construction technologies for Sharjah’s entry onto the global stage, leading us to
implemented and into the names of some of the question: what ends was design serving?
participants. We looked for Sharjah in people:
architects, builders, locals, residents, tourists, and Building Sharjah has been an expansive, collaborative
their survivors. We sought people beyond Sharjah: effort—just look at our acknowledgments section!—
Dubai, Kuwait, London, Sydney, Scotland, Oslo, Paris, by the researchers, architects, practitioners, and
Karachi, Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Cairo, Beirut, and writers who helped define the book’s scope as going
Minnesota. The stories we collected are complemented beyond architecture and urbanism. By accounting
with personal documents and family photographs, for the skills and expertise gathered to build a city,
the totality of which shapes this publication. We also Building Sharjah is an account of the optimism that
relied on social media to make several contacts, with a Sharjah once possessed. It illustrates the efforts and
network of friends and acquaintances connecting us to contributions of architects, builders, developers, and
those who knew part of the story we didn’t know yet. investors in shaping the cityscape. This book, along
with the project’s database and archives, proposes
After four years of collecting material about Sharjah’s a concerted contribution to what we hope will be a
urban history, our database encompasses more than lasting conversation about how architecture shapes
300 projects, including existing, demolished, and cultural identity.

1. Gulf Design Group’s most memorable work in

Sharjah is what is today known as the Choithrams
Building (see p. 341).

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06

Images:

01. The three founders of Gulf Shaar and Ziki Homsi. The Information, Photography
Design Group at a Sharjah document, dated October 10, Department. Courtesy of
construction site: from left K. 1970, is an example of how such Dr. Naman Al Jalili Archives
K. Duggal with his wife Veena contracts were often issued in Collection.
Duggal, H. S. Vedi, and K. S. handwriting and formulated 04. In his Sharjah office, Syrian
Kler, 1970. Collection of Kanwal as correspondence. Collection architect Adnan Abu Shaar
Krishan Duggal, courtesy of of Abdul Kader bin Mohamed points to a model of a
Shikha Duggal. Bannah, courtesy of Humaid building on Al Arouba Street,
02. A contract agreement for Abdul Kader Bannah, Al Naser late 1960s. Collection of
construction of a residential Engineering & Contracting Co. Mohammed Fawaz Abu Shaar.
building signed by three parties: 03. UAE Minister of Public 05. Adnan Abu Shaar’s Al Arouba
the client, local Sharjah woman Works opens a symposium Street building before
Salma Sarry; the contractor, on challenges in the UAE extension. Mahmood AlSawan.
Abdul Kader Bannah; and the construction sector, 1970s. 06. The same building after
architect, Sharjah Architects, UN consultant Naman Al Jalili completion of two more stories.
established by Adnan Abu stands left. UAE Ministry of Mahmood AlSawan.

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 Commonly referred to as the Grey Building, this mixed-use project was one of
Sharjah’s first modern buildings, in terms of design and its offering of residences
above a commercial ground floor. Commissioned by Sharjah’s new petroleum
department, the building may have been the launch of Turkish Cypriot architect
Mesud Cagdas’s prolific career in the future UAE. Its ground floor was leased for a
time by Lebanese entrepreneur Merched Baaklini for his contracting company Orient
Trading & Contracting Company (OTAC) until it moved to Dubai.

168
 The Grey Building also housed the local offices of design firm Khatib &
Alami, according to its later general manager Samir Abdulhadi, before
being moved to the BBME Building. In the foreground is Government
Square. The building has been demolished. Images: Mahmood AlSawan.

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Above: For the heart of Al Mareija, one of Sharjah’s oldest districts, British
engineer Alistair McCowan designed this building with apartments above
ground-floor storefronts for local businessman and investor Ali Gargash.

Left: A twelve-story, mixed-use building that led Sharjah’s shift to larger

and higher buildings, Al Arouba Street, Arab Engineering Bureau, 1977.
Images: Prem Ratnam, Hemlyn Photography Studio.

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Expo Centre In name, Expo Centre Sharjah was a trade During the years of its existence, the expo
Sharjah fairground. In actuality, it was the most took place in three different locations,
important event on Sharjah’s cultural usually relocating to find larger, and
calendar. On various occasions of the more permanent, premises. In 1977,
year, manufacturers and distributors were Pittera organized the first trade show
invited to sell their wares from its leasable on a 200-cabin ship, billed as a floating
booths. Hosting during the cooler months, hotel, or “flotel.” At a time when Sharjah’s
the candy-colored tents of Sharjah Expo population was estimated at under
attracted not only traders and buyers 100,000, the original sixteen-day event
but also families and tourists. Large attracted 151,327 visitors. The idea of
crowds gathered for musical concerts, an annual Sharjah Expo was born from
3D movie screenings, fashion shows, and that success. In 2002, the event found a
a temporary ice rink. The expo’s most permanent, if less playful, home. Its tents
memorable act was the Lebanese singer have now been decamped, but Sharjah
Fayrouz, who attracted more than 5,000 Expo deserves credit for instigating
people to the main event tent. essential ongoing cultural events in
Sharjah, including the Sharjah International
The event’s founder and longtime Book Fair and the Sharjah Biennial.
producer, Frederick Pittera, allegedly
had his hands in every aspect of Sharjah
Expo, from recruiting and marketing to
securing the live acts. Described by his
colleagues as “the showman,” Pittera
assembled the team that constructed
the first and subsequent premises,
including Canada-based Sprung Instant
Structures, which provided the iconic
striped tents. Though the huge canvas
membranes and aluminum parts were
manufactured in Calgary, Canada, Sprung
Instant Structures insisted that the
structures owed “so much in their basic
appearance to the nomad culture of the
native Bedouin.”

Consultants
Sprung Instant
Structures

Years of Operation
1977–2001
02

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04

174
 05

06

175
 07

01. Although colonial officers and roving seminars and conventions in addition aerodynamic design.” Prem Ratnam,
seafarers had for centuries slept on to 200 cabins, two restaurants, two Hemlyn Photography Studio.
ships anchored off the Gulf’s shores, cocktail bars, a nightclub, a cinema, and 05. Plan, 1978 Sharjah Expo. Barry Cruse,
Frederick Pittera claimed Sharjah’s a swimming pool. Formerly known as the Sprung Instant Structures.
first floating hotel in 1976. His company Ile de Beauté, the ship had hosted the 06. The various sizes provided by Spung
Sharjah Hotel Enterprises Ltd., in climactic final scenes of the action film Instant Structures made multiple
which Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Darker Than Amber. Barry Cruse, Sprung kinds of events possible, including
Muhammad Al Qasimi held shares, was Instant Structures. a circus show. Barry Cruse, Sprung
part of the larger plan of Sharjah Expo. 02. Night scene during an expo in the 1980s. Instant Structures.
At one time named the St. Lawrence, Prem Ratnam, Hemlyn Photography 07. The Sharjah International Book Fair,
the ship had previously functioned Studio. one of Sharjah’s largest events today,
as a cruise ship between Toronto and 03. Promotional media coverage of the 1981 originated in one of the expo tents.
Montreal before sailing to Copenhagen. Sharjah Expo, in local daily Al Khaleej, Sharjah Documentation & Archives
Pittera brought the 109-meter ship covered a fashion show and advertised Authority.
there and renovated it to meet “luxury a 180-degree, 3D cinema, allegedly the 08. Advertisement in Lebanon-based
hotel standards,” including 242 well- first in the Middle East. Dar Al Khaleej magazine Achabaka dated April 9, 1979,
appointed cabins, a ballroom, and a Printing & Publishing. announcing singer Fayrouz’s upcoming
restaurant. It was moored off Sharjah’s 04. Scenes from the expo’s interior with performances at Sharjah Expo: “For the
coastline to provide ready-made guest various product booths on display. first time in the United Arab Emirates,
accommodations, until being replaced Khaled Malik, Sprung Instant Fayrouz and the Lebanese Popular
the following year by the Grand Floatel, Structure’s regional manager in the Troupe will perform traditional and dance
pictured here during the 1977 Sharjah early 1980s, told a local reporter that music written and composed by the
Expo in Al Khan, behind the vegetable the structures were not “‘tents’ in view Rahbani Brothers. Tickets sold at major
souk. The successor ship provided a of their high quality weather proofing, hotels in the UAE and the Expo Centre.”
900-square-meter exhibition hall for fire resistance, wind and sand loads and Achabaka, courtesy of Omar Thawabeh.

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177
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178
Al Saud Co. Al Saud Co. Building, also known as Sultan The building’s facade featured a series
Building Building, was built on land the owner of seven vertical slabs jutting out at
received upon naming his third son after angles across the upper six floors.
Sharjah’s ruler. Located on Al Arouba The memorable triangular balconies
Street, which was quickly being filled with offered views of Al Ittihad Park and King
Sharjah’s largest mixed-use buildings, Faisal Mosque; the apartments in the
the site made for a generous gift. A good back looked over Al Jubail Cemetery,
friend of the new landowner, contractor the official burial ground of Sharjah’s
Ismail Al Zarooni, recommended that ruling family. A large, red neon Siemens
British engineer Alistair McCowan, also billboard stood on the roof of the building
Al Zarooni’s tenant, be commissioned to for twenty years, accentuating its
design the project. The resulting tower prominence in Sharjah’s skyline.
housed the head office of Al Saud Co. for
38 years, as well as families and small Alistair McCowan designed several other
offices in its six floors of apartments. residential buildings in Sharjah, including
The ground-floor anchor tenant, Al Jasar one for the late Dubai businessman Ali
Supermarket, was named after the bridge Gargash in Sharjah’s Al Mareija district.
over Al Arouba Street just in front of He also designed the Police Training
the building. At least three generations Academy and a mixed-use building on
of Arab and Asian families lived in the Al Arouba Street for the Al Zayani family
building before its demolition. from Bahrain.

Architect
Alistair McCowan &
Associates

Contractor
Al Zarooni General
Contracting Company

Client
Saud bin Khalid
Al Qasimi

Completed
1980

Status
Demolished, 2021

01. Al Saud Co. Building from Al Arouba Street

overpass. Ismail Al Zarooni.
02. Front elevation, as submitted to Sharjah
Municipality by Alistair McCowan & Associates,
1978. Alistair McCowan, courtesy of Sharjah
Municipality.
02

179
 The large, oblong roundabout at the junction of Al Meena and Al Arouba
Streets once hosted one of Sharjah’s most spectacular lighted fountains, but it
was not long before it was succeeded by this overpass that extended Al Arouba
Street toward Dubai. Early development projects along Al Meena Street (seen
under the overpass) soon lost their allure to Al Arouba and Bank Streets. The
building with the DNATA storefront was designed by Syrian architect Sulaiman
Towfic, 1976. Mahmood AlSawan.

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01

182
SNTTA Building A Madrid-based engineering firm with a
nondescript name, Tecnica y Proyectos
(TYPSA), produced some of Sharjah’s most
iconic modernist buildings. This eleven-
story building’s ground floor housed the
headquarters of Sharjah National Travel
and Tourist Agency, whose acronym
provided the building with its commonly
used name. Officially, the building was
commissioned as Sharjah Tower. The upper
apartments had views of Sharjah’s growing
commercial artery, Al Arouba Street, and
the transforming skyline beyond Al Ittihad
Park. One of the city’s most prominent
buildings at the time, the tower announced
Sharjah’s ambitions to be a center of
tourism and travel, offering beach resorts,
an international airport, and the promise of
authentic Arab culture. The location at the
end of Al Meena Street at the corner of Al
Arouba Street signaled the city’s shift from
Sharjah’s early modern artery to the large-
scale buildings proposed for Al Arouba
Street. Though diminishing the building’s
visual prominence, the eventual overpass
on Al Arouba Street brought drivers even
closer to the building’s upper-story curves
and striations.

The building demonstrates an economical

use of prefabricated concrete elements
assembled to create repeating forms that
make its components of living, working,
and circulation legible to the viewer.

The project client was Sheikh Abdulaziz

Mohamed Al Qassemi, brother of Sharjah’s
ruler. The tower’s design and development
phases proceeded in tandem with those
of the twenty-four mixed-use buildings,
which TYPSA designed along Bank Street.1

02

Architect
Jesús Velasco, José
Carlos Laredo, Tecnica y
Proyectos (TYPSA)

Contractor
Gulf General
Projects Company

Client
Sheikh Abdulaziz
Mohamed Al Qassemi

Completed
1977

Status
Existing 1. See p. 99.

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184
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185
 5

05

186
 07

06

01. SNTTA Building seen approaching Sharjah city 04. SNTTA Building during construction, mid-
center from the direction of Dubai. In the years 1970s. Far right, a building designed by
after its completion, the building was painted Khatib & Alami and another residential block,
white. A streetlamp has been removed from this under construction, designed by Professional
image. United Colour Film, Ajman, courtesy of Group Australia in 1974. TYPSA.
Abdulla Al Murad. 05. SNTTA Building behind Al Khan overpass, mid-
02. Watercolor rendering includes neighboring Sharjah 1980s. Mahmood AlSawan.
Cinema (see p. 197) on Al Meena Street. TYPSA. 06.−07. SNTTA Building captured in the background of
03. Three elevations show the tower’s peculiar siting at rooftop snapshots by longtime residents of Al Saud
an oblique corner, 1974. TYPSA. Co. Building, 1980s. Prema Babu.

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02 03 04

188
Al Seef Palace The ruler’s palace embodies the Gaafar Engineering Consultants had
architectural references that started to executed significant infrastructure
define Sharjah’s architectural landscape contracts in Egypt under Nasser’s and
in the late 1970s. While the architectural Sadat’s presidencies, as well as in Saudi
styles manifested in the palace’s facades Arabia. After Gaafar submitted the
might seem in agreement with the palace designs, the project underwent
ongoing adoption of a so-called “Islamic several significant modifications in the
architectural identity” elsewhere in contractor’s hands. The resulting building
Sharjah, the building departs from other lacked several of the architectural
designs that were more often inspired by elements that recalled the Alexandrian
Islamic Cairo. palace, including the entrance’s spiral
Architect and stairs and two unmistakable towers.
Engineering Consultants As told by the project’s contractor, The architect Shafik Nasr designed each
International
Consultation Office Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Sultan bin elevation of the seaside palace from a
for Developing & Muhammad Al Qasimi, who had studied in catalogue of Islamic-inspired details:
Construction
Cairo, requested that the palace’s design pointed arches, arcades, muqarnas-
Contractor be a modified replica of Al Haramlik inspired cornices, and decorative reliefs.
Contractors Group
International Palace inside Alexandria’s Al Montaza
Palace complex. He had allegedly seen
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin the early twentieth-century residence
Muhammad Al Qasimi in the Egyptian film Al Wessada Al
Completed Khaliya (The Empty Pillow). The palace’s
1979 original design was accordingly prepared
Status
by the prominent Egyptian engineer
Existing, renovated Ibrahim Gaafar, whose Cairo-based

01. Al Seef Palace under construction, late 1970s.

It is considered the first residence that Sheikh
Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi commissioned
for himself after becoming Sharjah’s ruler.
Images: Mohammed Abdul Haq Musa, Globe
Constructors.
02. During a construction site tour, Dutch architect
Reinder de Vries, who helped oversee the
project, discusses project progress with
Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad
Al Qasimi, May 1977.
03. Sharjah’s ruler greeted by the construction
team at the construction site of Al Seef Palace,
May 1977.
04. Dutch architect Reinder de Vries makes a note
on the ruler’s car during the tour, Al Seef Palace,
May 1977.
05. Construction worker stands on roof arcade
during construction, 1977. Kuwait Tower (p. 149)
in background.
05

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190
Al Qassimi The phases of Al Qassimi Hospital’s not advance because of costs. During
Hospital development, including its demolition, preparation for this publication, he
reveal Sharjah’s constant recalibration of learned that the hospital in Sharjah had at
its health care services. By the time work least implemented his two-story, fan-like
had begun on the hospital, the emirate proposal, its male and female quarters
already counted six operating clinics and linked together at a central hub.
four more under construction. Before this,
except for clinics and health care facilities Within two years of the hospital’s
for British officers, the closest hospital completion, Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad
was Al Maktoum Hospital in Dubai. Since Al Qasimi appointed the Lebanese office
the 1950s, Sharjah’s leadership had Code International to design a new fully
sought a semblance of modern health air-conditioned hospital to provide the
care more substantial than the modestly city’s growing population with more
sized clinics. In 1970, when work finally advanced care. Even though the original
began on such a project, it was announced building no longer met current standards
as “one of the most modern and best and expectations, it was renovated,
equipped medical centres in the Arabian according to the Lebanese architect,
Gulf area.” In reality, it was based on an to compensate for the limited funding
unassuming template commissioned with available for the new wing. Consolidated
the expectation of distributing adequate Construction Company completed the
health care throughout the Trucial new one-hundred-bed addition while
States.1 The first phase was intended to Bin Laden Organization, today known
accommodate a 206-member staff and as Saudi Binladin Group, built the staff
advanced amenities provided by the West accommodations in 1974.
German company Hospitalia, in general
a more ambitious result than the original The hospital operated through the mid-
template intended. 1980s until the 320-bed Sharjah General
Hospital was completed.
Around 1970, the British partnership
Page & Broughton had been commissioned
to design a hospital prototype for use
throughout the Trucial States. Partner
Brian Broughton recalled submitting the
final conceptual design to engineers in
the Trucial States Development Office 1. Jonathan Wallace, ed., Sharjah 1970 (London:
but had understood that the design did Middle East Economic Digest, 1970).

Architect
Page & Broughton

Architect, extension
Code International

Engineering Consultant
Najeeb Maktari

Contractor
Consolidated
Contractors Company,
Bin Laden Organization

Construction
Nagi Samih Barbir 01. Al Qassimi Hospital
extension under
Client construction, mid-
Government of Sharjah 1970s. Hamid Durani,
Honeymoon Studio.
Completed 02. Al Qassimi Hospital,
1976 designed by Page &
Broughton, shown
Status in a model made by
Disused, partially Code International.
demolished Code International.
02

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Holiday Inn Khor Fakkan

Efforts to create a tempting tourist

destination were not limited to Sharjah
city. They also extended to the eastern
exclaves of the emirate, with prized
coastlines on the Gulf of Oman. As early
as 1976, the road to Khor Fakkan was
described as “jammed with holiday
campers, picnickers and trailers, all
heading for the ‘Arabian Riviera.’”1 In the
tourism narrative sold by the government
and its collaborators, the city offered
the luxuries expected of world-class
resorts. Beyond this was the desert of the
imagined Arabia, accentuated with dusty
souks and palm groves and backdropped
by severe-looking mountains. The Holiday
Inn promised modern comforts amid the
pre-oil “authenticity” of Khor Fakkan. It
rose up from a seemingly empty beach,
encircled by barren mountains that only
heightened the sense of comfort available
inside the hotel’s 180-room shelter.

1. Kathleen Bishtawi, “Tourist Efforts,” Financial

Times, December 10, 1976.

Architect
Ashok Mody,
Architectural
Consultants

Contractor
Eastern Contracting
Company

Client
Sheikh Sultan bin
Muhammad Al Qasimi Aerial photograph of
the $13.2-million hotel
Completed under construction with
1979 workers’ temporary
barracks to the right of
Status hotel. Dr. Naman Al Jalili
Existing, renovated Archives Collection.

193
 Above: Architectural photographer Henk Snoek used several commissioned trips to
the Trucial States to document some of Sharjah’s ongoing building projects. These two
photographs of bank buildings on Al Arouba Street are rare instances of a professional
camera specifically focused on Sharjah’s architecture. The First National City Bank
Building was designed by Consolidated Engineering Company, eventually named Khatib &
Alami, as part of the same contract that included their design for the BBME Building
(see p. 81), both completed in 1972. Photographed in 1975.

Right: The Grindlays Bank Building, also known as Zamawi Flats after its owner, still
stands opposite the BBME Building on Al Arouba Street, Geoffrey Salmon, Speed
Associates, 1974. Images: Henk Snoek / RIBA Collections.

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196
Sharjah Sharjah Cinema had its roots in Sharjah they shared film reels by means of a taxi
Cinema city’s first open-air cinema known as that shuttled the films from one cinema
Haroun Cinema. Soon after Ahmed Al to the next. Late at night, a ticket stub
Mulla took it over and renamed it Sharjah from the 9:00 p.m. screening was a good
Cinema, he began plans to build a proper thing to have if the police suspected you
cinema in 1966 on Al Meena Street. of loitering.
The movie theater would reign over the
increasingly busy Port Roundabout and The cinema was designed by Dutch
its water fountain. At first, the two-story architect Reinder de Vries, who designed
cinema was sited amidst vacant building the St. George Hotel and a major office
lots, and moviegoers could easily reach tower on Bani Yas Square in Dubai. He
it from all sides. Strings of colorful lights often collaborated with the Glasgow-
and illuminated signage distinguished based firm W. A. Fairhurst and Partners.
the cinema from the scattering of two- According to the cinema’s owner, De
story apartment blocks nearby, some of Vries had to convince the head of Sharjah
which were designed by British architects Municipality to approve the twelve-
Hubbard Ford and Partners. meter cantilever without the addition of
structural columns. He allegedly sought
The cinema is remembered for its certification from the British Council that
landmark forms: the corrugated baby- the building would stand without them. It is
blue cylinders that encased the spiral not clear, however, how the British Council
stairs and the impressive upper-floor could have certified structural drawings.
cantilever looming over the main entrance.
The marquee spanning the cantilever Increasingly dilapidated, the cinema
also announced the 200-seat Peking was demolished in 2005 when it could no
Restaurant, reached by negotiating the longer compete with the new cinemas
uneven risers of the spiral stairs. Its menu opening in nearby mall complexes.
was considered fine dining in Sharjah until
it closed in the early 1980s.

Crowds of Arab and South Asian men

gathered in the evenings at the cinema’s
base, some of whom paid to watch
movies, mostly Egyptian and Bollywood,
while others merely took in the place as a
site to behold. Inside, the single theater
accommodated up to 1,200 viewers.
On August 8, 1972, the cinema opened
with the film Babul Ki Galiyaan, a 1972
Bollywood film by S. D. Narang. As more
cinemas appeared in Sharjah and Dubai,

Architect
Reinder de Vries

Consulting Engineer
W. A. Fairhurst &
Partners

Client
Ahmed Al Mulla 01. Even at its opening in the hot month of August,
Sharjah Cinema attracted large crowds below
Completed its marquee. Images: AlMulla Family Archive,
1972 courtesy of Ahmed Amin Ahmed AlMulla.
02. The cinema’s Arabic signage employed a peculiar
Status typeset with isolated letterforms, normally
Demolished, 2005 connected to form words.

197
02

198
199
200 Building Sharjah
Shell Filling Station

Architect Brian Broughton believes that

this Shell filling station in Sharjah was
built according to his conceptual design.
Broughton and Keith Page, as Page &
Broughton, had designed Dubai’s airport,
a commission they had secured by being
quick to make a proposal. Among other
projects, the partnership completed a
headquarters for Shell in Deira, the design
of which was replicated in Bur Dubai.
According to Broughton, work with Shell
led to commissions for at least two filling
station prototypes. While Page procured
work and maintained contacts in the Gulf,
Broughton produced designs in his UK
office. The partnership did not last long.
Several projects, for which Broughton
produced designs, materialized without his
knowledge, including Al Qassimi Hospital
and—probably—this filling station.1

1. See p. 191.

Client
Royal Dutch Shell A Shell filling station
somewhere in Sharjah
Architect built per Brian Broughton’s
Page & Broughton prototype design, perhaps
near the original airport,
Completed 1971. Henk Snoek / RIBA
1970s Collections.

201
 Rendering, Khor Fakkan Cinema, 1976. The cinema replaced an earlier open-
air theater and operated until 2006, screening Hindi, English, and Arabic
movies. The owner, Abdulla Akram, commissioned Karachi-based ASAN
Associates for the design. The perspective rendering was created by someone
recalled only by his last name, Shahnawaz, who studied architecture in
Karachi but never completed his degree. Hassan Abdulla Akram.

202
203
204
205
01

206
King Faisal Mosque In 1986, the Dubai-based daily Gulf News Sharjah’s modernist mosque, according
observed that Sharjah was “fast emerging to the architect, eschewed ostentatious
as a city of mosques.” In only two years, design, instead keeping worshippers
the city gained twenty-eight new ones. focused on “performing their duties
The most distinguished came to be known toward God.” Still, Japanese mosaic
as King Faisal Mosque. Named after Saudi tiles clad the dome’s interior, and star-
Arabia’s assassinated ruler, the mosque patterned surfaces in Pakistani steel
was built along the road that also bore cover the arch openings. The mihrab,
his name. The design was chosen from an the niche in the mosque to indicate
invited competition for a mosque to be the direction of Makkah, is made from
partially funded by Saudi Arabia as a gift elaborate woodwork.
to Sharjah. Complete responsibility was
eventually handed over to Saudi Arabia’s On January 23, 1987, the mosque opened
finance ministry. with a 12,000-square-meter prayer hall
and two seventy-meter-high minarets. The
Competition entries included those by architect estimated that the mosque could
Galal Momen and A. Moez & Moh. Hegazy accommodate 16,670 worshippers, more
Architects of Egypt and Vedat Dalokay of than 5% of Sharjah’s population at the
Turkey, whose design for Islamabad’s King time. The mosque’s second floor houses
Faisal Mosque (1969) is one of the most Sharjah’s Department of Islamic Affairs
published modern mosques. Riyadh- and Endowments as well as a library.
based architect Abdulrahman Al Junaidi
won the competition. His winning entry, After Sharjah’s residents watched
however, has not been located. Al Junaidi the erection of what seemed to be a
was an accomplished architect in Riyadh monumentally white, concrete mosque, the
with several institutional buildings to his final stage of construction saw the building
name, including the photogenic Ports recede a bit, behind sand-color tiling.
Authority building.

Sharjah’s government originally designated

a site for the new mosque immediately
adjacent to the recently completed Central
Souk. Upon hearing of a planned building
nearby that would obstruct views of his
design, Al Junaidi claims that he insisted
on a more prominent and open location.
Today, the mosque stands monumentally
at the opposite edge of Al Ittihad Park,
visible from countless vantage points in the
city. At least three hundred people worked
on the site, where construction lasted from
August 1982 until December 1984. It took
another eighteen months to complete the
mosque’s finishings. Costs totaled around
AED 37 million, about $10 million.
Architect
The Technical Office
for Architectural &
Engineering Consultancy

Contractor
Globe Constructors

Client
Government of Sharjah

Completed
1987

Status
Existing

207
02

03

04

208
 05

06

209
07

01. Mohammed Abdul Haq 05. Jaseera Sayed Abobaker held down by its minarets.
Musa of Contractors photographed by her father in The tent motif has been
Group International (Globe front of King Faisal Mosque, described as a nod to Bedouin
Constructors) in front of late 1980s. Collection of Sayed cultures. (See Kishwar Rizvi,
King Faisal Mosque during Abobaker Mohammed. The Transnational Mosque:
construction, before the 06. Eastern elevation, undated. Architecture and Historical
facades were clad in brown Hamid Durani, Honeymoon Memory in the Contemporary
tiling, early 1980s. Mohammed Studio. Middle East [Chapel Hill:
Abdul Haq Musa. 07.−[Link] architect University of North Carolina
02. King Faisal Mosque appears Vedat Dalokay submitted Press, 2016].) Dalokay
in the background of Al Ittihad a design proposal for the Archive, courtesy Sibel
Park’s berm with the city’s Saudi-sponsored mosque in Dalokay Bozer.
slogan “Smile, You Are in Sharjah, after having won the 09. Detail drawings of the dome
Sharjah,” circa 1990s. Hamid competition for Islamabad’s from a proposal for King
Durani, Honeymoon Studio. $35-million King Faisal Faisal Mosque, Momen
03. A snapshot captures King Mosque. Islamabad’s mosque, Architects & Consulting
Faisal Mosque and its still under construction at the Engineers. The proposal was
surroundings from Al Saud Co. time of the Sharjah project, based on an octagonal plan
Building, 1991. On the left is a rises from a square plan with a detached minaret. Its
residential block designed by with a faceted, tent-like roof elevations bear similarities to
Nicolas Bou Rjaili, New Form pinned on four corners with the firm’s design for Cairo’s
Consultants. Prema Babu. minarets. Dalokay’s proposal Gamal Abdel Nasser Mosque.
04. Snapshot of King Faisal for Sharjah was more similar Another known proposal was
Mosque from Al Saud Co. to his winning, unbuilt design submitted by A. Moez & Moh.
Building with Al Ittihad Park for the Kocatepe Mosque, Hegazy Architects, which
still under construction, 1991. which also employed a designed Dubai’s Jumeirah
Prema Babu. dome-like roof seemingly Mosque. Momen Architects.

210
 08

09

211
 Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi commissioned the construction of
this perimeter for a musalla al eid, an outdoor area for prayers during Eid,
late 1960s. It was designed by Syrian architect Mohamed Al Azhari, who
designed the Airport Mosque (p. 41) and the police towers (p. 126). The walls
and gates were built by DAFCO. It is still in use today. DAFCO.

212
213
214
Children at play in the courtyard of the former Al
Qasimiyah School before it moved to Al Manakh
district, circa 1980. Archive of Al Qasimiyah Primary
School, courtesy of Kambar Mahmood Al Mazem.

215
01

216
Talal Al-Rashoud SCHOOLS FOR THE ARAB
HOMELAND: KUWAIT’S
EDUCATIONAL MISSION
IN SHARJAH

1. Muhammad At the dawn of the 1950s, when the Well before Kuwait’s educational aid began,
Morsy Abdullah,
The United Arab
Arabian Gulf stood at the precipice of Sharjah was an established cultural center
Emirates: A Modern a period of great social, economic, and of the Trucial States. This had much to do
History (London: with its success as a pearling and trading
Croom Helm, 1978),
political upheaval, two small sheikhdoms
103–111; Abdullah embarked upon an enterprise that port. In the early twentieth century, Sharjah
Al Tabur, Rasail al would have a profound impact on the claimed one of the largest pearling fleets in
rail al awwal min
ruwwad al yaqza fi Al development of the future United the region and had sizeable communities
Imarat Al Arabiyya Al Arab Emirates (UAE). Kuwait was of Indian and Iranian traders. It benefited
Muttahida (Sharjah:
Department larger and wealthier than its southern greatly from a boom in the global pearl
of Culture and neighbor Sharjah. Additionally, though trade during this period, which led to the
Information,
1999), 45–49, both had signed protection treaties emergence of an influential merchant
78, 107; Sultan with the British, Kuwait enjoyed far class. These merchants maintained close
bin Muhammad
Al Qasimi, Sirat greater autonomy, enabling it to attain contact with Bombay, the center of the
madina, vol. 1 independence a decade before the other regional pearl trade. They became part
(Sharjah: Al Qasimi
Publications, 2015), small Gulf monarchies. Crucially, Kuwait of that city’s vibrant Arab community,
82; Frauke Heard- also had a head start in the development which was in close touch with the modern
Bey, From Trucial
States to United of modern education. Sharjah, the first ideological trends sweeping the Ottoman
Arab Emirates: A among the Trucial States to seek to and Arab worlds. Inspired by these ideas,
Society in Transition
(London: Longman, modernize its schools, thus turned to Sharjah’s merchants embarked upon novel
1982), 133, 190–191. Kuwait for assistance. charitable and cultural endeavors in their
2. Notes on Visit to the
Persian Gulf, Keight, hometown. They founded libraries, cultural
4–9 Feb. 1952, NA, Kuwaiti educational aid began on a small clubs, and schools combining traditional
BW 114:11; Sultan
bin Muhammad scale, gradually growing until it extended religious education with aspects of modern,
Al Qasimi, Sard al to all but one of the Trucial States and had Western-style pedagogy. The earliest and
dhat (Sharjah: Al
Qasimi Publications, broadened in scope to include medical most significant was the Taymiyah School,
2009), 65–67, 87, and development assistance. This aid founded in the first decade of the twentieth
95; Arif Al Shaikh,
Tarikh al talim fi Al was based on a vision of inter-Arab century. In the late 1920s, the collapse
Shariqa 1900–1972 cooperation shared between Kuwaiti of the pearling economy, a result of the
(Sharjah: Al Qasimi
Publications, 2016), authorities and Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Great Depression and the emergence of the
272–279; Al Tabur, Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi. Some scholars cultured pearl, caused these early schools
110–112.
3. Bahrain Intelligence characterize Kuwait’s educational to close.1
Summary, 16–31 assistance program as subservient to
Jan. 1948, BL, IOR
L:PS:12:3769B; Britain and opposed to the regional The development of education in Sharjah
Bahrain Intelligence policies of Egyptian president Gamal remained hindered by financial difficulties
Summary, 16–31
Dec. 1947, BL, IOR Abdel Nasser. However, an in-depth until after World War II when the emirate’s
L:PS:12:3769A; Samih examination of Kuwait’s educational role ruler, Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (who ruled
Shabib, Muhammad
Ali Al Tahir: Tajrubatihi
in Sharjah demonstrates the Pan-Arabist 1924–1951), began supporting education.
al sahafiyya fi Misr and anti-colonial nature of the program. He reopened a school that had closed in

217
the 1930s and offered free education to its
students. Named Al Qasimiyah, the school
went further than its predecessors in
incorporating modern methods of teaching
and organization, introducing new subjects
such as English and civic education, and
importing textbooks from various Arab
states. In the late 1940s, it opened a class
for girls, apparently the first of its kind in
the Trucial States.2

A poet of classical Arabic verse, Sheikh

Sultan also established two private
libraries, hosted a literary salon, and
corresponded with men of letters abroad.
His son and heir Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan
(who ruled 1951–1965) inherited his
02
literary inclination and cultural reach.
Influenced by events in Palestine and with, the export of oil starting in 1946 and min khilal suhufihi
the increased British interference in the the renegotiation of its oil concession Al Shura, Al Shabab,
Al Alam 1924–1939
Trucial States, both sheikhs espoused agreement in 1951 made Kuwait one of the (Nicosia: Al ittihad
anti-colonial ideas. Sharjah’s British-run wealthiest states in the region. A second al am li al kuttab
wa al sahafiyyin al
airfield also kept its rulers in contact with factor was the relative development of filistiniyyin, 1990),
the outside world. In the 1950s, Sheikh Kuwait’s public educational system, 278–279; Sultan
bin Muhammad
Saqr made use of it to travel extensively founded in 1936 and significantly Al Qasimi, Sirat
in the Arab world, further exposing him to expanded in the 1940s with help from the madina, vol. 2
(Sharjah: Al Qasimi
Pan-Arabist ideology.3 Egyptian government. In the early 1950s, Publications, 2017),
Kuwait became one of the few states in 41, 130–157; Saqr
bin Sultan Al Qasimi,
This intellectual background is vital to the Arabian Peninsula to offer secondary “Liqa ma Al Sheikh
understanding Sheikh Saqr’s drive to school certification, making it a desirable Saqr bin Sultan Al
Qasimi Hakim Al
develop Sharjah through assistance destination for students from the region Shariqa al sabiq,”
from Kuwait and other Arab states. A wishing to complete their studies. [Link]
KKwf42sKb9c; Sultan
1957 British document describes him as bin Muhammad Al
“modern in his outlook” and as the only Finally, although Kuwait would remain Qasimi, Nashij al
wada (Sharjah: Al
Trucial States ruler “who has any real under British protection until 1961, it had Qasimi Publications,
interest in, or knowledge of, the affairs much greater freedom than other Gulf 2011), 8.
4. Leading Personalities
of the Western world.” It adds: “He is the states in managing its internal affairs of the Persian
foremost among the Trucial Rulers in having and conducting relations with other Arab Gulf, 1957, NA,
FO 371:126870;
constructive ideas for the improvement and governments. This increased interaction Robert L. Jarman,
development of his Shaikhdom.” Education with the Arab world led high-ranking ed., Political Diaries
was high on his agenda. The British political bureaucrats and even certain ruling of the Persian Gulf,
vol. 19, 1951–1954
resident reported that the first thing the family members to espouse Pan-Arabist (Cambridge: Archive
new ruler raised with him following his views. Such an ideological orientation Editions, 1990), 65;
Al Qasimi, Sard al
recognition ceremony in May 1951 was was particularly evident in Kuwait’s dhat, 95.
the construction of a proper building for Al educational department, which was 5. Talal Al-Rashoud,
“From Muscat
Qasimiyah School, which operated out of a administered by Kuwaiti intelligentsia, to the Maghreb:
traditional house.4 Palestinian expatriates, and educators Pan-Arab Networks,
Anti-colonial Groups,
seconded by the Egyptian government. The and Kuwait’s Arab
PHASE I: KUWAITI EDUCATIONAL department’s director, Abdulaziz Husain, Scholarships (1953–
1961),” Arabian
ASSISTANCE 1952–1961 was an Egyptian-educated Kuwaiti and Humanities, no. 12
Around the same time that Sheikh Saqr an ardent Nasserist who played a central (2019): 2–6; Talal
Al-Rashoud, “Modern
acceded to power, the Kuwaiti government role in Kuwait’s educational assistance Education and Arab
was preparing to launch an educational program. While the department was not a Nationalism in
Kuwait, 1911–1961”
assistance program for less fortunate Arab tool in the hands of Cairo, as some British (PhD diss., School of
states. Several factors enabled Kuwait officials believed, it did maintain close ties Oriental and African
Studies, 2016),
to embark upon this program. To begin with the Egyptian government.5 256–262, 301–304.

218
6. Al taqrir al sanawi Kuwait’s educational department framed the Kuwaiti educational department
li al am al dirasi
1961–1962 its assistance to the Trucial States in agreed to host students from the emirate
(Kuwait: Ministry terms of Arab nationalism and Gulf unity. in Kuwait and to provide Al Qasimiyah
of Education),
160; Al taqrir al Its annual reports speak of Kuwait’s “great School with a grant for renovations,
sanawi li al am al responsibility toward the Arabian Gulf” textbooks, and educational materials as
dirasi 1960–1961
(Kuwait: Educational and of “this beloved segment of the Arab well as two teachers and their salaries.8
Department), homeland.” Another report emphasizes
160; Al taqrir al
sanawi li al am al that this assistance is “motivated by The two teachers, Palestinians Mustafa
dirasi 1958–1959 the call of [common] blood, origins, and Taha and Ahmad Al Burini, arrived in
(Kuwait: Educational
Department), 190. creed.”6 Muhammad Diyab Al Musa, a Sharjah in late 1953. The former became
7. Muhammad Diyab Palestinian teacher seconded by Kuwait headmaster of Al Qasimiyah School,
Al Musa, Sira ala
darb al masira
to Sharjah, considers this discourse to overseeing the implementation of the
(Sharjah: Department reflect the actual motivations behind Kuwaiti curriculum, which was adopted
of Culture and
Information, 2008),
Kuwaiti aid. In his memoirs, he recalls that by all Trucial States except Abu Dhabi. In
42; Muhammad the prevalence of modern political ideas 1954, Kuwait sent two more Palestinian
Diyab Al Musa, in
discussion with the
and movements in Kuwait produced “a teachers to Sharjah: Muhammad Diyab
author, Sharjah, 11 very good nationalist sentiment toward Al Musa and a woman, Sharifa Al Ba’ba’,
Apr. 2013. the poor emirates of the Gulf.”7 who oversaw girls’ education.9 The
8. The equivalent of
about $80. Minutes number of teachers seconded by Kuwait
of the Educational As the first emirate to request subsequently fluctuated, reaching ten by
Council, Kuwait
(MEC), 21 Jan. 1952, educational assistance from Kuwait, it the early 1960s.10
Session (S):13; 16 was Sharjah that prompted the Kuwaitis
Apr. 1953, S:62;
Jarman, 19:278–279, to begin helping the Trucial States. In Sheikh Saqr energetically sought
436; Al Qasimi, Sard late 1951, Kuwait’s ruler, Abdullah Al educational aid from other Arab countries
al dhat, 91. For more
on the scholarships Salim Al Sabah, visited the emirate. At a in addition to Kuwait. The British, who
in Kuwait, see palace reception, an Al Qasimiyah School were wary of his regional ties, spoke
Al-Rashoud, “From
Muscat to the student delivered a speech that appealed pejoratively of this behavior.11 Sharjah’s
Maghreb.” for Kuwait’s help in obtaining teachers meager resources and the inadequacy
9. Yaaqub Al Ghunaim,
Ahmad Al Bishr and books. Moved by the student, the of British assistance, however, left
Al Rumi: Qiraa fi ruler promised that his educational few avenues for the ruler to develop
awraqihi al khasa
(Kuwait: Center for authorities would study the matter. In his emirate’s educational system. In
Research and Studies January 1952, a group of Al Qasimiyah 1955, he visited Egypt and convinced
on Kuwait, 1997),
228–240; Al Musa, students followed up with a written its government to second two teachers.
43, 59; Al Shaikh, request for funding to establish a literary Around the time of the 1956 Suez Crisis,
381–385; Al taqrir al
sanawi 1961–1962, club. They received 6,000 rupees— Britain temporarily banned further
161; MEC, 16 Apr. Kuwait’s first contribution to education in Egyptian teachers from entering Sharjah
1953, S:62.
10. Annual reports by Sharjah. More substantial support soon despite Sheikh Saqr’s protests.12
the Educational followed. After sending delegations to Nevertheless, their numbers increased
Department/
Ministry of Sharjah in March 1952 and March 1953, steadily thereafter, reaching twenty-
four in 1961.13 In 1958, Qatar also began
sending teachers to Sharjah, followed by
Bahrain in 1961.14

As a result of this Arab assistance, by

1960 Sharjah hosted “nearly half the
expatriate teachers in the Trucial States
and more than half the United Arab
Republic teachers.”15 This led a British
official to remark: “Sharjah has more
education for less cost than any of its
neighbors.” Despite having one of the
Trucial States’ most advanced educational
systems, in 1960 the British estimated
that Sharjah paid only £1,800 annually
toward education compared to £15,000 in
Dubai and £4,500 in Ras Al Khaimah.16
03

219
Although by the early 1960s most of anti-colonial figures: the former an Omani Education, Kuwait:
1961–1962, 170;
Sharjah’s teachers came from other Arab ruler who resisted the Portuguese and 1960–1961, 166;
states, Kuwait continued to administer the latter a contemporary Algerian female 1959–1960, 313;
1958–1959, 191;
the emirate’s educational system, also freedom fighter. 1957–1958, 149;
providing all educational materials, 1956–1957, 126.
11. Annual Report,
stationery, furnishings, and even school ARAB NATIONALISM AND KUWAITI- 1959–1960, NA,
uniforms. Its teachers also offered adult SPONSORED EDUCATION BW 114:6; Jarman,
19:324.
literacy classes. Education in Sharjah Kuwait’s school building program was part 12. Tripp to Gault, 29
developed rapidly under Kuwaiti direction, of a broader pattern of non-cooperation Jun. 1958, NA, FO
371:132884; Jarman,
with the number of students soaring from with Britain over education in the Trucial 20:58, 66, 75, 183,
251 in 1955 to 1,377 in 1961. Sharjah States. This attitude had its roots in the 197, 212, 220.
13. See footnote 10.
became the first emirate to complete 1940s, when the Kuwaiti educational 14. Al taqrir al sanawi
the intermediate level for boys in the department resisted British attempts 1961–1962, 162;
Al taqrir al sanawi
academic year 1957–58 and to introduce at controlling the educational system in 1958–1959, 191.
secondary classes the following year. From Kuwait. The department adopted a more 15. Hawley to Middleton,
11 Sep. 1960, NA,
1961, students completing the second radical Nasserist line following the 1956 FO 371:149143.
year of secondary school could continue Suez Crisis, hardening its anti-British The United Arab
Republic (UAR) was
their studies in Kuwait. Girls’ education position.22 It was also at this time that formed following
did not lag far behind: the first female Britain sought to assert greater control over the unification of
Egypt and Syria in
students completed the intermediate level education in the Trucial States to counter 1958. Although Syria
and started secondary school in 1960. the political influence of Arab expatriate seceded from the
union in 1961, Egypt
Elsewhere in the Trucial States at that time, teachers. continued to be
no other class of girls had yet to complete officially known as
the primary level.17 In 1957, Britain established an education the UAR until 1971.
16. Annual Report,
committee under the Trucial States 1959–1960, NA, BW
Kuwaiti educational assistance to Sharjah Council, a British-led coordinating body 114:6; Man to Earl of
Home, 7 Nov. 1960,
eventually extended to the building including all seven emirates, with the goal NA, FO 371:149144.
of schools, a field that Britain initially of centralizing educational administration. 17. Al Kuwait wa
nahdatuha al
regarded as its domain. Several months This scheme failed, however, due to the talimiyya: Sanat
after Kuwait promised to provide teachers Kuwaiti authorities’ refusal to deal with 1955–1956 (Kuwait:
Educational
to Sharjah, the British announced that they the committee coupled with Sheikh Saqr’s Department,
would construct a purpose-built structure “lack of enthusiasm.”23 A similar scenario 1956), chart 10;
Annual reports of
for Al Qasimiyah School. Completed in occurred between 1960 and 1961 when the Educational
mid-1954, it was the first such building in Kuwaiti opposition played a key role Department/
Ministry of
the Trucial States.18 In 1955, the British in foiling a British attempt at imposing Education, Kuwait:
adopted a Trucial States development a Sudanese director of education on 1961–1962,
160–161, 164;
program that included a plan for Britain to Dubai. British officials had hoped that the 1960–1961, 162;
build schools and for Kuwait to staff them. director’s authority would eventually extend 1959–1960, 75, 316;
1958–1959, 191;
However, it is unclear what commitments to Sharjah.24 Kuwait’s educational staff also 1955–1957, 147.
the Kuwaiti authorities actually made in
this regard.19

The British were thus disappointed when

Kuwait’s educational department began
building its own schools in the Trucial
States without coordinating with them. In
1956 and 1958, the department agreed to
expand existing schools in Sharjah.20 Over
the next several years, it built new schools
in the emirate, starting with Fatima Al
Zahra School for girls, which had hitherto
occupied “a crumbling old house.” In the
eastern town of Kalba, the department
constructed a single building to house two
schools: Saif Al Yarubi for boys and Djamila
Bouhired for girls.21 Both were named after
04

220
 … and spoke to them about their Arabism,
Islam, ancient Arab glories, and their
situation today, and the students were
greatly affected.” Al Musa inculcated these
ideas through both classroom instruction
and extracurricular activities. He put on one
of Sharjah’s first student plays, introduced
an annual sports day, encouraged students
to write a wall magazine during the Suez
Crisis, and established the Trucial States’
first Boy Scouts troop.28 The British blamed
the latter activity for producing “militarism”
among schoolboys.29

The Suez Crisis ignited a wave of anti-

British activity among Sharjah students,
05 which Al Musa describes as spontaneous
18. Burrows to FO, 26
refused to cooperate with various British and fueled by what the boys heard on the
Mar. 1954, NA, FO educational projects in the late 1950s and radio. Though he did not engage in direct
371:109859; Jarman,
19:463.
early 1960s. These included the British- agitation, it is clear that his teaching
19. Tripp to Gault, 29 Jun. run Sharjah Trade School, a plan to train at least partly paved the way for this
1958; Tripp to FO, 23
Jun. 1958, NA, FO
local teachers in Bahrain (where British groundswell. Pupils pelted British military
371:132884; Annual influence over education was stronger), and forces with stones and shouted hostile
Report, 1958–1959; the appointment of an English language slogans. Moreover, Sharjah’s current
Annual Report, 1956–
1957, NA, BW 114:6; teacher to Sharjah and Dubai.25 ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al
FO Minute, Denson, Qasimi, then an Al Qasimiyah student,
20 Dec. 1955; Trucial
States Development The Arab nationalist environment in recalls leading classmates in sabotage
Programme, Sharjah’s Kuwaiti-run schools remained a operations on British political and military
Appendix D, n.d., NA,
FO 371:114656. key point of tension between the Kuwaitis facilities.30 British officials blamed Al Musa
20. Tripp to Gault, 29 Jun. and the British. The British could not and his colleagues for these incidents,
1958; Tripp to FO,
23 Jun. 1958; MEC, close these schools because they did not threatening them with expulsion if they
5 Sep. 1956, S:37; want to appear to be depriving the Trucial did not subdue their students. Although
30 Oct. 1954, S:5;
Jarman, 20:194. States of education. Moreover, they were Al Musa subsequently persuaded the
21. Craig to Tripp, 4 unable to provide alternative teachers schoolboys to stop their activities, the
Feb. 1962, NA, FO
371:163035; Tripp to themselves. They therefore monitored the British nevertheless prohibited him and
Gault, 24 Jun. 1958, teachers seconded by Kuwait and expelled another Palestinian teacher, Fayiz Abu Al
NA, FO 371:132884.
22. Al-Rashoud, “Modern those they regarded as troublemakers.26 Naaj, from returning to Sharjah from Kuwait
Education,” 169–174, A notable example of the latter was the in the fall of 1957. Al Musa believes that the
291–325.
23. Tripp to Gault, 29 aforementioned Muhammad Diyab Al last straw was his refusal to show a British
Jun. 1958. Musa. Prior to arriving in Sharjah in 1954, propaganda film on the Suez Crisis in his
24. Tripp to Walmsley, 4
Sep. 1961; Hawley to the young teacher had engaged in political school.31
Luce, 29 Jun. 1961, NA, activism in Palestine and Kuwait and was
FO 371:157066; Hawley
to Luce, 14 Jun. 1961, involved with both the Arab nationalist The conduct of Al Musa and his colleagues
NA, FO 371:157065; Baath and the Islamist Tahrir Parties. not only reflected their individual political
Winchester to Ford,
9 Nov. 1960, NA, FO In his memoirs, Al Musa recalls that his proclivities but was also very much in
371:149144; Hawley “ideological makeup” inspired him to line with the Pan-Arabist policies of
to Middleton, 11 Sep.
1960. transfer to the emirate where he thought he the Kuwaiti Educational Department.
25. Explanatory Notes, could better aid his fellow Arabs.27 Kuwait’s 1956 national curriculum made
Taylor, 27 Apr. 1964,
NA, FO 371:174512; the fostering of Arab national awareness
Craig to Lamb, 13 Al Musa, who became Al Qasimiyah a primary goal of education, and Arab
Sep. 1962, NA,
FO 371:163070; School’s headmaster in 1955, emphasizes nationalist rhetoric pervaded classroom
Winchester to Tripp, that he and his fellow teachers believed instruction, extracurricular activities, and
7 Sep. 1961, NA, FO
371:157066; Hawley they had a mission “to connect students the department’s public celebrations and
to Walmsley, 14 … with the affairs of their Arab nation.” sports days. Indeed, Al Musa recalls that
Jul. 1960, NA, FO
371:149142; Hawley
He elaborates: “The school fortified [the the director of education Abdulaziz Husain
to Luce, 14 Jun. 1961. students’] awareness of the Arab homeland commended him for refusing to screen the

221
 06

26. Gault to Walmsley, 32. Al Musa, 73; Al- of documents held NA, FO 371:163035;
3 Jul. 1958; Tripp Rashoud, “Modern by the Center for Richmond to FO, 25
to Gault, 29 Jun. Education,” 299–325. Gulf and Arabian Jan. 1962; Craig to
1958, NA, FO 33. Hawley to Middleton, Peninsula Studies Lamb, 30 Jan. 1962;
371:132884. 11 Sep. 1960. (CGAPS), Kuwait Lamb to Craig, 18
27. Al Musa, 33, 38, 45. 34. Jarman, 20:276– University; Political Jan. 1962, NA, FO
28. Al Musa, 63–65, 277, 378. Agent Kuwait to 371:163034; Al kitab
70–71; Al Shaikh, 35. Al Qasimi, Sard al Political Resident, al sanawi (Kuwait:
385; Al Qasimi, Sard dhat, 156. 2 Jun. 1960, NA, FO Ministry of Guidance
al dhat, 100–102, 36. FO Minute, Black, 371:149140. and Information,
156. 26 Jan. 1962, NA, FO 38. Cranston to Craig, 1967), 170; Al Kuwait
29. FO Minute, M.H.N., 371:163034; Annual 31 Oct. 1962, NA, al yawm (Official
9 Apr. 1957, NA, FO Review 1961, NA, FO FO 371:163037; Newspaper, Ministry
371:126998. 371:162879. Cranston to Lamb, 24 of Guidance and
30. Al Qasimi, Sard al 37. Abdulaziz Husain, Jun. 1962; Tripp to Information, Kuwait),
dhat, 135–150. “Taqrir an al talim fi Craig, 26 May 1962; 7 Jul. 1966.
31. Ibid., 145–146, 156; Sahil Uman,” 25 May Cranston to Tripp, 39. Craig to Cranston,
Jarman, 20:273, 1960, in Wathaiq 18 Apr. 1962, NA, FO 7 Jan. 1963, NA,
276–277; Al Musa, madaris Al Khalij, 371:163036; Craig to FO 371:168925;
68–74. a bound collection Tripp, 4 Feb. 1962, Cranston to Craig, 15

222
 Aug. 1962; Cranston aforementioned British propaganda film, committee, which acquired an independent
to Lamb, 24 Jun.
1962; Al Mutairi to stating: “You did the right thing. Protect budget and became known as the
Economic Counsellor, the school and its students and do not Permanent Committee for Gulf Assistance
British Embassy
Kuwait, 2 Jun. 1962, compromise on your Arabism.”32 (PCGA). In 1966, the PCGA became the
NA, FO 371:163036. General Authority for the Arabian South and
40. “Al mashari allati
qamat al haya al These Pan-Arabist policies found an Gulf (GAASG), a semi-independent body
amma bi inshaiha advocate in Sheikh Saqr. British officials under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.38
fi Imarat Al Sahil,”
n.d., GAASG Archive, noted his tolerance of teachers’ political
Center for Research activities, which they attributed to his In January 1963, the Kuwait State Office
and Studies on
Kuwait. British being “to some extent hypnotised by the opened in Dubai to administer the country’s
correspondence United Arab Republic.”33 In 1956, the British projects in the Trucial States. These
from 1964 also
mentions an ongoing complained that the ruler “failed to stop projects, which the Kuwaitis insisted on
project to pipe water the schoolboys in Sharjah from shouting administering independently of the British,
to coastal towns
including Hamriyah in anti-British slogans.” At that year’s sports targeted four key sectors: education,
Sharjah. Information day, the flags of the Arab League, Egypt, public health, social and religious services,
could not be found
on the project’s and other Arab states were raised. The and natural resource development.39 A
outcome. See Craig following year, the British pressured Sheikh GAASG report from the late 1960s lists the
to Crawford, 26
Jan. 1964, NA, FO Saqr to “fly only the Kuwaiti and Sharjah following facilities that the Kuwaitis built,
371:174712. flags.” Although he yielded on this point, equipped, and—in large measure—staffed
41. “Al haya al amma li
Al Janub wa Al Khalij he “declared himself unable to fly the in Sharjah: seven schools, two hospitals,
Al Arabi,” April 1976, Union Jack.”34 In 1957, the ruler also tried one clinic, and two mosques.40 The GAASG’s
Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Kuwait, to prevent the British from deporting the last major project in Sharjah was a new
CGAPS archive, Palestinian teacher Abu Al Naaj.35 Sheikh secondary school, work upon which began
Kuwait University,
[Link]; Bahbahani Saqr’s tensions with the British would come in 1971. The Kuwaiti authorities continued
to Al Saqqaf, 22 Mar. to a head in the subsequent decade. to fund and administer these facilities
1971, GAASG Archive;
Abdullah, 147. until September 1972, when they were
42. Al taqrir al sanawi PHASE II: THE EXPANSION OF KUWAITI handed over to the recently formed UAE
li al am al dirasi
1968–1969 ASSISTANCE 1962–1972 government.41
(Kuwait: Ministry After independence in June 1961, Kuwait
of Education),
127; Al taqrir al significantly increased its aid to the Trucial Two additional forms of Kuwaiti educational
sanawi li al am al States and broadened its scope to include assistance from this period deserve mention
dirasi 1963–1964
(Kuwait: Ministry of
medical and development assistance. for their social impact. The first was the
Education), 173; “Al This policy was in line with the state’s provision of university scholarships to
ihtimam bi tatawwur
al talim fi Al Khalij wa
campaign to win regional support against Trucial States pupils. From as early as 1961,
Al Janub Al Arabi wa the Iraqi claim on its territory through aid Kuwait’s educational department allocated
ma qamat bihi dawlat
Al Kuwait fi hadha al
distribution.36 However, it should be noted exchange scholarships provided by other
shan,” n.d., Wathaiq that the provision of medical assistance countries such as Iraq to graduates from
madaris Al Khalij; Al the area. In 1963, the department began
Kuwait al yawm, 18
to the Trucial States had already been
Jun. 1961, 19. proposed as early as May 1960.37 sponsoring these graduates to study in
43. “Adwa ala sayr al Egypt. Kuwait University also provided
talim wa mashakilihi
fi Imarat Al Shariqa,” The expansion of Kuwaiti assistance scholarships after opening in 1966. In the
Al mutamar al thalith to the Trucial States necessitated new academic year 1968–69, the university
li Wizara Al Tarbiyya
wa Al Talim Al Arab, institutional arrangements. In the spring counted nineteen students from Sharjah,
Al Kuwait, 17–22 of 1962, the assistance program, no the second largest contingent of scholarship
Feb. 1968, Wathaiq
madaris Al Khalij; Al longer administered by the educational holders.42 A second policy introduced
kitab al sanawi, 171; department, came under an interministerial during this period was the training of local
Al taqrir al sanawi
1963–1964, 112; committee headed by the finance minister teachers. From 1963, graduates from the
Cranston to Craig, Jabir Al Ahmad Al Sabah. This followed Trucial States received scholarships to
6 Apr. 1963, NA, FO
371:168926. the visit of a Kuwaiti mission in February attend Kuwait’s teacher training academy.
44. The head of Kuwait’s to survey development needs. In October In 1966, Kuwaiti authorities established
PCGA participated in
or oversaw many of 1962, the information minister Sabah Al teacher-training classes for men in Dubai
these developments, Ahmad Al Sabah assumed control over the and for women in Sharjah. Two years later,
documenting them in

223
07

the first cohort of trained local teachers, saw in the scheme “the embodiment of
both men and women, began teaching in his patriotic and nationalist aspirations.”
Sharjah’s schools.43 Sheikh Saqr organized a warm welcome
detail in his memoirs:
for the Arab League delegation that visited Badr Khalid Al Badr,
During this period, Kuwait was drawn into a Sharjah in October 1964. The town was Rihla ma qafilat al
hayat, al juzan al thani
struggle over the future development of the festooned with banners bearing “patriotic wa al thalith (Kuwait,
Trucial States that ultimately contributed and nationalist slogans” while folk bands 2004), 274–300, 309,
312–317, 324–325.
to the downfall of its primary partner in the performed and crowds thronged the See also the account
area: Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan. In 1964, the streets. Sheikh Saqr even erected a small of the Assistant
Secretary General
Arab League advanced a scheme to provide guesthouse for the visitors that he named of the Arab League:
development aid to the Trucial States in after the Arab League.45 Sayyid Nawfal, Al
awda al siyasiyya li
areas including infrastructure, agriculture, Imarat Al Khalij Al
and public health. Kuwait played a central The Arab League’s aid scheme was a step Arabi wa Janub Al
Jazira: Al kitab al
role in inspiring and supporting this scheme. too far for British officials concerned about thani, Imarat Sahil
It joined the Arab League’s Gulf Committee, an even stronger Pan-Arab presence in Uman (Cairo: The
Arab Educational,
which was created to oversee the aid, and the Trucial States. They did everything in Cultural and Scientific
was the only state to actually transfer their power to oppose it, demanding that Organization, 1972),
13, 38, 41, 137,
money to its fund. Moreover, Kuwaiti all external aid to the Trucial States be 141–143, 207, 230.
personnel facilitated and participated in channeled through a British-controlled 45. Al Badr, 299–300.
46. Matthew
all Arab League diplomatic and technical fund. The Kuwaiti authorities repeatedly MacLean, “Spatial
missions to the Trucial States between refused to contribute to this fund and Transformations
and the Emergence
1964 and 1965. The Arab League planned to asserted their commitment to the Arab of the ‘National’:
operate from Kuwait’s Dubai office until it League scheme. They also attempted to Infrastructures
and the Formation
could establish its own headquarters.44 mediate between Britain and the Arab of the United Arab
League, but to no avail.46 Emirates, 1950–
1980” (PhD diss.,
Among the Trucial States rulers, Sheikh New York University,
Saqr of Sharjah was the primary advocate Meanwhile, Sheikh Saqr remained 2017), 178–182,
187, 190–196; Al
for Arab League aid. According to the steadfastly committed to accepting Arab Badr, 320, 322, 326;
PCGA head Badr Khalid Al Badr, the ruler League aid and convinced other rulers to do Nawfal, 230.

224
 so as well. When the British denied visas to education as a vehicle for putting over
Arab League officials and closed airports Nasirist propaganda.” The same year, the
in the area, Saqr responded by offering political resident went so far as to describe
them Sharjah passports and chartering Kuwaiti assistance as “an instrument for
a private flight for them.47 These efforts bringing revolutionary influences into the
failed, however, and Arab League personnel area” and even suspected the Kuwait State
were barred from entering the Trucial Office of instigating violent protests in
States to commence their aid program. Dubai against the Arab-Israeli War.50
47. MacLean, 198. In June 1965, the British overthrew and
48. For more details on banished Sheikh Saqr for daring to defy CONCLUSION
the coup, see ibid.,
181–199; Abdel them, installing the more amenable Sheikh Saqr’s overthrow ended a formative
Razzaq Takriti, Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi chapter in Sharjah’s modern history. By
“Colonial Coups
and the War on as his successor.48 The Kuwaiti authorities no means a passive recipient of Kuwaiti
Popular Sovereignty,” responded by reaffirming their refusal to assistance, the ruler was an active partner
American Historical
Review, 124, no. cooperate with the British development in constructing an educational system that
3 (June 2019). program, threatening to close their Dubai was, for a time, the most advanced in the
Sheikh Sultan
bin Muhammad office if forced to do so.49 With the Arab Trucial States. This partnership rested on
addresses the British League threat eliminated, however, Britain a shared vision of development through
role in the coup in his
book, Sard al dhat, no longer pressed Kuwait on this point. inter-Arab cooperation, irrespective of
251–252. British colonial authority. Ultimately,
49. Al Badr, 329–330.
50. Roberts to Melhuish, Kuwait continued to administer its aid however, Britain proved unable to tolerate
8 Nov. 1967, NA, as it had previously. In 1967, the British the expansion of this project beyond the
FCO 8:617; Crawford
to Brown, 29 Jul. political agent complained that the Kuwait educational field. Kuwait’s assistance
1967, NA, BW 114:9. State Office “is under instructions from the program nevertheless persisted, retaining
Rosemarie Said
Zahlan, Palestine and
Kuwait Government not to co-operate with its Pan-Arabist and anti-colonial character,
the Gulf States: The the Trucial States Council in education and and the facilities it created went on to
Presence at the Table
(New York: Routledge,
health matters.” He added that the teachers form a substantial part of the independent
2009), 45. seconded by Kuwait “are inclined to use UAE’s welfare state.

08

225
 09

Images:

01. Students demonstrate in and 1969. As of April 1971, a second campus with the
Sharjah around the time of it counted 594 students, 25 same name, separate from
the Suez Crisis, 1956. Hatem teachers, and 11 classrooms. the original, constructed near
Mohammad Al Mosa. Center for Research and the ruler’s palace. Center for
02. During a visit aboard British Studies on Kuwait. Research and Studies on Kuwait.
naval ship Newcastle in the 04. A motorcade conveys Kuwait’s 08. In addition to schools, the
1950s, Muhammad Diyab leader through a crowd of Kuwait Office in the Trucial
Al Musa, headmaster at Al onlookers in Sharjah, May States also funded this
Qasimiyah School, poses with 1966. People wave flags of both maternity hospital and
some of his students in scout Sharjah and Kuwait. Hassan outpatient clinic in Sharjah.
uniforms. Students from left to Al Khayal. Center for Research and
right: Sultan bin Muhammad 05. Sharjah native Saud bin Studies on Kuwait.
Al Qasimi, Abdallah Omran Khalid Al Qasimi served as 09. Khalid bin Mohammed Al
Taryam, Taryam Omran the first treasury secretary Qasimi, ruler of Sharjah,
Taryam, Mahmoud Khairallah at the Kuwait Office in Dubai. left, and Sabah Al Salim Al
Al Hajji, Saeed Obaid Al Shaer, He applied for the job while Sabah, emir of Kuwait, during
Humaid Obaid Humaid, M. D. working in Kuwait. Photograph a ceremony near what later
Al Musa, Sultan bin Sagr bin taken mid-1960s. Shaikha became Rolla Square. In the
Sultan Al Qasimi, Mohammed Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al background is Al Hisn, or
Hamad Al Shamsi, Sultan Qasimi. Ruler’s Palace, 1967. Estate of
Mohammed Al Mazrou, 06. Letter from Badr Muhammad David Neild, courtesy of Medina
Mohammed Sultan Abdallah, Ahmad Al Sabah, head of Publishing Ltd.
Ali Abdallah Al Noman, Jassim the Kuwait Office in Dubai, 10. Crowd stands under a banner
Saif Al Midfa. Taryam Omran responds to a request from designed by Sharjah natives
Taryam is the student who Kuwaiti foreign affairs ministry Ibrahim Yousef Al Qaseer and
appealed to the Kuwaiti emir for two photographs of each Yaacoub Yousef Al Qaseer
for educational funding. project funded by Kuwait in that reads “Al-Shaab Club
Courtesy of Hatem Mohammad the coastal emirates, April 24, Welcomes His Highness the
Al Mosa. 1971. Center for Research and Emir of Kuwait.” Kuwait’s
03. The Kuwait-funded Sharjah Studies on Kuwait. leader visited Sharjah and the
School for Girls was 07. Kuwait-funded Al Arouba rest of the Trucial States in
constructed between 1968 Secondary School for Boys, May 1966. Hassan Al Khayal.

226
10

227
Children celebrating Eid and enjoying rides in front of Al Rolla
Tree and Abdullah Al Salim School (renamed Al Arouba School),
1968. The location is now Rolla Square. Mahmood AlSawan.
 01

230
École Française While the UAE’s oil industry attracted Inspired by the interrelation seen in
de Sharjah expatriates from around the world, Sharjah traditional homes, Regnault formulated
allegedly received the greatest number of the school as a complex of intimate,
French families in the 1970s. The French pod-like buildings, including eight for
oil-industry contractor, ETPM, arrived classrooms, a director’s office block,
in Sharjah in 1975 and soon counted and another for restroom facilities.
three hundred employees, many with The pods were organized in clusters
families. The company first built its offices to create shared outdoor spaces for
and installed the necessary industrial school activities, with a large central
equipment. It then started the École courtyard used for school gatherings and
Française de Sharjah as a primary school theater performances. The compound
located in a small villa on Kuwait Road, also provided three villas for staff. The
managed by ETPM’s local director and clustering organization created shaded
only accepting children of the company’s alleys between the buildings, some
staff. In 1977, it built a school not only covered with wooden lattice. Regnault
for employee families but also others, made subtle references to regional
including Sharjah’s Belgian community. architectural details with archways that
linked some of the blocks and rooftop
French architect Jean-Michel Regnault casings that mimicked barajeel, or wind
established his architectural office towers, to cover air-conditioning units.
in Sharjah in 1976. Soon thereafter,
he introduced the idea of a French The layout followed an axis with the
school to the brother of Sharjah’s flexibility to accommodate future
ruler, Sheikh Sager bin Mohamed Al extension plans. In 1984, an expansion
Qassemi, who approved it. The ruler provided a gymnasium hall. A secondary
subsequently gifted land for the school education program was added to the
and—according to the architect—AED school in 1990 when the school’s
400,000, or about $100,000, in funding. name was changed to Lycée Français
The Belgian engineering consultants Six International Georges Pompidou.
Construct also provided services with
the expectation that the school would
accommodate its Sharjah-based families.

Regnault designed the 3,900-square-

meter compound in relation to the
existing trees and established water
wells surrounding it. At the time that the
French school was being designed and
built, the surrounding landscape had not
yet been transformed into the suburb
of Halwan. Adjacent to the site was the
existing German School designed by Rudi
Architect Eller. The site of the French school itself
Regnault & Partners had been previously used for farming. The
Engineering Consultant developers’ preferred schedule was in fact
Six Construct delayed by the final vegetable harvest,
Construction with construction eventually starting in
Société Entrepose April 1977. The school was completed a
G.T.M. pour les Travaux
Petroliers Maritimes few months later and opened for its first
(ETPM) students in October 1977.
Client
ETPM

Completed
1977

Status
Existing, expanded

231
02

03

232
04

01. Site plan submitted in 1976 as part of a preliminary

proposal. Images: Regnault & Partners.
02. Elevation and section drawings of faculty
accommodations, dated March 20, 1977.
03. Students and teacher in school’s main yard, late 1970s.
04. Aerial view of classrooms, late 1970s.

233
01

02 03

234
National After civil war broke out in Lebanon in The new school’s program included
College 1975, the Lebanese National College of accommodations for the faculty, a
of Choueifat Choueifat struggled to keep its doors open classroom building, a gymnasium, and
for students. When enrollment dropped outdoor sports facilities. According to
from 2,000 to a few hundred students, the the architect, everything was laid out on
school administration started looking for an orderly grid with the expectation that
another location beyond Lebanon to keep additional facilities for a growing student
the institution going. body would one day be attached. The
school built piecemeal additions before a
With a history reaching back to 1886 and major expansion was designed in 2009 by
currently hosting more than 30 branches the firm ATI Consultants.
in 20 countries, Choueifat’s campus in
Sharjah was its first outside Lebanon. After the war, the main school branch
The new campus also functioned as the moved back to Beirut while the Sharjah
school’s temporary headquarters. Some branch continued serving local and
might have considered Sharjah as an expatriate residents, thereby continuing a
unexpected choice for the elite private scholastic relationship between Sharjah
school, but by gaining the school’s and Lebanon. Today, the school is known
presence, the government of Sharjah as the International School of Choueifat.
also aimed to strengthen its reputation in
education and international allure.
1. See p. 45.

In 1976, in the midst of the Lebanese Civil

War, fifty of the school’s teachers found
refuge in Sharjah, launching the new
branch on part of the evacuated British
Royal Air Force camp.1 Military barracks
were converted into classrooms while new
facilities were being built.

Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Sultan bin

Muhammad Al Qasimi not only offered a
spacious site near other schools in the
emirate but also provided financial aid to
build premises for 600 boarding students
and 1,800 day students. With funding
and a site secured, Choueifat’s in-house
architect, Emile Khoury, was able to begin
work on the new facilities.
04

01. Outdoor sports areas at the school’s purpose-

built facilities. Jamal Hazbun, courtesy of the
International School of Choueifat–Sharjah.
02. Suleiman Mansour, Ralph Bistany, co-founder of
the school, and director Dorothy Miles, during a
site visit. The school’s faculty was involved in the
Architect transfer and in the eventual design of purpose-
Emile Khoury built facilities and classrooms. Emile Khoury.
03. Entrances to two rows of utilitarian classrooms.
Contractors Students of thirty-five nationalities attended
MOBIC the Lebanese school after its headquarters was
moved from Beirut to Sharjah in 1976. Jamal
Client Hazbun, courtesy of the International School of
National College of Choueifat–Sharjah.
Choueifat 04. Some of Choueifat’s earliest students in Sharjah,
1976–77. In the background, one of the British
Completed military barracks repurposed for Choueifat before
1979 completion of new facilities. Back row, left to right:
Bariya Ataya, Daliah Khoury, Marwan Al Saleh.
Status Front row: Houry Abrahamian, Raed Al Saleh,
Existing, expanded Nizar Adasani. Courtesy of Bariya Ataya.

235
236
237
01

238
Elementary and Al Qasimiyah Primary School for Boys was lining the walkway, and a glazed facade
Intermediate established during a period of significant that opens directly to an adjacent
School Prototype / national investment in education and civic courtyard. A trademark palette of soft
Al Qasimiyah projects across the UAE. In the 1970s, earthy tones enlivens the concrete
Primary School the Ministry of Education commissioned surfaces and the school’s iconic water
for Boys Khatib & Alami to design a primary school tower. Through its spatial strategies and
typology. Accordingly, the Ministry of architectural elements, the architecture
Public Works built numerous, nearly demonstrates a sensitivity to both the
Text by identical schools throughout the country, climate of the UAE and the well-being of
Mona El Mousfy with more than twenty versions in Sharjah students and teachers.
alone, including Al Qasimiyah School
located in Sharjah’s Al Manakh district, In an effort to preserve the modern
built in 1981. The ubiquitous typology architectural heritage of Sharjah and to
became synonymous with modern demonstrate an example of the adaptive
educational facilities. reuse of an existing building, the Sharjah
Architecture Triennial took on the
The school is a two-story building that challenge of renovating the abandoned
groups twenty-four classrooms, twelve Al Qasimiyah Primary School to serve
on each floor, as well as five labs, a large as its headquarters and main venue.
library, and a double-height theater. The Triennial was keen to occupy this
Accessible via covered walkways, particular building not only because of
educational spaces are organized around its diverse spatial possibilities but also
a series of visually interrelated courtyards because it bears witness to a time of
Architect of different sizes: a large covered central great investment in the UAE’s civic and
Nabil Kanafani, courtyard, an adjacent long and narrow educational spaces.
Consolidated
Engineering Company courtyard, and four smaller courtyards
(Khatib & Alami) flanking them. The weaving of indoor
Client classrooms, outdoor areas, and covered
Ministry of Public Works spaces endows the building’s spatial
Proposed organization with permeability. Perforated
1976 screens, bookending covered hallways,
Completed and delineating small courtyards add
1981 to the building’s porous quality. Each
Status
classroom is defined by a trio of flat,
Existing vaulted bays, a relatively closed facade

01. Entrance reveals various kinds of indoor and

outdoor spaces created by the prototype design.
Archive of Al Qasimiyah Primary School, courtesy
of Kambar Mahmood Al Mazem.
02. The prototype water tower quickly became a
recognizable and replicated landmark on the UAE
landscape. Dr. Naman Al Jalili Archives Collection.
03. Elevation and section drawings of the twenty-
four-classroom prototype, April 1976. Khatib &
Alami, courtesy of DAFCO, Basil M. Al Farhan.
02

239
03

240
241
01

242
Kindergarten After Rais and Tukan Architects secured The design’s recognizable, pyramid-like
Prototype the contract to design a kindergarten roof pieces were cast in concrete on site
prototype for the UAE Ministry of Public and rest atop a system of exposed concrete
Works, Jafar Tukan traveled to study columns and tie beams. Smaller pyramids
various precedents in France and the sheltered classrooms while larger ones
Levant. To develop the concept, the roofed the multi-purpose spaces. Each
architect told ministry officials that he pyramid is topped with a contemporary,
had imagined himself as a child walking and functional, wind tower slotted with
around the school, which helped him build concrete louvers, thus integrating the
a narrative around the arrangement of modern architecture vocabulary with
clusters that a child would comprehend. elements of vernacular architecture.
The prototype provided another kind of
narrative as well, one about the visible Although replaced later by another—
distribution of a government service. Its much larger—kindergarten prototype,
architectural strategy coincided with several instances of Rais and Tukan’s
other projects to reform and coordinate design still stand, albeit often abandoned
the UAE’s public education system. With and in bad shape. A version of the
Rais and Tukan’s prototype in hand, the prototype in Sharjah’s Al Manakh district
federal government could pursue the has been converted into an education
quick and equitable establishment of an center. Another in the town of Kalba has
educational system throughout the new been acquired by Sharjah Art Foundation
nation’s seven emirates. and is used for Sharjah Biennial events.

Rais and Tukan Architects, a partnership Now standing modestly, if not abandoned,
formed in 1973 between Lebanese in urban locations throughout the UAE,
architect George Rais and Palestinian- the schools’ prismatic water towers
Jordanian architect Jafar Tukan, are often seen looming in the distance,
submitted their design in 1974. The weary witnesses of their rapidly changing
practice, hardly a year old, was introduced surroundings.
to the ministry by Sultan bin Khalifa Al
Habtoor, who worked at the ministry from
1. See p. 159.
1972 to 1974 and later commissioned the
office to design his mixed-use tower in
Sharjah’s Al Majaz district.1

The kindergarten prototype prescribes

a perforated, concrete-block wall to
enclose a campus of about 300 square
meters. Inside is a building composition
reminiscent of Dutch structuralism, not
unlike Herman Hertzberger’s Amsterdam
orphanage. The prototype called for
twelve classrooms, two multi-purpose
rooms, administration offices, open
galleries, patios, and service amenities.
The single-story network of articulated 02
blocks maintains an intimate scale with
four discernible zones, each made up
Architect
Rais & Tukan Architects of three classrooms arranged around a
multi-purpose courtyard. The four zones
Client
Ministry of Public Works are oriented around a larger central
courtyard, which functions as an open-air
Proposed
1974 playground and circulation space.

Status
Existing, renovated,
and demolished

243
03

01. Execution of Rais & Tukan prototype, Al Khan 04. The floor plan displays similarities to Dutch
district, photographed 1977. John R. Harris structuralist design and Alison and Peter Smithson’s
Library, courtesy of Mark Harris. mat-building concept. Rais & Tukan Archives,
02. Construction worker dampens cast-concrete roof courtesy of the Arab Centre for Architecture.
during construction, Al Khan, undated. Osama 05. Perspective section drawing of a multi-purpose
Hassanein. space and its transition to classroom spaces.
03. Elevations of the prototype reveal the hierarchy Drawing includes demonstration of a wind tower.
of zones as represented by the sizes of pyramidal Its title has been adjusted for the layout. Rais &
roofs. Rais & Tukan Archives, courtesy of the Arab Tukan Archives, courtesy of the Arab Centre for
Centre for Architecture. Architecture.

244
04

05

245
246
Modern Miniatures, Sharjah National Park

On the most inland edge of Sharjah

International Airport is a linear park, 1.5
kilometers in length. At its center is an
interrupted project to celebrate Sharjah’s
architectural achievements, in miniature
form. All of the completed components
of the project represent architectural
and infrastructural projects from the late
1970s and 1980s.

Naim Khan, a Pakistani official in Sharjah

Municipality’s sewage division, organized
the project after his British director,
Trevor Starkey, received instructions from
Sharjah’s ruler to rebuild “all of Sharjah
in small scale.” Khan and other municipal
workers finished six scaled-down replicas,
including: a row of the Córdoba Buildings
on Bank Street, Sharjah Post Office, the
vegetable souk, the fish market, King
Faisal Mosque, and the reclamation
projects by Halcrow connecting Sharjah
Creek to Lake Khalid. For a short time,
water even flowed through a miniature
channel. Sometime in the early 1990s,
work on the mini-city stopped while plans
were underway to add the Central Souk to
the landscape, apparently due to limited
funding and lack of workforce capacity.

With the largest reaching four meters high,

the miniature structures have partially
accessible ground-floor spaces, and some
pose a challenge to children scaling the
edifices to reach the roofs. King Faisal
Mosque, outfitted with a full-scale air-
conditioning unit, also functions as a
women’s mosque.

Sharjah’s infrastructural landscape

resulted from engaging a global economy
of consultants; its miniature version was
designed and delivered by the in-house
officials of Sharjah Municipality.

Design and Oversight

Sewage Treatment Works,
Sharjah Municipality Miniatures of the central
post office, vegetable
Client souk, and Córdoba
Sharjah Municipality Buildings. Early paving
may have been an
Opened interpretation of the
Early 1990s Sharjah roadways.
Sharjah Municipality,
Status courtesy of the Maraya
Existing Art Centre.

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 01

02

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Abdulla Saad LAND, HOUSES, AND
Moaswes HOMES: A PALESTINIAN
HISTORY OF AL FAYHA

In early 1971, Ali Moaswes and his family settled THE ARRIVAL
into a purpose-built house in Sharjah’s Al Fayha During the family’s brief time in Dubai, fate
district. Several months prior, Ali and his family had reconnected Ali with Haseeb Rasoul from Nazareth.
arrived in what would soon become the United Arab Ali knew Haseeb from his days working at Aramco in
Emirates, initially renting a house in a new compound Dhahran, Saudi Arabia before he moved to Kuwait.
owned by the Al-Owais family in Port Saeed, Dubai. To this day, Ali fondly considers Haseeb one of his
Ali’s wife, Hiyam, was immensely proud of her role closest friends and confidants, speaking highly of
in designing the layout of the Dubai house, intended him in a manner only reserved for a select few of the
to be a replica of the family’s previous home in many people he has met during his long life. Haseeb,
Kuwait. Despite this immense pride and attachment, a wealthy man, resided in Sharjah where he owned
however, renting a house was not the same as a furniture factory in addition to several properties
owning a home, and it was with this in mind that the close to the Clock Tower Roundabout. He introduced
Moaswes family moved to Sharjah. Ali to Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed al Qasimi, then
the ruler of Sharjah. Sheikh Khalid, known to be a
Like many Palestinians, Ali struggled to find a place principled and generous man, persuaded Ali to move
to settle his family after the Nakba of 1948, when with his family to Sharjah by offering a plot of land,
Israel expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians seventy-five feet by seventy-five feet, in the Fayha
from their homes. The need for stability and dignified district. In order to keep the title to the property, Ali
domicile became an existential pursuit, all the while was required to build a house. Al Fayha was not far
keeping alive the memory of—and the hope of a from Palestine Street and the Palestine Roundabout,
return to—a peaceful Palestine. To the Moaswes both landmarks before Palestinians came to the area
family, the promise of land ownership in Sharjah and early evidence of Sheikh Khalid’s support for the
represented the most ideal form of stability upon Palestinian cause.
which they could rebuild their lives: it offered them
both a home of their own and a higher quality of life The offer represented an ideal opportunity for Ali, who
for the family. In exchange, the Moaswes family and had for years lamented the inability of Palestinians
other Palestinians worked hard to contribute to the to own land in the countries to which they fled. His
rapid growth and development of the emirate. son Saad recalls how his father often stated, half-

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jokingly, that he would be happy to own even a “grain
of sand” so long as it was undeniably his. Owning
a plot of land with a house he built instilled in Ali a
sense of gratitude that formed the foundation for
his continued commitment to residing in and serving
the Emirate of Sharjah for the following half century.
Contrary to the norm in neighboring countries, where
non-citizens were excluded from land ownership,
Palestinians were encouraged and trusted in Sharjah.
They were in critical need of stability to secure
dignified futures for themselves and their families on
land they owned, and the local community welcomed
them not just as brisk builders of the community
but also as teachers, doctors, business owners, and
skilled professionals.

THE MOASWES FAMILY HOME

To build his house, Ali hired Odeh Al Banna’s
Union Contractors. Both Odeh, from Gaza, and
the project architect Fathi Wafa, from Yafa,
were already prominent members of Sharjah’s
growing Palestinian community. Ali chose Union
Contractors on the recommendation of Haseeb
Rasoul, and because they were widely considered
to be the best local contractors of the nascent
Palestinian community. The house represented
one of Ali’s most crucial ambitions, and therefore
hiring the best in the business was a logical choice.
Haseeb’s recommendation only strengthened his 03

conviction in doing so.

Sami left home to attend university in Iraq, he left
Selecting Union Contractors worked out well for his place in the second bedroom next to Saad to his
the Moaswes family, and the house was completed younger brother Khalid, born in 1972 and named after
within a few short months. Ali’s son Saad recalls how Sheikh Khalid.
Haseeb’s brother-in-law, Abdullah Taha, employed
by Sharjah’s armed forces at the time, would say When the Moaswes family moved into the Fayha
that construction was accelerated by the fact that, house, where they were to live for almost four
rather than paying installments upon completion of decades, they had very few neighbors. The nearest
milestones as per the norm, Ali paid installments in building of note was the Ruler’s Court, roughly
advance. There also seemed to be a tacit agreement 400 meters away. The house was so remote at the
between client, contractor, and consultant that time that it was inaccessible by car until Sharjah
constructing homes was key to building a stable, Municipality installed an improvised road leading to
semi-permanent homeland where Palestinians could it, made from sabkha.1 Browsing through photos of Al
live and attempt to heal from the collective trauma Fayha from the time, it is difficult to believe that what
of losing their ancestral homeland, and construction is such a densely settled area today, with narrow
should thus be swift. roads and countless houses, was once little more
than a sandy expanse populated by a small handful
Upon completion, Ali’s one-story house included of families.
three spacious bedrooms and one bathroom on 2,055
square feet. Ali’s children, Sami and Saad, shared Ali’s house was also among the first houses in
the bedroom adjoining that of their parents while Sharjah to have a telephone line. It was installed a
the third bedroom was used as a study. The room few days after Hiyam mentioned applying for one to
contained, in addition to a desk and chair, a large Sheikh Khalid’s wife, Sheikha Noura, one afternoon
filing cabinet and a broad window overlooking the while delivering her a pot of waraq enab (stuffed
street; the neighborhood girls came to jokingly refer vine leaves). Given the scarcity of home telephones
to it as burj al moraqabah (the watchtower). When at the time, this privilege was another indication of

250
 directly from Gaza, fleeing the brutal Israeli
expansion into the territory in the summer of 1967.
Among them were the Bayidh, Aidi, Enany, Ghalayini,
and Banna families. As they arrived, Palestinian
families from other parts of the country also joined:
the Abu Quba family from Yafa, Tahboub from Al
Khalil (Hebron), and families from other parts of the
Arab world such as Egypt and Lebanon.

Each was offered a plot of land, similar to the

Moaswes family, in Al Fayha on the same condition
that they build a house on it. Diverse Arab families
formed a tightly knit community, a microcosm of an
idealized Arab world. Just as how the Palestinian
cause had become the central rallying point for Arab
unity and the lifeblood of dreams of a virtuous Arab
future, new arrivals found an existing social bedrock
of Palestinian families and businesses in Al Fayha.
Following the typical procedures of acquiring a plot
of land and building a house on it, they became
acquainted with and befriended community figures,
many of whom worked in construction and related
industries. In this sense, not only did land ownership
manifest ideas of stability, domicile, and belonging,
but it also held a practical, utilitarian value: through
building private homes, families built a new public.

Although Al Fayha was largely settled by Palestinians,

in the 1970s it was also home to some notable Emirati
families. Saad, Ali’s middle son, recalls living in
the stability and belonging that the Moaswes family proximity to members of the Al Qasimi and Al Noman
were to enjoy in Sharjah. The Moaswes’ sons still families. Ali Al Noman was then director of what later
remember their first four-digit phone number: 8636. became the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority.
Another well-known resident of Al Fayha in the 1970s
Over the coming years, many families from Palestine was the UAE Minister of Education at the time, Dr.
and other parts of the Arab world built homes on Abdullah Omran Taryam, who regularly visited Ali’s
similar plots within the neighborhood. The Moaswes house in order to use his telephone.
family’s closest neighbors were the Dajani family
from Yafa. Mamdouh Al Dajani, who had built houses EVERYDAY LIFE IN 1970S AL FAYHA
in Al Fayha for himself as well as for his nephews, Life in Al Fayha suited the Moaswes family. They were
was a particularly close friend. He owned a terrazzo one of only a few migrant families to own more than
tile factory in partnership with Sheikh Khalid, and his one car. Ali had brought with him from Kuwait an
floor tiles adorned parts of Ali and Hiyam’s house. air-conditioned, fully automatic, white Dodge Monaco
Other notable early neighbors included Dr. Ramadan with red leather seats that was one of the fanciest
Shubair and his family from Gaza and the Dagher cars around; and Hiyam, with her more modest Morris,
family from Lebanon. Dr. Shubair was notable for was the only female motorist in the neighborhood. She
being the first physician in Ras Al Khaimah as well was also among the first women in Sharjah to obtain a
as for establishing the first blood bank in the UAE. driver’s license. Given that Ali still worked in Dubai and
His wife, Najah, was also well known as an Arabic that both of his older sons went to school there, having
teacher at several UAE schools. two cars was hugely convenient.

THE ARAB WORLD IN MICROCOSM As its population grew, Al Fayha became a site of
As the 1970s progressed, Al Fayha grew into one of strong friendship and camaraderie. The neighborhood
Sharjah’s most important Arab neighborhoods. A boys used to gather frequently to discuss important
large number of Gazan families arrived in Al Fayha, matters of the day while taking long walks through the
thanks to Odeh al Banna. Many of them immigrated area’s gridlocked streets. On Thursday afternoons,

251
a few of them, including Ali’s son Saad, Sadiq Al of Southern California, returning to Al Fayha to begin a
Muzaini and Amin Ataya from Gaza, and Amjad career as a civil engineer. In 1986, after a brief sojourn
Dweik from Al Khalil, would borrow a car and drive working in Oman, he set up Abdullah Al Sheikh General
to the popular hangouts, Wimpy Burger in Deira or Maintenance and Decoration Contracting (ASGM)
Bake-O-Mat on Al Arouba Street. Like Saad, Sadiq’s in partnership with Ghassan Somah from Syria and
family also moved to the UAE from Kuwait, where Joseph Assi from Lebanon. By this point, Ali had been
his father had been a district attorney, initially promoted to general manager at Sharjah Insurance,
renting a house in Al Fayha before building his working at their head office on Al Burj Street, also
family’s own home a few years later. Amjad was the known as Bank Street.
son of Judge Yusri Dweik, well known for his role
in advising Sheikh Khalid during the 1960s and for With Saad now an established interior contractor, the
representing the emirate during legal negotiations Moaswes family house underwent renovation in late
leading to UAE federation. 1988. The sea salt and sand-based concrete, used
in building many houses at the time of construction,
Like the neighborhood boys, the adults also benefitted had created structural problems that required urgent
from the burgeoning sense of camaraderie. The attention. With Saad looking to expand his business
everyday practice of sharing important household into working with special epoxies, then a new building
resources such as telephones, cooking ingredients, technology in the UAE, the house represented an
and other essentials became the foundation for ideal terrain for experimentation.
decades and generations of friendship. By way of
entertainment, weekends became synonymous with During the renovation period, which lasted about a
small gatherings at neighbors’ houses. The Moaswes year, Saad got engaged and married Houda Eldah.
house was a common site of such gatherings, with Rather conveniently, the timing of Saad’s marriage
many of Ali and Hiyam’s friends, such as the Dajanis coincided with the completion of the house’s
and the Daghers, joining them in games of tarneeb, a renovation. This meant that the same house in which
card game popular among Levantine Arabs. Saad began his life in Sharjah became the place
where he and Houda started their family. Along
A HOME TO MULTIPLE GENERATIONS with their two children, they continued to live in Al
The late 1970s and early 1980s witnessed several Fayha until 2007 when they moved to a larger house
changes in the daily life of the Moaswes family. In in another part of Sharjah. By this point, Saad had
1978, Ali added a second floor to his house. With become the managing director of Bond Interiors, a
both Saad and Sami studying abroad, he moved into company headquartered in the Sharjah Industrial
the smaller upper level with Hiyam and Khalid, their Area owned and run by the Moaswes family.
youngest son, and rented the ground level out to the
Sarhans, another Palestinian family whose father Many refugees and other migrants put down roots
worked in insurance. in Al Fayha in the 1960s and early 1970s, and they
only grew deeper over the following decades as new
A few years later, in 1981, Ali left the Kuwait Insurance generations were born and raised in the area. The
Company and moved to Sharjah Insurance. As part of younger generations had, and continue to have, little
his new job, he set up the company’s Dubai branch to no memory of any other home, even in the most
and became its first branch manager. That same year, romantic sense of the word. The Moaswes family
Saad completed his master’s degree at the University memory of Sharjah goes back three generations,

1. Sabkha is a clay-like concoction of saline minerals

found naturally in the region’s landscape hard
enough (when not wet) to sustain automobile traffic.

04

252
and many other families of old Palestinian arrivals
are now entering their fourth generation. Although
many family residences have since moved away from
Al Fayha, they are still bound to the area by the land
ownership that they have refused to relinquish.

REFUGE AND DIGNITY

Al Fayha, currently one of Sharjah’s oldest and
most storied areas, remains one of the few places
in the UAE where much of the land is still owned by
foreign nationals. It also remains a place of refuge
for those fleeing war and other tragedies. At least
three generations have watched Al Fayha grow from
a quiet area to one of Sharjah’s most central and
vibrant neighborhoods as newcomers built houses
representing powerful hopes of a bright future.
Although many of the families that originally built and
lived in Al Fayha’s homes have since moved to other
parts of Sharjah and the UAE, the spirit of community
birthed within its narrow streets has persisted in the
legacy of the district as a place affording refugees
due dignity. While many who gathered to play tarneeb
in the early 1970s have passed, their children and
grandchildren still gather to indulge in comparable,
albeit trendier, pastimes.

The hope of an eventual return to Palestine complicates

the question of permanence for many Palestinian
refugees and their descendants. It is nearly impossible
to dislodge a person’s love for home, especially when
that home is all of a sudden snatched away in an act of a
violence that renders the displaced life instantaneously
unrecognizable from the known past. To reinstate
feelings of belonging, appreciation, and stability can
restore a sense of dignity despite the agony of life in
exile. By providing a cohesive space for Palestinians and
other Arabs to once again realize feelings of ownership,
responsibility, and the hope of investing in a bright
future, Al Fayha made many feel for a long time like
active citizens rather than transient refugees trapped in
a state of passive waiting for a return to the hills, plains,
rivers, and coastlines of Palestine.
05

01. Saad Moaswes takes a self-portrait before a mirror

beside the main foyer of the house, circa 1971.
Images: Private collection, Moaswes Family.
02. The Moaswes family home in Al Fayha upon
completion in early 1971. Architect: Fathi Wafa.
Contractor: Union Contractors.
03. Ali Moaswes (center, in glasses) and his wife Hiyam
host friends from the Abdulwahab family at the
Moaswes family home in Al Fayha.
04. Ali Moaswes parks his wife’s Morris in the driveway
of their home as son Sami stands alongside.
05. Hiyam and Sami Moaswes in the study, known
in the neighborhood as burj al moraqabah, or the
lookout tower.

253
254
Adnan Saffarini in Sharjah

Once its commercial quantities of oil

were announced in 1966, Dubai became
even more attractive to regional Arab
professionals. This new pool of white-
collar labor would serve Sharjah well, too.
One of the arriving experts was the Cairo
University–trained Palestinian Adnan
Saffarini. Although he was an engineer,
Saffarini practiced like an architect.
While most buildings were going up as
quickly as possible to take advantage
of capricious rent prices, Saffarini took
time for the artistic hand- rendering of
what his buildings would look like once
the surrounding city was completed. His
street views often included the latest
car models, mature trees, and people,
even children with balloons. According
to his descendants, Saffarini worked on
hundreds of buildings in Sharjah, where
he opened an office in 1968 or 1969.
The staggering number of commissions
also meant that he worked on a diverse
range of projects, including social
housing, palaces, a dog pound, luxury
hotels, factories, hospitals, mosques,
and schools. This 1974 drawing was
for a mixed-used building for Dubai
businessman Rashid Ahmad Lootah. It
was to be situated on Al Zahra’a Square,
also known as Clock Tower Roundabout,
which the 1969 master plan had
envisioned as becoming the city’s main
urban square. The building is currently
slated for demolition.

Perspective rendering of
a mixed-use building at
Clock Tower Roundabout,
1974. Courtesy of Sharjah
Municipality.

255
256
Al Meena Street Housing

In the years prior to Sharjah’s boom,

Al Meena Street was one of two paved
roads branching out from the roundabout
welcoming traffic from Dubai. Its destination
was of significance at the time: BP’s
compounds.1 By 1968, some of the city’s
first streetlamps lined the road, which
eventually veered from the compounds to
connect a row of new banks and offices to
the new jetty extending out over the Gulf
waters. The name Al Meena Street, or Port
Road, signaled its sustained prominence.
By the 1970s, ongoing road construction in
Sharjah’s existing city required the rehousing
of Sharjah residents in large numbers. New
buildings erected on Al Meena Street were
intended to be allocated as “compensation
buildings,” given to landowners who lost
property as a result of major redevelopment
efforts. In exchange for vacating, they were
given apartments in the rows of repetitive,
three-story, mixed-use buildings to lease
to expatriates, who sought proximity to
Sharjah’s business center. The British firm
Hubbard Ford and Partners delivered three
corresponding prototypes for this swift
trade-off, each with its own “pseudo-Arab”
elevation featuring rounded vault forms and
different styles of arches.

The buildings’ restrained scale was dwarfed

by the larger buildings that eventually rose
across the street and at the road’s terminus
with Al Arouba Street. Left behind as new
development began to accumulate along Al
Arouba Street, the distinct row of buildings
proved an inefficient response to Sharjah’s
housing shortage and an inadequate draw
for arriving businesses and banks. With the
completion of the Bank Street buildings in
1979, Sharjah’s business district sealed its
departure from Al Meena Street.2

1. See p. 43.
2. See p. 99.

Architect
Hubbard Ford & Partners Al Meena Street
buildings, 1977.
Client Some of the roof
Government of Sharjah arches were
later removed to
Completed accommodate
1976 mechanical systems
and water tanks.
Status Henk Snoek / RIBA
Partially demolished Collections.

257
01

02

258
Al Majarrah As Sharjah’s oldest districts faced a real
Buildings estate boom, neighborhoods and old
houses were reconfigured or eradicated.
New housing projects with ground-floor
shops were commissioned to accommodate
local families displaced by redevelopment.
The shops and flats of these new blocks
were originally designed for locals but are
now rented by foreign residents.

The four mixed-use blocks, originally built

with corniche views, have receded behind
the gold-domed Sharjah Museum of Islamic
Civilization, previously Al Majarrah Souk.

The Majarrah Buildings’ facades adopted

the prevailing architectural language
of 1970s Sharjah—including pointed
Architect
Regnault & Partners and semi-circular arches that crest the
ground-floor arcade of shops and other
Contractors
Energyco subtle references to Islamic architecture.
Screens with decorative geometric
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin patterns cover some of the building’s
Muhammad Al Qasimi openings, allowing natural light and air
Design into circulation spaces. The building’s
1976 orientation seems intended to maintain
Status
visual privacy for residents and to provide
Existing communal spaces between buildings.
03

04

259
 05

06

260
 08

07

01. Al Majarrah Buildings employed 04. Detail, facade screen used for
two facade designs, featuring shading and privacy.
pointed and rounded arches. 05. Construction crew on site, late 1970s.
Images: Regnault & Partners. 06. Elevation drawing, mid-1970s.
02. View of planned road between 07. Project announcement board
the mixed-use blocks, along the punctured by a bullet and
arcades, during construction. vandalized with text “Freedom
03. Early clay study model. comes from the barrel of a gun.”

261
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02

262
Golden Gate In 1974, the Australian consortium Even though the scheme was never
Project PGA secured the contract for the realized—the new Port Khalid ended up
master plan of Golden Gate as part of a needing all of the land—the investigation
constellation of mostly unbuilt seaside reports, proposed sketches, and artists’
schemes for Sharjah.1 This component, impressions reveal the ethos and
as described in Sharjah’s 1969 master ambitions of development in Sharjah at
plan, was to form part of Sharjah’s that time. No master-planned, mixed-use
planned harbor development, filling Al project of this size was ever completed in
Layah’s promontory with a sprawling Sharjah’s city center.
mid-rise district of high-end housing,
retail, and underground parking. Located
on reclaimed land across the recently
dredged Sharjah Creek from the existing
corniche, the new district promised the
existing city an array of recreational and
leisure facilities—all raised a meter
higher than the area’s high-water level.

The plan’s land-use proposal prioritized

privacy, pedestrian circulation, and
access to services. Elevated walkways
and pleasantly landscaped promenades
provided residents access to the
project’s two beaches and the waterfront
commercial district—mirroring the city’s
Architect original corniche on the other side of the
Professional Group
Australia (PGA) creek. Residential units were oriented
toward the Gulf, taking advantage of
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin northern frontages as PGA’s other projects
Muhammad Al Qasimi did. The project’s northern corniche, with
Status
views over the horizon, adopted a more
Unbuilt intimate scale for the residential area. 1. See p. 149.

01. Aerial perspective, mid-1970s. Images:

Professional Group Australia.
02. Sectional perspective reveals proposed
underground parking and road system,
undated.
03. Sectional perspectives, undated. The project
included interlocking public and private spaces
at various levels.
03

263
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02

264
Sharjah After designing Kuwait’s hexagon- The architect claims to have originally
Carlton Hotel themed Al Messilah Beach Hotel, proposed a larger hotel, but the client
Lebanese architect Sabah Abi Hanna requested a more modest scale that
was commissioned by the hotel’s Kuwaiti could be expanded later. The final design
developer, Mubarak Al-Hassawi, to comprised a seven-story main hotel
design his new venture in Sharjah. It was along with a collection of one- and two-
not Abi Hanna’s first commission in the story chalets. The design program also
UAE; before that, he had designed two included gardens and ample parking for
unrealized projects, one each in Abu Dhabi hotel visitors and evening guests of the
and Dubai. For those projects, he opened hotel’s nightclub.
a Dubai office in 1970.
The hotel has largely maintained its original
Opening in February 1974, the 170-room form from the early 1970s, including the
Sharjah Carlton Hotel was more than just facade’s precast perforated panels that
one of Sharjah’s earliest modern hotels. provide shading and privacy to the rooms.
Its air-conditioned and upholstered
lobbies functioned as welcoming halls to Following the Carlton’s success, Sabah
Sharjah’s visiting dignitaries, including Abi Hanna was commissioned to design
those attending the 1976 African-Arab another, lesser-known building in
Symposium as well as UAE president Sharjah—a housing and commercial
Architect
Sabah Abi Hanna & and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed complex on Al Arouba Street.
Associates bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and UAE prime
Contractor minister and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid
Consolidated bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Located on Al
Contractors Company
(CCC) Khan’s shoreline, next to the eventual
Hotel Meridien Sharjah, the Carlton gave
Client
Mubarak Abdul Aziz the emirate’s visitors “an alternative
Al-Hassawi to the Sheba,” offering more guest
Completed
services, entertainment facilities, and a
1973 beachfront.1 The Inter-Continental Group
Status
was approached to operate the hotel but
Existing, renovated turned the offer down. 1. See p. 93.

01. Seaside elevation, 1970s. Bernard

Gérard, Éditions Delroisse.
02. Photographs of event held at the Carlton,
perhaps connected to Sharjah’s African-
Arab Symposium, December 1976.
Sharjah Carlton.
03. Front entrance along Al Khan’s beach
strip, undated. Mahmood AlSawan.
03

265
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Marbella Club Although 1975 was a peak year for Sharjah people interested in making the cottages
of Sharjah investment pitches, European “playboy” permanent residences. They remained
Prince Alfonso zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg committed, they said, to keeping some
claimed he was merely visiting Sharjah available for “visiting businessmen.”
when the idea of launching a version
of his Spanish resort concept came to The cottages’ domed tops were merely
him. Three years later, in April 1978, ornamental, made of a concoction of
the Marbella Club of Sharjah opened on concrete, wood, and glass-reinforced
the edges of Khalid Lagoon, then under plastic and seen only in photographs or
transformation. It was described as a from the Holiday Inn’s upper floors. The
village-like compound of luxury, “a garden 1,860-square-meter central club building
landscape on barren desert.” Really, it is topped by a 15-meter-wide roof made
was reconstituted land sealed off from of glass-reinforced plastic and shaped to
the lagoon, according to Halcrow’s 1969 conjure up a Bedouin tent.
plan. The architectural consultant was
British engineer Peter Hudson, a recurring The itinerant Spanish prince, carrying a
name in Sharjah’s development, but news Liechtenstein passport, was supposed to
reports claimed the resort was “designed attract glamor. Rumors abounded about
by Prince Alphonso himself … in the exact all the celebrities who would stay at the
style of his successful clubs in Spain, club. The only one noted in the local press
right down to the pigeon tower.” One was Scottish actor Sean Connery, who
report counted 7,000 imported plants attended the first-anniversary bash. Billed
and trees, and another 28,000 “carefully the “the lushest spot in the entire Gulf,”
chosen by Blakedown Landscapes of the Marbella survived its first year at 20%
Kidderminster.” An estimated 80,000 occupancy and quickly began offering
gallons of water per day, supplied by a “cut-rate weekend prices.” In 2019, the
sewage treatment plan, were required to resort started a major renovation.
keep them alive.

Today, the Marbella is bounded by one

of Sharjah’s busiest roads and jumbled
skyline of tower blocks; back then, it
was “‘a lush jungle’ in a hostile desert,”
tethered only to the adjacent Holiday Inn
tower. Its access to the shore is now cut
off by a cloaked fence, but the complex
was purported to have once included a
marina “full of power boats.” The grounds
Architectural Consultant
lay in ideal proximity to most of Sharjah’s
Peter Hudson & notable sites including the Central Souk,
Partners Sharjah Expo, and the Bank Street offices.
Concept Designer
Prince Alfonso zu Inside its walls, the Marbella offered an
Hohenlohe-Langenburg
earthy kind of modernity, stuccoed and
Landscape tiled in Spanish colonial. Each of the
Blakedown Gulf
fifty cottages, according to the Financial
Consulting Engineers Times, was painted “to echo the tone 02
Ian Banham & Associates
of the plants and flowers which border
Quantity Surveyors it.” The design’s flexibility allowed the
D. G. Jones, McCoach &
Partners 130-square-meter units to be rented with 01. Aerial view from neighboring Holiday Inn,
with Central Souk and Sharjah Expo site in
or without kitchens and living rooms. The background, late 1970s. Terry Kirk, courtesy of
Contractors
Conforce Gulf central club building and tennis courts Camera Press Ltd.
02. Visitor at the Marbella Club stands atop one of
were connected to the rental units by the domed chalets. In background, the Holiday
Completed
1978 meandering concrete paths, preferably Inn (Architects: David Firmin & Partners,
Consulting Engineers: Brown, Corzier & Wyatt,
navigated by golf cart. Marbella’s 1977). Collection of Mohammed Shamis Al
Status
Existing promoters said there were too many Mazemi, courtesy of Ahmed Al Mazemi.

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Seashore Polish architect Józef Zbigniew Polak’s The Khor Fakkan project, delivered by
Development career took him across four continents. Polak’s Dubai-based team, was interpreted
Proposal, Long before he produced a design proposal along these lines. Polak used a found
Khor Fakkan for a seashore development in Sharjah’s postcard showing a dramatic view of
eastern exclave of Khor Fakkan, he had the shoreline landscape to convey his
Text by started out with blueprints for post-war development concept. He delineated the
Łukasz Stanek Poland, where he designed several cultural proposed buildings, roads, and decks
centers. By the late 1950s, he embarked by etching white lines into the postcard,
on a peripatetic career, garnering awards retouching it with a black pen. Roads on
for his architectural and urban planning the mainland follow terrain contours and
competition designs throughout Central provide access to a mosque at the top
Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. While his of the hill and to clusters of villas that
work in Afghanistan (1967–70) reflected cascade toward the sea. Via a new bridge,
the goals of socialist technical assistance the project then extends into the Gulf of
to developing countries in the midst of Cold Oman to the rocky Shark Island, where
War rivalry, by the time he arrived in the a hotel, exhibition center, and marina
UAE in 1977, authorities in socialist Poland were planned. The island’s buildings vary
Architect
Józef Zbigniew Polak were focused on the profit potential of between spheres set against the sky
architectural export. Across these changing and decks stretched between the cliffs.
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin
geopolitical contexts and along with some Concave forms cling to the rocks, and
Muhammad Al Qasimi time spent in the United States, Polak convex forms float in the sea.
Completed
developed a vision of urbanism defined
1977 by curvilinear layouts that negotiated This project remains unrealized. The
Status
topography, historical landmarks, and adjacent shoreline was transformed into a
Unbuilt vernacular urban fabric. deepwater port that opened in 1979.

02 03
01. The architect
sketched his
proposal onto an
aerial-view postcard.
Most of the mainland
coast was eventually
developed into Khor
Fakkan Port.
02. Polak and team
consider a site model,
perhaps in the UAE
office, 1977.
03. Sketch of proposed
development along
coastal road, 1977.
04. Elevation of Shark
Island and proposed
bridge, 1977. Images:
J. Z. Polak.
04

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Hind Mezaina GOOD VIBRATIONS:
LIVING IT UP IN
SHARJAH’S HOTELS

Not so long ago, Sharjah was the UAE’s premier party “If I wanted to advertise my hotel, I’d have to make
town. Over the years, I’ve heard many family friends 5,000 copies of my own leaflet, drive to Sharjah,
and friends of friends reminisce about the good old which was a long way on not very well made-up roads,
days in Sharjah and read many posts on social media and then I’d have to pay money for them to staple the
about them. leaflets into the day-old news. And that was the only
print advertising that existed in 1978.”
“We Sharjah folks rarely ventured across
no man’s land, there were more pubs and By aggregating all those leaflets into a single
discos in Sharjah than all the other six magazine, Fairservice helped promote Sharjah’s
emirates put together!” party-town status. There was a plethora of Sharjah
A.W., Dubai — “The Good Old Days” Facebook group nightclubs, all located in hotels, including:
(April 22, 2019)
. Club 58 and Al Khama Room at the Beach Hotel
I have come across recollections like this time and . Coral Bar Disco La Belle Epoque at Hotel Meridien
again in print media, too, in back issues of What’s . Coins Disco at the Palmotel
On, for example. The monthly publication, said to . Disco 21 and Queen’s Night Club at the Palace Hotel
be the first English-language magazine in the Gulf, . Peaches at the Marbella Club
was established in Dubai in 1979 and found its niche . Juliana’s at the Holiday Inn
as the entertainment guide for Dubai and Sharjah. . Al Matador at Al Andalus Hotel.
By 1981, it also covered Abu Dhabi and, soon after,
the rest of the United Arab Emirates and Oman. As it The oil boom in Sharjah began in the mid-1970s,
turns out, this entertainment magazine may be one several years later than in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The
of the definitive historical archives on Sharjah of the oil reserves enabled Sharjah’s government to create
late twentieth century. infrastructure serving newly monied locals seeking to
establish businesses and international brands aiming
In the 1980s, What’s On targeted English-language to set up shop with local sponsors.
readers who could no longer be reached simply by
word of mouth. Ian Fairservice, the founding editor of “Sharjah at the time (mid-1970s) was
What’s On and also the managing partner and group about to boom, with large numbers of
editor of the magazine’s parent company Motivate people with high disposable incomes,
Media Group, explained his initial business idea in an rushing to take up residence.”
article in The National (June 17, 2009): Mike Hennessy, What’s On (July 1984)

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 The boom funneled an influx of expatriates from
across the world into newly constructed residential
apartments and villas. The building of hotels
and entertainment venues soon followed: they
accommodated international business travelers and
tourists, in search of contracts and sunshine, who
enjoyed the thrill of visiting a destination that was new,
affordable, and off the beaten track. By luring tourists
with sun, sand, and the exotic flare of “Arabia,”
Sharjah’s tourism efforts aimed to boost the economy.
One of the earliest advertisements for the Sharjah
Tourist Centre promoted themed nights like Dishdash
and Caftans, Day in the Dunes, and Desert Disco. Even
Sharjah’s oldest hospital, Al Qassimi, hosted at least
one night of revelry: the Razzle Dazzle party.

Hotels in Sharjah and across the Gulf became social

centers, for local residents and expats in addition to
travelers, who mingled in the array of restaurants,
cabarets, discotheques, and concert venues—places
to experience the music played back home, the drinks
familiar from back home, the food eaten back home.
Expats paid to access the memories, and locals paid
to experience novelty: the pub lunch, discos playing
“the latest sounds—direct from the UK,” restaurants
serving European and Asian cuisine, oriental nights,
a German Bierkeller, an Italian pizzeria, and all the
cultural festivals, from Indonesian to Lebanese and
South African.
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Many today consider malls in Gulf countries to be public share memories of pop culture with new friends, and
spaces, and hotels have also served a similar function to create new memories in spaces of familiarity and
for expats and locals, predominately men, over the comfort. Nevertheless, people eventually wanted new
years. Although the venues were limited in number, they ways to party. This probably explains the emergence
offered environments where Sharjah residents could of RamRock. In June 1982, Palmotel organized a
enjoy a cup of coffee or tea in the hotel lobby; order a “Woodstock-style music festival” featuring local
meal and drink in a restaurant; use hotel facilities that bands and musicians. RamRock, because it took
might include a gym, swimming pool, or beach; and place during Ramadan, was an offer for the non-
then boogie down at night in one of the entertainment fasting crowd to party during that month, something I
venues—if they could afford it, of course. To build am certain would not pass today.
a clientele of more than tourists, these hotels also
attracted the local community with membership The parties were not limited to just hotels. Sharjah
offerings. Before the word “staycation” was a thing, had its share of desert disco as well:
hotel ads promoted weekend package deals and family
weekend getaways to the What’s On readers. Sharjah’s “The idea is to avoid hotels and to choose
hotels fueled a joint campaign for the city to become venues, clubhouses, or open areas to ‘boldly
“the ultimate in business and leisure,” a superlative go where no roadshow has gone before.’”
once claimed by Hotel Meridien Sharjah. What’s On (December 1981)

Before the idea of dine-in cinema as we know We must also remember that it wasn’t just Western
it today existed, Hotel Meridien was screening customers dancing to Western music in these hotels.
films with dinners every Sunday. Although the One hotel would host a club with a live Filipino band
films themselves were never listed in the monthly and another with an Egyptian belly dancer or disco
What’s On ads (which makes me wonder whether music. The adverts of the time convey a wide range
the screenings were licensed), there was one of music and entertainment cultures, reflecting the
advertisement for a special screening of Trishul on multinationalism of these venues’ patrons. Local,
February 6, 1980. The 1978 Bollywood film, directed Arabic-language newspapers also promoted discos,
by Yash Chopra, starred Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev cabarets, and live acts which makes me think:
Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, and Hema Malini. Malini was the population may have been less fragmented
booked as the evening’s host. compared to today.

It’s important to note there were cinemas in Sharjah In 1984, Sharjah’s hotels faced a changing market,
at the time, including Sharjah Cinema and Rivoli and even What’s On reported on the economic
Cinema, that screened films in Arabic, Hindi, downturn in the September issue of that year:
Malayalam, and English. They offered popcorn but,
unlike the hotels, couldn’t serve cold beer from the “Where once the area was flooded with
tap. Venues like the Sharjah Wanderers Sports Club businessmen and entrepreneurs, and later,
also had weekly film nights. European package-holiday makers, the
world recession has affected Sharjah the
When disco was dying, or really was already dead, in same as it has everywhere else. The result is
the late 1970s, it found a lifeline on Sharjah’s dance a diminishing market.”
floors. The Dune Beat Disco, a mobile disco started by What’s On, September 1984
What’s On, kept it flowing at events and parties with
hits by Gloria Gaynor, the Bee Gees, Boney M., and By October 1985, the government of Sharjah banned
the Village People. The DJs also played the punk-rock the sale of alcohol and introduced restricted
numbers dominating the UK charts at the time; but, regulations for live acts, greatly impacting nightlife in
according to What’s On (June 1979), “Everyone stops Sharjah. In the What’s On directory, the list of clubs
dancing as soon as they come on … so we don’t even in Sharjah became shorter and shorter, until there
carry them with us anymore.” were hardly any at all. Sharjah’s alcohol ban remains
in effect today, but there are several dedicated music
I get the impression that other discos in the city also venues, museums, and art spaces, all playing a role in
kept a similarly dated repertoire. They satisfied a gathering local communities for a shared experience
crowd holding on to the music of its dance-hall days and playing live music on many occasions. Who
back home. Don’t we all jump to our feet when we knows, maybe the clubs will soon follow, and we can
hear a song we once loved dancing to? I also imagine once again dance to “Be My Lover” by La Bouche, just
the dusty hits were a way to find common ground, to a few years too late.

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05

Images:

01. The Fantasy Supper

Night Club, Palmotel,
advertisement, December
1982. Images: Motivate
Media Group.
02. Shams Al Moulouk,
Hotel Meridien Sharjah,
advertisement, February
1981.
03. Al Matador, Andalus
Hotel, advertisement,
November 1981.
04. The Cottage, Novotel,
advertisement, March
1981.
05. Coins Disco, Palmotel,
advertisement,
December 1979.
06. Hotel Nova,
advertisement,
November 1984.
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 07

07.
Translation invitation to drink free alcohol in another nature of alcohol’s easy availability in one
Above: Palace Hotel welcomes you to the emirate. Oh, the contradictions! emirate versus another. Ease of access
opening of Disco 21, a new, one-of-a-kind —Abdullah Ahmad, Sharjah tempted “the youth to sin.” The angry letter
venue in the UAE. Thursday, June 14, 1979, (Al Azmenah Al Arabiya, Issue No. 18, reveals sentiments of the everyday man
9:00 p.m.–3:00 a.m. Open invitation, free July 4–10, 1979) or woman in UAE society and evinces a
drink included (only couples allowed). freedom of expression, articulated in print
in the local papers, that we no longer see
Below: Allowed and Forbidden Long before newspapers were refereeing today. Letters like this one likely helped
This is an image of a large advertisement online comments and social media tags, bring about stricter rules for advertising
published in Al Fajr newspaper, Issue 475, there was the old-fashioned letter to the alcohol in UAE media and the occasional
on Friday, June 14, 1979. As advertised, editor. A reader of Sharjah-based magazine “No National Dress” sign seen outside bars
the “new, one-of-a-kind venue in the UAE” Al Azmenah, Abdullah Ahmad, wrote the and nightclubs.
is brazenly and openly inviting members above letter about an advertisement he
of this Muslim community to spend the encountered in Abu Dhabi–based Al Fajr Current UAE advertising media regulation
night before Friday at an all-night party newspaper, expressing the disgruntlement prohibits the promotion of “alcoholic
by offering a free drink, provided they are shared at the time by other religiously and beverages, narcotic substances,
accompanied by women! culturally conservative readers. What made tobacco, smoking, or any related goods
this ad all the more offensive to Ahmad and services.” Today, Arabic-language
The advertisement intentionally showed was that a man photographed on the dance press stays clear of the topic altogether.
revelers in traditional Emirati attire at the floor was wearing a kandoora, traditional English-language outlets imply alcohol
disco and bar with the aim of attracting Emirati attire for men and also a signifier of with words like house beverages, grapes,
youth to sin; and while one of the emirates an Arab Muslim. Beyond the single photo, and bubbles. Doublespeak. —H. M. Image:
bans alcohol, it advertises an open the reader points out the contradictory Al Azmenah Al Arabiya.

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Hotel Meridien Along with a large French expatriate The Abu Dhabi–based client commissioned
Sharjah community, the 1970s brought a Henri Colboc to design the hotel after his
significant number of French development firm had completed Abu Dhabi’s iconic
proposals to Sharjah, including the Hotel Zayed Sports City Stadium in 1975. The
Meridien Sharjah, a tourism development French architect created a playful curved
project associated with the Air France/ floor plan for the hotel in Sharjah. The
Le Méridien chain of hotels. The 200- guest rooms’ fenestration was recessed
room hotel opened on May 24, 1978, behind balconies—a design decision,
one of the early marquee international according to the architect, meant to
hotels intended to promote the city achieve two goals: privacy and shading
as a tourism capital. The hotel’s ideal for the interiors. Inside, venues adopted
patrons were businessmen in search of distinctive themes to attract clientele,
seaside luxury without luxury prices. The like the plush red decor of the restaurant
$10-million hotel was built in Sharjah’s La Belle Epoque, which was outfitted
Al Khan district, a village assimilated into with Parisian street lighting to suggest
Sharjah and, with a string of hotels before a “French way of life.” Other dining
the Meridien, set to become Sharjah’s rooms and lounges, like Al Khaimah and
attempt at a beachfront tourism district. L’Aquarium, presented staged versions
Architect of Arabian and aquatic life, not only for
Henri Colboc & Partners
Unfortunately, the opening coincided with the sparse tourists but also for residents
Contractors “a slackening of world demand for oil” of Abu Dhabi and Dubai lured to spend
Al Masaood Engineering &
Contracting Co. (METCO) and therefore also a decline in the global weekends in Sharjah’s comfort.
travels of mid-market businessmen. In its
Client
Mohammad bin first couple of months, the hotel suffered
Masaood & Sons through a phase of 25% occupancy,
Completed causing management to cut about two
1978 hundred staff positions. “There are too
Status
many hotels,” the hotel’s French manager
Existing complained to the Financial Times.

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03

01. Aerial photograph of beachside frontage, late 1970s.

H. Brey, Peichär.
02. Lower-level plan for casting floor slabs, H. Colboc &
Partners, October 5, 1975. Henri Colboc & Partners,
courtesy of the Grand Hotel.
03. “Façade Coté Mer,” H. Colboc & Partners, July 1975.
Henri Colboc & Partners, courtesy of the Grand Hotel.

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 Sharjah’s hotel service workers participate in a waiters’ race, balancing water bottles
and glasses on Beck’s service trays on their way to the finish line. Hotel clubs,
cocktail bars, and restaurants offered a pastiche of international themes, but the
servers were predominantly South Asian. By the early 1980s, Al Khan’s beachside
road was the UAE’s definitive beach strip. On the right, Beach Hotel, Hotel Meridien,
and Carlton Hotel. On the left, Summer Land Motel, designed by Lebanese engineer
Gabriel Matta, early 1970s. Photograph, early 1980s. Khaleej Times Archives.

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Alia Al Sabi AN UNRELENTING LENS:
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
AS JOURNALISM IN AL
AZMENAH AL ARABIYA

The year is 1979, eight years after Sharjah’s was Muhammad Mathkour. The station concluded
incorporation into the United Arab Emirates. The its programming with the voice of presenter Abdel
newly formed country is undergoing expansive efforts Wahhab Qataya, of the successful literary program
to unify the seven emirates under a single federal Souk Okaz, which he now presents on Abu Dhabi
government. A small independent magazine out of Radio.” And just like that, it was the end of an era.
Sharjah runs an in-depth report about Sharjah Radio
and the consequences of its merger, one year prior, A thoroughly investigative lens that serves to trace the
with its Abu Dhabi counterpart. The article begins outlines of change forming in the sand, Al Azmenah
with a quick summary of the station’s state of affairs: Al Arabiya (Arab Times) took on the role of the active
Sharjah Radio officially opened in October 1972 and observer, concerned about the affairs of the society
grew to employ a team of 62 people, including 26 in which it was created. In 1979, Al Azmenah’s Emirati
Emiratis. By 1981, just two years after the merger, founders Abdullah Ali Al Sharhan and brothers
there were only 27 employees with little to do beyond Muhammad and Ghanem Ghubash mobilized writers,
witnessing the station’s pre-merger progress quickly thinkers, artists, poets, and local residents to
dissipate, its momentum—of training local talent, participate in reflecting on and engaging with the epic
broadcasting to wide networks across the globe, transformations defining their lives.2 Asking questions
and building a content library of 30,000 tapes—lost. that needed to be asked, pursuing answers to local
Along with deteriorating, abandoned equipment and issues looming without any resolution on the horizon,
unequal distribution of funding, the grievances are bearing witness to marginalized communities in
real. The tensions are evident; the voices recorded.1 the northern emirates who felt left behind by the oil
boom, Al Azmenah can be read today as a historical
The reporting unearths deep frustrations with the document that holds within its pages many issues
transformations taking place at the station. The still existing in the Emirati landscape today. These
merger entailed a complete transfer of human include citizenship, foreign labor, identity and values,
resources and technology from the Sharjah station development and preservation of tradition, the social
to Abu Dhabi, with Sharjah Radio acting as a support ideals at stake, the massive disparity in the ratio of
base dedicated to amplifying the broadcasting citizens to expats in the population, and what this
and production facilities of the capital station. The means for the local minority population.
report’s tone is inquisitive, curious; the content
reveals the veritable birthing pains of a union and Today, those with an interest in understanding
the resulting effects on an institution intended the evolution of the region’s cities and societies,
to serve its people. One passage is particularly searching beyond officially sanctioned sources,
striking: “The last work of local drama presented on can gain significant insight from Al Azmenah’s
Sharjah Radio was Candle on the Way.…The station’s groundbreaking coverage. Al Azmenah’s lens captured
production facility was then converted into a church the landscape’s diversity: from interviews with tailors
by order of Sheikh Sultan Al Qasimi. The merger and barbers to political analysis of imperialist forces
took place on January 4, 1978, at 5:40 p.m., the last at play in the region, to an array of cultural criticism
presenter on shift was Ahmad Abd El Razzaq, and seeking to implore local artists and theater actors
the last technician in the technical department to dig deeper. The voices in the magazine are wide

283
and varied: there are thinkers assessing the state a local debate on the evolution of traditional
of intellectual life in the UAE and the ramifications coffeehouses. Titled “The ‘Gahwa’ Enlivens Culture
of oil discoveries; there are laborers attesting to the and Gathers Writers and Poets ... If Not for Wasted
hardships of life and the difficulty of keeping up with Time,” the piece begins with an overview of Sharjah’s
the increasing expenses that accompany efforts to erstwhile traditional coffeehouses:
modernize; there is talk of unions and protests, with
responses from the leadership; and there is a direct Traditional coffeehouses were meeting points
and visible line of inquiry that demands answers from for community leaders and fishermen—places
silent or apathetic officials. where conversations took place, local issues were
raised, and scores were settled between dhow
As a historical document, Al Azmenah is a blueprint captains and sailors.
for the state of things today—how was space
transformed and used? How did people inhabit The article then presents more contemporary local
cities and villages as active agents and subjects of coffeehouses, in particular the popular gahwa
transformation? What remains of the old ways, and shaabiya (a local coffeeshop) on Sharjah’s Khalid
how might they shed light on things today? Countless Lagoon. A handful of frequent patrons provide us with
references to various sites in Sharjah and other a glimpse of how this social space has evolved from
cities, and their outskirts, give us an idea of just “a small storefront made of mud (with four big chairs,
how much has changed over the past thirty or forty two gadu, a large teapot, and a container for washing
years, not only in terms of physical change and urban the tea glasses)” into a bigger coffeehouse in a more
development, but also in terms of the discourse central, touristy part of town, though still made of
around this change and how people inhabited it. palm fronds.3 The expansion of the centrally located
coffeehouse, the provision of additional seating and
Reading old issues of Al Azmenah is fascinating, not other amenities, and the expanded food and drink
because the reporting is unusual but because it is menu attracted a broader range of patrons, with
matter-of-fact. Take, for example, an article published various and sundry ways of using the coffeehouse as
in the December 5, 1979, issue, which documents a social space. To some, it was a community meeting

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 point; to others, perhaps the younger generation,
simply a place to pass time.

What’s really striking about this article are the

photographs accompanying the piece. They give
a glimpse of a world now almost entirely replaced
by modern state building projects. This magazine
feature on the evolution of traditional cafes,
published four decades ago, evokes dormant
memories of place. Looking at the black-and-white
photographs from 1979, we see scenes from a local
gahwa depicting everyday life: serving food, drink,
and gadu; young men playing dominoes; an old
record player setting the mood. The images show
the modest aesthetics of the place and a slice of its
all-male demographic—little boys, young men from
different ethnic backgrounds (including a coffee
server of African descent), and the older coffeeshop
owner, who also doubles as the accountant.

The various observations throughout the report

capture how coffeehouses were being reshaped
more as places of leisure than as sites of civic
community gatherings, with the coffeeshop in the
profile showcased as an example of modernization
firmly rooted in culture and tradition. It is easy,
however, to sense the undertones of lament about
the larger societal changes resulting from the
expanding world of the city in the nation: “This place
is a rebuttal to the cultural encroachment of Western
lifestyles such as nightclubs and the like.” The article
continues, “The gahwa used to be a meeting point
for conversation and debate, but now it is a place for
passing time and showing off cars,” and—portending
future political discussions—“there should be a
prayer area, a women’s section, and a kabab joint in
the coffeeshop.” The coffeeshop is also a destination
for writers and artists, some of whom suggested
installing a bulletin board in the gahwa to announce
upcoming lectures and plays for those interested in
theater and literature.

As the title indicates, the author suggests that “wasted

time” is a direct consequence of the gahwa’s changing
role in the city. The gahwa owner provides several
statistics, including how many patrons frequent the
coffeeshop daily and the average number of hours they
spend there. His calculations demonstrate the author’s
point: “300–350 a day, and up to 500 on Fridays and
holidays … spending from 15 minutes to 6 hours
sometimes.” These numbers show that the gahwa
was increasingly a space where people could be idle,
where time could slow down as the pace of the city was
picking up. Some patrons wished for the coffeehouse
to be an ideal communal space, “a place where issues
and problems can be discussed, and eventually
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05

resolved,” according to one patron, Sheikh Muhammad predicted that by 1985 Emiratis would constitute 18%
Al Qassimi. This desire for a public sphere and citizen of the population, with a mere 3% annual increase
engagement, notions often underscored by the through births compared to a 12% annual increase in
magazine’s editorial line, clashed with the indolence the expatriate population. Ghubash raises this issue
that threatened Sharjah’s intellectual and cultural life as a way to address the imminent repercussions of
as development and so-called “progress” materialized urban displacement. “Ghost cities” refers to what
in the increasingly wealthy nation. could happen if Umm Al Quwain residents continue to
migrate to Sharjah and the UAE’s other commercial
“But Ghost Cities Only Exist in Children’s Books” centers, leaving behind an urban void gradually filled
is the riveting title of another critical exposé, this with an influx of expats. Ghubash concludes the
one about the unraveling of Umm Al Quwain. Up to article with a question:
200 families were uprooted as a result of tensions
with the emirate’s ruling family, details of which What kind of relationship will form between [Umm
remain unexplored in the article. Written by one of Al Al Quwain] and the federation, and between
Azmenah’s founding journalists, Ghanem Ghubash, Emirati society and this “alternative society”?
the article chronicles the deteriorating living These are serious questions … and while we wait
conditions suffered by these families who sought for a response, it would be good to remember
help and guidance from their community leaders and the lands of the Apache, Cheyenne, and Iroquois.
those of the other emirates. They eventually found These are some of the Native American tribes that
refuge in neighboring Sharjah. Later in the article, only 200 years ago formed nations that inhabited
Ghubash touches upon an issue that soon became the North American continent … and they have
central to many future initiatives and conversations become extinct, with tribal leaders and figures
within Emirati society, namely modernization’s existing only in some history books and Westerns.
impact on an Emirati population increasingly in the
minority. At the time of this article’s publication in Today, Emiratis make up less than 12% of the
1981, Emiratis constituted 25% of the total national total UAE population; and less than a decade after
population. Using a simple calculation, Ghubash the union, this was already a pressing concern.

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This article debunks the popular notion that the Dishdasha, No... to Arabs” documents the case of
demographic explosion in the UAE only began in the a private club along Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach that
mid-2000s, when the population doubled in size from was established in 1970.4 The report opens with
4.1 million in 2005 to 8.3 million in 2010, with less a description of scenes at the club’s entrance,
than one million Emiratis in the populace. manned by an Indian employee. The article recounts
how Arabs and Emirati nationals were barred from
What is compelling about Ghubash’s concluding entering the facility on the grounds that the club
statement is the comparison he draws between post- is for members only and that government mandate
union Emiratis and the indigenous communities of prohibited the entry of nationals into such clubs.
North America, who, although clearly not eradicated
to the degree implied, indeed underwent genocidal The report’s investigative methodology is significant
ethnic cleansing at the hands of European settlers in that it relies on witness reports that test the
and were chosen to illustrate a cautionary tale in exclusionary practices firsthand. The journalists
light of the influx of foreigners to the UAE and the Kawthar Muqabel and Abdul Hamid Ahmad
subsequent erasure of local identity and culture accompanied a British woman, an Arab woman, and
resulting from this demographic imbalance. In an Emirati man to four different clubs in Sharjah and
drawing this drastic comparison, the Sharjah Dubai to witness how each person was received at each
magazine offers insight into the intellectual venue.5 The results were consistent across the board:
discourse of the late seventies, revealing a sense the British woman was welcomed with few questions
of nativism heightened by dramatic demographic asked, the Arab woman was informed that she needed
changes. The early questions about the fate of local to apply for membership and wait for approval, and the
residents amid a booming expatriate population are Emirati was denied any option to facilitate his entry. Al
laced with notions of indigeneity and authenticity. Azmenah concludes the report with a question to both
Sharjah’s and Dubai’s municipalities: were these clubs
There are other instances in the magazine where licensed to impose discriminatory policies? The answer
local issues are presented in the context of global they received was one of unanimous denial, that no
struggles. An investigative report titled “No... to the such laws would allow this.

07

289
The report’s tone is critical of the perceived “white the magazine was squarely anti-colonial and leftist
man’s privilege”—typified by exclusive access to in tone and substance, echoing the Arab world’s
entertainment facilities—and by extension of the zeitgeist at the time and the anti-imperialist waves
Western imperialism ravaging the Arab world on sweeping through the region.
the macro scale. The following excerpt in the report
deserves pause: Despite Al Azmenah’s ideological bend, the
magazine’s greatest contribution arguably lies in its
UAE locals are the negroes of the American South, role as a critical mirror reflecting the seismic shifts
barred entry to the white man’s country club, their of nation formation and how these changes were
children undeserving of its special film programs, impacting those on the margins, whose social and
and their eyes unable to even glimpse its swings economic status left them unprepared for the deep
and slides. The sound of their local laughter might transformations around them. Through its hard-
spoil the purity of this European atmosphere. hitting reporting on these cracks in a newly formed
reality, Al Azmenah urged people to ask more critical
Tying the segregation implemented in local spaces questions and to take stock of how their lives were
in the UAE with American discrimination against being affected and transformed, almost overnight.
the black populace in the US is a powerful example In its ethos, the magazine encouraged active
of the magazine’s literary and journalistic efforts. participation in nation building, promoting ideas of
The writer positions the subject matter within accountability, duty, the fulfillment of promises,
geographies and populations that exist on the and an inclusive society that bears witness to the
periphery of contemporary global capitalism and experiences of those on the fringes.
simultaneously as part of the wider anti-imperial
movements sprouting throughout the region. The stories of the early union days are rich and
This comparison also sheds light on how Emiratis complicated. Marked with sacrifice, they are not
may have perceived themselves as being, not without their tales of woe. The gradual evacuation of
unlike Native Americans, in a sea of foreigners, Sharjah Radio being one such tale of the price that
with the particular experience of exclusion from unity demands, its fate ringing premonition bells of
European establishments, undergoing a local racial what was yet to come. Al Azmenah’s sharp, analytical
discrimination reflective of colonial history. tone and its examination of the federal experience
eventually brought on its demise, with orders from
In a 2005 interview with the Dubai-based daily the UAE Ministry of Information closing it down.7
newspaper Al Bayan, Muhammad Ghubash discusses Despite numerous efforts to continue publishing
the intellectual currents defining the era in which from outside the UAE, the magazine eventually faded,
Al Azmenah emerged: Baathism, Nasserism, Sayyid ending with it an important chapter in the UAE and
Qutb’s brand of Islamism of the 1960s, and other for Sharjah’s intellectual and political circles. Al
nationalist projects; along with Marxist thought as Azmenah Al Arabiya was published weekly in Sharjah
adopted by movements in the Global South in the between March 1979 and October 1981. Some 140
1970s.6 The magazine’s founders identified with issues are kept today at the National Archives in Abu
those social movements from within a region plagued Dhabi, a testament to their role in local history and a
by poverty and corruption. The political disposition of ready reservoir for the curious.

Notes:

1. All translations from the Arabic are appointed associate director of labor affairs 4. The dishdasha is a white robe traditionally
provided by the author. at the UAE Ministry of Labor. His column worn by men in the Gulf.
2. Muhammad Obaid Ghubash (b. 1952, in Al Azmenah Al Arabiya, under the pen 5. Abdel Hamid Ahmad is currently editor in
Dubai) earned a PhD in philosophy of name Ballouty,” offered satirical accounts chief at the Dubai-based daily Gulf News.
political science from University of Wales, about local issues written in colloquial 6. Muhammad Ghubash, interviewed by
UK, and was assistant professor of political Arabic. Abdullah Ali Al Sharhan (b 1940, Ras Muhammad Al Ansari, Al Bayan, October
science at UAE University from 1994 until Al Khaimah) was a member of the Federal 7, 2005, [Link]
2004. Ghanem Ghubash (1946–89, Dubai) National Council and the licensing founder sports/2005-10-07-1.983564.
returned to Dubai just prior to federation of the magazine. His fierce pen found 7. In 1983, the magazine was briefly
after travels in India. He was deputy director resonance among local readership. published in London, Cyprus, and finally
of Dubai’s labor department and was later 3. Gadu is an Emirati term for shisha or hookah. Beirut until 1996.

290
 08

Images:

01. “No to Arabs,” Issue 13, and Gathers Writers and 07. Shades of discrimination in
May 30–June 5, 1979. The Poets…If Not for Wasted UAE private clubs, “No … to
issue features an article on Time,” Issue 39, December the Dishdasha, No … to Arabs,”
discriminating practices at 5–11, 1979. Issue 13, May 30–June 5, 1979.
private beach clubs in the 04. “Intellectuals: Luminaries of 08. A mostly vacant cover with
UAE. Permission to reprint a Nation,” Issue 64, May 28– text, “Banned from circulation.
pages from various issues June 3, 1980. With regards from the
provided by Mohammed 05. “But Ghost Cities Only Exist in censorship administration,”
Obaid Ghubash. Children’s Books,” Issue 17, Issue 81, September 24–30,
02. “Sharjah Radio and the June 27–July 3, 1979. 1980. The weekly Al Azmenah
Consequences of Its Merger 06. “But Ghost Cities Only Exist Al Arabiya’s critical tone and
with the Capital Station,” Issue in Children’s Books,” Issue sharp examination of the
37, November 21–27, 1979. 17, June 27–July 3, 1979 federal experience eventually
03. “The Gahwa Revives Heritage (continued). brought about its demise.

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1

292
Sharjah State
Telecommunications Building

According to Cable & Wireless’s Zodiac

Magazine, what follows an oil boom is
a “telephone boom.”1 And indeed, the
discovery of oil brought a spiked demand
for telephone lines to Sharjah.

The British company Cable & Wireless

(C&W) secured the contract to oversee
the laying of lines in Sharjah and the
outer regions of Dhaid and Khor Fakkan.
Given a location in the district of Al
Qassimiyah, C&W commissioned its own
Architectural Services Group to design the
new headquarters. As demand continued
to increase through the late 1970s, the
company needed to construct another
office nearby.

While C&W facilities around the world

were known for their functional efficiency,
officials in Sharjah expected more
sophistication and attention to aesthetics.
According to Fred Hammond, C&W’s
chief architect at the time of the initial
conceptual design, “Gulf rulers expect
you to come up with an artistic design. If
they like it, you build it.” Sharjah’s ruler,
Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi,
did indeed demand revisions after noting
some unseemly drain pipes on the front
facade. Upon their removal from the
drawings, Hammond recalled, the ruler
found the design to be “beautiful.”

1. Zodiac Magazine, Summer 1978.

Front view of early-

phase building
during a welcoming
Architect ceremony at Sharjah’s
Fred W. Hammond, telecom agency, which
Cable & Wireless eventually became
part of the Emirates
Client Telecommunications
Government of Sharjah Corporation, or Emirtel.
At the time, the agency
Completed employed a logo
1974 featuring the dial of a
rotary telephone. Sharjah
Status Documentation &
Existing Archives Authority.

293
01

294
ETPM Building Having first rented space in the BBME The client had initially requested a
Building on Rolla Square, Société smaller, single-story office building
Entrepose G.T.M. pour les Travaux before approaching ALCO for a two-
Petroliers Maritimes, or ETPM, opened its story office building with central air
prominent offices in Sharjah’s Al Layah conditioning. The final T-shaped floor
district in 1976, just as the emirate was plan offers straightforward, functional
becoming home to the UAE’s largest circulation among offices, meeting rooms,
French community. The company had and services. The unpretentious exterior
begun to build and manage its own design is dominated by repeating full-
facilities and services, including a school floor, vertical fins that shade receded
and housing for employee families.1 windows. The central air conditioning’s
distribution system required loftier
Design
Fadi Chammas In a scenario not uncommon in Sharjah floor heights, making the building more
at the time, ETPM’s eventual two-story prominent than most two-story buildings
Consultant
Hussain Mohamed office building resulted from at least two at the time.
Saleh, Al Arooba hand-offs in the design process. ETPM’s
Establishment for
Design & Supervision Lebanese business partner and civil The building is currently the headquarters
engineer Fadi Chammas had originally for the Sharjah Museums Authority.
Contractor
Al Nahda Contracting & submitted conceptual drawings to the Iraqi
Trading Company (ALCO) architect Hussain Mohamed Saleh for him
Proposed
to develop into construction drawings. In
1975 the end, the Sharjah-based contractor
Status
ALCO completed the design work and
Existing oversaw the building’s construction. 1. See p. 231.

01. Ruler of Sharjah

Sheikh Sultan bin
Muhammad Al
Qasimi, Sharjah
dignitaries, and
ETPM officials
attend the building’s
inauguration, 1976.
© Ramesh Shukla,
Four Seasons
Ramesh Gallery.
02. Section and
elevation drawings,
as submitted by
architect of record
Hussain Mohamed
Saleh to Sharjah
Municipality, July
30, 1974. Hussain
Mohamed Saleh,
courtesy of Sharjah
Municipality.
02

295
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Elevated Water Tanks

Built at a cost of AED 10 million, or $2.7

million, each, Sharjah’s once-famed
water towers loomed over residential
neighborhoods for three decades.
Centered on roundabouts at major road
intersections of the Halcrow plan, they
were landmarks and guideposts for an
expanding city. Employees of the Sharjah
Electricity and Water Department referred
to the tanks as tulips, with “petals”
painted yellow and white. The shape
reminded many of similar water towers
in Kuwait and of the submergible tanks
made for Dubai’s oil storage.

In fact, the same company, Chicago Bridge &

Iron Company, that supplied Dubai’s oil
storage tanks also provided this method
of storing Sharjah’s water, referred to in
Arabic as a khazzan. The design for the
water towers was ultimately realized in
Sharjah between 1982 and 1985 in the
districts of Ezra, Rifa’a, and Qadisiya. One
would replace a more rudimentary storage
tank in Al Layah. Reaching between 40
and 50 meters high, the tanks stored
two million liters of water for daily use
in the surrounding districts. In 2012, the
final water tower was taken down in Al
Rifa’a, much to the chagrin of residents.
Two years later, a twelve-minute film,
Hidden Songs from the Past, chronicled
the dismantling and residents’reactions. It
debuted at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

Engineering Consultant
Halcrow International
Partnership

Contractor
Chicago Bridge & 01. Construction of one
Iron Company of four water towers,
Al Layah district. Dar
Client Al Khaleej Printing &
Sharjah Electricity & Publishing.
Water Department 02. Sectional elevations
and plans for an
Completed “elevated water
1982–1985 tank,” Halcrow
International
Status Partnership, May
Dismantled, 2012 1984. SEWA.

297
02
Above: Flyover on Al Wahda Street, as prescribed by a 1969 master plan to supersede
the busy roundabout. Al Wahda Street was built as an extension of the Sharjah–
Dubai road to deflect traffic from Sharjah’s older and denser districts. The precast
infrastructure for early flyovers was purchased from Japan. Their construction was
contracted to the Japan-based Pacific Consultants Company, which also worked on
Al Khan Bridge and the cement factory. Khaleej Times Archives.

Left: Sharjah coastline is transformed into the expectations of a regional corniche,

replete with streetlights, landscaping, and walkways. Keeping the wooden ships,
or dhows, moored at the water’s edge was already considered an act of historical
preservation, late 1970s. Background left: Inter-Continental Hotel (p. 313) and Hotel
Aladin (p. 407). Khaleej Times Archives.

301
01

02

302
Sharjah For a certain generation of cricket fans potential. He inaugurated the stadium
Cricket from India and Pakistan, the Sharjah in 1981 with exhibition games for the
Association Cricket Association Stadium (SCAS) financial benefit of retired cricketers
Stadium still resounds with the reverberations from India and Pakistan.
of that six hit more than three decades
ago: the Austral-Asia Cup Final, India From these modest beginnings, Sharjah
Text by
versus Pakistan, 1986. Chetan Sharma to became a fixture in global cricket, and
Hammad Nasar
Javed Miandad. Four runs needed from SCAS still holds the world record for the
the last ball. Sharma’s attempted yorker most one-day international games staged.
is hoisted for six—the perfect climax Greater financial incentives and grander
to a match that cemented Sharjah’s stadiums are available elsewhere—in Abu
entry into world cricket. Part of that Dhabi since 2004 and in Dubai since 2009.
perfection was the stadium itself. With These may have shifted Sharjah’s status
a seating capacity of more than 15,000 within the UAE’s contemporary cricket
and an imported turf wicket, SCAS infrastructure, but the game’s foundations
quickly moved beyond its “rolled sand” in the UAE were first laid at SCAS.
beginnings and came to hold its own as a
ground of international stature.

Its distinctiveness was not conventional.

It offered neither a starchitect-designed,
dazzling media center nor the standard,
telegenic vistas on par with those of St.
Architect
Peter Hudson Buckle & Lucia, Galle, or Cape Town. What made
Partners SCAS singular was that teams from
Contractor
both India and Pakistan—nations often
Eastern LLC literally and metaphorically at war—felt
Client
as if they were playing in front of a home
03
Abdulrahman Bukhatir crowd, drawn from the millions of South
Completed
Asian migrant laborers, themselves
1981 feeling their way toward being at home
in the UAE. SCAS has since served as a
Status
Existing home ground for national cricket teams
not only from the UAE but also from
Afghanistan and Pakistan, countries
where the security situation has required
them to play home games abroad. SCAS
has thus become a site of belonging,
enacted through cricket, for the teams as
much as for the audience.

So how does one design a home ground for

cricketers without a home?
01. Aerial view along
Second Industrial
Street, February Money helps—it provides facilities and
1984. © Gulf News, attracts players. So does geographic
Dubai.
02. Outside public proximity to the cricket-mad populations
stands, undated. of the South Asian subcontinent. But
Khalaf Bukhatir.
03. Emirati businessman the magic ingredient is neither a matter
Abdulrahman of the stadium’s construction nor its
Bukhatir on the pitch,
undated. Khalaf location. Abdulrahman Bukhatir, the
Bukhatir. Emirati businessman who was smitten
04. Some stadium
seating was shaded
by cricket as a student in Pakistan,
and cooled by anchored Sharjah’s cricket field in
perforated walls and
concrete-shell vaults.
the love of the game, building it for
Khalaf Bukhatir. cricketers rather than for its commercial
04

303
304
Sharjah Sports Club

After completing work on upgrading the

Dubai International Airport runways,
British firm RMJM, popularly referred
to as “Rumjum,” opened a Sharjah
office under senior engineer Peter
Hudson’s management. The firm was
commissioned to design Sharjah’s first
sports complex on a large plot of land
not too far from the Sharjah Cricket
Association Stadium. The $7.4-million
complex comprises a football stadium
encircled by a 400-meter running track,
a sports hall, a 50-meter swimming pool,
and a social center. Its standardized
components were the project’s most
important elements: only the stadium,
with its concrete “umbrella” roof and
precast pattern screens, was given any
extra attention in terms of architectural
expression. Designed for the local
football club and for paying neighborhood
residents, the complex stood as a
testament to Sharjah’s commitment both
to entertainment and to rising standards
of public health and hygiene.

Fifteen minutes away from RMJM’s

stadium, another British firm, Brewerton,
Guyan & Howland, was commissioned to
design a complex for the rival Shaab Club
in Sharjah’s Al Hazannah neighborhood.

Architect
William Smith, Robert
Matthew, Johnson-
Marshall & Partners
(RMJM)

Contractor
Mothercat LTD

Client
Government of Sharjah

Completed
1977
Sharjah Sports Club,
Status late 1970s. Henk Snoek /
Existing RIBA Collections.

305
306
 Above: Celebrations, perhaps for a wedding, and traditional razfa dance
outside Government Square, Sharjah, late 1960s. Images: Mahmood AlSawan.

Left: Funeral parade along Al Arouba Street in honor of deceased Egyptian

President Gamal Abdel Nasser, September 1970. Background right: the Arab
Bank under construction, in front of the British Bank of the Middle East
(see p. 81). Images: Mahmood AlSawan.

307
01
Inter-Continental Even before its Dubai location was Rising on two sides of the atrium are
Hotel, Sharjah completed, Inter-Continental Hotels twelve floors of 380 guest rooms along
signed on to build another one twenty single-loaded corridors overlooking the
kilometers away in Sharjah. With an initial atrium—an architectural feature credited
price estimate of AED 50 million, or more to the American architect John Portman.
than $13.5 million, the Inter-Continental The hotel’s lobby and ground floor housed
provided Sharjah with what was becoming everything else enticing guests not to
a staple signifier of technological leave the property: guest services and
opulence in the region: a self-contained, administrative offices, restaurants, cafes,
air-conditioned environment centered shops, bowling alleys, squash courts,
around a lofty indoor atrium. And as and a barber shop. The Inter-Continental
with most of the regional atria, this one was also a popular hangout in the 1980s,
reenacted a tropical oasis, protected from drawing patrons beyond just visiting
Sharjah’s high temperatures by glass, guests to its bowling alleys in particular,
steel, and thousands of tons of concrete. which at one point were licensed to
Inside, water trickled along creeks into serve alcohol. The hotel’s banquet halls
ponds, and tropical vegetation blossomed. were the city’s most coveted venues for
wedding celebrations.
US-based The Architects Collaborative
(TAC), a firm co-founded by the famous One of Sharjah’s most vast and decadent
modernist architect Walter Gropius, spaces was initially not a success. Even
began work on the resort-style hotel in before it opened, Sharjah was suffering
1976. Whereas Dubai’s Inter-Continental from a glut of luxury hotels and the serious
“dazzled” with a sunken lounge and indoor debts from having built them. In 1977, just
garden, Sharjah’s version reached upward as oil prices led high-end hotel companies
and outward, aiming for a biosphere. to start pulling out of deals in the region,
The final design included a twelve-story, there were nearly thirty hotels with a total
pyramid-shaped atrium defined by two of 4,500 guest rooms in Sharjah. It is no
sloping concrete wings of rooms and surprise, then, that the Inter-Continental’s
a cascading glass wall. The building’s first two years reportedly achieved an
complex shape necessitated computer occupancy rate of less than 15%. In 1982,
calculations to ensure structural stability in a resuscitative effort, the Kuwaiti
and maintain the atrium’s freedom from investor Mubarak Abdul Aziz Al-Hassawi
columns and bracing. The design team purchased the hotel, the most prestigious
also claimed to have modeled the atrium’s of his investments in Sharjah’s hotels,
thermal movement and ventilation housing, and cinemas.
systems to ensure enough daylight for
the atrium’s tropical plants while keeping
the temperature comfortable for guests
among fountains and pools.

Architect
Alexander Cvijanovic,
Michael Prodanou, The
Architects Collaborative

Construction Manager
Bechtel International 02
Corporation

Construction
Conforce Gulf

Client
Mubarak Abdul
Aziz Al-Hassawi

Completed
1980

Status
Existing

309
 03

04

310
05
Inter- The construction of the Inter-Continental in regional development, including the
Continentalism: Hotel in Sharjah marked the expanding Aga Khan. Following the opening of Hilton
The Architects footprint of two US entities that had hotels in Istanbul (1955) and Cairo (1959),
Collaborative in a heavy hand in the urbanization of IHC first arrived in the MENA region with
Sharjah Gulf cities after the 1960s: the Inter- the construction of the Phoenicia Inter-
Continental Hotel Corporation (IHC), one Continental in Beirut, designed by Edward
Text by of the hospitality chains that spearheaded Durell Stone and completed in 1961. By
Michael Kubo the proliferation of hotels designed by US 1976, IHC’s eleven projects in the Middle
architects as instruments of US foreign East included hotels in Dubai, Abu Dhabi,
policy during the Cold War; and The Al Ain, and Jeddah.
Architects Collaborative (TAC), founded
in 1945 by eight partners including Walter The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was
Gropius and the designers of major the largest dedicated architecture firm
cultural and commercial commissions in the US by the time work on the Sharjah
throughout the Gulf by the 1970s. hotel began in 1974, a position directly
linked to the firm’s successes in the
The Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation Arab Gulf. In 1968, TAC began working
(IHC) was established in 1946 as a fully- in Kuwait, where the firm collaborated
owned subsidiary of Pan American World with Pan-Arab Consulting Engineers
Airways. Its growing roster of international (PACE) as local consultants for as many
hotels charted the expanding map of the as thirty projects by TAC in the 1980s.
airline’s travel routes in the decades that PACE’s first two projects in Kuwait, a
followed. Business began in South America, pair of housing blocks designed by Rifat
where US President Franklin D. Roosevelt Chadirji/Iraq Consult, were built for a
lobbied Pan Am’s founder Juan Trippe, single client: Kuwaiti developer Mubarak
the head of the largest air carrier on the Abdul Aziz Al-Hassawi, who later came
continent, to build hotels to boost US- to own the Inter-Continental in Sharjah.
related commerce under the Good Neighbor One of PACE’s founding partners, Sabah
Policy. By the 1970s, IHC had extended Al-Rayes, claimed that his firm later
its reach to Asia, Africa, and the Middle designed another project in Sharjah for
East, specializing in building in locations Al-Hassawi as well.
where a luxury hotel in itself would create a
commercial and tourist market. TAC’s design for the Sharjah project ran
in parallel to the firm’s work on the Abu
Unlike its main competitors in this era Dhabi National Library and Cultural Centre
of expansion, the Hilton and Sheraton (1974–81), its other major building in
Hotels, who preferred a leasing business the Emirates. Alex Cvijanovic, partner in
model, IHC typically held an ownership charge of the hotel project, and Michael
stake in each property it operated abroad. Prodanou, the job captain, worked on
The company often financed projects related coastal hotels in Piran, Yugoslavia,
by securing loans from governmental such as the Hotel Bernardin (1971–76),
entities like the Export-Import Bank of and in Sithonia, Greece, including the
the United States (EXIM) and the U.S. Porto Carras Resort (1975–79), that also
Agency for International Development featured long, sloping concrete slabs of
(USAID) alongside lenders with interests guest rooms facing the water.

312
Construction of the Inter-Continental
Hotel, Sharjah, was contracted to
Bechtel, the US engineering conglomerate
responsible for building the Tapline and
other major oil infrastructures across the
Middle East (a list that soon included the
oil port town of Jubail in Saudi Arabia,
master planned by TAC after 1977).
According to consulting engineer Wayman
C. Wing, at least eight structural schemes
in concrete were studied prior to the final
design, in part due to the difficulties of
accommodating the thermal movement
caused by Sharjah’s extreme temperature
swings between day and night. As
realized, the building features two wings 06
of guest rooms oriented perpendicular
to each other in plan, each sloping at a
structurally optimum sixty-eight degrees
in section. Vertical glass curtain walls
face toward Sharjah, encasing the hotel’s
soaring interior atrium, one that amply
satisfied the desire for a self-contained,
environmentally controlled oasis that
would announce Sharjah’s presence on an
intercontinental stage.

07

313
08

01. Aerial view of Inter-Continental 03. Documentation of construction 07. Construction of the stepped
Hotel, Sharjah, 1980s. Kuwait progress, late 1970s. Radisson garden and pond terraces
Tower in background, left, see p. Blu–Sharjah. on lower level of the atrium
145. Background right: Sultan Bin 04. Aerial perspective, TAC, April 23, lobby, circa 1980. Radisson
Ali Al Owais’s building, designed 1976. Courtesy of MIT Museum. Blu–Sharjah.
by A. Moez & Moh. Hegazy 05. Concrete work at staging area, late 08. Inter-Continental Hotel, under
Architects, 1978. Prem Ratnam, 1970s. Radisson Blu–Sharjah. construction, late 1970s.
Hemlyn Photography Studio. 06. Inter-Continental Hotel’s Radisson Blu–Sharjah.
02. The hotel’s banquet hall was a atrium lobby during 09. Documentation of construction
prized venue for weddings in the installation of palms and progress, late 1970s. Radisson
1980s and 1990s, 1987. Prem succulents to create the Blu–Sharjah.
Ratnam, Hemlyn Photography interior’s oasis theme, circa
Studio. 1980. Radisson Blu–Sharjah.

314
09

315
 A traffic jam along Sharjah’s coastal road. Looming in background center is the
large, monumental barjeel, or wind tower, located in Al Majarrah district before it
was demolished. Halcrow’s master plans in 1963 and 1969 strove to move traffic
and people away from Sharjah’s old center, toward ring roads further inland and
purpose-built markets with abundant parking. See, for example, the vegetable
souk (p. 143). Jim Thomas, courtesy of Nicholas Cornhill.

316
317
318
319
 Rendering for a hotel and cinema at Al Zahra’a Square, or Clock Tower Roundabout,
mid-1970s. In the early 1970s, Sharjah Real Estate commissioned Bombay-based
Architectural Consultants to design a hotel for the site. The 1969 master plan had
proposed a hotel for the opposite end, a fitting location at what was designated as
Sharjah’s new center. Drawings for a 132-room hotel were prepared in Bombay, and
construction began in 1975. Halfway through construction, architects added the 1,500-
seat Concorde Cinema upon request. Near the point of completion in the late 1970s,
the client sensed that Sharjah needed not a new hotel but another hospital. While
Architectural Consultants were not involved in the conversion, their original structure,
layout, and service areas were maintained. Hotel rooms were converted to serve new
functions, including patient rooms. On November 15, 1981, the AED 60-million hospital
opened with 100 beds, 11 suites, and two operating rooms.

320
 As reported in Al Azmenah Al Arabiya, October 20, 1981, about the future
Al Zahra Hospital: “Although the location is unsuitable for a hospital, the
municipality did not reject the request [to convert the hotel into a hospital]. It
met all requirements, though ignoring internationally recognized regulations
about constructing hospitals in locations away from noise and activity.”
Images: Architectural Consultants, Ashok Mody.

321
01

322
Momen Architects One of Nasserist Cairo’s most prominent After a 1971 law tasked the Sharjah
in Sharjah landmarks is the mammoth Radio and municipality with urban affairs and
Television Administration, designed by management, the expanded municipal
Text by architect Galal Momen and opened in bureaucracy required a new building
Mohamed Elshahed 1960. The building, sometimes referred to house it. Momen Architects was
to as the Maspero television building, commissioned to design the municipality
consists of a square tower rising from a building and oversaw its completion in
semi-circular base facing the Nile. In the 1976. The 12,000-square-meter building
previous decade, Mostafa Momen, Galal’s contained two distinct programmatic
brother, had a hand in the massive nearby elements: the new municipality’s offices
Mogamma government building on Tahrir and an auditorium named Africa Hall after
Square. Both buildings typify how state the inaugural event that took place in the
commissions of the 1950s needed at once building, the African-Arab Symposium.
to house large numbers of employees and The police headquarters and the fire
to create architectural symbols of state department were both completed in 1975,
power. Both Mostafa and Galal Momen each conceptualized as a long rectilinear
pursued their professional training in Cairo block with a modular structural and facade
and belonged to a generation of architects design. Other projects in Sharjah by Momen
and engineers who participated in large Architects include apartment blocks
state projects that interlinked modern commissioned by the Sharjah Department
architecture with power structures after of Islamic Affairs, as well as an unbuilt
World War II and the 1952 military coup. proposal for the King Faisal Mosque.1

Another state commission in Cairo won

by Galal Momen was the Gamal Abdel 1. See p. 207.
Nasser Mosque, a state-funded project
completed in 1966 and the eventual burial
site of Nasser. That building, smaller in
scale and characterized by simplified
motifs borrowed from or sometimes
inspired by the city’s Islamic architecture,
is a formal precursor to Galal Momen’s
buildings in Sharjah, distinguished by
their town-hall scale, simple forms, and
low-profile appearances.

With increased contact between Egypt

and members of the ruling elite of the
Trucial States in the 1960s, Momen
Architects expanded their practice to
open offices in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in
1972 which continue to operate today.
In Sharjah, the office completed several
modernist government commissions
Architect
Momen Architects including Sharjah Municipality and
Africa Hall, the police headquarters, and
Consulting Engineers
Galal Momen and the fire department. Momen Architects
Mostafa Momen designed these buildings in response
Contractors: to the vision of Sharjah’s ruler, Sheikh
Municipality and Africa Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, that
Hall: DAFCO
the new government buildings share a
Fire Department: DAFCO unified identity.
Traffic Department:
DAFCO

Police Headquarters:
Bin Laden Contracting

323
 02

01. Africa Hall, adjacent to the contractor, had forty-five days 03. Sharjah Department of Traffic,
Sharjah Municipality. In to complete the hall. It was under construction, mid- to
December 1976, over forty demolished in 2015 and replaced late-1970s. DAFCO.
politicians, scholars, and with new premises. DAFCO. 04. Contractor DAFCO provided
experts from African and 02. Originally based in the old a logo design for the traffic
Arab countries assembled in fort, Sharjah’s police force department as part of its
Sharjah to attend the African- moved to its new headquarters building design submission,
Arab Symposium. When the in 1975, the same year the 1975. The hands represented
conference was announced, architects finished the new the “stop” and “go” gestures of a
only the hall’s foundations had fire department (see p. 20). traffic guard. DAFCO.
been completed. DAFCO, the Nitin Tavkar.
03

04

325
01

326
A Mandate for Local
Islamic Architecture

By the mid-1980s, government authorities On May 9, 1988, Sharjah’s Planning and

were consciously shaping Sharjah’s identity Survey Department informed officials in
to express what they described as Arab other municipal departments that “the
and Islamic ideals. Stricter regulations actual implementation of Local Islamic
were put in place throughout Sharjah, Architecture … has started.” There
including restrictions on certain forms of were three sets of guidelines produced
public assembly and the ban on alcohol in around this time: the first before the
hotels in 1985. In the years after, further implementation notice, the second around
regulations would follow, including the ban the time of its delivery, and a third in the
on mixing unwed males and females, the early 1990s. The latter also reported on
institution of a more conservative dress the success of the program, noting that
code, and the prohibition of mannequins 83.4% of new buildings had conformed
with facial features in shop windows. to the guidelines. The last batch of
guidelines, furthermore, underscored
The city’s urban landscape also came that the domes of buildings and the
to reflect these restrictions. At the 1981 coverings for ever-present water tanks
meeting of the Arab Towns Organization, would guarantee Sharjah an appropriately
British engineering firm Halcrow’s design authentic skyline. Several public buildings
for Sharjah International Airport “won were highlighted for their exemplary
much admiration” for its adherence to design: the Emiri Diwan, Sharjah
Islamic design.1 At the organization’s Municipality, and the headquarters for the
March 1986 meeting in Riyadh, Sharjah police and traffic departments as well as
“came up for special praise.” The Sharjah the civil courthouse, the vegetable souk,
delegation presented a “comprehensive Central Souk, and the main post office.2
report” on how public buildings were
“in line with the Islamic architectural Accompanying images are taken from
heritage.” They also assured conference the second set of guidelines. The
attendees that new, and presumably pages of instructional drawings advise
private market, buildings “will follow this architects and other building-industry
basic pattern.” Around that time, Sharjah professionals on how to detail the
Municipality had issued its first guidelines exteriors of residential, commercial,
for how new developments should reflect and governmental buildings. References
an Arabic-Islamic heritage. include details derived from regional
forts and barajeel, or wind towers. They
In February 1988, the Dubai-based Gulf also include columns, arches, and domes
News reported that Sharjah Municipality representing the emergence of a “Neo-
was about to release guidelines for Islamic architecture” inspired by Fatimid,
this new “basic pattern” that would Umayyad, and Ottoman motifs. With this
“make Islamic designs compulsory for document in hand, municipal planners and
buildings.” Planning officials claimed architects easily rejected building designs
to be searching for “the best formulae” that employed features they considered
that would “link modern buildings to overtly Western—like red-clay roofing
Islamic designs.” Mandated to ensure that tiles (even though these might have been
private development shared the concerns a half-hearted reference to Andalusia).
expressed in recent public buildings,
municipal officials met with locally active
design offices to review the new rules.
They insisted on meeting the consultants,
not owners or developers, to safeguard the
1. See p. 387.
2. See pp. 331, 415, 324,
unmitigated execution of an architectural
325, 333, 139, 127, 87. sensibility now set on paper.

327
 02

03

04

328
 05

01. “Local Islamic Architecture,” 05. 1. Circular column decorated with side carvings; 6. Circular
cover page, no date. Images: with spiral-shaped carvings; column decorated with
Sharjah Municipality, courtesy 2. Circular column topped with vertical carvings; 7. Circular
of Jafar Tukan Library. crown decorated with vertical column topped with a leveled,
02.−03. Government buildings (public). carvings; 3. Circular column decorated crown; 8. Circular
04. Window designed with adjacent topped with a simple crown; 4. column decorated with vertical
hollow squares; window Hexagonal column decorated fluting; 9. Circular column
designed with unchained with vertical carvings; 5. topped with a simple crown; 10.
circles; window designed with Square column topped with a Square column topped with a
chained circles. circular crown and decorated circular crown.

329
01

02 03 04

330
Emiri Diwan The Emiri Diwan, or Government House, The diwan gave Government House Square
was one of the earliest commissions its name. Its arriving neighbors—Sharjah
by Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Sultan bin Municipality, Africa Hall, and the central
Muhammad Al Qasimi, who assumed post office—however, did not as explicitly
power in 1972 after the assassination of correspond in form to the Emiri Diwan.2
his brother. The new ruler sought a clean It seems that the diwan building may
slate of premises to house his majlis and have prefigured the design guidelines
the offices of his closest advisors. He eventually set by the municipality.3
hired Egyptian architect Mohamed Essam
Eldin Fahmy, founder of Arab Engineering In 1994, the facade was overhauled by
Bureau, or AEB, which had opened an Emirates Stone, a Sharjah-based precast
office in Sharjah in 1975. concrete manufacturing company,
resulting in an exterior that foretold
The project benefited greatly from the the elaborately decorated facades of
first of Sharjah’s oil exports in 1974, today’s Cultural Palace and other Sharjah
which bankrolled significant investments government buildings. The post office,
in more imposing government buildings. through a dramatic renovation, and
One British travel writer described the Africa Hall, demolished and replaced,
result as a “vast white-domed edifice were both brought more in line with the
resembling the sort of railway station city’s architectural guidelines while the
the British might have built in India.”1 municipal building was demolished.
Its design was a bellwether of future
designs of government buildings that In 2002, Sheikh Sultan awarded Mohamed
claimed more traditional, Islam-inspired Essam Eldin Fahmy the golden key to the
architecture. City of Sharjah.

05

Architect Notes:
Arab Engineering
Bureau 1. Christine Osborne, The Gulf States and Oman,
(London: Routledge, 2016), 111.
Contractor 2. See pp. 415, 322, 87.
Contractors Group 3. See p. 327.
International

Client
Sheikh Sultan bin Images:
Muhammad Al Qasimi
01.−04. Photographs taken during Sheikh Sultan bin
Completed Muhammad Al Qasimi’s construction site visit.
1978 Globe Constructors.
05. Workers operating a concrete mixer for subsurface
Status works along Government House Square, with Emiri
Renovated, 1994 Diwan under construction in background. DAFCO.

331
332
Sharjah Civil Court

The Sharjah Civil Court is an example of

Cairo-inspired architecture in Sharjah
delivered by an Egyptian architecture
firm. The commission was one of Arab
Engineering Bureau’s earliest for the city
before it designed several government
offices that even more emphatically
mimicked Old Cairo.

Before its demolition in 2007, the court

building stood on the Clock Tower
Roundabout opposite Al Zahra Hospital.1
Commissioned five years after the
establishment of the emirate’s first court
of law in 1967, the building was designed
with an attention to detail that required
the skilled craftsmanship arriving in
Sharjah for the construction boom. The
project’s design complexity resides not
only in its ornamental elements but also
in the vast array of materials, including
marble, granite, and mosaic tiles used to
clad the exterior.

Uncommon for most Sharjah projects,

detailed ink drawings were produced to
illustrate the proposed embellishments:
the claustra-patterned screens, the floral
patterns on the entrance columns’ shafts
and capitals, and even the proposed light
fixtures. The building program arranged
offices around an open-air courtyard
adjoined to the central courtroom. Four
Corinthian columns were installed at the
main entrance, presumably to express the
court’s grandeur.

1. See p. 321.

Architect
Arab Engineering
Bureau

Contractor
Bin Laden Contracting

Client
Ministry of Justice

Completed
1975

Status
Demolished, 2007

333
02

03

334
04

01. Main entrance off Al Zahra’a Square, late 1970s. Dr.

Naman Al Jalili Archives Collection.
02. Rear and side elevations, undated. AEB, courtesy of DAFCO.
03. Ink and graphite detail drawings for main entrance, Arab
Engineering Bureau, undated. AEB, courtesy of DAFCO.
04. Main entrance portico with four Corinthian columns, late
1970s. Dr. Naman Al Jalili Archives Collection.

335
 A construction crew and supervisors,
unknown location in Sharjah, 1970s. DAFCO.

336
337
338
Volvo / Caterpillar Buildings

Text by Roberto Fabbri

Designed in 1976, the office buildings and

adjunct warehouses for Volvo Trucks and
Caterpillar (CAT) are representative of an
epoch of local business expansion within
the Gulf. The Mohamed Abdulrahman
Al-Bahar LLC was founded in Kuwait
as a trading company in 1937 and later
specialized in selling heavy equipment for
earth-moving, infrastructure, and building
construction. The enterprise successfully
tied its name to international brands such
as CAT construction machinery, Koehring
Cranes, and Volvo Trucks. Kuwait was
among the first countries in the Gulf to
experience rapid urban development,
and Kuwaiti companies found lucrative
opportunities in other states’ later post-oil
development, including Bahrain, Qatar,
Iran, Oman, and the UAE. In order to head
off CAT’s direct supply, Al-Bahar opened a
purpose-built Volvo/CAT facility in Sharjah,
likely taking advantage of local incentives to
run light industries on the outskirts of town.

Al-Bahar’s vast Sharjah complex was in the

city’s designated Industrial Area, well served
by a major artery connecting Sharjah and
Dubai. The nine-hectare site was split in two
by a central access road, with two buildings
on either side. As Al-Bahar’s largest facility
in the Gulf, the project was pragmatic and
efficient, implementing a prefabricated
modular construction system. A porch-like
element was situated slightly preceding
the main facades, with the intention
to mitigate sunlight entering the office
interiors and break the monotony of the
facade’s composition. The precast vertical
components were painted so that they stood
out in contrast to the rest of the building.

Architect
Milan Kovac
Arkitektkontor

Client
Mohamed Abdulrahman
Al-Bahar LLC

Completed
1978
Exterior view, undated.
Status Henk Snoek / RIBA
In use Collections.

339
01

340
Choithrams Popularly referred to today by the In place of repetitive floor plans stacked
Building supermarket chain that occupies the up on a square plot, the architects
ground-floor showroom, the iconic King produced an erratic arrangement of
Faisal Street structure was designed volumes that at least seem to consider
as an office building. The building was shading as a design generator. Clad in
commissioned, designed, and built by aluminum and concrete panels, the five-
a single party, unusual for Sharjah. story building’s dynamic composition
Three architects, formerly architecture- was achieved with precast elements
school classmates in Delhi, founded mirrored across the elevations. Its
a design firm, Gulf Design Group, and structural system adopts a visibly layered
Architect
Gulf Design Group a contracting company, Architectural approach, which its waffle-slab elements
Construction Team, in 1975—a move that also reinforce. The ambiguous, even if
Contractor
Architectural likely explains how Sharjah got one of its symmetrical, composition offers a playful
Construction Team most unusual buildings. Not only did they set of forms that alternate between
Client create the project, they also owned it. negative spaces and protruding vaulted
Gulf Design Group masses, suggesting a more playful interior
Completed The Sharjah-based Gulf Design Group than what is actually offered.
1978 produced a peculiar design whose shapes
Status are reminiscent of work by Charles Correa
Existing and Le Corbusier.

01. Building from King

Faisal Street, 1980s.
Images: Dr. Naman
Al Jalili Archives
Collection.
02. Before the
supermarket
chain Choithrams
occupied it, the
ground floor was
a furniture store
showroom.
02

341
 Above: A residential block owned by Hamad Hilal Thabit Al Kuwaiti,
Al Qassimiyah District, Helal & Partners, 1982.

Right: Mixed-use building, Al Wahda Street, Helal & Partners. The design
called for a ten-story mixed-use block. Because of financing problems,
construction was halted at six stories. Images: Nicolas Bou Rjaili.

342
343
344
Al Shamsi Housing

The Aga Khan Documentation Center at

MIT holds preliminary drawings credited to
Rifat Chadirji for a project in Sharjah with
the name “M. Shams Housing Project.”
M. Shams is an incorrect reference to
Mohammed Al Shamsi, who commissioned
the drawings from Chadirji’s firm Iraq
Consult. The drawings are stamped with
“IQC,” the initials used for Chadirji’s firm
Iraq Consult. Sami Alwash, an Iraqi architect
who ran Iraq Consult’s office in Bahrain,
recalls discussions about the project in
1974 and maintains that Chadirji himself
was not involved in creating the drawings.
Al Shamsi commissioned the work, perhaps
with his fellow board member at the Bank
of Sharjah, Abdulrahman Bukhatir, for
a private development on property the
former owned along Sharjah’s coastline
near the Ajman border. Alwash recalls
that the perspective drawings, not based
on any detailed plans or sections, were a
quick production in order to help raise the
necessary funding for an actual project. Al
Shamsi failed to secure the funding.

Available drawings reveal a twenty-six-

unit housing compound, organized around
its own supermarket and afforded direct
access to Sharjah’s beachfront. The
two- and three-bedroom houses with
spacious garages were proposed with
cast-concrete shapes one might recognize
from Chadirji’s built work. Interior walls
were extended to the exterior, with deep
eaves to shade the living spaces’ expansive
glazing. Evidently designed for high-income
residents, the houses nevertheless lack
the overly scaled security walls already
expected of such projects in the 1980s, with
gardens remaining visually available to the
neighborhood. Iraq Consult also submitted
design proposals to the UAE Ministries of
Education and Public Works for gymnasiums
and stadiums, none of which was executed.

Architect
Rifat Chadirji, Iraq Consult

Client
Mohammed Al Shamsi Perspective street view,
Iraq Consult, undated.
Proposed Kamil and Rifat Chadirji
1974 Photographic Archive,
courtesy of Aga Khan
Status Documentation Center,
Unbuilt MIT Libraries (AKDC@MIT).

345
01

02

346
1000 Villas I cannot forget the youthful years we Most of the houses were gifted to
spent in 1000 Villas. nationals by Sharjah’s ruler. My landlord
was more than ninety years old, a widow
Text by K. V.
Starting in 1970, my bachelor friends named Mariyam Mohammed. She used to
Shamsudheen
and I lived in a two-story building on Al come to our home to collect the rent every
Arouba Street. We had no air conditioning three months (AED 2,000, or $500). We
because there was no steady supply of offered to bring the rent to her home, but
electricity. By 1974, we had electricity she always wanted to visit my family. She
and had set our eyes on the 1000 Villas was like our grandma, telling us to look
project being built in Al Gubeiba under the after the house as if it were our own. She
orders of Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al enjoyed seeing our garden.
Qasimi.
Everyone kept a garden. I planted a
Things kept getting better, and in 1976, we coconut plant and a drumstick (Moringa)
bachelors moved to 1000 Villas, each in plant in our villa’s courtyard on the day we
his own villa but very close to the others. moved in. By the time we left 1000 Villas,
Two of our older friends, Appu Kuttan and the coconut tree had started bearing
Narayana Swami, got married before we coconuts, and drumsticks were available
did and rented houses adjacent to ours. every day. We also planted beans, okra,
Then Cheeran Varkey got married. So did tapioca, and more in our courtyards.
P. C. Simon and myself. I moved into Villa
No. D-21 with my wife and my one-year- There were no asphalt roads inside the
old son Sameesh Shamsudheen in 1978. 1000 Villas complex in those days. Cars
My second son was born while we were were regularly stuck in the sand, so
living in 1000 Villas. residents had to help each other out.

The houses, we were told, were Sharjah’s

first precast concrete structures. The
living and dining areas were laid out under
vaulted ceilings as were the bedrooms.
In between them were the bathroom and
the kitchen. Perfect for a small family. The
living room’s arched roof was impressive
and long, but not even a two-ton air
conditioner could keep it cool. Some
families had to install a drop ceiling to
keep temperatures down.

1000 Villas was home to a community

03
of Indians from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and
Gujarath and to Pakistanis, Sri Lankans,
Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians, and
Sudanese. Most of the Asian men worked
Architect
Fowler Hanley for private companies and the UAE Defense
Inc., Architectural Force. The Arab expatriates were teachers
Consultants
and government workers and also worked
Urban Designer in defense. It seemed everyone got along.
Hosni Iskandar
We had only one grocery store in the
Contractor complex. It meant that we all had a chance
Bucomac
to say hello to all nationalities.
Client
Sheikh Sultan bin
Muhammad Al Qasimi We celebrated Eid, Christmas, New
Year’s Eve, Onam, and Vishu together.
Completed
1977 Our children played together, studied
together, and lived together. Our wives are
Status
Existing still close friends.

347
04
05

01. Residential units during 03. Author’s sons, Sameesh and family’s two-bedroom house,
construction, 1970s. Shamil, and wife Samiyya, seen 1979. His sister Asma recalls,
Architectural Consultants, through window, in driveway “I have very fond memories
Ashok Mody. of No. D-21, Al Gubeiba, early of 1000 Villas. It was such an
02. Elevation, section, and plan for 1980s. K.V. Shamsudheen. amazing, tight community.
two-bedroom unit, as submitted 04. Construction announcement, To this day, my parents call
to Sharjah Municipality. late 1970s. Michael Fowler, their circle of friends, ‘Watu
Drawing by architect Kiran Fowler Hanley Inc. wa Ghubaiba,’ the people of
Jathal, August 1976. Sharjah 05. Haidar Abdulrahman Ali poses Gubeiba.” Asma Ali.
Municipality. on a motorbike in front of his

349
350
Al Ramla Houses

The ruler’s brother Sheikh Sager bin

Mohamed Al Qassemi allegedly asked
French architect Jean-Michel Regnault to
propose a modest three-bedroom house
as a home for his gardener. Regnault’s
design, priced at around AED 70,000,
about $18,000, pleased the client enough
that soon a billboard announced “32
Villas” in Sharjah’s Al Ramla district. The
design, by then a template, was used to
create housing for local families.

Lined up on a single lot and attached by

party walls, each house was afforded a
small front porch or a garden and featured
an open roof terrace, enclosed by most
inhabitants to increase indoor space.
Regnault’s design embellished the simple
concrete-brick construction with delicate
details in wood, an indulgent import at the
time and features not likely to last long in
Sharjah’s climate. The houses, reminiscent
of homes of the 1950s, are a fraction of the
size allotted to locals today.

Architect
Regnault & Partners

Contractor
Energyco

Client
Sheikh Sager bin
Mohamed Al Qassemi

Completed
1978

Status
Existing, modified

351
02

01. Two residents outside Al Ramla Houses, late

1970s. Images: Regnault & Partners.
02. Each L-shaped house had a roof terrace accessed
by wooden stairs, late 1970s.
03. While some residents kept the wooden doors,
others installed larger metal gates decorated with
colorful symbols, including the UAE flag.

352
03

353
01

354
Spinney’s Starting in the 1960s, Spinney’s windows. In addition to the prominent
Supermarket and Supermarket occupied a small shop on precast scuppers, concrete awnings
Office Block Sharjah’s Al Arouba Street. The city’s over small windows contributed to the
growing population was good reason building’s simple geometries that played
to relocate to a larger location on King easily with shadow. The second volume,
Faisal Street, Sharjah’s thoroughfare of a box retail space, accommodated an
rapid development that housed the latest expanded and further accessorized
newcomers. For the British architecture Spinney’s. The supermarket chain started
firm, the project was one of their early as a purveyor of British goods in British
designs overseas. It consisted of two Mandatory Palestine before opening a
adjoining volumes. The first was a five- branch in Dubai in 1959. Through the
story office block lifted on pilotis that mid-1990s, the Sharjah branch was one of
created a shaded entry and parking. The the city’s top alcohol retailers for license-
precast concrete facades of the northern holding customers. While the supermarket
and southern elevations formed a grid still serves Sharjah residents, the site of
of vertical louvers that shaded recessed the office block remains vacant.

01. Exterior view, King

Faisal Street, 1977.
Images: Henk Snoek /
RIBA Collections.
02. Interior, Spinney’s
supermarket, 1977.
03. Office building’s
brise soleil and
scuppers, 1977.
02

Architect
George Trew Dunn
Beckles Willson Bowes

Engineering Consultant
White Young & Partners

Contractor
Conforce Gulf

Client
Spinney’s Limited

Completed
1977

Status
Demolished, renovated
03

355
356
 Above: Night scene at unidentified fountain, Sharjah, 1970s. The lights for several
fountains throughout Sharjah were provided by Dutch electronics company Philips.
The fountains were built by Consolidated Contractors Company for a beautification
project led by Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi.

Left: Fishing on the paved edge of Lake Khalid. Landscaping details take shape—
waterside parking, lampposts, and paving stones (though no railings yet)—
projecting a sense of recreation and leisure, 1980s. The Financial Times described
the selected streetlight model as a “fake gas lamp.” Images: Mahmood AlSawan.

357
01

358
Deepak WHEN MEN GLOW
Unnikrishnan IN SHARJAH

In my sophomore year at Sharjah hustled. I suppose we should’ve of sleep. It would be fair to say
College, billed at the time as the run when we discovered there was my first semester at university
American University of Asia, I had my not a single American on staff at in Sharjah was bland, almost
first bout of insomnia. There was no the American University of Asia. anti-climactic. I wasn’t wowed or
history of the illness in the family. At cowed. Just bored.
first, I blamed it on my classes. The American system wasn’t
easy. I came from an Indian high Then, because it was convenient, I
Sharjah College was a practical school by Muroor Road in Abu assumed I couldn’t sleep because
space, with manageable tuition, Dhabi, where the school continues I was reluctant to dream, because
American-like education, and a to be housed, where teachers dreams were oracles. If all else
high acceptance rate, why my suggested, then demanded, fails, as they say, blame a parent.
brown parents were sold on the that we acquiesce. Bereft of Or genes.
idea. Importantly, the college had options, Fuck sure, we said. So
an arrangement with University when I wrote about daffodils and My gran suffered from migraines,
of Houston–Clear Lake, where Wordsworth, I wrote what was code in my family for depression.
our credits got recognized, if expected of me, that Wordsworth My mother had migraines, too,
any of us hoped to transfer to found worth in flowers I’d never code for periods and depression.
the States. Later, I heard that seen in person. In an American Both had trouble sleeping. Gran,
the arrangement with Clear school (possibly), teachers may I remember, when our family
Lake had fallen through. As have been open to the suggestion visited the homeland, would go
Troy University was touted as a that the daffodil, like Wordsworth, to her room and lock the door.
potential substitute partner, the was an overrated flora, but such Mum popped Panadol. Neither
American University of Asia billing rebellious thinking wasn’t afforded liked doctors because physicians,
got replaced with the motto of to the likes of me, or my peers. whether male or female, asked
“Technology Today for Tomorrow.” intimate questions, about bowels
I suppose we didn’t know any Flora aside, American freedom(s) and breath, and smelled like
better. I suppose we all got had nothing to do with my lack disinfectant.

359
 02

01. Next to the title is the logo of erstwhile Sharjah

College. Opposite page: the Flying Saucer at
dusk, circa 1977. Haro Levonian.
02.–03. Along Sharjah Creek’s corniche, circa 1977.
Sue Simpson.
04. Streetlights at night along Al Arouba Street,
possibly Al Khan Bridge, 1980s. United Colour
Film, Ajman, courtesy of Abdulla Al Murad.
05. View of Port Khalid over Sharjah Creek, 1980s.
United Colour Film, Ajman, courtesy of Abdulla
Al Murad.

360
361
I refused to see a doctor because Otherwise, they laughed, you big
I wasn’t going to take anything trouble. One time they urged me
based on five-minute doctor- over: Come, we tell something.
patient banter. And I couldn’t ring Okay fine, I said. Yesterday,
my parents because they would’ve they said, we caught hiding boy
panicked. Besides, meds weren’t under bed in girl room. Hiding
cheap, and there was no money at boy screwed up, I said. No, they
home. The only solution would’ve chuckled, hiding boy fucked up.
been to take the semester off, What we learned from this was that
wait out the problem. Basically, do if you must hiding boy in girl room,
nothing or drop out. I didn’t want put hiding boy’s clothes back on.
either. To cope, I walked.
One night, fed up of security
I walked after dinner, past Baluchi watching me, stopping me, I chose
taxi wallahs who honked even after to slip out into the street, breaking
I said no. It’s hot, they’d say. It’s curfew (the main gate got locked
fine, I’d say. after 11:00 p.m.). It became habit
until I graduated.
I walked after chats with friends
in the dorms, sipping Sun Top The college, which doesn’t exist
through a straw, munching Pofaki anymore (rumor goes some smart
cheese curls. schmuck from administration
embezzled a shitload of cash),
I walked after phone calls with a was twenty minutes from Rolla
girl on a borrowed mobile, until Square on foot. As you stepped off 03
the wee hours of the morning, in university grounds (a few trees,
time to see delivery vans drop some benches, a couple buildings
one-dirham cheese croissants, here and there, a makeshift
chicken mayonnaise sandwiches, cafeteria), you made a left,
and sausage rolls into the arms walking away from Dubai, turning
of grocery store uncles, cheap your back to Dubai completely,
protein to sate hundreds of passing a straight road stripped of
hungry tummies. beauty, turning into a tunnel some
distance away, making your way
* towards markets and restaurants,
getting sand in your sneakers from
In the beginning, before the taking shortcuts, following the
campus—once pinned to the heart lights, flanked by the smells of
of the city—got moved to the smoke, food, trash, life––towards
Industrial Area, I walked around the water by the corniche, where I
campus grounds, past the asphalt sat for hours, slammed by breeze,
football pitch, the girls’ dorms, salt, humidity.
where the boys smoked, and the
patch of green where couples I often brought cookies on such
necked and felt each other up in the trips, red packets of Hit, licking
open. I walked around in circles, to the chocolate cream first and only
a point where security frisked me then biting the biscuit. And as I
(quickly) for booze and dope. ate, I thought about my place in the
world, my laziness and burgeoning
They asked if I was high. No, I said. emptiness, because Sharjah wasn’t
I wasn’t believed. I could be a taking me anywhere.
mule, I was told in the little Tamil
I understood. Find something, I also wondered about my lack of
I said in English, then we talk. sleep, sex, and the girl I was falling
We will, they said, then we reach in love with. I wanted to live with
understanding. Whatever, I said. this person, raise her kids.

362
I also wanted shorter hair, to be By the seventh week, little had
cool, slick, and lanky, a combination changed. I couldn’t sleep for long
of Dean and Hepburn (Audrey), periods and found myself at the
to be admired and envied for my corniche again, desperate to rest,
body, but I also wanted Katherine’s tired. When I spotted the seven
(Hepburn) voice, her bite, as well men, brown, mustachioed, in
as Hasselhoff’s jacket from Knight baggy track pants, dusty chappals,
Rider. Throw in the Pontiac Firebird, walking at a clip, fifteen minutes
which I’d ride to school with the must have passed. Two of them
top down, pretty gal in the front, held cricket bats. Another taped
Lighthouse Family on the stereo, a ball with yellow insulation tape,
and just like that life would be all swearing/laughing vociferously
set. I wasn’t white, yet I thought I (the lot of them) in Urdu/Dari/
could be. Back then, no brown role Punjabi. I followed them. For the
models, no desire (yet) for women most part, they paid me no mind,
who looked like Smita (Patil) on although they turned around a few
VHS, even though I looked like a boy times. They carried on walking.
who could play Smita on film.
I tried to guess where they were
No understanding of textiles going, which patch of asphalt,
either, of why clothes could be sand, or grass appealed to them,
comfort, or how color and drape whether they lived near the
(and shape, dumbass) offered Industrial Area, whether their
visibility and invisibility at the games were legal, who they
same time, based on when the pretended to be––Akram, Miandad,
man or woman or child looked Gavaskar, Imran, Kapil, Tendulkar?
at you, or where. Or what they Importantly, I wanted to see how
thought, or the questions that hit they were going to keep it down.
them as soon as they saw your
face. Hello, who is your mother? I checked my watch: past one in
What is your name? Country? the morning. Where could they
Faith? What do you look like in the go? Mentally, I compiled a list
shower, as you sleep, if you kiss? of spaces available to them and
Or because of my brown frame, my couldn’t think of any nearby, but
gait, my life, the time––what are Sharjah wasn’t my city.
you? All these thoughts about the
self, and I was barely eighteen. The men led me to a circular
structure, building-like yet oddly
I watched the sea like others before dressed in glass and concrete, a
me, pretending I knew what it thing with sharp edges, something
must’ve felt like to wonder whether that seemed to have been thought
a family member (or lover or friend) up at a party by a hatmaker. Years
had lived, survived, or perished into the future, I would lunch
at the mercy of waves, fire, war, with an architect who knew the
and/or pirates. Sometimes I just building, a man who wore red
watched the water, and the spirits shoes and a watch with a white
of the deep returned the gaze dial and a red strap, someone who
and, like others before them, they smiled right. “When I once knocked
wondered what I was, whether I on the glass door,” he shared,
had been ostracized by my tribe, “there was a feeling of instability,
whether my mother was related to as if all the glass trembled.” I
any of their mothers, or whether I, asked him for the name of the
the Mallu, spoke Khaleeji in pidgin. architect. “A mystery,” he said.
And as they quarreled, I saw an old
man asleep on a bench, an empty I assumed the men would situate
ice cream cup by his side. themselves close by, near the

363
parking lot lined by sleeping cars the man skipped once, twice, then shit the radio, then Star TV,
with lukewarm engines, the base bowled underarm. As the ball loved to hawk. This was sport as
of street lamps morphed into got thrown back to the bowler, I practice, where little mattered
wickets. Instead, their captain noticed the nurse exit the building except the game. It was the only
rapped his knuckles on the and walk towards me, finding time in my life I can recall cricket
glass door and let himself in. His a spot not far from where I sat, feeling beautiful/dangerous/
friends/teammates followed. and taking color pencils and a vulnerable, sport that mimicked
sketchbook from a plastic bag. dance/life. And through the rules
I hesitated. I didn’t know these of the game, doctored to respect
men. I’d assumed I’d pass time I was sneaking glances at her— the space, as the batsmen ran,
watching them cuss, run, bat, she looked like my favorite aunt as wickets tumbled, as catches
bowl. This felt different. I was Beena—when the streetlights went were caught or spilled, cricket
about to turn homebound when out. Within seconds, I realized I became movement, rhythm and
the lights switched on. was sitting in a city pocket emptied beat, and game became drug, pure
of light. All around the building’s and uncut, even unreal. As though
Through the glass, caked with weeks’ perimeter, as well as two hundred the game had been played at the
worth of grime, I watched the men meters across, little was clear, bottom of the seabed, cheered
don their gear: kneepads, helmets. except the beams of the occasional on in silence by the spirits of
passing car. Yet as I squinted those who knew the land before
I spotted a woman (dark as burnt in the direction of the players, petrol fired up the Khaleej and by
wood, like my father) in a nurse’s I found parts of them bathed in those who swam towards Khaleeji
uniform handing them things. light, like fish in the deep. The shores following the scent of oil.
batsmen’s helmets glowed green,
The space, flanked by glass, was as did their gloves, chappals, and It was also one of the few
empty. There was no furniture, bats. The ball, hurled underarm occasions my nose paid attention
pictures, or signs, only ample with speed towards wickets to the smell of the sleeping sea, as
room to run, and white tiles. colored like autumn, looked like I sat on land burning, stockpiling
The men, with the nurse’s help, a burning fruit, while the bowler’s and selling crude, as a man in a
rolled out the pitch, a rubber fingertips glowed blue, as did his green helmet, who looked like
mat, bright enough to add color, shoes, knees, and elbows. And as one of the servers at the Kashmiri
short enough to feel right and not it dawned on me that the bowling Restaurant I frequented, hopped
dominate the space. Trashcans team was blue, and those batting down the pitch to whack a ball.
got placed on either side. And as green, the nurse lit a kerosene But then, as bat met ball, it got hit
the wicketkeeper stretched his lamp and sketched the men as they with care, not ferocity, because
hamstrings, fielders sauntered to huffed, ran, dove. the rules of the game they played
their positions, while the batsmen were different, softer.
took guard, as the umpire found It was the first and only time I’d
his hat, a white sports cap. watched cricket without the noise I’d played their version of cricket,
or the interference of English one-bounce cricket, with the
As I waited for the opening bowler commentary, adverts, or jingoism. boys of my high school, Indian
to steam in from the bowler’s end, This wasn’t the usual Indo-Pak School lads, in a little room at
the India Social Center by Mina
Road in Abu Dhabi, where my
father drank Chivas on ice with
other Mallu men. In one-bounce
cricket, the body had to dive—to
catch the ball before the second
bounce—onto tile, wood, rock,
wherever the game got played.
One-bounce wasn’t tempestuous
like gully cricket or obsessed
with codes and rituals among
those who continued to believe
in the lie that cricket, invented
by Empire, was a gentleman’s
game. One-bounce was a game

04
 05

birthed by need, requiring players

who weren’t afraid to play with
soft hands. One-bounce needed
craft, guile, and imagination. One-
bounce was invented, I suppose, to
kill time, like x-n-zero or rock-
paper-scissors. But one-bounce
was also about men, brown men
remembering their childhood/
homes through sport. And cricket,
then and now, was a place for men.
With its expensive gear (bats, cork
balls, pads, guards) and push for
real estate—concrete pitches and
thousands of yards of grass—the
game didn’t have a place indoors; badminton set-up—lines of chalk Made by artist Yaminay Chaudhri,
one-bounce did. One-bounce felt on the stone floor, net hung across shot at Seaview, a public
like hip-hop, raised out of need. poles—inside the abandoned beachfront in Karachi, TWN—
warehouse on campus grounds. KBNT! is a short film about
In the morning, as light returned, Yet the cricket I’d witnessed, the beachgoers, property barons,
as the game ended, and the woman game the nurse documented in vendors, light, and darkness. It is
and the men disappeared, I returned her sketchings, meant something also a film about the work of men
to the college grounds, greeted more to me, as though I had who rely on the sand and the sea,
by the familiar. I skipped classes, also participated, as a rule/law stealth, the commodification of
slept six hours straight, then went breaker, part of a secret I was fun, and, as I said before, darkness.
to lunch at the Yemeni place (which delighted to keep.
would also close years later) a When I played the film at home, I
block down, where I ordered my I returned to the spot many times didn’t know any of these things. My
usual, while the owner, tiny, skinny, over, hoping to catch more games students felt the less I knew, the
shortsighted, and mustachioed, or introduce myself to the nurse, to better. And as my eyes adjusted to
greeted me in sunglasses and day- check if she was Mallu. She must’ve the night shot(s) on screen, I made
old stubble. In my college days in been, but I didn’t run into them out a buggy fitted with LED lights,
Sharjah, only two things mattered again. And yet over the years, as I’ve only parts of its silhouette visible to
when I lunched at the Yemeni joint: caught gully cricket in alleyways the eye. Then I saw/heard another
the peppered lamb soup, served and sandlots, talked Ambrose motorized vehicle, strips of light,
with a slice of lemon, spiced right to and Thompson with aficionados & bursts of color. Memories—smells
wake my brain; and the scrambled cheats, as T20 went mainstream, and sound—came back, and I
eggs with tomato and chili, served arguably prostituting the game’s smiled and wondered whether any
with warm bread that flaked and soul, I’ve thought about that night. of the players I’d seen all those
warmed and coated your fingers And I’ve often wondered whether I years ago boasted Karachi roots.
with charred sesame seeds. was allowed to remain because of Or how they came about their
what I was supposed (or assumed) arrangement with the woman who
I must’ve told myself I needed to to be, a young man with cropped drew them, whether she had drawn
go back, to observe the games hair, or what I was, a young lady their blood at the clinic she worked
(and the men), to see how spaces who resembled a boy, dressed in a for, whether they lunched/flirted
could be appropriated with baggy tee, pants, and sneakers. in the open, in multiple languages,
stealth, then put back together whether their bodies hung on
as it were, as well as to watch * a frame in someone’s drawing
and feel the joy and euphoria of room, bars of light etched onto
sport in the presence of strangers. In my classroom, fifteen years paper, evidence of a game once
It was as though the building in later, in the role of teacher, I once played with the kind of honesty I’ve
question, erected to be something told this tale to my students. yearned for and missed and craved
specific (or significant), had been A young lady put her hand up. in my life but have yet to find, the
treated (by those who were into Professor, she said, you need to only night in my life where I nursed
sport) as an excuse to become see There Was Nothing—Kuch Bhi my vulnerable heart and body in
something else, like the makeshift Naheen Tha! front of strangers.

365
Shortly after the Flying Saucer’s completion, the
Lebanese company Misal Gulf was contracted to
renovate the interior and add exterior cold storage,
December 1978. Haro Levonian.

366
The Flying Saucer The Flying Saucer lies at the meeting down to reveal its 7.3-meter-high dome,
point of multiple residential areas, namely an impressive structure. Eight columns
Text by Dasman, Gubeiba, Yarmouk, and Ramla, support the dome, and sixteen peripheral
Mona El Mousfy and overlooks what was previously known spaces fan around the central space.
as “The Flying Saucer Roundabout.” Tapered and tilted, the V-shaped pillars
This iconic building from the 1970s has create a complex three-dimensional,
a unique and relatively simple silhouette structural diagrid, their arrangement in a
defined by a circular footprint and a circle allowing for a fully glazed facade.
central dome. V-shaped, angled pillars The result is a 360-degree view of the
foreground the triangular glazing that surroundings. Beyond the facade extends
rounds the building, and a star-shaped a sixteen-point, cantilevered canopy that
canopy projects further beyond the partially merges into the annex structure.
facade, giving it that flying saucer quality.
It was likely built between 1974 and 1976 The Flying Saucer’s unique character
(evidenced in aerial archives), facing allowed it to adapt to various occupants
the entrance of a former British camp. It without losing its identity and formal
remained isolated on the roundabout for features. Its history speaks of the
a long time. During its construction, the adaptability and resilience of an iconic
government was relocating families from building that has undergone decades of
older coastal neighborhoods to the newly change and transformation. This resilience
developed Dasman and other surrounding has enriched its history, in turn inscribing
neighborhoods. it in the collective cultural memory and
place identity of Sharjans.
In stark contrast to its surroundings, the
building references Western space-age
pop culture of the 1960s and 1970s and
Brutalist architecture of the same period.
Over the years, the site has undergone
substantial urban transformation. The
building is currently positioned on the
corner of Sheikh Zayed Street and Al
Wahda Street, both busy multi-lane
thoroughfares. Al Wahda bridge, having
replaced the historical roundabout, now
overlooks the building.

After its initial short-lived occupation

by a French-inspired patisserie, the
Flying Saucer underwent a number of
programmatic changes.1 This led to
a series of architectural and interior
transformations by various tenants,
altering the building’s character and the
quality of its interior space. In 2015, the
building’s exterior cladding was stripped,
and interior elements, including the ceiling
and partitions (added in 2008), were taken

Client
Sheikh Sultan bin
Muhammad Al Qasimi

Completed
Mid-1970s
1. An advertisement in Dubai-based Khaleej Times
Status promised “space age shopping” at the Flying
Renovated Saucer (December 18, 1978).

367
 01

368
Arab Academy In the late 1970s, the Sharjah government Before the end of the Gulf War in 1991,
for Science, commissioned US-based Charter Oil Egypt rejoined the Arab League, and Cairo
Technology & Company to design and deliver seven once again became the organization’s
Maritime Transport precast buildings, their intended end use headquarters. The academy returned to
never clear. Charter’s in-house engineer Alexandria.
and architect, William Brown, completed
the drawings. Upon the project’s The facilities served Sharjah College
completion, the buildings remained vacant. for some time until 2005 when they
were demolished. The planetarium’s
The 1979 Camp David Accords presented demolition, to make way for a widened
the complex with a purpose. Since Al Arouba Street, was halted after it had
1972, the Arab Academy for Science, already begun. Its future is undetermined.
Architect Technology & Maritime Transport had
William Brown, Charter been based in Egypt, a founding member
Oil Company, and
Tunisia & United Arab of the Arab League. When Egypt signed a
Emirates Engineering peace treaty with Israel, the Arab League
Company
voted to expel Egypt from its organization.
Contractor Subsequently, the academy was moved
Al Nahda Contracting &
Trading Company (ALCO) from Alexandria to Sharjah and took
refuge in the seven buildings.
Client
Government of Sharjah,
Arab Academy for The academy operated in Sharjah
Science, Technology &
Maritime Transport
throughout the 1980s. A small but iconic
planetarium was added to the site for
Completed
1979, 1981
astronomy instruction, with the Tunisia &
United Arab Emirates Engineering
Status Company established specifically to build
Demolished, 2005.
Planetarium, disused the structure. It was completed in 1981.

01. Elevations of the planetarium, as submitted to

Sharjah Municipality, 1981. Tunisia & United
Arab Emirates Engineering Co., courtesy of
Sharjah Municipality.
02. Arab League ministers of transportation and
communications inspect facilities during
ministerial meeting, March 1986. Arab Maritime
Transport Academy Magazine, courtesy of Juma
Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage.
03. Students learning to use nautical sextants,
1989. Arab Maritime Transport Academy
Magazine, courtesy of Juma Al Majid Center for
Culture and Heritage.
02

369
03
 View from upper floor of the Holiday Inn, over its empty fountain, designed by the
hotel’s architect David Firmin & Partners, to the Buhaira Corniche road. Across
the road are mid-rise residential buildings, constructed in the 1980s to house
Sharjah’s arriving populations. The rightmost building on the road was designed
for then Minister of Education Saeed Abdullah Salman by Egyptian architect
Fayek Howeedy. Further back to the right is the Rostamani Building on King
Faisal Street, Khatib & Alami, 1977. The green and white building on the left was
designed by Arab Engineering Bureau, 1975. Alexander Gnezdilov.

372
373
374
375
Jat Kamala Gaya Dubai | 1984, Pakistan (Punjabi), Syed Kamal, Director

Some Sharjah sites caught on film: Buhaira Corniche, Al Khan

Bridge, Al Khan Overpass, Al Wahda Street, Hotel Aladin, Arab
Maritime Academy, Sharjah police headquarters, Bank Street,
Central Souk, Flying Saucer, Holiday Inn, Inter-Continental
Hotel, King Faisal Mosque, Marbella Club, interior of a
cinema, Novotel, Rolla Square, Sharjah International Airport,
Allied Building (The Deal Building), Lake Khalid. Mariam
Kamal. Courtesy of South and Southeast Asian Video Archive,
University of Wisconsin–Madison, Boston College Libraries.

376
Vilkkanundu Swapnangal | 1980, India (Malayali), Azad, Director

There almost seemed to be a film genre,

sourced from Pakistan, India, Egypt, and
other places from where people came to
the Gulf, in search of moving up a notch
in the hierarchy of life. There were at
least two films intended to be shot in
Dubai, neither of which was granted the
necessary approvals from the city. Except
for some furtive, roadside filming at
Dubai Creek, both films instead secured
permission to shoot in Sharjah. Sharjah
starred as Dubai.

By then, Dubai was anyway a stand-in term

for any place where, with a little luck, you
could make a fast buck on the slippery
terms of petroleum trade. In 1980, the
Malayali film Vilkkanundu Swapnangal,
or Dreams for Sale, was released, with
the celebrity actor Mammootty in his first
credited role. In 1984, the Punjabi film Jat
Kamala Gaya Dubai, or Jat Kamala Goes
to Dubai, was released. Each film opens in
a rural village where the male protagonist
faces countless frustrations, for one of
them even death threats. A new start in
Dubai, that is Sharjah, seems to be each
character’s only option. The first survives a
wretched journey at sea, carrying his dead
companion to shore and walking over desert
mountains to arrive at the Airport Mosque
in Sharjah.1 The second uses wily means to
raise the cash to buy a work opportunity that
turns out to be a swindle; he departs from
his sweetheart by horse-drawn cart. We see
him next at Sharjah International Airport,
trying to go up the down escalator.2 Once in
the city, both heroes try the litany of usual
jobs available to an undocumented migrant:
construction worker, lunchroom waiter,
hotel bellhop, car washer, and even human
mannequin. One gets a break to become
a nightclub crooner; the other arrives at
the brink of losing an executive job in real
estate development. No gain is permanent.
In the end, one hero returns victorious,
shaded by his resort beach hat, atop a newly
purchased tractor—his beloved again by his
side, his position in the village recast; the
Some Sharjah sites caught on film:
Airport Mosque, Al Khan Bridge, Lake other returns home to settle a score—for
Khalid, Bank Street, Carlton Hotel, love, for honor—his destiny not fulfilled but
Central Souk, Emiri Diwan, Sharjah
Corniche, Inter-Continental Hotel, certainly shaped by his days in Sharjah.
Sharjah Cinema, Sharjah Central Post
Office, Al Qassimi Hospital, Sharjah
International Airport. B. K. Menon, 1. See p. 37.
Marunadan Movies. 2. See p. 387.

377
 01

378
Ammar Al Attar in SHARJAH IN A
Conversation with PHOTOGRAPHY
Prem Ratnam STUDIO

In the late 1960s, when the territory now named the one day, when I was about eight years old, he took me
United Arab Emirates (UAE) was still known as the to the beach, and I took a picture of the sunset with a
Trucial States, there was a wave of migration, mainly boat on the horizon. That was my very first picture.
men from India and Pakistan, to this land of nascent
opportunity. Some set up businesses, including Did that lead you to study photography?
photography studios that came to document both the No. I graduated in physics from college in India, and I
transient and the more settled population. also studied chemistry and mathematics. But I always
loved photography. During my college days, I used
In 2013, following my passion for archival to take a small pocket camera with me everywhere.
photography, I visited the oldest studios in Deira, Every morning, I would load a roll and go to college,
Dubai, and was inspired to start Reverse Moments, which was on top of a hill. At the end of each day, I
a research project focused on visual archives of the would take the roll for processing and get another
UAE’s social history. My initial goal was to outline one. I finished college in 1967 and started looking for
the origins of photography in the UAE, but Reverse a job. I applied to a local film institute, but didn’t get
Moments grew into much more than that. I found not in. My cousin had a photography studio in Abu Dhabi,
only portraits on slides and negatives but also images so he sent me a visitor’s visa and asked me to come. I
of life in the UAE’s cities that had been featured in had to go to the British Embassy in Madras to get the
regional publications, all of which I hope to compile visa, and then from there I traveled to Bombay and
and make accessible in a public archive in the future. took a ship to Port Rashid in Dubai. I landed on June
5, 1971, and my cousin took me by car to Abu Dhabi.
To date, photographer Prem Ratnam has been my His studio was in an old building by the post office.
most important collaborator. I met him in 2014 when
I visited his studio, located next to where Sharjah What were your main duties in the studio?
Cinema once stood. We began rummaging through I worked there from 1971 to 1974, and used to take
drawers and boxes of old slides, many of which Prem portraits in the studio, but a lot of my work was in
had lost track of through the years. So many archives outdoor commissions as well. Large oil companies
had accumulated that he added a floor between his such as Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas would
ground and mezzanine floors to store it all. Since that hire me to take aerial shots from helicopters, and
day, our weekly meetings have become crucial to the there was also a hotel called The Baalbeck. I covered
development of the Reverse Moments archive as well their parties and functions. I was always very busy
as to the formation of this book. especially during National Day celebrations. I have,
however, lost many of my photographs from this
Ammar: Can you tell me your personal story with period.
photography?
Prem: It was my father who got me interested in How did you end up moving to Ajman?
photography. He was a mechanical engineer, but he In 1974, I went back to India, to Kerala, for vacation,
began learning photography at school. He had a very and when I came back, I saw an advert in the
old camera that he allowed me to use. I remember newspaper for a job with United Colour Film (UCF)

379
in Ajman. I applied, and got a job working with Mr. I think you were also creative and innovative—perhaps
Abdullah Al Murad. At the time, the office was that helped you to develop your practice?
situated opposite the Ruler’s Palace, and I took a I used to read, read, and read some more so that I
great many images for royal functions and at the was familiar with all the theory before putting it into
sheikh’s palace. I also worked a lot with the Trans- practice. In the 1980s, I covered the expansion of
Arabian Pipeline Company, taking images of pipelines Khor Fakkan Port, which was a difficult job, and I also
in the desert. had to think on my feet at the many functions and
weddings that I attended. Once, I was commissioned
Why did you decide to leave UCF and open your by Al Huzaifa Furniture to do a product shoot in their
own studio? show room. I decided to take the furniture to the park
At the time, I was single and a bachelor. I sent some to get more interesting shots. This was considered
money home to my mother, but everything else I quite experimental at the time.
earned I would spend on books and equipment. In
1982, there was an issue with salary increases, so Why do you have so many images of architecture?
I decided to set up my own business. I knew a lot In Sharjah, I covered a lot of events and took many
of people by then, and whenever they needed me, I portraits, but in my free time I was interested in the
would get a call. architecture of the city. Buildings were my passion,
and I always had my camera with me. I liked getting
Why did you move to Sharjah? as high up as possible. I went up in helicopters and
While I was working at UCF, I became familiar took great shots. Even when I wasn’t working, I
with Sharjah. I spent my leisure time there with climbed to the top of the highest buildings. These
my friends, either watching movies or going to the were the images that I loved to take and also the ones
Sharjah Book Centre, which is where I bought a lot that I kept.
of my photography books. At the time, the Sharjah
Expo Centre was also there, and I had a lot of work Why didn’t you keep all your images?
from their events and functions. I also did a lot of I used to keep all my pictures, but later had to throw
weddings, and I was one of the first photographers to some away due to space. It became a matter of
collate images into albums for my clients. Thanks to keeping the ones I was interested in, especially those
this and to my reputation, I was really busy. of friends and family and also of architecture. Luckily,
I met you, and all of these are now being shared.
Can you describe your studio as it was in 1982? Otherwise they probably would have remained in
When I started, the studio was bigger than most. I storage and eventually lost.
had an entire hall with enough space to photograph
large groups and to provide a small dressing room. When did you switch to digital?
Downstairs, there was a small dark room; back Honestly, I don’t remember the exact year, but it
then I was only shooting in black and white. By that was as soon as it came out. We always had to stay
time, my younger brother had joined me, and he was up-to-date by getting the newest models and brands
working at UCF. Together we also worked with photo whenever they were released. If we didn’t stay ahead,
enlargement, which was a large part of our business. we would lose business.

Have your images ever been published? Did your children follow in your footsteps?
Yes, plenty of times. My images have appeared in I got married in 1983, and my wife is a mathematics
numerous newspapers over the years. Also, in 1992, teacher in Sharjah. We have two daughters. One
one of my friends was commissioned to make a book is a chemical engineer, and the other is a graphic
about Dubai. I took a lot of pictures for him. The book designer. It is a nice balance between art and science.
was called Images of Dubai. It was commissioned by
Dubai Municipality and published in two editions. Thank you very much for sharing your story.
When I was working at UCF, I was also commissioned Thank you. It is really my pleasure.
by Emirates Post to take landmark images of all the
emirates, which were later used for postage stamps.

380
 02

03

01. Photographer Prem Ratnam at work On March 3, 1988, Dubai-based daily 07. Deva Ratnam on King Faisal Street,
at the United Colour Films studio, Gulf News reported on severe flooding late 1980s. On the right is a residential
Ajman. Images: Prem Ratnam, Hemlyn and the resulting “atrocious living building designed by Adnan Saffarini.
Photography Studio. conditions” in Sharjah, especially for The same design was implemented for a
02. Hemlyn Photography Studio operated South Asian expatriates. Deva Ratnam building on Al Wahda Street.
out of a storefront in a mixed-use rests above the flood level on a raised 08. The Ratnams’ tour of Sharjah ended on
block on Al Arouba Street, early 1980s. building dais along King Faisal Street, drier ground in front of the Central Souk.
The building was designed by Arab designed by Dutch architect Reinder de In the background, between the souk
Engineering Bureau, 1977. Vries. The fact that the building is raised and King Faisal Mosque is the Union
03. Interior of Hemlyn Photography Studio, is evidence that such floods might have Monument, 1984, commemorating
early 1980s. been expected. The building’s facade the establishment of the UAE. The
04. Prashanth Mukundan, assistant to Prem was significantly renovated in 2018. surrounding Al Ittihad Park was
Ratnam at Hemlyn Photography Studio, 06. Deva Ratnam at a recently installed designed by Arab Engineering Bureau
early 1980s. railing along the reclaimed land of and Carlos Marinas Rubio, late 1980s.
05. Prem Ratnam and his brother Deva Lake Khalid. Holiday Inn, background
walk the flooded streets of Sharjah. right, late 1980s.

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Sharjah In 1975, Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh Sultan bin A fourth and smaller dome near the
International Muhammad Al Qasimi reportedly asked control tower houses VIP areas, which the
Airport Sir William Halcrow and Partners to pick ruler allegedly also sketched, including its
out a site for Sharjah’s new airport. The ceremonial stairs.
firm, with more than twenty years of
experience in Sharjah, had been pushing Each double-layered dome, in
for such a contract since as early as 1963. consideration of “cost, ease and speed,”
Its engineers chose a location fifteen was created with a steel frame clad with
kilometers east of Sharjah’s built-up city, glass-reinforced plastic on the exterior
far enough away from the city’s urban and textured Pyrok on the interior. The
fabric to support a tale about a “rise out total weight of the three domes is 203
of the desert.”1 tons, with some of the weight transferred
to the concrete frame below and the rest
Sharjah’s new terminal had to take into to “rocker assemblies.”4
consideration environmental factors,
including noise pollution, and the more While the reinforced-concrete structure
dominant Dubai International Airport of the control tower mimics a minaret,
just a little more than twenty kilometers additional minaret-themed lighting units
away. In addition to accommodating were used in the main terminal’s parking
the prescribed 3,670-meter runway, lot to incorporate more Islamic-inspired
proximity to road networks and state design. The interiors of the airport were
boundaries also influenced the site also carried out with elaborate attention
selection process. The airport was to detail. Walls are adorned with Islamic
also only six kilometers away from the arches clad in patterned, ceramic window
neighboring emirate of Ajman. screens. “Sumptuously furnished and
bedizened,” Sharjah airport opened
Halcrow’s multi-faceted engineering with the reputation of being “the most
and planning office was able to secure beautiful airport in the world,” replete
Architect
Edward Mansfield, significant aspects of the eventual with an illuminated water fountain
Sir William Halcrow & $108-million (AED 430 million) project, reaching toward the apex of the main
Partners
including its architectural design. In concourse’s dome, though there were at
Sub-Consultant December 1979, Sharjah International first only three flights a day.5
Alan F. Meldrum,
Halcrow International Airport opened with an unforgettable
Partnership 35-meter, minaret-inspired control tower
Structural Engineers and three massive domes that were,
and Consultants according to Halcrow, “designed to reflect
Nathan Croft & Leggatt,
Project Engineers traditional Islamic geometrical patterns.”2
Partnership Sharjah’s airport was reportedly
Contractor “controlling the air minaret style.”3
Khansaheb Gammon According to Halcrow, the airport’s design,
Ltd., Khansaheb Civil
Engineering interior and exterior, reflected an Arab or
Islamic identity, as instructed by Sharjah’s
Construction
Halcrow International ruler, whose hand-drawn sketches for
Partnership the project illustrated his investment in
Steelwork Consultant the design. The three-domed terminal
A.E. Watson Ltd. building signaled the airport’s various
Facade Consultants uses, with the largest dome covering
Anmac Ltd. the airport’s main concourse with its
Quantity Surveyors 48-meter diameter span. Each of the other Notes:
Widnell & Trollope two smaller 30-meter domes capped the
1. “Sharjah’s Man Made Oasis Set for Take Off,”
Client arrival and departure halls. In each of New Civil Engineer, April 19, 1979.
Government of Sharjah these, an upper mezzanine with waiting 2. Ibid.
3. Edward Mansfield, “Controlling the Air Minaret
Completed areas and cafes brought travelers closer Style,” Chartered Quantity Surveyor, January 1980.
1977 to a richly decorated ceiling. Pedestrian 4. G.M. Pinfold, “The Dome Roofs at Sharjah
International Airport,” Building with Steel, May 1980.
Status
arcades and bridges connect the main hall 5. Alex Hamilton, “Dhows, Deserts and Dirhams,”
Renovated with the arrival and departure areas. Guardian, November 21, 1981.

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Images:
01. Hamid Durani, of Honeymoon 16, 1981). Site plan, Halcrow, bearing base and has a double-
Studio, traveled to Sharjah undated. Airport Forum, layer frame of steel lattice.
International Airport to say courtesy of Halcrow/Jacobs. Photograph, 1980. Tata Steel,
goodbye to his friend Gulam 05. Hamid Durani (second from courtesy of RIBA Collections.
Alim (right) an employee at right) and other friends have 09. An aerial view of Sharjah
Sharjah’s post office, late a final cup of tea with Gulam International Airport reveals an
1970s. Prem Ratnam, Hemlyn Ali (third from right) under air monitor designed to recall
Photography Studio. one of the airport’s dome, a minaret. The high-mast
02. According to Halcrow, late 1970s. Hamid Durani, lighting, capped with their
a preliminary sketch by Honeymoon Studio. own domes, were intended to
Sharjah’s ruler Sheikh 06. The airport’s escalators were heighten the “Islamic effect”
Sultan bin Muhammad Al an exhibition of technology, by lighting the airport’s domes
Qasimi, undated. Courtesy of late 1970s. Hamid Durani, at night. Cars approached the
Halcrow/Jacobs. Honeymoon Studio. primary dome via a tunnel
03. Schematic section, Halcrow, 07. Hamid Durani’s brother poses under the drop-off overpass.
undated. Airport Forum, in front of the reservation “On entering the dome-shaped
courtesy of Halcrow/Jacobs. desks before departing to the main terminal building they
04. “Islamic architecture,” UK, late 1970s. will find a modern system
according to Dubai-based 08. Forty-eight meters in diameter, geared to speed and comfort.”
Khaleej Times, “gives a touch the main dome is carried on H. Brey, Peichär, Sharjah
of class at Sharjah,” (October a reinforced-concrete, load- Airport Authority.

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Anchor Their speediness made Scotland-based swimming pool, nightclub, bars, and
Motor Inn Anchor Construction Company popular restaurants. Financing for the project
in Sharjah, and they were particularly came from both the Bank of Scotland and
adept at handling modular prefabricated the Bank of America, with guarantees
construction. After completing a forty- from the British Export Credits Guarantee
three-room guesthouse, known as Department, suggesting that British
Marhaba Hotel, for the French concern commerce authorities considered the
ETPM in only five months in 1978, the prefabricated systems to have a lucrative
company was commissioned by the same future as an export to the Gulf region.
client to design, supply, and assemble
a “packaged hotel,” located within a The fully modularized project was the first
five-minute-walk from Sharjah’s recently of its scale in the UAE; although two pre-
completed international airport. fab housing factories already operated
out of Sharjah with an output of four
The company chartered a ship from houses per day. With the Anchor Motor
Edinburgh’s Leith port to deliver the new Inn, an imagined prefabricated world
Engineering Consultant hotel’s six-by-four-meter prefabricated crept closer to reality.
Anderson Associates
units. Each unit was a complete bedroom
Contractor and sanitary cell. The dimensions and
Anchor Construction
Company Limited spatial organization of the hotel’s rooms
were designed exactly like a Holiday Inn in
Client
Sheikh Faisal bin Khalid London, as requested by the client Sheikh
bin Mohamed Al Qasimi Faisal bin Khalid bin Mohamed Al Qasimi.
Completed 01. British press covering the achievements in
1979 The $3.3-million hotel, also known as modular construction that brought about
Status
the Airport Hotel, offered 102 bedrooms, Sharjah’s Anchor Motor Inn, 1979.
02. Exterior view, 1980s. International General
Existing several spacious lounges, a tennis court, Stores/Farook Stationery.

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A flyover added to alleviate roundabout traffic on
Arabian Gulf Street, 1980s. Top left: Municipality
Souk (demolished), designed by Pakistani architects
Sagheer Ahmed Khan and Kamal Khorsheed of
Sharjah Municipality. Tanweer Ahmad Zaidi, the
municipality’s chief engineer, 1970–87, designed the
souk’s steel structure built by local contractor Bin
Hadda, 1974. Courtesy of Ahmed Rukni Al Awadhi.

397
Source: Kathleen Bishtawi, Financial Times, December
10, 1976, “Mini-city Project.” Used under license from the
Financial Times. All Rights Reserved.
Charles It is difficult to determine just how far the Central Souk, the government was
de Gaulle this project came before it evaporated. expected to earn only about $12.6 million
Center There is little evidence of it outside of from petroleum sales.2 While Sharjah’s
some promotional reporting in a Sharjah- debts were to multiply over the next
focused supplement for the Financial decade, optimism seemed undeterred,
Times on December 10, 1976. The short though this project signaled the limits to
piece describes a new “mini-city” made that ambition.
up of five abstract slab buildings, reaching
as high as forty stories and promising French architect Jean Dubuisson was a
high-end apartments, resort-style hotel late-modernist architect, a contributor to
rooms, business suites, and commercial France’s post–World War II reconstruction
opportunities. There were to be 15,000 through the deployment of huge and
residents—equal to about a third of dense projects, most notably at Maine-
Sharjah city’s population at the time.1 Montparnasse in Paris. In Sharjah, he
applied his overwrought tendencies,
Much of the project’s equity and its this time to accommodate not a shelter-
designer were French. The French seeking population but real estate bravado.
carmaker Renault was allegedly involved
through a short-lived, ancillary, overseas The project’s demise likely had much
development corporation. It was also a to do with its ambitions: to overtake
shareholder in another short-lived entity Dubai as the developer of spectacular
called the Arabian Development Real development. Its first phase was only
Estate Company, which pooled further meant to materialize two mid-rise
commitments from Kuwaiti, Lebanese, buildings; but, according to the Financial
and Sharjah investors, including a 20% Times coverage, a federal court halted
stake from the Sharjah government. construction, based on the Dubai
government’s claim that the site was
The project’s size was incongruous inside the no-build zone between the two
with the rest of Sharjah, but it was cities still disputing their shared border.
a direct response to Dubai’s recent The foundations of the two buildings
announcements: There was the World were reportedly completed before their
Trade Centre, made public in 1974, with abandonment. The site was allegedly
renderings circulating of the region’s anchored at the Al Khan roundabout along
future tallest building, not to mention a Al Wahda Street, near but well within
high-end hotel, exhibition halls, and the today’s acknowledged border.
potential to include a vast shopping mall.
Also in 1974, Dubai Municipality received
designs for a vast new city designed by
Doxiadis Associates International for
a massive development abutting the
no-build zone still under contention with
Sharjah. It was proposed as a “unifying
element” for the two rivalrous cities, with
the profits flowing to Dubai. By 1976, the
project was shelved and replaced by an
$85-million proposal for Dubai’s “biggest
private enterprise building complex”—
smooth, abstract high-rise towers, like
Architect
Jean Dubuisson those proposed for Sharjah, replete with
hotel rooms and luxury apartments.
Contractor
Setec
By 1976, new projects were being
Client
Arabian Development
announced in Sharjah with abandon. The 1. The project was also covered in “New Office Centre
Real Estate Company Financial Times reported that its ruler for Sharjah,” Middle East Construction, August–
September 1976.
Status
had a “flair for design.” The year he took 2. See p. 127. Kathleen Bishtawi, “The Economy,”
Terminated out a $20-million loan largely to fund Financial Times, December 10, 1976.

399
Rendering, Jean Dubuisson, no date. © Dubuisson
Fund. SIAF / City of Architecture and Heritage /
Archives of 20th century architecture.

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402
Hotel Aladin The brief life of Hotel Aladin, its rise Hotel Aladin became a social landmark
and fall, reflects a chapter of Sharjah’s during Sharjah’s boom years. Its French
history, particularly the period when restaurant and cafe hosted numerous
the city was marketed to the world. The musical events, and its bars, especially
project began as a twelve-story residential the Falken-Keller, or the falcon cellar,
building, filled with three-bedroom were favored watering holes in Sharjah.
apartments atop a ground floor of shops. That was at least until October 9, 1985,
Designed and built in 1976, the building’s when the government of Sharjah banned
owners were Sharjah businessman Jassim alcohol sales. In “a complete surprise” to
Saif Mohamed Al Midfa and Fikry El the city’s nine hotels, according to local
Gawly, an Egyptian engineer who owned reporting, police officers arrived that
Contracting Marine Engineering. The two evening with the fresh decree in hand and
owners hired Egyptian architect Ramzi ordered all bars and liquor storerooms
Shaker to design the building. “completely sealed.” The decree also
limited the kinds of dance performances
Less than a year after the building’s and stage shows that could be presented
completion, the two partners sensed at the city’s hotels. Eventually, the
Sharjah’s more profitable economic sector government directed wholesalers to
shifting, from housing Sharjah’s well-off accept returns of the hotels’ unused
expatriates to entertaining them. In 1977, inventory, but the hotels suffered a much
they submitted an application to convert more devastating financial blow from the
upper floors into hotel rooms and the top dramatic drops in customer patronage.
floor into restaurants. Not unlike a scene Many say that, when the emirate had
out of a Fellini movie, in 1978 a helicopter financial troubles in the 1980s, the
hovered over Sharjah with a giant genie tourism industry could not provide the
lamp tethered to it. It delivered its cargo, needed economic relief due, in major part,
made by Greek craftsmen, to the tower’s to the alcohol ban.
roof, where the lamp was mounted to signal
that the building had become a hotel. Hotel The hotel persevered for a full decade
Aladin was one of Sharjah’s most legendary after the alcohol ban … until it could no
meeting places. With no adjacent high longer. On February 17, 1995, the tower
buildings, the hotel’s height bestowed was imploded. No helicopter rescued
unmatched views of the water, the the genie lamp before the demolition. It
corniche, and Sharjah’s ongoing modern is said, however, that the lamp survived
transformation. During his official visit of the collapse and has found sanctuary in a
the premises, Sharjah’s ruler was given warehouse in Sharjah’s industrial district.
a commemorative one-kilogram golden
lamp, a replica of the one that crowned the
building, and shown how restaurant guests
had views over the high walls of his recently
completed Seef Palace.

The top floor offered one of Sharjah’s

Architects most fashionable leisure venues with
Ramzi Shaker
Regnault & Partners views framed by pointed arches, by then
(conversion to hotel) considered a common, restrained gesture
Contractor of Islamic architecture. The management
Contracting Marine promoted the hotel’s “novelties, artistic
Engineering
structures, aquaria and the mosaic tile
Clients works providing an atmosphere entirely
Jassim Saif Mohamed
Al Midfa, Fikry El Gawly different not only in the Gulf but in hotels
in the entire Arab world.” The hotel’s
Completed
1976, converted to
management targeted German tourists
hotel in 1978 especially, perhaps in tune with the
Status
Sharjah government’s collaboration with
Demolished, 1995 the German airline Lufthansa.

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01. View from the corniche road Keller, its bar, was the only Moh. Hegazy Architects for
toward Ajman. Alexander place in the Gulf to serve “live” Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais, 1975.
Gnezdilov. beer from Germany. Courtesy of Attributed to Klaus Gruschwitz,
02. The Panorama Restaurant on Regnault & Partners. courtesy of Ann and Kenneth
the tenth floor offered a view of 04. Taken from Hotel Aladin’s roof, Sadolin Pedersen.
Gulf waters and, directly below, the photograph captures the 05.−08. A photographer for Dubai-
Al Seef Palace. Courtesy of arrival of the hotel’s crowning based daily Gulf News captured
Regnault & Partners. sculpture, Aladin’s lamp, 1978. the demolition of Hotel Aladin,
03. According to Hotel Aladin’s In the background, a residential February 17, 1995. © Gulf
marketing brochure, the Falken- tower designed by A. Moez & News, Dubai.

407
 In the early 1960s, when Al Arouba Street connected Sharjah to Dubai, an
unassuming sign—“Smile, You Are in Sharjah”—was staked along the final
stretch leading into the city. Various iterations of the sign were created as the
city was transformed. Eventually becoming the city’s slogan, it was inscribed
on a pair of manmade hillocks, in Arabic and English, along the Al Khan
overpass. Photograph, July 22, 1985. Khaleej Times Archives.

408
Appendices

05

409
Sharjah, 1700–1995

1700–1755 agreement with the British government, 1956

The mercantile dynasty Al Qawasim builds which includes payments to him to hire local Non-British employees at the RAF camp
up a commercial base through control of the men as security guards for airport facilities. strike against working conditions for five
ports at Sharjah, Khor Fakkan, Dibba, Rams, By October, the “air route” is in operation. days. Sharjah’s ruler collaborates with
Ajman, Fujairah, and Umm Al Quwain, a the British Political Agency to negotiate
coastal territory that makes up a significant 1935 resolution. Two months later, in August,
portion of what will become the United The ruler of Sharjah reports to the British Sharjah shopkeepers threaten to close shops
Arab Emirates shoreline. The dynasty also agency that “about 500 people” have left in alliance with Egyptian president Gamal
controls parts of present-day Iran, including Sharjah in protest of the 1932 airport Abdel Nasser’s call for regional strikes.
Qeshm and Lingah. agreement. At the same time, the ruler’s Traveling abroad at the time, Sheikh Saqr
message is that establishment of a persuades them to stay open. Students of
1800 British-sponsored post office must be the new Qasimiyah School nevertheless
The Qawasim fleet that dominates the hurried along. demonstrate in support of the nationalization
Gulf waters includes more than 500 ships. of the Suez Canal. In November,
Among other regional powers, it competes 1939 British records chronicle persistent
for influence with the British, who aspire to In October, a white British political officer is public demonstrations in response to
control regional access to trade with India. posted in Sharjah during the year’s cooler aggressions against Egypt. “There is no
seasons. Sharjah’s estimated population: doubt,” according to a British government
1819 5,000. account, “that some of the schoolmasters
A third attack by British forces on the have vented their anti-British feelings
Qawisim fleet and its landside strongholds 1948 and were able to instigate their boys in
brings forth an era of British control over the An estimated population count, likely just shouting abuse at the British Officers.” On
region that will last until 1971. for Sharjah town and registering a decline November 26, an unknown man attempts
resulting from emigration: 4,000. to burn a British officer’s car. Sharjah’s
1820 ruler employs a “well-known tracker” to
Regional leaders, including Sharjah’s ruler, 1950 find culprits. By December, “the situation
sign the first of several treaties with the For years, the British government has has become progressively quieter. Shaikh
British government. A subsequent treaty will not paid rent for the airport and Royal Saqr holds another meeting with Arab and
name their collective dominions the Trucial Air Force camp, citing the hardship of Persian merchants and closes a coffee-shop
States. World War II as the reason. Acting ruler of belonging to a certain Harith for three days,
Sharjah requests back pay of rent since allowing it to re-open on the understanding
1823 the “termination of hostilities with Japan” that the owners will not allow his
The British government selects Sharjah as on May 15, 1945 onward. He is partially customers—mainly young men—to discuss
its regional base on the peninsula, with an motivated by the mounting costs of health politics there.” Early in the year amidst the
Arab resident agent eventually reporting to care in Bombay for his brother the ruler. unrest, Sheikh Saqr visits Kuwait, where he is
British officers in Bushehr, Iran. From 1934, He agrees to Great Britain’s suggested “entertained by most of the senior Shaikhs,”
he reports to the British political residency increased rate of 500 riyals, or about one spends a day in the new town of Ahmadi, and
in Bahrain. hundred dollars, per month. meets the director of education.

1866 1951 1957

By the end of Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al In March, Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi A job posting for British headmaster of the
Qasimi I’s rule, Sharjah’s inland reaches dies after seeking medical treatment in new vocational school describes Sharjah
have increased significantly, allowing a Bombay and London. His brother and regent as “a picturesque town of some 8,000
diversification of the emirate’s economy to during his absence, Mohamed bin Saqr, rules inhabitants stretched along a shallow tidal
include sea trade, agriculture, and mining. for less than two months. The deceased creek. ... It consists mainly of mud and
ruler’s son Saqr bin Sultan becomes ruler palm-frond houses, and has a market where
Circa 1903 on May 21. The British-led land force Trucial all the necessary and basic tinned food
The Taymiyah School is established in Oman Levies is founded in Sharjah. and supplies can be obtained.” Although
Sharjah, financed by a pearl trader. The tension between residents and the British
school soon counts 320 students, 120 of 1952 government is still palpable, the air station’s
whom are boarding students. American doctor Sarah Hosman opens a four weekly flights are one reason to keep
missionary medical clinic in Sharjah and relations intact. In January, Sheikh Saqr
1908 offers free consultations, but patients must announces he will “restrain his Egyptian
The town of Sharjah’s estimated population: leave with a complimentary copy of the and Jordanian schoolmasters” in response
15,000. The population of the larger territory Bible. In March, British aid to Sharjah is to continuing protests regarding the Suez
of Sharjah: 45,000. considered at the first meeting of the Trucial Crisis. A few days after his announcement,
Council, an advisory body of local leaders British-led Trucial Oman Scouts (formerly
1924 convened by the British Political Agency. the Levies) hold a formal parade in Sharjah
Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi II assumes and bestow medals for exceptional service.
power in Sharjah and is “subsequently 1953 Perhaps as a meager sign of appeasement,
recognized by the [colonial] Government of Kuwait’s government, still overseen as a the British government pays local contractor
India as the new Sheikh.” British protectorate, provides teachers for Khansaheb Hussain bin Hassan to complete
a new school in Sharjah—Al Qasimiyah repairs to a school’s roof.
1927 School, considered the first modern school
The municipality is established in Sharjah, for boys in the Trucial States. 1958
although 1961 is also mentioned as a Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan visits Cairo and
founding date. 1954 meets Gamal Abdel Nasser, the same
In the same year the British government year he demands British funding to build a
1928 moves from Sharjah to a new compound hospital and other forms of assistance. The
The British residency agent, Isa bin constructed in Dubai, it also commissions British-sponsored trade school opens.
Abdullatif Al Serkal, imports the Trucial British engineering company Sir William
States’ first car (two years before any Halcrow & Partners to complete studies 1961
arrive at Dubai). of both Dubai and Sharjah’s harbors. Their Hunting Aerosurveys completes an aerial
analysis, published in early 1955, will photographic survey of Sharjah based on
1932 endorse the development of Dubai’s at the photographs taken in 1960. Sharjah’s ruler
In March, Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi expense of Sharjah’s. The British Political establishes Sharjah Municipality and Land
agrees to provide a land lease for British Agency moves from Sharjah to Dubai. Fatima Department. Early students of the trade school
airport facilities. On July 22, he signs an Al Zahra School for girls opens in Sharjah. help build a second trade school in Dubai.

410
1963 and Qatar begin negotiations to create a nearing a petroleum windfall estimated
Sharjah town’s estimated population: federation. British officials sign Sharjah’s at around $54 million, possibly as soon
20,000. In an ongoing boundary first traffic regulations into law, and the first as the following year. Based upon this
disagreement, the ruler of Dubai orders streetlights are turned on in Sharjah, likely prediction, Sheikh Sultan maintains the
the removal of oil drums that had marked along today’s Al Arouba Street. The first development fervor of his predecessor.
the border with Sharjah since 1957. Sheikh census in the Trucial States, carried out by The UAE dirham is introduced as the
Saqr receives his commissioned study from Bahraini officials, counts 31,668 residents national currency.
British consulting engineers Sir William in the Sharjah emirate, including all towns
Halcrow & Partners, effectively approving and settlements. 1973
Sharjah’s first town plan. A post office Sharjah’s estimated population: 38,000,
department is established. 1969 plus another 32,000 living in the emirate’s
Sharjah has a total of fifty beds in two other towns and settlements. British-
1964 British-government hospitals. German based engineering firm Halcrow prepares
An Arab League delegation visits Sharjah contractor Beton- und Monierbau studies for an international tender on plans
and the Trucial States. Sheikh Saqr completes the deepwater jetty. The project to expand Sharjah’s port, soon known as
commits to building the organization an dramatically increases Sharjah’s import Port Khalid. Sheikh Sultan visits the US,
office in Sharjah. capacity. The first road in Sharjah is paved. attended by oil company representatives.
Halcrow’s updated master plan estimates The ruler, who has a degree in agriculture,
1965 the city’s population at 30,000, even takes interest in learning more about
It is said that the Arab League office opens though the company claims in a report that hydroponic agriculture advancements. As
and the British government thwarts the “it is not possible to determine the rate part of Sharjah’s preparations for becoming
arrival of staff members at the airport. of growth of the population of Sharjah as an oil producer, the Bank of Sharjah is
The British government appoints a British there are no available statistics.” Sheba founded, the first bank to be headquartered
official to run a development office for the Hotel, perhaps Sharjah’s first “modern” in Sharjah. Operations begin in May the
Trucial States, the timing of which makes it hotel, opens. following year. Its capital is raised through
seem a response to Arab League interests. investors that include the Government of
Against British plans, Sheikh Saqr supports 1970 Sharjah, the investment arm of Kuwait-
ongoing urban development of the city and Sharjah is home to an estimated 55,000 based Mubarak Abdul Aziz Al-Hassawi, and
pays for the start of constructing a new residents and 12 fountains, which have Dutch-French Banque Paribas.
jetty according to proposals by Halcrow. been wired with multicolor lights installed
Without seeing the jetty completed, Sheikh by Dutch electronics company Philips. 1974
Saqr is deposed and replaced by his cousin Middle East Economic Digest publishes a Sharjah city’s estimated population:
Sheikh Khalid bin Mohammed Al Qasimi. report extolling Sharjah as an “outstanding 55,000. In April, Belgium-based Six
The exact role of the British government in example of a developing country effecting Construct and Greek–West German
this coup remains uncertain since relevant the maximum utilisation of limited partnership Archirodon-Hochtief are
documents remain classified today, but it resources.” The issue is supported by awarded $40 million in contracts for
is clear that British officials are concerned Sharjah-based advertising. Sheikh Khalid constructing what will become known
about Saqr’s ties to Pan-Arabists. is reportedly optimistic about finding as Port Khalid. The opening of Sharjah’s
alternative revenue sources in light of beachside Carlton Hotel adds to the city’s
1966 pending British withdrawal, including a luster, offering travelers comfort and air
Sharjah now has a total of fourteen schools, fishing scheme. US-based First National conditioning. In May, the emirate secures a
including two high schools, thanks largely City Bank opens a branch in Sharjah. $50 million, multi-lender loan to accelerate
to the former ruler’s collaboration with development, the same month in which
the Kuwaiti government and other Arab 1971 Sharjah’s government signs contracts for a
countries. On June 24, Egyptian president British officials continue pressuring local cement plant (the UAE’s fourth in one year).
Gamal Abdel Nasser celebrates Sharjah rulers to found a new national federation by
Day in Cairo, still recognizing Sheikh Saqr end of year. Bank Melli Iran opens a branch In July, oil production begins, but wealth
as the emirate’s rightful ruler. Following in Sharjah. British-based Cable & Wireless predictions are reduced: Sharjah will have
plans prepared by Halcrow, local contractor secures a seventeen-year contract to share proceeds with Iran and another
Khansaheb Civil Engineering paves to re-equip and administer Sharjah’s UAE emirate, Umm Al Quwain. Production
the Dubai–Sharjah road. The project is telecommunications system, currently estimates are reduced by a third. A list of
completed in November, linking the two served by only 350 lines. British forces infrastructural projects funded by the new
cities more smoothly, but the border dispute clear out the leased airbase and RAF wealth is already well-known: a new port,
remains unresolved. camp by selling surplus. The rushed new airport, new power station, dredging
sales cause a regional drop in market work, a hotel, a drainage system, a bridge
1967 prices for trucks. Some of Sharjah’s over the lagoon, and a slaughterhouse.
Sharjah’s police force is established and first churches and schools will occupy Having advocated for a new, larger airport
led by a British police officer. Sheikh Khalid the vacated buildings. A “green belt” of outside the city, British engineering
founds a finance department and a lands trees and parkland is planned to buffer company Halcrow is hired to scout out its
and survey department. The Arab League’s the city from its environs. In November, location and will later secure contracts for
attempts at extending development aid Halcrow completes first-phase dredging its construction.
continue to be frustrated, with British work at Sharjah Creek. One week after
officials insisting it must be channeled the creation of the United Arab Emirates, 1975
through their government’s development with Sharjah as one of the six initial The new airport officially opens, at first
aid program. They do, however, allow Saudi emirates, on December 9, the new nation without the new buildings for which
Arabia to fund the extension of the Dubai– is recognized by the United Nations. Halcrow has secured contracts. The UAE’s
Sharjah road to Ras Al Khaimah, contracted first national census counts Sharjah city’s
to the forerunner of today’s Saudi Binladin 1972 population at 58,053, with a predominantly
Group. The British departure from the In late January, mere weeks after male population. The British embassy
Yemeni port city Aden makes the British federation, a “leftist coup” attempt is deems the number “enhanced.” The
land base in Sharjah even more significant. made by former ruler Sheikh Saqr. The Investment Bank for Trade and Finance
predicament is an early test of the new (today Investment Bank) is founded largely
1968 nation’s stability and its national defense with reserves from locally based Sharjah
On January 16, British Prime Minister force. It ends in the death of Sheikh merchants and the ruling family and as
Harold Wilson announces that Britain will Khalid. On January 25, Sheikh Sultan a public shareholding company. Sharjah
withdraw its forces from the Gulf by the bin Muhammad Al Qasimi succeeds his shops for a loan of about $25 million on the
end of 1971. On February 25, the rulers assassinated brother as ruler. He ascends European financial markets, according to
of seven Trucial States plus Bahrain at a time when his state is said to be reports from London.

411
1976 Favorable prices compared to those in New oil deposits confirmed at the Sajaa
Sharjah’s oil production dips below the Dubai are a strategic advantage to be oil fields offer an optimistic counterpoint
previous year’s numbers. In January, maintained. It is reported that for the first to Sharjah’s mounting debts “during a
Sharjah’s government says it will cut time, developers have to advertise new 1970 economic boom that went wrong.”
spending after experiencing “cash- rental units. The Financial Times estimates Within a week after the announcement,
flow problems,” resulting in delays and that Sharjah is the emirate hit hardest by land transactions top AED 1 billion ($250
confusion for ongoing development the ongoing recession. million). Investors from neighboring Arab
projects. The following month, it tenders countries also join in Sharjah’s renewed
for the proposed Central Souk, estimated 1978 real estate market, “making sure they are
at the time to cost $20 million. Eventual Sharjah’s government announces a new not left out.” Rents in Sharjah soar.
cost is several times more. The 1976 $512 million portfolio of development
census estimates Sharjah’s population at projects, including the expensive Central By end of year, the number of houses
88,188, including the exclaves. The British Souk project. In February, it secures a has doubled since 1975; the number
embassy again questions the count’s $200-million loan from a consortium of businesses operating out of Sharjah
accuracy. The Financial Times estimates of banks, its financing terms made has increased five-fold since 1972, to
that about half of the population lives in manageable by guarantees signed by 3,907; and Sharjah Municipality counts
Sharjah city. UK-based Jouzy & Partners the ruler of Abu Dhabi. No local banks 730 commercial buildings in the city, up
secures a consulting contract for a $16.6 participate. The loan’s amount is six times from 12 in 1975. The oil announcement
million, 46-kilometer road network in Sharjah’s income from petroleum the helps stimulate growth, as does the
Sharjah. A 33-kilometer extension to the previous year. In May, plans for three new “relative cheapness of land and rents.”
sewer network and new water supply hotels are shelved, the economic slowdown The most prevalent type of business: auto
system are also announced. Seatrain Lines cited as the reason. Hotel Meridien Sharjah repair shops. Four pedestrian subways
Inc. secures a four-year management opens, suffering through a 25% occupancy open in response to wider and busier
contract for Port Khalid, raising the stakes rate during its first couple of months. With thoroughfares. The relatively new Sharjah
in port facility provisions in the UAE. In the floating hotel transformed into a ferry for Tourist Centre finalizes executive services
May, Sheikh Sultan visits the governor’s cars between Jeddah and Suez, the second and a tourism program intended to attract
mansion of the US State of Tennessee and Sharjah Expo moves to tensile structures businessmen to the emirate.
the ongoing infrastructure projects by the erected on the airport’s former site.
Tennessee Valley Authority. 1981
In the midst of a regional recession Emboldened by new petroleum discoveries,
In October, the Dubai–Sharjah border caused by sinking oil prices, the Financial the Sharjah government, according to
dispute appears close to settlement, Times reports that Sharjah is home to “an Dubai-based Gulf News, “is moving ahead
possibly with the agreement on a no-build almost embarrassing number of empty with plans to step up the industrialisation
zone but, in the end, a resolution remains buildings,” causing “the air of a ghost of the area in a big way.” Sharjah’s exports
elusive. The souk, recent hotels, and the town.” This is a “near-catastrophe,” “not through Port Khalid have more than tripled
airport under construction are part of because it is the place in the Gulf hardest since 1977. Sharjah’s ruler founds the
Sharjah’s announced plans to develop hit by the recession (which it is) but emirate’s economic department by decree.
facilities for a tourism sector. The first because its planners have created a state Municipal planners estimate that oil
phase receives funding of AED 1.5 million infrastructure and are now searching for revenues will reach $1 billion by 1986, an
($380,000), for various projects including an economy to drop into place.” There are approximation noticeably equivalent to the
construction of “forty tourist cabins” on reports of “regular power cuts, leaving emirate’s estimated debt.
what is called Liberty Beach. The London- homes without air conditioning for up to 8
based Guardian describes Sharjah’s ongoing miserable sweaty hours a day.” Escalators are installed in the Central
construction boom as “reminiscent of Abu Souk to attract more shoppers. Sharjah
Dhabi’s six years ago. Whole streets and 1979 claims 25 hotels with 3,000 guest rooms,
quarters are going up at once, and returns In January, Sharjah’s oil production is a ten-fold increase in rooms since 1977.
on property development are soaring; reported to have dropped to “barely In March, despite the previous year’s new
buildings built earlier this year are now commercial” levels. A container terminal water reserves, a months-long water
worth almost three times their original cost opens in Khor Fakkan, Sharjah’s exclave shortage begins, blamed partially on rising
of construction.” Africa Hall opens with the on the Gulf of Oman. The port is part population. By May, the situation worsens
hosting of the African-Arab Symposium. of the strategy to make Sharjah into a when rainstorms damage up to two-thirds
transshipment hub connecting the new port of Sharjah’s water infrastructure. Recently
1977 with the one in Sharjah city and the Sharjah opened hotels scramble to find additional
A new well at Sharjah’s offshore Mubarak International Airport—all projects overseen water sources outside Sharjah as guests
oil field is activated, renewing optimism by Halcrow. are limited to a few hours of running water
in Sharjah’s oil production, but profits per day. It is reported that residents of
are still below those of previous years. Sharjah International Airport’s partially Al Wahda Street, one of the city’s main
Despite the disappointment, new projects completed passenger terminal opens. City residential and commercial corridors, go
are completed: Al Qassimi Hospital hotels experience a boost as a result of ten days without running water. In July,
opens with 100 beds; initial temporary uncertainty about a potential alcohol ban in a desalination plant in Al Layah opens,
passenger facilities open at the new Sharjah Dubai’s hotels. “At night Sharjah blossoms estimated to provide about five million
International Airport; a Novotel and Holiday through numerous cabarets, discos and gallons daily, enough water to meet needs
Inn are completed; Sharjah’s cement plant supper clubs as the hotels attempt to make until 1983.
opens. And more projects are started: [up] for empty bedrooms through lucrative
Sharjah’s government secures a $20-million food and drink sales.” Port Khalid welcomes Water shortages are succeeded by
loan, “with little difficulty,” to finance the its first tourist ship, MS Europa. electricity shortages. During Ramadan that
new Central Souk and construction begins summer, Sharjah experiences three hours
on the beachfront Inter-Continental Hotel. The Indian Association of Sharjah opens of daily “load shedding,” when the energy
The National Bank of Sharjah is founded the city’s first Indian school. Three hundred supply is “shut off for periods during the
with $3.8 million in capital. students and fourteen teachers occupy the day and night in all localities by rotation.”
former premises of the English School, still Local magazine Al Azmenah reports
The first Sharjah Expo is organized under roofed with corrugated sheet metal. that “the looks of horror on the faces of
the theme “Exposition of Progress.” It takes people trapped in elevators due to sudden
place on a ship outfitted as a floating hotel 1980 outages says it all.” In October, Sharjah
and managed by Holiday Inn. During its Sharjah city’s estimated population: Expo opens in the “largest air-conditioned
sixteen-day run starting on November 17, 125,149, 66% male. The government’s purpose-built exhibition facility in the
organizers count 151,327 visitors, more outstanding debt is estimated at $1 billion, Middle East with over 40,000 square
than Sharjah’s entire population. largely defined by development projects, meters of exhibition space.” Work begins
including the increasing costs at the on construction of four new mosques to
In the face of a national housing glut most Central Souk and new airport. Developers accommodate an additional 4,000–8,000
evident in Sharjah, the local government report unpaid bills for finished and ongoing worshippers at a time.
institutes the country’s first rent control projects. The new airport averages twelve
laws, effectively freezing prices indefinitely. flights per day.

412
1982 flights are blamed for the drop. The number ruler is abroad, his brother attempts
A local newspaper declares “the bad of recorded employees in hotels drops by a a coup by having a local radio station
days for landlords are over” in Sharjah, third in one year. Sharjah’s daily petroleum report a peaceful transfer of power.
as housing rents continue to rise. Air production increases to 60,000 barrels, The statement claims, “Mistakes were
conditioning and escalators have revived which helps close the emirate’s thirteen- made in planning our financial policy. …
business at the Central Souk. bank, $155-million loan deal. The loan, the Accordingly damage has developed and
French companies lead as fastest growing Financial Times reported, “is an indication of debts accumulated in our budget.” The
exporters to Sharjah, in a year when Sharjah the banking world’s confidence that Sharjah Financial Times estimates that Sharjah’s
port suffers a modest reduction in overall … is moving into the black after several public debt remains at $1 billion. Major
traffic and a 17% decrease in imports years of financial shortfall.” Resolution of roads and buildings are blocked by
after significant growth in previous years. the Dubai–Sharjah maritime border dispute military-issue sandbags. Within three
Additionally, the number of banks with includes an agreement that Dubai will buy days, the UAE Supreme Council negotiates
offices in the city falls from 55 in 1980 to gas from Sharjah’s new inland oil fields. a resolution, and Sheikh Sultan returns
50. Hotels average a 35% occupancy rate This agreement also helps ease Sharjah’s to power. Within ten days of the ruler’s
during the peak months between January debts, which “continue to be a major drain reinstatement, repayment of outstanding
and March. After recording 12% occupancy on revenues.” A Dubai newspaper estimates loans is rescheduled. About seventeen
rates “during most of its existence,” the the city’s population to be 160,000. creditors agree to reschedule final
Inter-Continental Hotel is bought by Kuwaiti payments by 1993. The sovereign debt, the
investor Mubarak Al-Hassawi. In February, Sharjah Municipality begins a highest in the world after Mexico, is said to
“massive landscaping and beautification have accrued as the result of a decrease
Global oil prices continue to fall. Citing new project covering all parts of the city.” The in offshore production. Repayment
earnings from the Sajaa oil fields and new landmark “Smile, You Are in Sharjah” negotiations started a year prior, but the
online production of condensate and gas, hillocks—one in Arabic, one in English— coup attempt, according to one banker,
Sharjah still projects annual earnings of are completed. The world’s third largest “concentrated the mind wonderfully.”
$250 million. fountain begins operating in Khalid Lagoon. Sharjah’s hotels are reportedly operating
The first phase of the Green Belt Park, billed at 3% occupancy.
1983 to become the region’s “largest afforestation
The border dispute between Dubai and project,” is completed. 1988
Sharjah is reignited over oil exploration A feasibility study is reportedly completed
rights. Dubai police arrest Sharjah- On October 9, without prior notice, Sharjah for a $100-million new town somewhere
contracted prospectors at sea for police enter hotels to shut down alcohol between the Dubai–Sharjah road and
trespassing. sales. The next morning, hotel managers the road leading to Sharjah International
are summoned to police headquarters, Airport. The proposal is said to be a private-
A year after the passenger terminal opens and newspapers announce the Sharjah sector proposal. In March, “atrocious living
for full operation, Sharjah reveals expansion government’s ban of alcohol sales in public, conditions” are reported by the Dubai-based
plans for Sharjah International Airport which effectively erases a major income Gulf News as a result of severe flooding
in February. Sharjah is home to 10,100 source for the city’s hotels. The decree conditions in low-lying districts, inhabited
villas; 5,783 traditional Arab houses; 800 builds upon initial restrictions announced in mostly by South Asian expatriates.
residential-cum-commercial buildings 1983. The hotel ban goes into effect one day Sharjah’s debt is estimated at $1.3 billion.
up to 15 stories high; 2,500 industrial before a senior member of the Saudi ruling About a year after issuing its first set of
establishments; 70 mosques; 13 markets; 8 family arrives in Sharjah for the official guidelines, Sharjah’s planning department
police stations; 12 hospitals; 40 schools; 4 opening of King Faisal Mosque, financed by sends notices to all departments pertaining
post offices; and 1 community center. the Saudi government. Alcohol continues to to Arab-Islamic guidelines for future private
be made available for sale, with a license, in development projects.
Having seen gradual increases in tourism some stores.
over the last two years, Sharjah counts 1989
8,349 tourists during its 1982–83 season, all 1986 Sharjah city’s estimated population:
but 441 of whom come from West Germany, Economic diversification programs 268,700. A Dubai-based daily calls
Switzerland, and Austria—at least partially continue as 80% of Sharjah’s annual Sharjah “the cultural capital of the UAE.”
a result of a collaboration with Lufthansa. revenue is from petroleum sales. Global The government counts 157,000 tourists.
The population of Sharjah increases by petroleum prices drop yet again. As a result, Local reporting asserts that Sharjah was
more than 30% between 1980 and 1982. “Sharjah’s dreams of industrialization able to endure the recent recession due
Government of Sharjah’s hired planning and have evaporated.” Shelved projects include to its self-sustaining agricultural and
engineering company Halcrow estimates industrial plants, a $20-million zoo, road industrial development. Tax holidays and
that the end-of-century population will schemes, and a new palace for the ruler. The concessions to investors, as overseen by
reach between 280,000 and 350,000. Union Monument is completed—an upright the recently founded Sharjah Chamber
column bedecked with seven curlicued of Commerce, have provided a “desired
1984 flutes (representing the UAE’s seven shot-in-the-arm.” The Green Belt project
A Dubai-based newspaper reports that emirates) and stylized references to pearls, appears to be on hold; the city counts fifteen
half of Sharjah’s petroleum revenues all inside a fountain and topped with a gold- parks. Hopes of Sharjah International
goes to paying off debts. Sheikh Sultan plated sphere, fifteen meters in diameter. Airport becoming a transshipment
announces plans for building new dry hub remain buoyed; the airport finds a
docks at Port Khalid while those at Dubai’s Sharjah’s population is again estimated at modest market niche as a stopover for
nearby Port Rashid suffer from disuse. 160,000. The Sharjah Municipality director, transcontinental charter flights.
Sharjah’s largest employment sectors: Obaid Isa Ahmed, describes Sharjah’s
21,897 jobs in building and contracting, future growth as horizontal, with a number 1990–1995
3,482 in the food industries, 5,667 in of model houses planned throughout the In 1990, the government tallies a
petroleum services, 1,974 in hotels, and emirate: “The general planning of the city, 500-person increase in tourist visits.
1,314 in finance. There is no indication of based on the lines of modern international A Sharjah official declares the end of
how many workers are immigrants. cities, drew its inspiration, in design and electricity and water shortages. In 1992,
structure, from the ‘heritage of Islamic France-based construction company
A year after a maritime border scuffle, architecture.’” More of the Green Belt SOGEA and British engineering firm
Sharjah and Dubai governments agree to Project is completed. The 5.5-kilometer- Halcrow secure contracts for tourism
an AED 11.8 million ($3 million) road- long Green Belt Project is expected to development projects around Lake Khalid,
widening project to ease traffic between “surround the whole city” and “protect the formerly Khalid Lagoon, its shores girded
the two cities. city from dust storms during the summer.” by railings and pedestrian pathways. In
1993, it is announced that Al Saf City, a
1985 1987 new town with a man-made lake, will be
Despite ramped up tourism marketing, Passenger and cargo traffic at Sharjah developed inland from the exclave of Kalba.
Government of Sharjah counts only 2,500 International Airport improves: 659,000 On February 17, 1995, Hotel Aladin is
tourists during 1984–85, down a third since passengers (17.9% increase); 13,000 tons demolished.
the previous year. The strong US dollar (to of cargo (33.6% increase); and 23,000
which the UAE dirham is linked) and limited flights (22.3% increase). While Sharjah’s

413
Other Projects in Sharjah

01 02 03

04 05

07

06

09

08 10 11

414
12 13 14

15 16 17

18 19

20 21 22

415
23 24

25 26 27

28 29

416
 31
30

32 33

34 35 36

37 38

417
Other Projects in Sharjah

01. Novotel Sharjah, Fowler Hanley Inc., Hegazy Architects, 1982. Demolished.
1976. Existing. Image: Henk Snoek/ Image: the architect.
RIBA Collections. 10. Palace Hotel, Mohamed Abd El Aziz Al
02. Hassan Hussain El Fardan Building, Sulayeman, 1975. Demolished. Image:
Arab Engineering Bureau, 1974. Khaleej Times Archives.
Existing. Butti Bin Bishir Building, 11. Rashid Bin Hadda Building, Singh &
Khatib & Alami, 1975. Existing. Associates, 1983. Disused. Image:
Building for Sheikha Sheikha Ramesh Singh.
Sultan Bin Saqr Al Qasimi & Mariam 12. Garden City Villas, Professional Group
Abdulrahman Saif, Gulf Consulting Australia, 1974. Existing. Image: the
Office, 1977. Existing. Image: Sharjah architect.
Municipality, courtesy of Juma AI 13. Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Rashed Al
Majid Center for Culture and Heritage. Nuaimi Building, Momen Architects
03. Corniche Plaza, Al Salaam (Galal Momen), 1975. Existing. Image:
Consultants, 1986. Existing. Image: Ramesh Singh.
the architect. 14. Hussein Abdul Rahman Khansaheb
04. Holiday Inn, David Firmin & Partners, Building, Interplan 4 SA, 1979.
1978. Existing. Image: the architect, Existing. Image: Mark Furrer, Interplan
courtesy of Sharjah National Hotels Projekt GmbH.
Group. 15. Chartered Bank Building, Consulting
05. Verger et Delporte Complex, Regnault & Architecture & Civil Engineering
Partners, 1977. Existing. Image: the Bureau, 1976. Existing. Image: the
architect. architect.
06. Federal Hotel, Gabriel Matta, 1979. 16. Sheikh Abdulla Al Qassemi Building,
Demolished. Image: Myrna Ayad. International Company for Construction &
07. Rashid Al Makhawi Building, Singh & Trade, Ali Nassar, 1976. Demolished.
Associates, 1980s. Status unknown. Image: Prema Babu.
Image: Ramesh Singh. 17. Orient Travel Building, Consolidated
08. Cultural Palace, Arab Engineering Engineering Company (Khatib &
Bureau, 1980. Significantly renovated. Alami), 1974. Existing. Image: Hamid
Flame Monument (Cultural Square Durani, Honeymoon Studio.
Roundabout), Arab Engineering 18. Low-cost housing, International
Bureau, 1982. Demolished. Image: Consultation Office for Developing &
Hamid Durani, Honeymoon Studio. Construction, c. 1978. Demolished.
09. Fatima Al Zahra School, A. Moez & Moh. Image: the architect.

418
19. Sharjah Municipality, Momen Architectural Press Archive/RIBA
Architects (Galal Momen, Mostafa Collections.
Momen), 1976. Demolished, 2015. 29. Abdulrahman Al Zayani & Sons
Image: DAFCO. Building, Alistair McCowan &
20. Sultan bin Srour Building, Lucien and Associates, 1974. Demolished. Image:
Bernard Cassia & Associates. Existing. Cagdas Frank Shaw & Partners,
Image: Dr. Naman Al Jalili Archives courtesy of Esra Par.
Collection. 30. Khansaheb House, Mohammad Ben
21. Sheikh Hassan Mohamed Al Khazraji Habib, 1935. Demolished. Image: Amer
Building, Adnan Saffarini Office, 1985. Khansaheb.
Existing. Image: Ismail Al Zarooni. 31. Crescent Petroleum Headquarters,
22. DAFCO Tower, Seymour Harris & Design Construction Group, 1974.
Partners, 1979. Existing. Image: Demolished, 1996. Image: Crescent
DAFCO, courtesy of Sharjah Chamber Petroleum.
of Commerce & Industry. 32. Rashid Lootah Building, Adnan
23. Dasman Mosque, Engineering Saffarini Office, 1988. Existing. Image:
Consultants Group, 1978. Renovated. Ismail Al Zarooni.
Image: ECG. 33. Hassawi Complex, Khatib & Alami,
24. Cinema, Royal Air Force Camp, 1985. Existing. Image: Khaleej Times
Tripe & Wakeham, 1962. Unbuilt or Archives.
demolished. Image: Crown Copyright, 34. Allied Building (The Deal Building),
by kind permission of the Trustees of Architectural Consultants (Ashok Mody),
the Royal Air Force Museum. 1977. Existing. Image: Ramesh Singh.
25. Syed Ahmed Building, Architectural 35. Coral Beach Hotel, Helal & Partners,
Consultants (Ashok Mody), 1975. 1982. Existing. Image: Helal & Partners,
Existing. Image: the architect. courtesy of Nicolas Bou Rjaili.
26. Immeuble Albadi (later Prime Hotel), 36. Sharjah Tower, Halcrow Group
Helal & Partners, 1982. Renovated. Architectural Practice, 1986.
Image: Dr. Naman Al Jalili Archives Renovated. Image: Randa Kamal.
Collection. 37. Heera Beach Houses, De Vries,
27. Sharjah Business Centre, Fowler Fairhurst & Partners, 1974. Existing.
Hanley Inc., late 1970s. Unbuilt. Image: the architect, courtesy of
Image: the architect. Sharjah Municipality.
28. Cement Factory, Pacific Consultants 38. Gulf Star Hotel, Tecnica y Proyectos,
Company, 1977. Existing. Image: 1976. Unbuilt. Image: TYPSA.

419
Biographies & Company Profiles

Aden Engineering & in Cairo, he moved to Arab Engineering work in Kuwait in 1968
Contracting Company Abu Dhabi to work as Bureau (AEB) was and in the United Arab
was founded by an engineer for the founded in 1966 by Emirates and Saudi
Mohammed Saeed Al education department Egyptian architects Arabia in the 1970s. The
Husseiny in Yemen in 1968. In 1975, he Gamal Abdul Haleem firm closed in April 1995.
in the 1960s. The co-founded Consulting and Mohamed Essam
company worked on Architecture & Civil Eldin Fahmy in Qatar.
the construction of Engineering Bureau In the early 1970s, Architectural
Sharjah’s Sheba Hotel, (CAB) in Sharjah with Fahmy established Construction Team.
a commission from the Fayek Howeedy. He a second office in See Gulf Design Group.
firm’s founder. left CAB in 1992 and Sharjah with Egyptian
resumed working as an architect Mahmoud Ali
architect in Cairo in 1993. Khalifa. In 1975, the Architectural
partnership ended, and Consultants was Nagi Samih Barbir
the two regional offices established in Sharjah in (b. 1940, Lebanon)
operated independently 1975 by Indian architect started his studies
until the Qatar branch Ashok Mody and local in France before
was sold in 1990 to developer Abdulrahman completing his
Ibrahim Mohamed Bukhatir with an office bachelor’s and
Jaidah. Both the Sharjah on Al Arouba Street. The master’s degrees in
and Doha offices are firm operated for five civil engineering at
still in operation. years in Sharjah, during American University
Mohamed Shawki which it designed the of Beirut. In 1963, he
Afifi (1933–1996, hotel that became Al established a structural
Cairo) trained under Arabian Contracting Zahra Hospital, Holiday engineering practice
Ramses Wissa Wassef Company was founded Inn Khor Fakkan, and in the UK. In 1965, he
and Hassan Fathy in Beirut in 1968. It later housing projects in completed advanced
and graduated with a established branches Dibba and Sharjah. studies in prestressed
bachelor’s degree in in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi concrete in France.
architecture from the Arabia, and France. With
Abdulrahman Al Junaidi He joined the Conseil
Faculty of Fine Arts, offices in Sharjah, Abu
(b. 1938, Makkah) exécutif des grands
Helwan University. He Dhabi, and Al Ain, the
earned a scholarship projets de la ville de
completed his studies company completed
that allowed him to Beyrouth in 1964.
in Paris, where he various projects for
study at American In 1971, he became
earned his PhD from the private developers, such
University of Beirut in partner at the firm Code
École des beaux-arts, as the GIBCA Building in
1956. The American International.
before founding his own Sharjah in 1977, and for
practice and teaching invasion of Lebanon the government, such
architecture in Cairo. in 1958 forced him as the Emiri Diwan’s
to relocate to Syria, Bechtel completed
In 1971, he established administrative offices in
where he completed railway, roadway, and
the Architectural Abu Dhabi in 1981.
his architectural Mohamed Al Azhari (b. bridge projects before
Bureau for Tropical
engineering degree 1937, Latakia, Syria) winning the bid to
Zones with offices in
at Aleppo College of studied architecture construct the Hoover
Dubai, Sharjah, and Ras The Architects Dam (Nevada, US)
Al Khaimah. In addition Engineering. Besides Collaborative (TAC) at Technical University
Sharjah’s King Faisal Berlin. Upon graduation in 1931. In 1947, US
to his own office, was founded in 1945
Mosque, Al Junaidi in 1965, he worked in government contacts
Shawki Afifi also worked by Walter Gropius,
designed many Berlin for two years and helped the company
for the UAE Ministry of Norman C. Fletcher,
projects for the Saudi then moved to Sharjah secure construction
Public Works & Housing Jean B. Fletcher, John
government, including where he established contracts for the
on several housing C. Harkness, Sarah
Dallah Hospital and the his own office. His Trans-Arabian Pipeline,
projects in Sharjah, P. Harkness, Robert
Riyadh headquarters of mosque prototypes were from Eastern Province,
Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. S. McMillan, Louis A.
Saudi Ports Authority realized throughout the Saudi Arabia, through
McMillan, and Benjamin Jordan and Syria to
and the Ministry of C. Thompson. After country.
Finance. the Lebanese port city
smaller commissions Sidon. The company
in the US into the early continued work in Saudi
1950s, the company Ian Banham &
Arab Consultants Associates was founded Arabia, building airports
began pursuing larger and Jubail Industrial
was established by commissions abroad in Abu Dhabi in 1976.
Abdul Razzak Al-Nassar It oversaw projects City. In addition to
starting in the late other buildings in the
in Kuwait in 1969. The 1950s. One of its most throughout the UAE,
company designed including the Marbella UAE, the firm also
significant commissions completed Sharjah’s
projects in Kuwait was the campus design Club of Sharjah in
Mohamed Bahaei Aliyan and the UAE, where it 1978. The firm, now Inter-Continental Hotel
for Baghdad University in 1980.
(1938–2004, Aswan) completed facilities for in 1958. The firm headquartered in
studied architecture the Ministry of Foreign established an office in Dubai, has expanded
at Cairo University’s Affairs in Abu Dhabi Rome to oversee foreign its operations to Qatar,
Faculty of Engineering , and a Kuwaiti-owned projects, including those Bahrain, Iraq, and
graduating in 1963. After residential tower. in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia.
several years working the Gulf, TAC started

420
Beton- und Monierbau a design partnership with des beaux-arts, Institut
was a West German Keith Page. In a moment d’urbanisme in Paris in
construction company of good timing, Page & 1960. He co-founded
founded in 1895 as Broughton pitched a Lucien and Bernard
G. A. Wayss & Co. The design for Dubai’s first Cassia & Associates
company oversaw full-fledged airport with his brother in
contracts in both and secured the job. Beirut in 1958 and
Europe and the Middle The project led to more served as a founding
East throughout the projects in the Trucial principal and managing
1950s, including the States, including for Shell director until 2012.
Blombachtal Bridge Markets M.E. Broughton Mesud Cagdas Fadi Chammas (b.
in Wuppertal and designed projects in the (1929–2012, Northern 1946, Amioun, Lebanon)
several road and bridge UK, before opening his Cyprus) earned an Lucien and Bernard earned his civil
contracts in Iraq. The studio in Cyprus, while architecture degree from Cassia & Associates engineering degree at
firm also completed Page managed client Brighton’s College of Art. was founded by American University of
several buildings in relations in the Gulf. He established Cagdas brothers Lucien Cassia Beirut. After graduating
Algeria, Nigeria, and Associates in 1970 in and Bernard Cassia in in 1971, he moved
Saudi Arabia in the Dubai with branches in 1958 with an office in to Doha and worked
1960s and 1970s. Bucomac was founded Sharjah, Muscat, Abu Beirut. The architecture for Orient-Zakhem
The company won the in Sharjah in 1976 by Dhabi, and London. In April firm oversaw many Construction on Doha’s
contract for Sharjah’s Abdulrahman Bukhatir. 1982, the firm merged projects across the airport project. He later
Port Khalid in 1963. The firm specialized in with Frank Shaw & Middle East including moved to the UAE where
manufacturing bricks Partners and moved to in Syria, Saudi Arabia, he co-founded Al Nahda
and concrete blocks London soon after. and the UAE, where an Contracting & Trading
Bin Hadda was a for construction. In office was established in 1972.
contracting firm addition to materials, in Abu Dhabi in the
founded by Saeed it also provided early 1970s.
Sultan Ali Bin Hadda contracting services
al-Suwaidi in Sharjah for projects in Sharjah,
in the early 1960s. It including 1000 Villas.
oversaw construction
of several buildings for
Sharjah including the
Municipality Souk and
various mosques and Bernard Cassia (b. 1936,
housing projects. The Turkey) earned his degree
firm also completed in architecture and Peter Champion
residential buildings for interior design from the (b. 1942, Australia)
private clients. Accademia di Belle Arti in earned architectural
Rome in 1960. He taught degrees from the Royal
at the Lebanese Academy Institute of Technology
of Fine Arts (ALBA) from (Melbourne) and Hobart
Abdulrahman Bukhatir Rifat Chadirji (1926– Technical College
1964 to 1970. In 1958, he
(b. 1940, Sharjah) 2020, Iraq) earned his (Tasmania) in 1969.
co-founded Lucien and
completed secondary architecture degree He joined Alexander &
Bernard Cassia &
studies in Karachi at at the Hammersmith Lloyd in Sydney in 1970,
Associates with his
BVS Parsi High School, School of Arts and becoming director in
brother in Beirut and
where he learned Urdu Crafts (London) in 1952 1980. He was involved
directed the firm’s
and English. In 1958, he before returning to Iraq in overseas projects
interior design projects
relocated to Kuwait to and co-founding Iraq including multiple
until retirement in 2010.
work at Gulf Bank before Consult in Baghdad. housing projects and
returning to Sharjah in With his practice, laboratories in the UAE.
Brian Broughton (b. 1961 to work at Eastern Chadirji designed
1934, UK) completed his Bank. In 1971, Bukhatir several prominent
architecture studies at started a concrete- buildings in Iraq, Chicago Bridge & Iron
the Canterbury School of mixing firm and began including Baghdad Company was founded
Architecture. He worked trading in timber, Central Post Office. He in 1889 as a construction
for the design practice cement, and steel. He also designed projects company. It later
Covell & Matthews before subsequently founded in the Gulf: in Kuwait, concentrated on bulk
joining UK contracting several construction- he designed the Hamad liquid-storage projects
company Richard Costain related firms in Sharjah. Residence (1967) and as it pursued work in oil
as chief architect for its In the early 1980s, he housing blocks; in Abu exploration outside the
Kuwait-based subsidiary. lobbied the International Lucien Cassia Dhabi, he completed US. Its first projects in
He worked with Kuwaiti Cricket Council as well (1935–2016, Turkey) the National Theatre. In the Gulf were for Aramco
architect Ghazi Sultan as the national boards attended the Lebanese 1983, Chadirji left Iraq in Saudi Arabia in 1960.
during the time he set of India and Pakistan Academy of Fine Arts for the United States In 1965, it built Royal
up the architecture arm to endorse the Sharjah (ALBA) in Beirut from where he taught at Dutch Shell’s petroleum
of Kuwait Engineering Cricket Association 1955 to 1958. He then Harvard through the production complex
Office. In Kuwait in the Stadium, which he pursued postgraduate 1980s. in Qatar. In the UAE,
early 1960s, he founded opened in 1981. studies at the École the company supplied

421
Dubai with underwater Consolidated with a railway in Iran expanded to other cities Design Construction
oil-storage tanks before Contractors Company in 1939. Costain’s in the Gulf and greater Group was established
building aboveground (CCC) was founded first projects in the region, becoming one in 1958 by British
water-storage tanks in 1952 by three Gulf included a water of the region’s largest architects Anthony
for Sharjah. In 2018, American University distillation plant in consulting companies. Irving and Gordon Jones
the company was of Beirut graduates— Kuwait followed by in collaboration with
acquired by McDermott Palestinians Kamel airports in Bahrain and ARKBuild of Beirut. The
International, which filed Abdul-Rahman, Hasib Dubai in the 1960s. firm was an association
for bankruptcy in 2020. Sabbagh, and Said of architects, planners,
Khoury. Based in Homs, engineers, and
Syria, and later Beirut, industrial designers,
Code International CCC won contracts based in Beirut with
was an architectural to build pipelines in associated offices
and engineering firm Iraq and a refinery in several locations
established in 1964 and workers’ camp in including Britain, Saudi
by civil engineer Nagi Aden, Yemen. In 1953, Arabia, and Iran. The
Barbir, architect Kamal the firm was selected firm completed major
Philippe Mujaes, and as contractors for the bank buildings in
accountant Nabil British Royal Air Force Mohamed Salah Kuwait, several projects
Barbir. From its head in Sharjah. In the early Alexander Cvijanovic Darweesh (b. 1937, for Abu Dhabi Petroleum
office in Beirut, the firm 1970s, CCC completed (1923–2019, Belgrade) Cairo) earned a civil Company, and the First
expanded to Sharjah several projects in studied architecture in engineering degree in National City Bank
after securing a contract Sharjah including Paris before continuing 1959 from Ain Shams building in Dubai.
for Al Qassimi Hospital the police towers, Al at Harvard Graduate University. He pursued
in 1972. Offices were Qassimi Hospital, and School of Design. After post-graduate studies
later established in Abu Arab Bank. When the graduating in 1954, he in engineering at Illinois
Dhabi and Muscat. Lebanese Civil War worked at The Architects Institute of Technology
broke out in 1975, the Collaborative from (US) and University of
company relocated to 1956 to 1986. He was Manchester Institute of
London before settling responsible for many of Science and Technology
in Athens in 1976. TAC’s designs alongside (UK) before returning
Walter Gropius, to Cairo. He earned
including the Bauhaus a PhD in structural
Contracting Marine Archive in Berlin, the engineering from Cairo
Engineering was a Rosenthal am Rotbühl University in 1969. While
multidisciplinary firm porcelain factory in associate professor at
founded by Egyptian Jean Dubuisson (1914–
Selb, Germany, and the Cairo University, he co- 2011, Lille) graduated
engineer Fikry El Gawly Inter-Continental Hotel founded International
in the 1970s. The from the École des
in Sharjah. Consultation Office beaux-arts in Paris
Sharjah-based company for Developing &
oversaw contracting in 1939. In the 1940s,
Construction. he won the Grand Prix
for El Gawly’s projects
Henri Colboc designed by architect de Rome twice. In
(1917–1983, Le Havre) Ramzi Shaker, including 1950, he won a design
Darwish Engineering competition with Marcel
graduated from l’atelier a housing complex has been in Dubai since
Tournon de l’ENSBA in Sharjah and Hotel Lods for 800 dwellings
as early as 1960, with in Strasbourg, with a
in 1942. He earned a Aladin. projects for the airport
degree from the Paris proposal that defined
and Dubai Municipality. his career as focused
Institute of Urban In the late 1960s, the
Planning in 1943. In Contractors Group on mass housing and
company built projects Le Corbusier’s legacy.
1947, he co-founded an International was Vedat Dalokay (1927– in Abu Dhabi including
architectural practice established in Sharjah He ran his own practice
1991, Elazıg) studied Mushrif Palace. After until his retirement in
with Georges Philippe in in 1973 and completed at Istanbul Technical the firm built the Union
Paris, a partnership that several projects for 1983.
University where he House in Dubai in the
lasted until 1977. After Sharjah’s government, earned an architectural 1970s, it established
the partnership ended, including the Emiri engineering degree in branches in Sharjah,
Colboc established Diwan and Al Seef 1949. While working for Ajman, and Fujairah.
his own practice Henri Palace. The firm French architect Auguste In Sharjah, Darwish
Colboc & Partners, was renamed Globe Perret, he pursued Engineering built some
through which he Constructors by a graduate studies at of the emirate’s first
designed Abu Dhabi’s special ruler’s decree the Sorbonne in Paris modern architecture,
Zayed Stadium. after its chairman from 1952 to 1954. In including the BBME and
and director died 1954, he established his Arab Bank Buildings.
in a plane crash in own practice in Ankara
Henri Colboc & September 1983. Globe which delivered such
Partners. See Constructors was prominent buildings as DAFCO (Demas and Al
Henri Colboc and behind the construction King Faisal Mosque in Farhan Engineering & Kanwal Krishan
Georges Philippe. of many Sharjah Islamabad (1969) and Contracting Co.) was Duggal (1938–1985,
monuments including the Islamic Development founded by Rashed Amristar, Punjab,
those at Rolla Square Bank in Riyadh (1981). Demas and Mahmoud India) graduated from
Conforce Gulf was and Ittihad Park. In 1974, Dalokay was Al-Farhan in Sharjah in the School of Planning
established in the early elected mayor of Ankara. 1969. DAFCO oversaw and Architecture in
1970s in Sharjah by the construction of many New Delhi in 1967. He
Abdulrahman Bukhatir. Costain Group was buildings for Sharjah practiced architecture
The contracting founded in Liverpool Dar Al-Handasah Municipality, starting in Kuwait, gaining
firm specialized in in 1865 as a building was founded by five with a parking garage, experience in the
construction of hotels, company, at first American University followed by the traffic office of Sabah Abi
including the Marbella concentrating on of Beirut professors department building Hanna. In 1974, he
Club and the Inter- suburban housing in November 1956. and later Africa Hall, the co-founded Gulf Design
Continental Hotel, both development and After securing the municipality building, Group in Sharjah with
in Sharjah. mining. It grew in size commission to design the musalla al eid, and Karnail Singh Kler and
through overseas a Kuwait power station the fire department Harbhajan Singh Vedi.
contracts, beginning in 1958, the company headquarters.

422
Eastern Contracting Inc., a Minnesota- In 1975, the office worked on the SNTTA Arab Engineering Bureau
Company was based engineering and was commissioned by Building and some of the in Qatar in 1966. The
established in 1974 by architecture firm. New Spinney’s Limited to Bank Street buildings. firm later opened branch
Emirati businessman commissions in the UAE design a supermarket GGP also worked with offices in Dubai and
Abdulrahman Bukhatir. led the firm to open an and office building in Professional Group Sharjah in partnership
It has been involved office in Sharjah in 1976. Sharjah. In the same Australia on the Sharjah with Mohamed Essam
in many construction year, the practice Sandgate projects. Eldin Fahmy and
projects in the UAE opened a branch in Mahmoud Ali Khalifa.
and other Gulf cities, Fowler Hanley Inc. Bahrain in a temporary
including the Inter- established its Sharjah partnership with Iraqi
Continental Hotel and office in 1976 in architect Hameed
Marbella Club in Sharjah partnership with Al Abid that lasted until
and Holiday Inns in Habtoor Engineering 1976. The firm secured
Sharjah, Khor Fakkan, Enterprise to facilitate projects including
and Abu Dhabi. design and construction the Bankers Club and
of the Sharjah Beach Chartered Bank in
Novotel. The office was Bahrain, a Bank of Oman
Engineering led by Nick Ruehl, John branch in Fujairah,
Consultants Group was Hanley, and Michael and a supermarket in
founded by Mahmoud Fowler and managed Amman, Jordan. From
Sami Abdelkawi by Brian Grimwade. 1985, the practice was
Mohammad Ben Habib
and Ashraf Hassan After pursuing projects known as GTD until its
(1892–c. 1955, Dubai), Fred W. Hammond
Allouba in Cairo in in Sharjah, Dubai, and dissolution in 2002.
was a builder and (1926–2012, Great
1969. In addition to Doha, it was forced to
contractor who worked Britain) obtained his
infrastructural projects close in 1978 due to
in Sharjah and Ajman. He architecture degree
in Egypt, the firm financial difficulties and
built projects for Ajman’s at Hull School of
also contributed to a lack of commissions.
ruler Sheikh Rashid bin Architecture (UK) in
man-made river project
Humaid Al Nuaimi and 1952. Upon graduation,
in Libya and other
for the assistant to the he worked two years in
infrastructural and
British resident agent local government service
construction projects
Khansaheb Hussain bin before joining Cable &
across the Middle East.
Hassan, including his Wireless in March 1954,
In the early 1980s, the
house on Sharjah Creek where he was appointed
firm opened a branch
in 1935. He also built chief architect in 1971.
office in Abu Dhabi.
Dubai’s Al Ahmadiya
Ahmed Al Ghroobti (b. School.
1946, Khor Fakkan,
Sharjah) attended
English-language Sir William Halcrow &
Ibrahim Gaafar courses in Washington, Partners, also Halcrow,
(1917–2006, Cairo) DC, and Chicago before was founded in 1866
studied civil engineering enrolling in Portland and grew in stature and
at Cairo University State University’s size through large-scale
and earned a PhD in architecture program British government
structural engineering from which he contracts. The first
from University of graduated in 1970. project in the Gulf was John (Jack) Hanley
Michigan in 1949. Upon With Ali Al Shamsi, commissioned in Kuwait (1923–1985, US) taught
Mohamed Essam Eldin returning to Cairo, he he co-founded Gulf in 1952. When work civil engineering at
Fahmy (1926–2005, worked for the Egyptian Consulting Office, the there dried up, British University of Minnesota
Al Monofiya, Egypt) National Railways until first architecture firm officials invited them and was partner at
graduated in 1952 with 1958. He taught at Ain owned and operated to complete harbor Fowler Hanley Inc,
an architecture degree Shams University and by Emiratis. The firm studies in Dubai and a Minnesota-based
from the Faculty of Fine Cairo University, where closed six years later Sharjah in 1954. Until engineering and
Arts, Helwan University, he led the structural when the founders its acquisition by the architecture firm. Hanley
Cairo. He opened Arab engineering department. accepted federal US-based conglomerate was based in the US
Engineering Bureau’s He founded Gaafar government positions. CH2M, the British firm office where he handled
branch office in Dubai, Engineering Consultants Halcrow remained an Sharjah liaisons until
along with fellow in Cairo with Shafik omnipresent actor accrued debts led to the
Egyptian architects Nasr and Mohamed Gulf Design Group in the UAE’s urban office’s closing.
Gamal Abdul Haleem Salah Darweesh. In the was founded by three development. In 2017,
and Mahmoud Ali UAE, the company was Indian architects— CH2M was acquired
Khalifa. In 1975, Fahmy known as International Kanwal Krishan Duggal, by US-based Jacobs
opened the Sharjah Consultation Office Harbhajan Singh Vedi, Engineering Group.
branch of the company. for Developing & and Karnail Singh
Construction with Kler—when they moved
offices in Sharjah, to Sharjah in 1975. The
Dubai, Ajman, and Umm firm designed projects in
Al Quwain. India, Sharjah, Bahrain,
Iraq, and Kuwait until
the partnership ended
George Trew Dunn with the death of Duggal
Beckles Willson Bowes in 1985.
began as a partnership Sabah Abi Hanna (b.
founded by William 1938, Lebanon) studied
Pite and R. S. Balfour Gulf General Projects architecture at American
in London in 1908. With Co., also referred to as Gamal Abdul Haleem University of Beirut. In
an early reputation for Gulf General Projects (1926–2002, Giza, 1958, he interned at
Michael Fowler (b. 1939, hospital design, the International Co., was Egypt) studied at the Kuwait’s public works
US) graduated with a BS practice earned more founded by Sheikh Faculty of Fine Arts department where he
in civil engineering from varying commissions Butti bin Suhail Al of Helwan University also worked after his
University of Minnesota during Great Britain’s Maktoum in the 1970s. and graduated with an graduation in 1959. In
in 1965. He was a postwar rebuilding. The Sharjah-based firm architecture degree in 1961, he established his
partner at Fowler Hanley 1953. He co-founded own office in Kuwait.

423
The J. Seymour Harris Helal & Partners was Hubbard Ford & International
Partnership was formed founded by Lebanese Partners was founded Consultation Office
in 1962 upon the British architect Antoine Helal in Eastbourne, UK, in for Developing &
founder’s retirement. in 1965 and opened an 1929 by architect Hugh Construction
In the 1970s, the firm office in Abu Dhabi in Hubbard Ford. In the was a subsidiary
designed projects in 1968. The firm opened 1950s, the practice of Cairo-based
Damascus, Sharjah, branches in Sharjah and expanded to London, Gaafar Engineering
and Manama, among Al Ain. It designed the then Brighton and Hove. Consultants. It was
other places. The firm Coral Beach and Riviera From April 1980, the founded in the UAE in
still operates an office in Hotels in Sharjah. practice became known the 1970s by Ibrahim
Birmingham under the The firm still operates as the Hubbard Ford Gaafar, Hassan
name Seymour Harris offices in Abu Dhabi and Partnership, with a head Ismail, Shafik Nasr, Hosni Iskandar (b. 1931,
Architecture. Lebanon. office in London. and Mohamed Salah Asyut, Egypt) graduated
Darweesh with offices in with a bachelor’s degree
Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman, in engineering from
and Umm Al Quwain. Cairo University in
1952. He then studied
at Harvard University’s
Interplan 4 SA, a Department of Urban
Lucerne-based Planning and Design
consultancy and from 1961 to 1965. From
planning firm, was part 1965 to 1972, he worked
of Swiss shareholding at the Department of
company IP4, founded Urban and Regional
in 1973. The firm had Planning, University
Mohamed El Mahdy offices around the of Minnesota. In 1973,
Hegazy (1928–2016, world, with projects in Iskandar moved to
Egypt) earned a degree in Peter Hudson (b. Bahrain, Alexandria, Beirut where he worked
Fayek Howeedy (b.
architectural engineering 1940) earned his civil Riyadh, Kuwait, Sharjah, at Dar Al-Handasah
1935, Cairo, Egypt)
from Cairo University in engineering degree at and Abu Dhabi. until 2010.
graduated from Cairo
1952. He co-founded Sheffield University (UK)
University in 1959 with
A. Moez & Moh. Hegazy in 1962, before working
a bachelor’s degree in
Architects in Cairo with for Ove Arup & Partners. Iraq Consult was
civil engineering and
Abd El Moez Hussein in Later representing founded in 1952 by
completed his graduate
1954. In 1978, he began RMJM, Hudson moved Rifat Chadirji, Abdulla
studies at University of
work as a consulting to the Trucial States as Ihsan Kamil, and Ihsan
Illinois in 1968. In 1971,
architect. He was the firm’s local senior Sherzad. It is one of
he founded Howeedy
awarded the Certificate engineer to supervise Iraq’s most prominent
Consultant in Cairo
of Merit by the Egyptian construction of Dubai’s twentieth-century
a few years before
Engineers Syndicate and new airport runway. In architecture and
launching Consulting
by the Sixth Convention 1974, he established engineering practices.
Architecture & Civil
of Egyptian Architects, RMJM’s UAE office Outside Iraq, the office
Engineering Bureau Naman Ameen Al Jalili
in 1986 and 1990 and managed new also pursued projects
(CAB Consulting) (1922–1994, Mosul)
respectively. roadway projects for in Kuwait, the UAE,
in Sharjah in 1972 graduated with a BS
in partnership with the Ministry of Public Bahrain, and Lebanon.
degree in architecture
Mohamed Bahaei Aliyan. Works & Housing. In
from Cairo University
1975, he started his
in 1946. He earned a
own consultancy firm.
master’s degree in city
Upon his retirement,
planning from Harvard
WSP, now WSP | Parsons
University in 1961 and a
Brinckerhoff, acquired
PhD in regional and town
his firm. During his time
planning from University
in Sharjah, Hudson
of Pennsylvania in
served as chairman of
1965. In the 1940s, he
several professional
worked as an architect
committees and as
at Baghdad Municipality
chairman of the Dubai
Antoine Helal and the Ministry of
International Arts Centre.
(1938–2006, Bekaa, Public Works & Housing.
Lebanon) obtained his In 1959, the Iraqi
civil engineering degree Ministry of Construction
Peter Hudson &
from Beirut’s École des Anthony Robert Irving assigned him to oversee
Hugh Hubbard Partners, later Peter
arts et métiers in 1958. (1925–2015) completed the University of
Ford (1906–1980, Hudson Buckle &
He moved to Paris where his architecture studies Baghdad master plan
Eastbourne, UK) Partners, was founded
he studied at the École in 1951 at University being produced by The
graduated from in 1975 in Sharjah,
spéciale d’architecture of Durham and Architects Collaborative.
London’s Bartlett where the firm designed
until 1963 and later earned a subsequent He became head of
School of Architecture a number of projects
obtained an urban postgraduate degree the building design
and trained in the including the Marbella
planning degree from in town planning. In department of the
offices of British Club in 1978. In 1985,
the Institut d’urbanisme 1955, he began work Ministry of Public Works
architects Albert the firm opened an office
de l’Université de Paris. in the Beirut offices in 1965 and was later
Richardson and Aston in Dubai that operated
In 1964, he co-founded of British architecture appointed director
Webb. He set up his under the name Lootah
Dar El-Emara in Lebanon firm Farmer & Dark. In general of housing and
practice in Eastbourne Hudson Buckle and
with Antoine Elias 1957, he co-founded urban planning and
in 1929, eventually Partners. The Glasgow
Chamaa. In 1965, he Beirut-based Design then director general
expanding with branch office oversaw all
founded Helal & Construction Group of urban engineering
offices in London and structural and civil
Partners, carrying out with Gordon Jones. He and planning in 1971.
Brighton and Hove. engineering design
works in both Lebanon remained with the firm In 1977, he was
In the mid-1970s, work. In 2003, Peter
and, as early as 1968, the until 1978 and practiced appointed United
the office produced Hudson retired, and
Gulf region. While living as a design consultant Nations consultant in
low-rise, mixed-use the practice was taken
in the UAE, he also co- in London until 1990. the UAE until 1982. He
developments along over by WSP | Parsons
founded the Lebanese represented the UN in
Sharjah’s Al Meena Brinckerhoff, later
Business Group. Saudi Arabia from 1982
Street. known as WSP USA.

424
until 1985. Al Jalili also and a cultural center. 1968 and opened Arab Partners (Mounir Khatib)
served as acting director In the early 1970s, the Engineering Bureau with Zuheir Alami’s
and lecturer at the company expanded its with Mohamed Essam practice in 1964. The
Institute for Urban and operations overseas. In Eldin Fahmy and Gamal firm opened its first
Regional Planning for Yemen, Kalpataru built Abdul Haleem. In 1972, international office
Postgraduate Studies at facilities for University he established his own in Sharjah in 1968,
University of Baghdad of Sanaa and various practice, Architectural followed by others in
between 1971 and 1976. private developers. Academic Office, which Dubai and Riyadh in
In the UAE, the firm is still operating in 1969. It later expanded
collaborated on many Sharjah. to other Gulf cities in the
Joannou & projects contracted to 1970s and 1980s.
Paraskevaides was Abdulrahman Bukhatir’s
founded by Stelios development companies,
Joannou and George including the Bank
Ivor Lloyd (b. 1928,
Paraskevaides in Street buildings and
Australia) completed his
Cyprus in 1961. Its first 1000 Villas in Sharjah,
architectural studies
overseas construction the police headquarters
at Sydney Technical
projects were secured complex in Abu Dhabi,
College in 1950. In
in the following years and a mosque in Ajman.
1972 and 1976, he
in Libya. In 1969, the
accepted government
company won contracts
invitations to represent
for the Dhahran Airport
Australia as part of a
in Saudi Arabia, Seeb Emile Khoury (b. 1946,
Afzal Ahmed Khan (b. “five-man professional
International Airport Lebanon) graduated
1945, Pakistan) earned consultants trade
in Oman, and later the with a BArch from the
his bachelor’s degree mission” to the Middle
Abu Dhabi International Lebanese Academy
in city and regional East. He formed
Airport in the UAE of Fine Arts (ALBA) in
planning from West Professional Group
(1981). The company’s 1975. Upon graduation,
Pakistan University Australia to oversee
reach expanded to he worked for offices in
of Engineering & projects in the Middle
Greece, Egypt, Algeria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Technology in 1968. East from 1968 until the
and Jordan. In 2018, In 1977, he returned to
Nabil Kanafani (b. 1937, He worked as a town late 1970s. In the mid-
J&P went bankrupt Lebanon as an in-house
Lebanon) earned his planner at firms such as 1970s, he established
and was forced into architect for the National
architecture degree from Techno Consult Karachi, PGA Sharjah Ltd. to
liquidation. College of Choueifat. He
American University of Engineering Consultants complete a number of
Karachi, and Akbar & currently lives in Beirut. projects in the UAE and
Beirut in 1962 and an
urban planning degree Aleem Associates elsewhere in the Gulf.
from the Royal Academy Karachi. In May 1974,
of Arts, Copenhagen, he became chief town
in 1964. He worked for planner of Sharjah
several firms including Municipality and, in
Khatib & Alami where 1987, chief engineer
he designed the school of the town planning
prototype for the UAE department in Al Ain
Ministry of Public (Abu Dhabi). In 2005, he
Works & Housing. He returned to Pakistan as
later worked at Dar chief town planner at
Gordon Alfred Al-Handasah in Lebanon Engineering Consultant
Milan Kovac (b.
Jones (1930–2000, and as a planning International (Pvt)
1940, Celje, Slovenia)
Kent) completed consultant for the Riyadh Limited Karachi.
graduated from the
his architecture Development Authority architecture department
studies, including in Saudi Arabia. He Michael Lyell (1924–
of University of
coursework at Brixton taught architecture Khansaheb Civil 2014, East Sussex, UK)
Ljubljana in 1964.
School of Building and urban planning at Engineering was graduated from London’s
Upon completing
and the Architectural American University founded in 1935 by Architectural Association
postgraduate studies
Association, in 1957. of Beirut, Lebanese Khansaheb Hussain bin in 1949. He worked for
in town planning and
After working at UK- University, and the Royal Hassan to secure British Canadian architect
Japanese at the Royal
based architecture Academy, Copenhagen. government contracts Wells Coates in London.
Academy in Stockholm
firms, he co-founded Kanafani also served in the Trucial States. In 1951, he established
in 1968, he established
Beirut-based Design as a consultant to the Early projects included Michael Lyell Associates
his own architecture
Construction Group with UN Center for Human the Sharjah–Ras Al in London, which he ran
practice in Stockholm.
fellow British architect Settlements (UN- Khaimah road and until retirement in the
Anthony Irving in 1957 Habitat) in Libya and Dubai’s Al Maktoum 1990s.
and ran the firm until Yemen from 1990 to Hospital in the 1950s.
Milan Kovac
1983. After closing the 1992. In Sharjah, Khansaheb
Arkitektkontor was
firm, Jones pursued built the British-funded
founded in Stockholm
residential development trade school in 1959 and
in 1968 by architect
projects in Florida was the main contractor
Milan Kovac. The firm
(US) and served as of Sharjah International
kept offices in Kuwait
consultant for various Airport in 1975 through
and the UAE to oversee
restoration projects in a partnership with
projects, including those
Kuwait. India-based Gammon
in Muscat and Doha,
Construction.
until 1979. Thereafter,
the practice focused
The Kalpataru Group
on cultural heritage
was founded by Indian Khatib & Alami, one
projects in Luxor, Egypt, Najeeb Maktari (b.
billionaire Mofatraj P. of the Gulf’s most
until 1986 and later 1941, Aden) earned a
Munot in 1967. Today a prolific architecture and
Mahmoud Ali Khalifa worked on projects in diploma in architecture
major Indian real estate engineering firms, was
(b. 1938, Egypt) earned Italy and Sweden until from Brighton
developer, the firm’s originally Lebanon-
his architectural 1992. The practice Polytechnic in Sussex.
early work in Bombay based Consolidated
engineering degree at moved to Ljubljana, In 1973, he moved
included residential Engineering Company,
Cairo University in 1956. Slovenia, where it to the UAE to work
complexes, towers, a merger of Mounir &
He moved to Sharjah in operated until 2005. in the architecture

425
department of the Marwan Engineering & Alistair McCowan & El Mahdy Hegazy in Faculty of Fine Arts,
Ministry of Public Construction Enterprise Associates was 1954. In 1978, he began Zamalek. Upon
Works & Housing and was established in founded in Pontefract, work a consultative graduation, he won a
to supervise Al Qassimi Dubai in 1976 by Sultan West Yorkshire, UK. architect. He was scholarship to study at
Hospital’s construction. bin Khalifa Al Habtoor to The firm housed three awarded the Certificate Paris’s École des beaux-
While at the ministry, build a residential tower engineering divisions: of Merit by the Egyptian arts, graduating with a
Maktari supervised in Sharjah. The firm also civil and structural, Engineers Syndicate PhD in 1953. In 1954,
the design of several built residential and mechanical, and and by the Sixth he received a degree
projects including commercial buildings in electrical. Projects in Convention of Egyptian in city planning from
facilities for Al Ain Abu Dhabi and Dubai. the UAE include the Architects, in 1986 and the Sorbonne in Paris.
University and the Police Training Academy 1990 respectively. After returning to Cairo,
police training school for the UAE Ministry of he taught at his alma
in Al Hamriyah. He also Al Masaood Engineering & Public Works & Housing mater and later became
designed Sharjah’s Contracting Company as well as private A. Moez & Moh. head of the architecture
Al Riqqa Secondary was founded by commissions for houses Hegazy Architects department. He also
School and several Mohammad bin and residential blocks. was founded in Cairo worked alongside his
primary care clinics Masaood in Abu Dhabi in 1954 by Egyptian brothers at the family
in the 1970s. In 2005, in 1970 as part of Al architects Abd El Moez firm, undertaking
after thirty years with Masaood Group. The Alan F. Meldrum was Hussein and Mohamed several regional and
the ministry, Maktari contracting company Halcrow’s resident El Mahdy Hegazy. The international projects,
became architectural has worked on several architect for Sharjah two founders studied the most prominent of
advisor to the UAE major projects in the International Airport. at Cairo University which is Cairo’s Maspero
Ministry of Justice. UAE, including the Hotel where they earned their television building.
Meridien Sharjah. architecture degrees in
MOBIC Contracting was 1952. In February 1968,
founded in the early they opened branches
1970s in Sharjah. Since of their design practice
its establishment, the in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
firm has completed The firm established
projects including the additional offices in
National College of Sharjah and Ajman in
Choueifat in Sharjah 1973. They completed
and residential blocks in several prototypes of
Ajman and Abu Dhabi. schools and housing
for the UAE Ministry of
Public Works & Housing
Gabriel Matta (b. 1933, as well as residential
Edward Mansfield Bhamdoun, Lebanon) and mixed-use blocks Mostafa Momen (1922–
(1925–2002, Scotland) has been an active for private clients. The 2005, Qena, Egypt)
studied at Southend engineer since 1969 office still operates out graduated in 1945 from
College in Essex with offices in Beirut, of Cairo and the UAE. the engineering faculty
and Regent Street UAE, and France. He
of King Fuad I University,
Polytechnic in London. graduated in 1955
now Cairo University.
As chief architect at Sir from Lebanon’s French Momen Architects & In addition to other
William Halcrow & School of Engineering, Consulting Engineers degrees, he completed a
Partners, he led various later earning his PhD was founded in Cairo
Ashok Mody (b. 1948, PhD in political and legal
Sharjah projects in engineering from in 1945 by four siblings
Rajkot, Gujarat, India) sciences in 1960. He
including the 1969 town Toulouse University Fahmy Momen, Mostafa
graduated in 1971 with a began his architectural
plan, Al Soor Building, in 1958. He taught at Momen, Galal Momen,
BArch from what is today career working with his
and Al Majarrah Souk. American University and Atteya Momen.
known as University brother Fahmy Momen
of Beirut from 1958 to After several prominent
of Mumbai. His career in 1945. He was the
1966 and at the French government projects
started at the firm consultant engineer
School of Engineering in Cairo, including the
Karani & Sanghoi in for London’s Islamic
from 1967 to 1970. Maspero television
Bombay. From 1975 to Festival in 1976.
1980, he lived in Sharjah building in 1960,
where he co-founded the office expanded
Architectural Consultants. internationally in the
In 1981, he returned to 1970s with projects
Bombay and eventually in Saudi Arabia and
re-established his design the UAE, where it
practice. He is currently a secured projects for the
partner at Connect Four governments of Sharjah
Design Studio in Mumbai. and Abu Dhabi. The UAE
Carlos Marinas Rubio
projects were designed
(b. 1944, Madrid) is a
and supervised by Galal Robert Montague (b.
sculptor and designer Alistair McCowan Momen and Mostafa 1942, Wellington, NZ)
who studied at the (1926–2020, Inverness, Momen from offices in studied architecture
Higher Polytechnic Scotland) was a British Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. in Wellington and
Center in Madrid, consultant engineer with
Spain. He came to an engineering degree Auckland from 1960
Sharjah in 1978 upon from Glasgow University. to 1966. He joined
the advice of Egyptian After jobs with several Alexander & Lloyd in
architect Ramzi Shaker. engineering firms, he 1968 and worked on
He contributed many became senior engineer projects in Oman in
public monuments at J. G. L. Poulson in 1971 before he was
Abd El Moez Hussein appointed resident
to Sharjah, including Pontefract, England. In (1928–1998, Egypt) manager of Professional
the Cultural Palace’s 1970, he established earned a degree Group Australia in the
Quran monument as Alistair McCowan & in architectural UAE in 1973.
well as the city’s Majaz Associates, Consulting engineering from Cairo
and Rolla Square Engineers with offices University in 1952. He Galal Momen
monuments. in Pontefract, London, co-founded A. Moez & (1925–1995, Manfalut,
Bahrain, Nigeria, Malta, Moh. Hegazy Architects
and the UAE. Asyut, Egypt) studied
in Cairo with Mohamed architecture at the

426
Contracting & Trading
Company (CAT) was
founded in 1937 by
Lebanese entrepreneur
and politician Emile
Bustani, later with
Shukri Shammas and
Abdallah Khoury as
business partners.
CAT’s earliest projects Ali Nassar (1919–1996, Rais & Tukan Architects
were mostly for the Egypt) earned his was established in 1973
British army, including degree in architectural Józef Zbigniew Polak by George Rais and Jafar
construction of a engineering from Cairo (b. 1923, Lomza, Poland) Tukan. Headquartered
military base, and an University in 1940. In Keith Page (1928–2008, graduated in 1949 with in Beirut, the firm had
oil pipeline project addition to establishing Sheffield, UK) trained an architecture degree branch offices in Abu
for Iraq Petroleum a joint partnership in as a draftsman with from Warsaw University Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh,
Company in 1947. In Cairo, he also worked no formal education. of Technology. From and Amman until the
1951, CAT merged for Egypt’s Army He began his career in the 1940s through the partnership ended in
with Scotland-based Engineering Corps. 1950 at the London- 1970s, he designed 1976.
Motherwell Bridge In 1948, Nassar left based firm Harrison, projects in Prague,
Engineering to create Egypt to join armed Barnes & Hubbard, Brussels, Paris, Kabul,
the company eventually forces in Palestine. where he worked on and Chicago, the city George Rais (1915–
known as Mothercat. Until 1956, he held new buildings for where he lived between 2002, Lebanon) earned
The new partnership several governmental University of Ghana, his 1971 and 1974. In 1976, degrees in architecture
won contracts in positions in Egypt, first overseas projects. he spent one year in the from Bartlett School
Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, overseeing planning In Kuwait in the early UAE with short stays of Architecture,
and Qatar. In 1962, and construction 1960s, he co-founded in Tripoli, Libya, and the Architectural
the firm completed projects for the military. Page & Broughton with Karachi before returning Association, and the
its first project in the His private practice, Brian Broughton. The to Poland. Lebanese Academy of
Trucial States, leading International Company partnership completed Fine Arts (ALBA). At the
to various contracts to for Construction & Trade, proposals for an early start of his career, he
build cement plants which he established hospital in Sharjah, the worked for the Palestine
across the UAE. In in Cairo in 1950, still sultan of Oman’s palace Mandate Government’s
the 1970s, Mothercat operates under the in Seeb, and Dubai public works agency and
opened an office in management of his International Airport. CAT from 1939 to 1941.
Sharjah, where it daughter, architect Hala He established his own
completed a number of Nassar. practice in Palestine
projects including the with operations in
Sharjah Sports Club. Lebanon, Jordan,
Nitco-Miller Ltd was a Switzerland, and the
British-UAE joint venture Gulf until forming Rais &
and a subsidiary of Tukan in 1973.
Miller Construction. The Michael Prodanou (b.
Sharjah-based entity 1933, Canada) earned
was established in the his bachelor’s degree Regnault & Partners
early 1970s to oversee in architecture from was established in
projects across the Georges Philippe University of Toronto. Sharjah in 1976 by
UAE, including the (1920–2016, Venette, Following graduation, French architect Jean-
Sandgate low-rise France) graduated he traveled and worked Michel Regnault. As of
buildings in Sharjah. from l’atelier Tournon in Europe and Africa 2020, the office is under
The company was de l’ENSBA in 1941. before joining The new ownership.
associated with Bukhatir He pursued graduate Architects Collaborative.
Kamal Philippe Mujaes Investments Ltd. studies between 1947 He worked there for
(b. 1936, Lebanon) and 1948 and taught ten years on projects
studied architecture at at the ENSBA from in Saudi Arabia, the
American University of Pacific Consultants 1953 to 1963. From UAE, and Kuwait. In
Beirut until 1963. Upon Co. Ltd has roots 1947 to 1977, he ran an 1976, he established his
graduation, he worked in a formerly US- architectural practice own practice, Michael
for Conseil exécutif des based company later with Henri Colboc based Prodanou Assoc Inc.,
grands projets de la ville registered in Tokyo in in Paris, Montpellier, with projects in the
de Beyrouth until he 1954 under Fukujiro and Abu Dhabi. After Middle East and North
became partner at Code Hirayama. The practice the partnership ended, America. He sold his
International in 1971. cooperated with such he worked with Pierre firm in 1999 to pursue
painting. Jean-Michel Regnault
architects as Kenzo Grégoire until 1985. (b. 1944, Paris) earned
Tange in Kuwait and From 1983 to 1988, his bachelor’s degree
Al Nahda Contracting & Kisho Kurokawa in he worked on town
Professional Group in France in 1972. He
Trading was established Saudi Arabia. By the late planning schemes for
Australia (PGA), is a established Regnault &
in Doha in 1969. It later 1960s, it had secured Morocco with Michel
project management and Partners in Sharjah in
expanded operations many projects outside Pinseau, advisor
consultancy firm wholly 1976 after having worked
to the UAE and opened Japan including the to King Hassan II.
owned by architecture for Henri Colboc &
an office in Sharjah in Dubai Municipality He was secretary
firm Alexander Lloyd Partners on the design
1972. The company still building, completed in general and later
Mitchell Gibb. Founded of Zayed Stadium in Abu
operates from Sharjah. 1979, and the Kuwait curator of l’Académie
in 1967 as a consortium Dhabi.
University Science d’architecture from
Annex, completed in the 1993 to 2002. of professionals, PGA
Shafik Nasr. See late 1960s. expanded beyond
Australia to secure Riad Architecture
International
international projects, was founded in Cairo
Consultation Office
including those in the by Egyptian architect
for Developing & Page & Broughton
UAE. PGA’s Sharjah Mahmoud Riad in
Construction. Architects. See
office was located in the 1934. The office
Keith Page and Brian designed some of
Broughton. Arab Bank building on Al
Arouba Street. Cairo’s iconic buildings
including the Arab

427
League Headquarters, Helal’s office in Abu Group. He founded his until 1960. He then Public Works & Housing
Nile Hilton, Cairo Dhabi. In 1976, he moved Dubai-based firm in moved to Berlin where in the mid-1970s until
Municipality Building, to Sharjah to oversee 1969, opening offices he took courses at he took leave to pursue
and the Soviet Union construction of the Coral in Sharjah in 1975 and the Private Technical studies at Northeastern
embassy. The practice’s Beach Hotel. In 1982, later in Oman, Jordan, School until 1966. Upon University (Boston)
urban-scale work he established New Tajikistan, and Iraq. graduation, he moved to and to earn a master’s
included plans for the Form Consultants, still Sharjah and established degree at Northwestern
districts of Mohandessin operating in Sharjah. his own practice. In University (Chicago) in
and Nasr City as well Al Salaam Consultants 1972, he traveled to 1988. Upon graduation,
as the industrial city was founded in 1974 Saudi Arabia to perform he returned to the same
Kafr El Dawar. Upon the RMJM (Robert Matthew by Khalil Khoury with the hajj but was not government ministry.
founder’s death in 1979, Johnson-Marshall) offices in Abu Dhabi, Al permitted to re-enter
his sons Ahmed Riad was formed in 1956 as Ain, and Beirut. In the the UAE. He remained in
and Mohamed Riad took a partnership between 1980s, as the practice Saudi Arabia to work as
over operations until Robert Matthew and expanded, Fadi Assad a teacher and eventually
passing the firm on to Stirrat Johnson- and Hamdi Natsheh returned to Syria to start
grandson Mahmoud M. Marshall with offices joined its board. In an architectural practice
M. Riad. in London and Sharjah, the company with his brother.
Edinburgh. In the 1960s, designed Corniche Plaza
the firm expanded in the mid-1980s and
internationally. In Saudi later its twin tower on
Arabia, it worked on the neighboring plot.
development projects
in Makkah; its portfolio
also included projects Saudi Binladin Group
in Libya, Iraq, Egypt, (SBG) was founded in Kanwar Ramesh Singh
and the UAE, where it 1931 in Saudi Arabia. In (b. 1939, Delhi) studied
designed Sharjah Sports the 1950s, the company architecture at the
Stadium. worked on the expansion School of Planning and
Mohamed Riad Architecture in Delhi.
of the Prophet’s
(1942–2021, Cairo) Following graduation
Mosque in Madinah
earned his architectural Ramzi Shaker (b. 1930, in 1968, he worked for
and the Holy Haram in
engineering degree Egypt) earned his India’s public works
Makkah. In the 1960s,
from Cairo University in BArch in Egypt in 1951. department. In 1970,
SBG’s work extended
1967. His professional Between 1965 and 1966, he moved to Dubai,
to road-building and
career began with he taught architecture where he worked several
infrastructural projects
an internship at AB at Mansura University in months for Adnan
in Saudi Arabia and
Vattenbyggnadsbyrån Egypt. He was awarded Saffarini and a year
other Gulf states. In
in Sweden in 1965. After a scholarship and for Page & Broughton.
the late 1960s, the
graduation, he worked studied architecture at In 1971, he opened
firm established a
at the Development & the Higher Technical Singh & Associates with
presence in the UAE
Popular Housing Office School of Architecture Hassan Abdullah Al
and completed several
(DPHO) in Cairo and Nick Ruehl (b. 1948, of Madrid (ETSAM) until Noman. Singh left the
housing and government
joined his brother US) graduated with a 1967. He then pursued UAE in 1987, and his
projects, including Al
Ahmed Riad at their BArch from University further architectural firm closed in 2005.
Qassimi Hospital, the
father’s architectural of Minnesota in 1971. studies in Seville from
police headquarters, and
practice. During his time He managed Fowler 1972 to 1974. He began
the civil court in Sharjah.
at DPHO, he worked Hanley’s Sharjah office his work in the Gulf in
on the master plan after its establishment 1975 after practicing
for Helwan University in 1976. He later architecture in Egypt
Setec (Société
(Skidmore, Owings & founded Ruehl + and Europe.
d’études techniques
Merrill) and on the Associates in 2005 and et économiques) is
Institute for the Blind in served as mayor of an engineering and
Benghazi, Libya. Riad Excelsior, Minnesota, consulting firm founded
left DPHO in 1981 and from 2002 to 2012. by Henri Grimond and
continued work at Riad
Guy Saias in 1957. In
Architecture, designing
the 1960s, the Paris-
projects in Cairo, Oman,
based firm expanded
Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah,
its operations beyond
where he collaborated Karnail Singh Kler
France. The firm was
with Arab Engineering (1938, Amritsar, Punjab,
present in Sharjah in
Bureau. India) graduated in
the 1970s alongside
1967 from the School
French architect Jean
of Planning and
Dubuisson, who was
Architecture in New
commissioned to design
Delhi. He pursued
the unrealized Charles Ali Al Shamsi (b. 1940,
a master’s degree
de Gaulle Center. Sharjah) earned his
in architecture at
bachelor’s degree in
University of Michigan
Adnan Saffarini civil engineering in
before finding work
(1931–1993, Tulkarem, 1972 from Ain Shams
in Kuwait. In 1974, he
Palestine) completed University, Cairo. With
moved to Sharjah to co-
his civil engineering Ahmed Al Ghroobti,
found Gulf Design Group
studies in 1956 at Cairo he co-founded Gulf
with Kanwal Krishan
University. He started Consulting Office, the
Duggal and Harbhajan
Nicolas Bou Rjaili (b. his career at Kuwait’s first architecture firm
Singh Vedi.
1939, Lebanon) earned public works ministry owned and operated
his architecture degree before returning to by Emiratis. The firm
in 1968 from the École Palestine as municipal Adnan Abu Shaar closed six years later
des beaux-arts, Paris. engineer in Jenin, (1926–1974, Damascus) when the founders
He started his own Yabad, and Tulkarem. earned his bachelor’s accepted UAE federal
office in Lebanon before He moved to Dubai degree in Syria government positions. Al
moving to the UAE to in 1967 and worked and worked for the Shamsi began working
join his friend Antoine two years for Al Mulla Damascus Governorate with the Ministry of

428
 Sharjah businessman Jafar Tukan & Partners 1970s, the firm was
Abdulrahman Bukhatir was established by active in the Middle
as its local agent, Palestinian-Jordanian East with several
the company soon architect Jafar Tukan projects including Abu
thereafter set up a in 1968 with offices in Dhabi Sports Stadium,
warehouse and a sales Kuwait and the UAE. Doha Hotel, and Gulf
office in Sharjah. Its The practice remained Hotel in Bahrain. They
domed structures in operation until the completed Sharjah’s
became a familiar formation of Rais & Central Souk in 1978.
presence in both Tukan in 1973.
Sharjah and Dubai.

Tunisia & United Arab

Harbhajan Singh Vedi Emirates Engineering
(1937–2013, Lyallpur Company was
[Faisalabad, Punjab, established in Abu
Pakistan]) graduated Dhabi in the late 1970s
in 1967 from the after the Arab League’s
School of Planning decision to move the
and Architecture in Arab Academy for
New Delhi. In the early Science, Technology &
1970s, he practiced Maritime Transport Tanweer Ahmad
architecture in Kuwait. Mel Stewart (b. 1940, from Alexandria, Zaidi (b. 1944, Uttar
In 1974, he moved to UK) earned his civil Egypt, to Sharjah. Pradesh, India) earned
Sharjah to co-found engineering degree from The firm designed a BS from Karachi
Gulf Design Group with Sunderland Technical and supervised the University in 1963 and
Kanwal Krishan Duggal College in 1963. Upon construction of the new an engineering degree
and Karnail Singh Kler. graduation, he practiced campus’s planetarium from NED University
in the UK in the 1960s for astronomy of Engineering &
before working overseas instruction. Technology (Karachi)
Six Construct is a in Saudi Arabia and in 1967. He worked in
subsidiary of Société Oman in the early 1970s. Pakistan and Dubai with
Belge des Bétons He joined Sir William various consulting firms
(SBB Group) and was Halcrow & Partners before joining Sharjah
established to manage as resident engineer Municipality in 1970.
the Belgian company’s in Sharjah in 1974. In He was chief engineer
work in the Middle 1983 he was appointed from 1974 until 1987.
East after securing the regional managing For two years, he ran his
contract to build Abu director of UAE projects. own firm for projects in
Dhabi’s corniche in He worked for Halcrow Sharjah and Karachi.
1965. In 1967, it started until 1998, when he was From 1989 to 2012, he
work on a deepwater appointed engineering Reinder de Vries, worked for consulting
harbor in Doha, and in advisor to the ruler of apparently born in firms until his return to
1968 it won the contract Sharjah, a post he served the Dutch East Indies, Pakistan.
for a port in Dammam, until 2008. He works in arrived in Dubai via
Saudi Arabia. Its first Sharjah as a consultant Mombasa in the late
project in Sharjah was to Jacobs Engineering 1960s and established Al Zarooni General
the National Cement Group, which acquired an architecture firm. In Contracting Company
Factory. Halcrow through CH2M. 1970, he co-founded De was established in
Vries Fairhurst & the 1960s in Sharjah
Partners with the by Ismail Mohammad
Sogex Contracting & Tecnica y Proyectos Scottish engineering Ahmed Al Zarooni.
Trading Company was S.A. (TYPSA) is an firm Fairhurst. The The firm operates in
founded by Mustapha architecture and short-lived partnership Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman,
Rachad Dernaika and engineering firm, saw the completion of and Umm Al Quwain.
Samir Daher Hamzah once a subsidiary of a a number of projects Projects include 103
in 1971. In 1984, it construction company. including Sharjah social housing units
was acquired by the It signed its first Cinema and the St. in Sharjah’s Dasman
Bahwan Group and contracts in the Gulf in George Hotel for district and 140 social
renamed Sogex Oman. 1976. Outside Sharjah, Galadari Brothers housing units in Al Rifa’a
The firm built several their work in the Gulf business group in Dubai. and Al Tala’a that were
major projects in Oman, included the expansion After the partnership funded by Dubai’s ruler
such as Al Ghubrah of Kuwait’s sewage ended, De Vries Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed
Power & Desalination system and a university continued to practice Al Maktoum in the early
Plant and the Hotel campus in Riyadh. under De Vries & 1980s.
Inter-Continental Partners with offices in
Muscat. Sogex’s work Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi,
in the UAE included Jafar Tukan (1938–2014, and Sharjah. The firm
residential construction Jerusalem) graduated designed a housing
and maintenance of a from American University project in Sharjah in
water and power plant of Beirut with a BS 1974 and a residential
in Fujairah. degree in architectural tower in Dubai in 1979,
engineering. Upon likely operating in the
graduation in 1960, he UAE until the 1980s.
Instant Sprung worked for Jordan’s
Structures was founded public works ministry
as a Canada-based before joining Dar Al- White Young &
family business in 1887. Handasah from 1961 to Partners was formed
In 1977, the company 1968. He established his as a consulting and
secured its first contract own practice in Kuwait structural engineering
in Sharjah to produce and the UAE before firm in 1964 by Ron
tensile structures for founding Rais & Tukan Young and Terence
Sharjah Expo. With in 1973. White. In the early

429
430
Index Page references to
illustrations are set in
italics.

1000 Villas, 34, 346–349 Alghanem, Nujoom, Aramco, 249, 421 Australia: firms from, BBME Building. See
133–37 Archirodon-Hochtief, 263, 418, 426, 427; British Bank of the
Abdallah, Mohammed Ali, Asma, 349 411 persons from, 421, Middle East
Sultan, 226 Ali, Haidar The Architects 425; trade mission beach, 45, 71, 263, 345;
Abdelkawi, Mahmoud Abdulrahman, 349 Collaborative from, 149 resort, 183, 193, 265,
Sami, 423 Alim, Gulam, 391 (TAC), 309–15; Azad: film director, 377 273, 277, 289–91,
Abdel Nasser, Gamal, Alistair McCowan & company profile, Al Azhari, Mohamed, 37, 411, 412; strip,
105, 217, 410–11; Associates, 179, 416, 420; as featured in 122, 420; project, 212 280–81
burial site, 323; 426 biographies, 422, Al Azmenah Al Arabiya Bechtel International
funeral, 307 Aliyan, Mohamed 424, 427 (magazine), 275, Corporation, 309,
Abdul-Rahman, Kamel, 422 Bahaei, 420, 424 Architectural Academic 282–91, 321, 412 313, 420
Abid, Hameed, 423 Allied Contracting, 147 Office, 425 Bedouin Mosque. See
Abobaker, Jaseera, 103, Allouba, Ashraf Hassan, Architectural Bureau for Al Ba’ba’, Sharifa, 34, Airport Mosque
210 423 Tropical Zones, 420 219 Behbehani, Abdul Jalil
Abrahamian, Houry, 235 AlSawan, Mahmood, 2 Architectural Babu, Prema, 147 Sayed Hassan, 145
ACC. See Arabian Alwash, Sami, 345 Construction Team, Bachchan, Amitabh, 273 Behbehani,
Contracting Company Anchor Construction 341. See also Gulf Al Badr, Badr Khalid, Abdulmajeed Sayed
Adasani, Nizar, 235 Company, 395 Design Group 224 Hasan, 145
Aden Engineering Anchor Motor Inn, Architectural Al-Bahar, Mohamed Belgium: firms from,
& Contracting 394–95 Consultants, 420, Abdulrahman, 145, 231, 411, 429
Company, 92–93, 450 Anderson Associates, 426; projects, 193, 339 belonging: in cricket,
Afifi, Mohamed Shawki, 395 320–21, 347, 416, Bahwan Group, 429 303; sense of, 22;
420 Anmac Ltd., 387 417 Ballouty, 290. See also reflections on, 363;
African-Arab Aqwas collective, Architectural Services Ghanem Ghubash refugees as citizens,
Symposium, 265, 132–37 Group, 293 Ian Banham & 253
323–24, 412 Arab Academy for archives: of artists, 133; Associates, 267, 420 Beton- und Monierbau
Aga Khan, 312, 345 Science, Technology contingencies of, Bank Melli Iran, 411 AG, 95, 421, 411
Ahmad, Abdel Hamid, & Maritime 23; Delhi High Court, Bank of America, 395 billboards: Siemens,
289–90 Transport, 368–71; in 163; of Naman Al Bank of Scotland, 395 179. See also signage
Ahmad, Abdullah, 275 film, 376 Jalili, 165; of Noor Ali Bank of Sharjah, 344, Bistany, Ralph, 235
Ahmed, Obaid Essa, 73 Arab Bank, 81–83, 306 Rashid, 97; Madrid, 411 Blakedown Gulf, 267
air base, 34, 40–41, Arab Consultants, 145, 103; magazine, banks, 194–95; on Al Blue Souk. See Central
46–47, 55. See also 420 271; personal, 6; Arouba Street, 77, Souk
Royal Air Force Arab Cultural Club, 159 photography studios, 180; increase in, 99; BP. See British
air conditioning, 41, 93; Arab Engineering 379; of Ramesh in Sharjah timeline, Petroleum
for British staff, 45, Bureau (AEB): Shukla, 26; in 412–13. See also bricks plant, 90–91,
115; superseding co-founder research process, 6, economy 142–43, 204–05,
wind towers, 127–31 biography, 423, 425; 163–66 Bank Street: allure, 236–37, 318–19,
Air France. See France company profile, areesh (barasti, palm 180, 257; Córdoba & 374–75
airport: accessory areas, 420; professional found house): as Granada Buildings, Britain. See UK
39; architecture affiliation, 428; abandoned structure, 99–103, 247, 423, British Bank of
around, 37; projects, 33, 157, 22; indigenous 425; in film, 376–77; the Middle East
commission, 71; 171, 331, 333, 372, housing, 30, 35, 60, Al Hisn before, 29, (Building), 61, 80–81,
in film, 376–77; 381, 414 410 118–19; house on, 194, 306
international, 387– Arab Gulf: receiving ARKBuild. See Design 29; offices, 253, 267; British Petroleum:
93; Islamic design, Kuwaiti aid, 30. See Construction Group SNTTA Building, 183; compounds, 63,
327; on King Faisal also Trucial States; Al Arooba Establishment displacing of souk, 257; filling station
Street, 49; in Sharjah UAE for Design & 127, 134 prototype, 39, 43;
timeline, 410–13. See Al Arabi (magazine), 34, Supervision, 295 Bank Street Buildings. project, 42–43
also air base 45, 59, 93, 104–17 art: in Central Souk, See Córdoba & British protectionism, 23
Airport Hotel. See Arabian Contracting 132–37; coffeeshop Granada Buildings Broughton, Brian, 421;
Anchor Motor Inn Company, 99, 139, clientele, 285; film Al Banna, Odeh: Union hospital prototype,
Airport Mosque, 37–39, 420 stills shot in Sharjah, Contractors, 250–51 191; filling station, 201
212, 377 Arabian Development 377; Karachi film, 365 Bannah, Abdul Kader, Brown, William, 369
Akram, Abdulla, 202 Real Estate Company, ASAN Associates, 202 167 Bucomac, 347, 421
Alami, Zuheir, 425 399 asphalt: extending road Banque Paribas, 411 Buhaira Corniche,
Albudoor, Khalid, Arabism: cultural club, network, 67; workers barasti. See areesh 152–53, 157, 159,
133–37 159; Kuwaiti role in, laying, 74–75. See Barbir, Nabil, 422 372–73
ALCO. See Al Nahda 219; street identity, also roads Barbir, Nagi Samih, 191, Bukhatir, Abdulrahman:
Contracting & Trading 111 Assad, Fadi, 428 420 on bank board, 345;
Company Arab League: flag, 223; Assi, Joseph, 252 barjeel (barajeel): biography, 421; as
alcohol: ban, 273, 275, office in Sharjah, 369, Associated Continental Central Souk, company founder,
327, 403, 412, 413; 429; in Trucial States, Architects, 127 127, 131; house, 420, 421, 422,
at bowling alley, 309; 35, 72, 224–25, 411 Ataya, Amin, 252 18–19, 33, 316–17; 423; professional
retailer, 355 Arab Towns Ataya, Bariya, 235 Islamic design, 327; affiliations, 425, 427,
Alexander & Lloyd, 421, Organization, 327 ATI Consultants, 235 mimicking, 131, 231, 429; projects, 99,
426 Al Araby, Zainab, 35 atriums, 309 243–44 303, 345

431
Al Burini, Ahmad, 219 320; RAF, 41, 45, 416; corniche: road, 24–25, demographics: Duggal, Veena, 167
Al Burj Street. See Bank Rivoli, 273; Sharjah, 403, 406; in personal explosion, Durani, Hamid: and
Street 187, 196–99, 273, narrative, 360, 362; 289; informing brother of, 391
Bustani, Emile, 85, 427 379, 429; sign of souks, 139, 160; architectural design, Dweik, Amjad, 252
CAB. See Consulting change, 111. See transformation, 263, 149; segregation, 60. Dweik, Yusri, 252
Architecture & Civil also culture; society; 300–01 See also population;
Engineering Bureau regulations Corniche Plaza, 414 immigration Eastern LLC, 99, 303
Cable & Wireless, 293, civil court, 327, 332–35 Correa, Charles, 341 demolition: earlier Eastern Contracting
411, 423 clock tower, 94–97; in Costain Group (Costain airport, 37; Bank Company, 193, 423
Cagdas, Mesud, 84–85, Deira, 95, 156 International), 57, 99, Street, 99; in Central École Française de
168–69, 421 Clock Tower 421, 422 Souk project, 127; Sharjah, 230–33
Cagdas Associates. See Roundabout (Al courts, 73, 115, 332–33 market forces economy: in Sharjah
Mesud Cagdas Zahra’a Square): civil craftsmanship: in civil driving, 67; memory timeline, 411–13.
CAT. See Caterpillar; court, 333; project court, 333 despite, 165; of See also trade; oil;
Contracting & 94–97; proposals, 66, Craig, James, 57 Sharjah architecture, tourism; hotels;
Trading Company 73, 254–55, 320 creeks: Dubai, 55, 57, 18–19, 21–22, 67, banks
Caterpillar, 339. See coastline: attacked, 55; 59, 377; Sharjah, 51, 73, 406–07; scope of, education: for
Volvo/Caterpillar transformed, 134, 56, 63, 149, 160, 247, 21; of Sharjah Fort, daughters, 29;
Buildings 152–53, 301, 345 262–263, 410, 411 122; of souks, 139; Kuwait’s contribution
campus. See schools; Coates, Wells, 425 Crescent Petroleum, surviving, 122 to, 217–227;
education Code International, 191, 130, 379, 417 demonstrations, 226, maritime transport,
Canada: firm from, 173, 422 cricket: one-bounce, 410 369; national system
429; person from, coffeehouses: as social 363–65. See also Dernaika, Mustapha establishment, 243;
425, 427 space, 284–85 Sharjah Cricket Rachad, 429 night schools, 114;
Carlton Hotel, 264–65, Colboc, Henri, 277, 422 Association Stadium Design Construction personal history, 362;
281; in film, 377 Henri Colboc & Partners, Cultural Palace, 414 Group: company Sharjah Trade School,
Cassia, Bernard, 421 277–78, 422, 427 culture: architectural profile, 422; 73, 221, 410–11, 425;
Cassia, Lucien, 421 Cold War, 269, 312 park, 247; architecture professional teacher training, 223;
Lucien and Bernard columns: civil court, triennial, 239; book affiliations, 424, 425; UAE investment, 239;
Cassia & Associates, 333–35; regulated fair, 176; cinema project, 419 university student
421 variations, 329 history, 197; city dhows, 301 culture, 359–65. See
CCC. See Consolidated community. See society; merchants, 217; Diba, Kamran, 131 also schools
Contractors schools dancing in clubs, 271– discrimination, 290–91. Egypt: and Arab League,
Company companies. See firms 75; debates on, 284; See also race 369; firms from,
cement: factory, 301, concrete: mixer, 331; disco, 273; Dubai book, displacement: 20, 157, 331, 422,
411, 412, 416, 427; mosque, 207; 380; Dubai films shot “compensation 423, 424, 426–27;
on market, 66; roads, precast, 93, 145, 243, in Sharjah, 376–77; buildings,” 257; inter-Arab education,
52 331, 347, 355; salt events, 173; Malayali by Israel, 249; by 218; persons from,
cemetery: Al Jubail, and sand mixture, and Punjabi films, redevelopment, 24, 35, 105, 107, 189,
179; performance, 252; transformation 377; and morality, 127, 134, 259; Umm 207, 372, 403, 420,
136 to, 18–19, 30, 61, 103 275; neighborhood, Al Quwain, 287. See 422, 423–28; state
censorship: blank cover, Conforce Gulf, 267, 309, 252; photography also refugees commissions, 323
291. See also media; 355, 422 studios, 379–85; domes: airport, 387–93; Eldah, Hoda, 252
regulations Connect Four Design regulating decree, drawings, 210–11; elevated water tanks,
Central Souk, 124–25, Studio, 426 403; rulers’ literary, Flying Saucer, 367. 296–99
126–31, 139, 155, Connery, Sean, 267 218; segregation, See also Islamic Eller, Rudi, 231
266, 327, 381, Consolidated 289; urban student: architecture Emirates Stone, 331
399, 412–413; Contractors 359–65. See also art; domesticity: British, 43; Emirates
in film, 376–77; Company: company cinema; education; everyday life, 251 Telecommunications
art performance, profile, 422; projects, regulations doors: residential, Corporation (Emirtel),
132–37; miniatures 81, 191, 265, 357; Cvijanovic, Alexander, 352–53 293
park, 247 role in Government 309–14, 422 Doxiadis Associates, 399 Emiri Diwan, 2, 327,
CH2M. See Sir William Square, 122 Cyprus: persons and Dubai: airport, 201, 330–31; in film, 377
Halcrow & Partners Consolidated firms from, 85, 168, 305, 387, 421; Energyco, 259, 351
Chadirji, Rifat, 421, 424; Engineering 290, 421, 425 private club, 289–90; engineers: shaping city,
project, 312, 345 Company. See Khatib education, 219; 21, 66, 71, 73; as
Chamaa, Antoine Elias, & Alami DAFCO. See Demas filling station, 43; source for archive,
424 Consulting Architecture and Al Farhan hospital, 29, 59, 165
Chammas, Fadi, 295, & Civil Engineering Engineering & 191, 425; oil, 255, Engineering Consultants
421 Bureau (CAB): Contracting Co. 297, 421–22; Inter- Group, 419, 422, 424
Champion, Peter, 421 elevation, 35; project, Al Dajani, Mamdouh, 251 Continental Hotel, ETPM: hotel, 395;
Charter Oil Company, 415; co-founder Dalokay, Vedat, 207, 309; photographer, offices, 295; school,
369 biographies, 420, 424 210, 422 26; Port Jebel Ali, 231
Chartered Bank, 411 Contracting & Trading Danish, Bahram, 12 72; Port Rashid, Expo Centre Sharjah,
Chaudhri, Yaminay, 365 Company (CAT): Daoud, Mahmoud Ali, 35 59, 61; in British 147, 172–77, 266,
Chicago Bridge & Iron company profile, Dar Al-Handasah: strategy, 51, 55–73, 380, 412
Company, 297, 421 427; establishment, company profile, 410; competing with Export-Import Bank of
Choithrams Building, 85; professional 422; professional Sharjah, 59, 66, the United States:
340–41 affiliation, 427 affiliations, 424, 425, 67, 399, 412, 413; loans, 312
Chopra, Yash, 273 Contracting Marine 429; project, 87 Sharjah as, 377;
Choueifat. See National Engineering, 403, 422 Dar El-Emara, 424 trade school, 410–11. factory, 249, 251, 255,
College of Choueifat Contractors Group Darweesh, Mohamed See also creek 395, 416
churches: from International. See Salah, 422, 423 Dubai–Sharjah road, Fahmy, Mohamed
barracks, 45, 411; Globe Constructors Darwish Engineering, 37, 301, 339, 411; Essam Eldin:
conversion into, 283 Coral Beach Hotel, 417, 77, 81, 422 signage, 6–7; biography, 423;
cinemas: in Expo 428 Dasman Mosque, 416 Progress Report, project, 331;
Centre, 176; dine- Le Corbusier, 341, 422 Demas, Rashed, 422 52–53; hardening, professional
in, 273; Haroun Córdoba & Granada Demas and Al Farhan 66, 74 affiliations, 420, 423,
open-air, 197; as Buildings (Bank Engineering & Dubuisson, Jean, 399, 425
investment, 309; Street Buildings), Contracting Co. 422, 428 W. A. Fairhurst &
Khor Fakkan, 202; 99–103, 257, 267; in (DAFCO): company Duggal, Kanwal Krishan, Partners, 197, 419,
in film, 377–78; film, 277; miniatures profile, 422; projects, 163, 167, 422, 423, 429
proposed Concorde, park, 247 212–213, 323–25 429 Fairservice, Ian, 271

432
Al-Farhan, Mahmoud, gender: cars, 251; Ben Habib, Mohammad, Helal, Antoine, 424, 428 259; Al Meena Street,
422 coffeeshop, 285; 419, 423 Helal & Partners, 257; Al-Shamsi, 345;
Farmer & Dark, 424 discriminatory Al Habtoor, Sultan bin 342–43, 419, 424 residential cluster,
Fathy, Hassan, 131 policies, 289; in Khalifa, 159, 243, 426 Hemlyn Photography 372; Sandgate, 149;
Fatima Al Zahra School, education, 220; Al Habtoor Engineering Studio. See Ratnam, shortage, 257
35, 220, 410, 414; identity, 363–65. See Enterprise, 423 Prem Howeedy, Fayek, 372,
funded by Kuwait, 30; also society; culture Bin Hadda, 37, 421, 397 heritage: guidelines, 420, 424
alumni as teachers, General Women’s Union, Bin Hadda, Saeed 327; vanquished by Hubbard Ford &
32. See also schools; 33 Sultan Ali, 421 market, 147. See also Partners, 257, 424
education; gender generations: of Al Hajji, Mahmoud preservation; dhows Hubbard Ford, Hugh, 424
faucets: as novelty, 21 migrants, 252; Khairallah, 226 Hirayama, Fukujiro, 427 Hudson, Peter, 267, 424
Fayrouz, 173, 175 planning for future, Al Hajri, Amina Salim, Al Hisn district: nearby Peter Hudson & Partners
Federal Hotel, 49, 414 107; post-oil, 22; 32, 35 school, 30 (Peter Hudson Buckle
Fernandes, Conny, transmitting history, Sir William Halcrow & Zu Hohenlohe- & Partners), 424;
34–35 21 Partners (Halcrow, Langenburg, Alfonso: projects, 155, 267, 303
filling stations: genie lamp: mounted on Halcrow Group Marbella Club, 267 Humaid, Humaid Obaid,
prototype, 201. See hotel, 403–07 Architectural Holiday Inn: Khor 226
also petroleum George Trew Dunn Practice, Halcrow Fakkan, 192–93, Hunting Aerosurveys,
film. See cinema; Beckles Willson International 420, 423; London, 73, 410
culture Bowes, 355, 423 Partnership): chief 395; Sharjah city, Husain, Abdulaziz:
fires: Kuwait Tower, 145 Germany: beer from, architect, 426; 153, 155, 267, 271, visiting schools, 30;
David Firmin & Partners, 272, 407; colony of company profile, 372–73, 376–77, Nasserist, 218
155, 418 engineers from, 33; 423; fountain, 89; 384, 414 Al Husseiny, Mohammed
First National City Bank firm from, 95, 191, infrastructural Homsi, Ziki, 165, 167 Saeed, 93, 420
(Building), 77, 194, 411, 421; school, 231; proposals, 54–75, Honeymoon Studio: Al Huzaifa Furniture, 380
411; in Dubai, 422 source of investment, 410; master plan, early airport
Flame Monument, 414 57; tourism, 413 59–72, 97, 134, 153, photographs, 391 identity: collective,
Fletcher, Jean B.: TAC, Al Ghroobti, Ahmed, 155, 159, 267, 411; Hosman, Sarah, 410 135; Flying Saucer,
420 423, 428 miniatures park, Hospitalia, 191 367; governmental
Fletcher, Norman C.: Ghubash, Ghanem, 283, 247; progress report hospitals: conversion buildings, 323;
TAC, 420 287, 290 for roads, 52–53; from hotel, 320–21; Islamic ideals,
flooding: Dubai, 59; Ghubash, Muhammad, projects, 49, 139, Al Qassimi, 191; in 327; shaped by
Sharjah 114, 381, 413 283, 290 297–99, 315, 387–93, Sharjah timeline, architecture, 166;
Flying Saucer, 358, Globe Constructors 411–13, 419; resident 411. See also Dubai; structures of, 134.
366–67; in fiction, (Contractors Group engineer, 429; role in health care See also nationalism;
363–64 International), 121, Dubai port, 61; traffic Hotel Aladin, 121, 301, culture; education
forts: of Sharjah, 34, 189; projects, 149, plan, 316 403–07, 413 images: as archive
99, 101, 118, 121, 207, 331; company Haleem, Gamal Abdul, hotels: Aladin, 301, 403– preservation, 6;
122, 324 profile, 422 420, 423, 425 07; Anchor Motor Inn, Sharjah aerial, 68–69;
Abo Foul, Mohammed, Golden Gate Project, Hamilton-Clark, 394–95; beach strip, Sharjah Creek aerial,
56, 73 262–63 Michael, 52, 75 280–81; conversion 151. See also art
fountains, 89, 153, 180, Government House Hammond, Fred W., to hospital, 320–21; immigration: in census,
197, 372–73, 387, Square, 2–3; 293, 423 debts, 309; earliest, 67; diaspora culture,
411, 413; at night, namesake, 331; Hamzah, Samir Daher, 49; Federal, 49; 197; education,
357; as therapy, 95, roadside, 89 429 floating, 173, 176; 359; expatriates,
104–05, 111; world’s governments: Hanley, John, 423 Fort, 41; Holiday Inn, 272; family history,
third largest, 413. See alcohol ban, 273; Abi Hanna, Sabah, 265, 193, 372–73, 414; as 249–53; filmic
also water British as client, 422, 423 instruments of policy, representations of,
Fowler Hanley, Inc.: 56; establishing Sabah Abi Hanna & 71, 312, 411, 412; 377; housing, 79;
co-founders’ departments, 115; Associates, 265 Inter-Continental, from India, 163;
biographies, 423; Sharjah commission, Al Harazeen, Hammad 149, 301, 308–15; imagined perils,
company profile, 49, 139, 191, 207, Hassan, 147 luxury, 266–67, 277; 363; photography
423; professional 257, 293, 297, 305, harbors. See ports Meridien, 276–79; studios, 379–80;
affiliation, 428; 323, 369, 387; street Harith: coffee shop other, 418–19; refugees, 145,
projects, 347, security, 362 owner, 410 “packaged,” 395; 235; residential
418–19; Sharjah Government Square, Harkness, John C.: TAC, restaurants and communities, 347;
staff, 12 118–19, 122–23, 307 420 clubs in, 117, 270–75; sports, 303
Fowler, Michael, 423 Greece: firms from, 411 Harkness, Sarah P.: Seaface, 51; Sharjah India: cinema culture,
France: alleged Green Belt Park, 411, 413 TAC, 420 Carlton, 265; Sheba, 197; cricket, 303;
Renault project, 399; Grégoire, Pierre, 427 The J. Seymour Harris 49, 92–93, 110, 117; Delhi High Court
community, 295; oil Grey Building, 82, Partnership (Seymour sports, 280. See also archives, 163; firms
and schools, 231; 168–69 Harris & Partners), tourism; economy; from, 99, 202, 320,
persons from, 231, Grimond, Henri, 428 419, 424 names of hotels 341, 420, 425–26;
351, 399, 422, 427; Grimwade, Brian, 423 Hassan II (king), 427 houses: 1000 Villas, pearl trade, 217;
firms from, 277, 295, Grindlays Bank Building, Hassawi Complex, 417 346–349; count, 412; persons from, 34, 39,
411, 413, 427, 428 195 Al-Hassawi, Mubarak: dilapidated, 72, 259; 197, 273, 341, 377,
Gropius, Walter: TAC, among Kuwaiti mudbrick and coral, 379–85, 420, 422–23,
Gaafar, Ibrahim, 189, 309, 312, 420, 422 businessmen, 145; 22, 29, 60, 81, 107; as 425–26, 428–29;
423, 424 Gulf cities: as oil commission, 265, homes for displaced schools, 359, 412
Gaafar Engineering boomtowns, 21, 72 309, 312; in Sharjah Palestinians, 249–53; industrial areas, 252,
Consultants, 423, 424 Gulf Consulting Office, timeline, 411, 413 precast concrete, 339, 362–63; in
Galadari Brothers, 429 418, 423, 428 Hassouna, Abdul 347; prefabricated, master plan, 71, 153
Gammon Construction, Gulf Design Group: Khalek, 35 395; Al Ramla, Inter-Continental Hotel
425 architectural legacy, Al Hayy, Naji, 136 351–53; Residency (Group), 149, 265, 300,
Garden City Villas, 149, 163; co-founders’ health care: facilities, Agent, 50–51; as 308–15, 412, 413
415 biographies, 422, 191; Kuwait-funded, school, 218, 220. See International Company
gardens: memory of, 428, 429; commission 226; missionary also areesh for Construction &
347. See also public and project, 341; medical clinic, 410; housing: allotted to Trade, 418, 427
space; atriums company profile, 423 personal narrative, locals, 351; boom, International
Gargash, Ali, 171, 179 Gulf General Projects 359. See also 149; comparative Consultation Office
Charles de Gaulle (International) Co., hospitals standards of, 51; for Developing &
Center, 399–401 183, 423 Hegazy, Mohamed El Golden Gate, 263; Al Construction, 189,
El Gawly, Fikry, 403, 422 Gulf Star Hotel, 417 Mahdy, 424, 426 Majarrah Buildings, 418, 422–23, 424

433
Interplan 4 SA, 418, 424 Kalpataru Limited (The Koehring Cranes, 339 357; “staycation,” Matta, Gabriel, 418, 426
Investment Bank for Kalpataru Group), Kovac, Milan: biography, 273. See also hotels; Al Mazini, Layla, 35
Trade & Finance, 411 99, 425 425; project, 339 restaurants; society; Al Mazrou, Sultan
Iran: contractor from, 30 Kamal, Syed: film, Milan Kovac sports Mohammed, 226
Iraq: invasion of Kuwait, 376–77 Arkitektkontor, 339, Liechtenstein: person McCowan, Alistair, 171,
145; firms from, Kamil, Abdulla Ihsan, 424 425 from, 267 179, 426
345, 424; persons Kanafani, Nabil, 239, 425 Kumar, Sanjeev, 273 liwan, 30, 35 McDermott
from, 35, 295, 345, Kapoor, Shashi, 273 Kurokawa, Kisho, 427 Lloyd, Ivor, 149, 425 International, 422
421, 423, 424; role in Karani & Sanghoi, 426 Kuttan, Appu, 347 Lootah, Rashid Ahmad, McKean, Charles, 127
Sharjah hospital, 59 Kataf, Rania, 165 Kuwait: businessmen, 255 McMillan, Louis A.: TAC,
Iraq Consult, 312, 345, khaima, 30 145; educational Lootah Hudson Buckle 420
421, 424 Khalid Lagoon. See Lake mission, 30–32, 34, & Partners. See Peter McMillan, Robert S.:
Iraq Petroleum Khalid 217–27, 410, 411; Hudson & Partners TAC, 420
Company, 427 Khalid Lagoon Master firms from, 339, Lufthansa, 403, 413 media: advertising
Irving, Anthony, 422, Plan, 152–53 420, 423; in family Lyell, Michael, 425 regulations, 275; Al
424, 425 Khalifa, Mahmoud Ali, memory, 249, 251; Michael Lyell Arabi, 104–17; British
Iskandar, Hosni, 347, 424 420, 423, 425 magazine, 45, 104– Associates, 127, 134, regulation of, 107;
Islamic architecture: Khalil, Yousif, 134 05; flag, 51, 220, 223; 425 conflicting accounts
airport, 387–91; Khan, Afzal Ahmed, 73, persons from, 145, of coup, 61; consulted
blend with 153, 425 218, 308, 420–21; Al Maazmi, Mohammed in research, 165;
modernism, 103, Khan, Naim, 247 role in regional Shamis, 97, 131 entertainment
403; Central Souk, Khan, Sagheer Ahmed, urban development, Al Majarrah Buildings, guide, 271; event
127, 134; clock 397 59, 217–23, 247, 258–61 posters, 270–75;
tower, 95; Córdoba & Al Khan district: bridge, 265, 312, 339, Al Majaz: district, 149; Expo coverage, 176;
Granada Buildings, 301, 364; under 399; in Sharjah park, 136, 153 inaccuracies, 73;
103; Emiri Diwan, construction, 12; street names, 115; bin Majid, Hamad, independent, 282–
331; hotels, 403; as overpass, 408–09; television station, 56, 73 91; radio merger, 283.
identity, 21, 23, 37, site of protoype, 242; 105 bin Majid, Saeed, 56, 73 See also journalism;
135; Al Majarrah resorts, 265, 277, Al Kuwaiti, Hamad Hilal makhzans: in family radio
Buildings, 259; 280–81 Thabit, 342 history, 29 Al Meena Street, 43, 61,
mandate for, 327–30, Khansaheb Civil Kuwait (State) Office, Makiya, Mohamed, 131 63, 73, 99, 180–81,
413; musalla al eid, Engineering 115, 221, 224–225; Maktari, Najeeb, 191, 183, 187, 197;
212–13; Nasser (Khansaheb inauguration in Dubai 425–26 housing, 256–57
burial site, 323; Neo-, Gammon), 411, 425; of, 32, 35, 223 Al Maktoum, Butti bin Meldrum, Alan F., 387,
327; post office, 87; project, 387 Kuwait Tower, 144–45, Suhail, 423 426
residential, 259; Al Khansaheb, Hussain 189, 308 Al Maktoum, Rashid memory: of city walks,
Seef Palace, 189; bin Hassan, 410, bin Saeed (ruler of 362–65; in cricket,
vegetable souk, 139; 423, 425 Bin Laden–Amoudi Dubai): dignitaries 365; Flying Saucer,
Venice Biennale, 131 Khatib, Mounir, 425 Center, 156–157 in hotels, 265; 367; of immigration,
Islamism: in media, 290 Khatib & Alami Bin Laden companies: infrastructural 252; nostalgia,
Ismail, Hassan, 424 (Consolidated projects, 191, 323, projects, 57–59 273; preservation
Italy: designer from, 34 Engineering 333 Al Maktoum Hospital, 59 of, 22; small-scale
Al Ittihad Park, 10–11, Company): building Lake Khalid (Khalid Malik, Khaled, 176 rebuilding of, 247.
146, 183, 207, 210, near SNTTA, 187; Lagoon): coffeeshop, Malini, Hema, 273 See also archives;
380, 422; art company profile, 284; purpose, 67–68; Mammootty: in film, 377 generations
performance, 136; 425; local offices, fountain, 413; lagoon Mansfield, Edward, 387, Meridien Sharjah, 265,
views of, 179 169; professional master plan, 153–55; 426 271, 272, 276–79,
affiliation, 425; land reclamation, Mansour, Mohamed, 35 280–81, 412
Jacobs Engineering projects, 76–77, 78– 61, 67; urban Mansour, Suleiman, 235 METCO. See Al Masaood
Group. See Sir 81, 187, 194, 238–41, development, 157, maps: of Sharjah, Engineering &
William Halcrow & 372–73, 418, 419 159, 267, 413; views 16–17; of UAE, 106 Contracting Co.
Partners khazzan: landmark, of, 149, 356, 384 Marbella Club, 153, 155, Miandad, Javed, 303
Al Jalili, Naman Ameen: 297. See also water; Lake Khalid Tower, 266–67, 271 Al Midfa, Jassim Saif,
biography, 424; UN, elevated water tanks 158–59 Marinas Rubio, Carlos, 226, 403
163, 167 Khor Fakkan, 293, 380, land ownership: 121, 381, 426 migration. See
Japan: firm from, 301, 410, 412; Holiday compensation, markets: from immigration;
427; hostilities with, Inn, 192–93; Cinema, 114, 257; of foreign abandoned barracks, displacement;
410; materials from, 202–03; Seashore nationals, 253; 45. See also souks; population;
207 Development Palestinians, 249–50 trade demographics
Al Jasar Supermarket, Proposal, 268–69 land reclamation: Marwan Engineering Miles, Dorothy, 235
103, 179 Khorsheed, Kamal, 397 as development & Construction Miller Construction, 427
Jat Kamala Gaya Dubai Khoury, Abdallah, 427 strategy, 67, 247, Enterprise, 159, 426 miniatures park, 246–47
(film), 376–77 Khoury, Daliah, 235 263; in master plan, bin Masaood, mini-city, 398–99
jetty: development of, Khoury, Emile, 235, 425 61, 62–63, 68, 411; Mohammad, 426 ministries: project
61; as first phase of Khoury, Khalil, 428 Khalid Lagoon, Al Masaood Engineering commissions,
port, 59, 66, 95, 411; Khoury, Said, 422 153–55. See also & Contracting Co., 86–89, 333. See also
location, 43, 257; in kindergarten prototype, coastline 277, 426 governments
master plan, 62, 63 147, 159, 242–45 Laredo, José Carlos, Mohammad bin Misal Gulf, 366
Joannou, Stelios, 424 King Faisal Mosque, 99, 183 Masaood & Sons, 277 Mitri, Oscar, 105, 107
Joannou & Paraskevaides, 147, 206–10, 385, Lebanon: cultural Al Mashghouni, Hamad, Moaswes, Ali, 249–53
127, 424 413; in film, 376; festival, 272; firms 30 Moaswes, Hyam, 249
D. G. Jones, McCoach, & miniatures park, 247 from, 81, 159, 191, Al Mashghouni, Mouza, 29 Moaswes, Khalid, 250
Partners, 267 King Faisal Street: 243, 265, 295, 366, master plan: as archive, Moaswes, Saad,
Jones, Gordon Alfred, airport, 49–50; 420–22, 424–25, 427; 165; Golden Gate, 249–50, 253
422, 424, 425 buildings along, 37, persons from, 79, 85, 263; comparative Moaswes, Sami, 250
Jordan: persons from, 39, 93, 341, 355, 372, 105–07, 168, 177, histories of, 54–73; MOBIC Contracting:
147, 347, 410, 429 385; filling stations, 173, 235, 243, 251, Khalid Lagoon, company profile, 426;
journalism: as social 43; hotel, 92 252, 265, 280, 295, 152–53; by Halcrow, project, 235
engagement, 283. Knight, John, 131 420–21, 423–28; civil 16, 25, 97, 134, 153, modernism:
See also media knowledge: bearers war, 85, 235; schools, 255, 301, 316, 320, architectural
Jouzy & Partners, 412 of, 21. See also 235 411; no rules, 71 language, 87–89;
Al Junaidi, Abdulrahman, generations; leisure: idle time, 285; Mathkour, Muhammad, Dubuisson,
207, 420 archives; education lakeside, 67–71, 283 399–401; efficient,

434
 21; government established, 410; Nitco-Miller Limited, 271; driving Prodanou, Michael,
buildings, 323; finances, 114; 149, 427 development boom, 309–315, 427
journalistic guidelines, 327; Nofal, Sayed, 35 18, 23, 99, 135, 163, Michael Prodanou
perspective, 106–17; integration of master Al Noman, Aisha 331, 399; expected Assoc., 427
mosque, 207; plan, 73; lagoon Mohamed, 33 wealth from, 59, Professional Group
research challenges commission, 153; Al Noman, Ali Abdallah, 81, 114–15; first Australia (PGA):
of, 163; school as project, 415; 226, 251 earnings, 21, 71; company profile, 427;
typology, 238; site regulating art, 136; Al Noman, Hassan Kuwait in region, founder biography,
of architectural, sewage division Abdullah, 428 218; less demand, 425; professional
99; TYPSA designs, commission, 247; Novotel Sharjah, 12, 13, 277; office building, affiliation, 423;
183; Walter Gropius, transforming city 274, 414 294–95, 419; aerial projects, 149–51,
309. See also center, 18, 197, 250, Al Nuaimi, Rashid bin photographers, 379; 154, 187, 263,
Islamic architecture; 321, 413. See also Humaid, 423 ramifications of, 418; residential
prototypes Sharjah Municipality 284; scent of, 364; block, 187; resident
modernity: as Municipality Souk, 397, oil. See petroleum in Sharjah timeline, manager, 426
development, 135; 421 old city: amid 411–13; story of, Project Engineers
early building, 168; Munot, Mofatraj P., 425 transformation, 18. 114. See also British Partnership, 387
earthy kind of, Muqabel, Kawthar, 289 See also demolition; Petroleum; economy; prototypes: cooperative
267; Pan-Arab, 23; Al Murad, Abdullah, 380 preservation; pipelines; filling society, 35; filling
performance of, Musa, Mohammed heritage stations station, 43, 200–01;
132–137 Abdul Haq, 210 Orient Travel & Touring PGA. See Professional hospital, 191; housing,
Mody, Ashok, 34; Al Musa, Muhammad Agency, 76 Group Australia 149, 257, 351–52;
biography, 426; Diyab, 219, 221, 226 ornamentation: Philippe, Georges, 422, mosque, 420; schools,
company profile, 420; musalla al eid, 37, historicizing of, 37 427 238–41, 242–45
project, 33, 193, 419 212–13 Otto, Frei, 131 Philips: fountain lights, public health: sports
A. Moez & Moh. Hegazy Museum of Islamic Ove Arup & Partners, 357, 411 complex, 305
Architects, 210, 407, Civilization, 259 424 Pinseau, Michel, 427 public space: art in,
418, 424, 426 music: concerts, 173; Al Owais, Rahma bin pipelines: oil 132–37; creation of,
El Moez Hussein, Abd, nightclubs, 272–73. Nasser, 74 connection, 43, 85; 95, 153; furniture
424, 426 See also culture; Al Owais, Sultan Bin Ali, photographer, 380; portraits in, 390;
Mohammed, Sayed society 314, 407 RAF, 45. See also hotels as, 273;
Abobaker, 103 Al Muzaini, Sadiq, 252 petroleum Rolla Square, 121;
Momen, Atteya, 426 PACE. See Pan-Arab Pite, William, 423 miniatures park,
Momen, Fahmy, 426 Abu Al Naaj, Fayiz, 221, Consulting Engineers Pittera, Frederick, 173, 176 247; at night, 360;
Momen, Galal: 223 Pacific Consultants planetarium, 368–69 park and mosque,
biography, 426; Al Nahda Contracting Company, 301, 419, Polak, Józef Zbigniew, 210; street culture,
projects, 207, & Trading Company, 427 268–69, 427 362–65. See also Al
323–25, 418–19 295, 369, 427, 421 Page, Keith, 201, 421, Poland: person from, Ittihad Park; Al Majaz
Momen, Mostafa, Al Nahyan, Zayed bin 427 269, 427 Park; Rolla Square
323–25, 426 Sultan (ruler of Abu Page & Broughton, 191, population: Sharjah
Momen Architects & Dhabi): following 201, 421, 428 census, 67; census Al Qasimi, Aisha, 32
Consulting Engineers: Sharjah coup, 66; Pakistan: and cricket, figures, 106; family Al Qasimi, Faisal bin Khalid
company profile, 426; dignitaries in hotels, 303; mosque, 210; relocation, 367; bin Mohamed, 395
projects, 20, 323–25, 265 persons from, 97, questions about Al Qasimi, Khalid bin
418–19 Nakba: displacement 247, 365, 376–77, Emirati, 287; relative Khalid, 32
Montague, Robert, 426 of families, 249. See 397, 425, 429 to mosque capacity, Al Qasimi, Khalid
monument: clock tower, also Palestine Palace Hotel, 271, 274, 207; resettlement, bin Mohammed
95–97; Rolla Square, Narang, S. D.: film, 197 414 250; in Sharjah (ruler): Arab League,
120–21; Union, 385, narratives: contesting, palaces: Al Seef, 189 timeline, 410–13. See 225; building
413 57; political, 56–59, 72 Palestine: district also demographics commissions,
Morad, Abdul Moti, 35 Nasr, Shafik, 189, 423, history, 249; families Portman, John, 309 37, 81, 212; at
mosques: Airport, 37; 424, 427 fleeing, 251; persons Portoghesi, Paolo, 131 ceremony, 226;
city of, 207, 413; Nassar, Ali, 418, 427 from, 30, 32, 33, 34, ports: comparative coup successor, 66;
drawings, 210–11; Nassar, Hala, 427 73, 147, 219, 221, histories, 55–61; death, 71; diwan, 33;
King Faisal, 206–11; Nasserism: Cairo 223, 243, 249–53, deepwater proposal, on education, 107;
in master plan, 60, landmark, 323; 255, 422 61; Jebel Ali, 72; factory partnership,
71. See also Islamic Kuwait education, Pan American World Sharjah Creek revival, 251; fountains, 357;
architecture 217, 220; in media, Airways, 312 114; Port Khalid, at hotel opening,
Mothercat Building, 105, 290; Sharjah Pan-Arab Consulting 103, 263, 365, 421; 93; Palestine, 249;
84–85 Day, 411; strikes, 411 Engineers (PACE): Khor Fakkan, 269; in Sharjah timeline,
Mothercat LTD, 427; Nathan Croft & Leggatt, and TAC, 312 location, 43; Port 411; supporting
projects, 84–85, 305; 387 Pan-Arabism: cultural Rashid, 61, 379; livelihoods, 29
Motherwell Bridge National College of club, 159; education, seashore prior, 269; Al Qasimi, Majid bin
Engineering Company Choueifat, 45, 165, 217; Kuwait, 218, of Sharjah, 51, 58; Saqr, 29, 73
merger, 85, 427 234–35 221; media, 61, 105; in Sharjah timeline, Al Qasimi, Nama bint
Mothercat Roundabout, nationalism: in schools, policies, 223, 225; 411; unbuilt seaside, Majid bin Saqr, 28–35
85, 90–91 221. See also and travel, 218; in 253; view at night, Al Qasimi, Noura bint
Motivate Media Group, Arabism; Nasserism; Trucial States, 224, 360 Sultan, 33, 250
271 Pan-Arabism 411 post office: in film, 377; Al Qasimi, Saqr bin
Al Moumin, Hamad, 32 Natsheh, Hamdi, 428 Pan-Arab modernity, 23 Islamicization, 327, Khalid: cannon, 112
Mounir & Partners. See Netherlands: persons Paradinas, Juan, 99 331; miniatures park, Al Qasimi, Saqr bin
Khatib & Alami from, 189, 381; firms Paraskevaides, George, 246–57; project, Sultan (ruler), 32, 56;
Mujaes, Kamal Philippe, from, 357, 411; 425 86–89; in Sharjah Arab League, 224;
422, 427 person from Dutch parks. See public space timeline, 410, 411, 413 BBME contract, 81;
Mukundan, Prashanth, East Indies, 429 pedestrians: in system power: to shape history, building harbor, 73;
381 New Form Consultants, for cars, 67 55. See also memory; coup, 61, 411; inter-
Al Mulla, Ahmed, 197 428 performance: of knowledge Arab education, 217;
Al Mulla Group, 428 New Zealand: person modernity, 132–137 preservation: dhows, literary culture, 218;
municipality: in from, 426 Perret, Auguste, 422 201; through Pan-Arabism, 223;
BBME building, nightclubs: hotel bars, Peters, Tony, 131 photography, 6; role in assassination,
81; beautification 403–07; hotels, 271; petroleum: deal Sharjah Creek, 63. 71; in Sharjah
program, 10, nightlife, 412. See brokering, 93; See also archives; timeline, 410–11;
413; expert, 114; also music; society disposable income, heritage tenacity, 56–57

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Al Qasimi, Saud bin El Razzaq, Ahmad Abd, Al Sabah, Badr Scotland: firms from, Sheba Hotel, 49, 92–93,
Khalid, 32–34, 221; 283 Muhammad Ahmad, 197, 395, 396, 427, 110, 117, 265, 411
commission, 179 refugees: generations 115, 226 429; persons from, Shell, 421; filling station
Al Qasimi, Sultan bin in neighborhood, Al Sabah, Jabir Al 267, 426 prototype, 39, 200–01
Muhammad (ruler): 249–53. See also Ahmad, 223 Seatrain Lines Inc., 412 Sherzad, Ihsan, 424
appointment, immigration; Al Sabah, Sabah Al Al Seef Palace, 188–89, ships: renovated to
71, 411; building displacement Ahmad, 223 403, 404 hotel, 176
inauguration, 294; Regnault, Jean-Michel, Al Sabah, Sabah Al Serbia: person from, 422 Shubair, Najah, 251
Choueifat, 235; 231, 259, 351, 427 Salim (emir): at Al Serkal, Isa bin Shubair, Ramadan, 251
commissions, Regnault & Partners, ceremony, 226 Abdullatif, 410 Shukla, Ramesh, 26
98–103, 127, 139, 351, 403, 418, 427 Al Sabah, Abdullah Al Setec (Société d’études signage: banner, 227;
149, 188–89, 193, regulations: of Salim (emir): building techniques et on Dubai–Sharjah
259, 263, 269, 331, behavioral norms, schools, 30; media, économiques), 399; road, 6–7; “Smile,
347, 367, 387; coup 136; building, 145; 105; visit, 219 profile, 428 You Are in Sharjah,”
attempt, 412; as of hotel shows Sabbagh, Hasib, 422 Abu Shaar, Adnan, 165, 6, 111, 210, 408, 413;
designer, 121, 139, and alcohol, 403; sabkha, 60; gleaning 167, 428 vandalism, 251
189, 293, 323, 387; increasing, 327. See of, 72; road from, 52, Al Shaer, Saeed Obaid, Simon, P. C., 347
developing health also guidelines 250, 252 226 Singh, Kanwar Ramesh,
care, 191; helping Renault, 399 Saffarini, Adnan, 33, Shahnawaz: illustrator, 1, 428
house construction, residency agent, 51, 410 255, 428 202 Singh & Associates,
34; literary culture, residential areas: in Adnan Saffarini Office, Shaikh, Abdul Khalil, 73 418, 428
218; radio, 283; master plan, 67. See 89, 254–55, 381, 419 Shair & Partners. See Singh Kler, Karnail, 163,
scouts, 226; also houses; housing Saias, Guy, 428 Dar Al-Handasah 167, 422–23, 428–29
shareholder, 176; restaurants: juice bar, Salahuddin School, 32 Shaker, Ramzi, 121, Singh Vedi, Harbhajan,
as student, 218; US 160; Hotel Aladin, Saleh, Hussain 403, 426, 428 163, 167, 422–23,
visits, 411, 412 403; nightlife, 272; Mohamed, 295 Shammas, Shukri, 427 428–29
Al Qasimi, Sultan bin panorama, 407; Al Salaam Consultants, Al Shamsi, Ali, 423, 428 Six Construct, 231, 411,
Sagr bin Sultan, 226 Peking, 197–99; 418, 428 Al Shamsi, Mariam, 33 429
Al Qasimi I, Sultan bin Sheba Hotel, 117. See Al Saleh, Marwan, 235 Al Shamsi, Mohammed Skidmore, Owings &
Saqr (ruler), 121, 410 also society Al Saleh, Raed, 235 Hamad, 226, 345 Merrill, 428
Al Qasimi II, Sultan Riad, Ahmed, 428 Salman, Saeed Al Shamsi Housing, Slovenia: person from,
bin Saqr (ruler): Riad, Mahmoud M. M., 428 Abdullah, 372 344–45 425
petitioning British, Riad, Mohamed, 428 Sarraj, Kafa, 30 Shamsudheen, Smithson, Alison and
56; relations with Riad Architecture, 157, Sarry, Salma, 167 Sameesh, 347, 349 Peter: mat-building,
Kuwait, 30; in 427 Al Saud Co. Building, Shamsudheen, Samya, 244
Sharjah timeline, rivalry: intercity, 61, 101, 147, 178–79, 349 Snoek, Henk:
410; death of, 29 66–67, 399; shifts in, 187, 210 Shamsudheen, Shamil, photographer, 194
Qasimia Tower, 146–47 72. See also Trucial Saudi Arabia: diplomat, 349 SNTTA Building, 10–11,
Al Qasimiyah School: States 35; family name, 157; Al Sharhan, Abdullah 182–87
by Kuwait, 30, 73, Bou Rjaili, Nicolas, 210, 428 firms from, 421, 428; Ali, 283 Société Belge des
214–15, 218–20, RMJM (Robert Matthew flag, 49; funding, 411; Sharif, Hassan, 132–37 Bétons (SBB Group).
226, 410; school Johnson-Marshall): Jubail, 313; mosque, Sharjah Architects See Six Construct
prototype, 238–41 company profile, 428; 207; persons from, Office, 165, 167 Société Entrepose
Al Qassemi, Abdulaziz projects, 85, 305; 207, 420; remittances Sharjah Business G.T.M. pour les
Mohamed, 183 resident engineer, 424 from, 59 Centre, 416 Travaux Petroliers
Al Qassemi, Sager bin roads: auto repair Saudi Binladin Group Sharjah Cinema, 183, Maritimes. See ETPM
Mohamed, 231, 351 shops, 71; (SBG), 411, 428. 196–99, 273; in film, society: Bedouin, 114;
Al Qassimi, Muhammad, development, 74–75; See also Bin Laden 377 bowling alleys, 309;
287 first asphalt, 52, 411; companies Sharjah Cooperative celebrations, 228–29,
Al Qassimi Hospital, flooding, 381; flyover, Sawlani, Narain, 39 Society: establishment 307; change in, 166;
190–91, 412; in film, 301, 397; grid, 73; Sayyar, Aisha, 32 of, 33 collecting stories,
377 guidelines, 67; scarcity: interpretations Sharjah Cricket 166; conservative,
Qatar: firms from, 420, intercity, 66; junction, of, 55. See also Association Stadium, 29; contradictions,
423, 427 180–81; at night, economy 302–03, 305 275; freedom of
Qataya, Abdel Wahhab, 360; paving, 114; schools: aerial, 233; Sharjah Engineering expression, 275;
283 personal narrative, from barracks, 45, Office, 78–79 friendships, 249;
Al Qawasim, 410 359–65; proposed 235; for boys, 238–41; Sharjah Fire gender in education,
plan, 60; raising of, as civic investment, Department, 20, 323 220; in hotels, 403;
race: “white man’s 139; rehousing, 257; 239; as project Sharjah Gate impact of Kuwait,
privilege,” 290; role slogan on hillocks, commissioner, 235; Development, 149, 151 223; international,
models, 363. See also 408; traffic jam, courtyard, 214–15; Sharjah Hotel 110, 347; luxury, 267;
discrimination 316–17 Fatima Al Zahra, Enterprises, 176 media as observer
radio: merger, 283. See Rolla: square, 81, 103, 414; field trips, 90, Sharjah Municipality: of, 283; nativism,
also media 109, 118, 121, 226, 142, 204, 236, 318, building, 324, 331, 289; neighborhood,
RAF. See Royal Air Force 228–229, 295, 362, 374; free education, 322, 323, 415; 252; Palestinian
Rais, George, 147, 245, 422; tree, 61, 108, 114, 218; founded by institution, 147, 163, community, 248–53;
427 121, 228 local merchants, 217; 323, 327; employees, parties, 271–75;
Rais & Tukan Architects: Roosevelt, Franklin, 312 French, 231; German, 153, 247, 397, 413, schoolchildren,
co-founders’ Rostamani Building, 323 231; for girls, 219, 425, 429. See also 214–15; systemic
biographies, 427, 429; Royal Air Force: base 220; high school, 359; municipality change, 116; around
company profile, 427; as city, 115; camp, Kuwaiti mission, 30, Sharjah National Park. tree, 121; university,
projects, 159, 243 43, 44–47, 51, 217–27; prototype See miniatures park 359–62. See also
Al Ramla: residential 422; cinema, 416; for, 238–41, Sharjah Sports Club, culture; immigration;
architecture in, 34; establishment in 242–45; in Sharjah 304–05 demographics
houses, 351–53 Sharjah, 41, 55, 410; timeline, 410–12; Sharjah State SOGEA, 413
Rashid, Noor Ali, 97 as fenced-in site, 73; student activities, Telecommunications, Sogex Contracting &
Rasoul, Haseeb, 249 power plant, 115; 222; Taymiyah, 292–93 Trading Company,
Ratnam, Deva, 381–85 structure reuse, 49, 410; teachers, Sharjah Women’s 147, 429
Ratnam, Prem: 235; withdrawal, 32–34, 219; trade, Association: Somah, Ghassan, 252
photographer, 107, 113 58, 221, 410–11, leadership, 33 souks: Arsa, 29; camera
378–85 Royal Dutch Shell. See 425; typology, 239. Sharma, Chetan, 303 from, 34; Central,
Al-Rayes, Sabah: PACE, Shell See also education; Frank Shaw & Partners, 126–41; corniche
312 Ruehl, Nick, 12, 423, 428 various school names 421 and Mareija, 24–25,

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 81, 127, 161; Al TYPSA. See Tecnica y Trippe, Juan, 312 Union Contractors, 250 representations of,
Majarrah, 259, 426; Proyectos Trucial States: British United Colour Film, 377; local hires, 81;
municipality, 397; telecommunications: conquest of, 55; 379–81 municipal, 10–11;
Sager, 34; sanitary, state, 293 British presence, 51; urban fabric: as school staff, 231;
71; shopkeepers, telephones: early British withdrawal, backdrop, 136; staff housing, 149;
139; as stage, 135; scarcity, 250, 293 45; construction depictions of, 60 tents of workers, 155;
vegetable, 138–42. tents: for Arab and sites, 26–27; US: Agency for waiters’ race, 280–81
See also Central South Asian Council, 225, 410; International WSP | Parsons
Souk, vegetable souk employees, 45; Development Office, Development, 312; Brinckerhoff, 424
Spain: firm from, 99; Bedouin, 114; expo, 191, 220; federation, firms, 77, 309, 312,
persons from, 121, 173; khaima, 30; 411; firms from, 369, 411, 420–21, al yaazra, 73
267, 426. See also motif, 210, 267; 425; first census, 423, 427; foreign Yemen: family name,
Tecnica y Proyectos worker, 155 411; health care, policy, 312; persons 157; firm from, 420;
Spinney’s, 354–55 Thorp Modelmakers, 191; Kuwait role in from, 309, 312, 420, person from, 93, 420,
sports: bowling, 309; 131 education, 32, 217; 423, 428; segregation 425
complex, 305; cricket Thompson, Benjamin C.: Oman Scouts, 410; history, 290 Young, Ron, 429
narrative, 363–65; TAC, 420 summit, 93
cricket stadium, 302– topography: designed Tukan, Jafar: Amman Varkey, Cheeran, 347 Zabbal, Salim, 105, 107
03; cycling, 124–25; for contracts, 71; archive, 165; vegetable souk, 138–41, Al Zahra Hospital, 34,
fishing, 356–57; hotel Sharjah subsoil, biography, 429; 176, 327; corniche, 73, 320–21, 333
workers, 280–81; 59–60 company co-founder, 316; miniatures park, Al Zahra’a Square.
politics of, 223; Al Toum, Mukhtar, 114 427; Qasimia Tower, 247 See Clock Tower
student, 235; walking, tourism: airline 147; kindergarten Velasco, Jesús, 183 Roundabout
362; workers, 303 collaborations, prototype, 243; Lake Verger et Delporte Zaidi, Tanweer Ahmad:
Sprung Instant 277, 403; “Arabian Khalid Tower, 159 Complex, 414 chief engineer, 73,
Structures, 173, 429 Riviera,” 193; Jafar Tukan & Partners, Vilkkanundu 152, 397; biography,
stadiums: cricket, economy, 71, 127, 147, 429 Swapnangal (film), 429
302–03; sports club, 272, 312, 412–13. Tunisia & United Arab 377 Zakhem Construction,
304–05 See also economy; Emirates Engineering Volvo/Caterpillar 421
Stewart, Mel: Halcrow, hotels; leisure; Company, 369, 429 Buildings, 338–39 Al Zarooni, Ismail, 33,
139, 429 SNTTA Building Turkey: persons from, Volvo Trucks, 339 179, 429
Stone, Edward Durell, 312 towers: Burj Al Kubs, 207, 421, 422 De Vries, Reinder, 189, Al Zarooni General
storms: flash flood, 114; 99, 101, 122; clock, 197, 381, 429 Contracting
flooded streets, 384– 94–97; kindergarten, UAE: architecture, 147; De Vries & Partners: Company, 179, 429
85, 413; protection 242–45; Kuwait, 145; artist from, 97, 133; founder biography, zoning: proposals,
from flooding, 59 Lake Khalid, 159; creation of, 411; 429; profile, 429; 62–65
streetlights: early minaret-inspired currency, 127, 411, projects, 189, 197,
installation, 24–25, air control, 387–93; 413; educational 384, 417
81–83, 114, 300–01, mixed-use, 147; history, 239, 243,
356–57, 411 modernist, 183; 217–27; firms from, Wafa, Fathi, 250
streets. See roads other, 415–417; 257, 420, 422–23, Al Wahda Street, 79,
students: American Qasimia, 147; 425–29; first national 85, 301, 343, 367,
school system, 359; residential, 147, 149 census, 411; flag, 399, 412; under
maritime transport, Towfic, Sulaiman, 180 353; intercity rivalry, construction, 26–27
369; petitioning Traboulsi, Karim, 107 399; inter-emirate Wassef, Ramses Wissa,
rulers, 219 trade: Expo Centre, border scuffle, 413; 420
Al Sulayeman, 172–77, 411; of media censorship, water: in atrium, 309;
Mohamed Abd El gold, 59; mission, 275, 290; ministry imported plants, 267;
Aziz, 418 149; pearling, 217; commissions, 239– level management,
Sultan, Ghazi, 421 regional, 410; Sharjah 45; nascence, 105, 67; symbolism, 363;
supermarkets: Trade School, 58; 106–15, 223, 283, table, 59; tanks,
Choithrams, 340–41; World Trade Centre, 411; notable families, 297–99; waiters’
Spinney’s, 354–55 Dubai, 399. See also 251; persons from, race, 280. See also
Swami, Narayana, 347 economy 29, 32, 35, 133, 179, fountains
Sweden: firm from, 425 traders: involvement 247, 251, 267, 283, waterfronts: Khalid
Switzerland: firm from, at port, 61; move to 303, 421, 423, 426, Lagoon, 71, 153;
424; huckster from, 72 Dubai, 59; at expo, 428; population, unbuilt project, 149,
Syria: firm from, 422; 173; Iranian and 287–88; Union 153, 157. See also
persons from, 122, Indian, 217; pearl, Monument, 381 corniche; beaches;
165, 180, 212, 252, 410 UK: British attacks, ports; lakes; leisure
347, 420, 428 traffic department, 324 55, 121, 410; British water supply, 412–13;
Trans-Arabian Pipeline Council, 197; for RAF, 41, 45
TAC. See The Architects Company, 313, 380, departure from A. E. Watson Ltd., 387
Collaborative 420 UAE, 45, 107–13; G. A. Wayss & Co.
Taha, Abdullah, 250 transformation: departure from See Beton- und
Taha, Mustafa, 219 coffeehouses, 285; Yemen, 93, 411; Monierbau AG
Tange, Kenzo, 427 corniche, 20–22, 301; firms from, 45, 85, West Germany. See
tariffs: born by Sharjah façade, 87; farming 191, 201, 305, 355, Germany
residents, 59 land to school site, 411–13, 422–27; White, Terence, 429
taxis: intercity cinema, 231; Khalid Lagoon, Foreign Office, 56; White Young & Partners:
197; wallahs, 362 153, 267; of life, persons from, 34, 55, company profile, 429;
Taryam, Abdallah 115, 283–84, 290; 201, 305, 421–29; project, 127, 355;
Omran, 226, 251 as stability, 71; for role in education, Islamic architecture,
Taryam, Taryam Omran, tourism, 127; urban, 218–227; Suez 134
226 56, 67, 127, 134, 183, Crisis, 221. See also Widnell & Trollope:
Tecnica y Proyectos: 403 British Petroleum; project, 387
company profile, 429; translation: by artists, Sir William Halcrow wind tower. See barjeel;
projects, 98–103, 133; note on, 6; of Al & Partners; Scotland; towers
183, 419 Arabi article, 106–17 Trucial States Wing, Wayman C., 313
The Technical Office trees: as monument, 121. UN: UAE program, workers: construction
for Architectural See also Rolla Tree 163–65; consultant crew, 336; cricket,
& Engineering Tripe & Wakeham, 45, for, 424; recognition, 303; detailing
Consultancy, 207 419 411 souk, 141; filmic

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