Preserving a slice of life

First the bad news: Some of the finest examples of regional architecture are in danger of becoming history. Now for the good news: Dubai Municipality has initiated urgent steps to conserve buildings that are repositories of regional and cultural identity. Shalaka Paradkar examines the challenges of conservation in the world's fastest growing city.

One of the first thoughts that come to mind as you approach Dubai Municipality's latest museum is Mexican poet Octavio Paz's line, "The past is not past, it is still passing by".

Tucked away on the first floor of an old house, amidst a knot of short, squat buildings fronting the Deira creek is the Municipality museum. As you ascend the stairway, you can breathe in the soft fragrances of cinnamon, rose and cummin that waft in from the spices and aromatic herbs that are heaped in open trays in stores located on the ground floor.

The spice shops have been there for over half a century and from the looks of it, they won't be shifting out for another century at least. This building espouses a unique home-grown architectural style - the 'khan' or agency, where shops are located on the ground floor and rooms on the first floor.

Upstairs, the four-room former headquarters of Dubai Municipality has been painstakingly restored. You can marvel at vintage royal decrees or be amazed by rent receipts from the '60s ... when a few annas per square foot was all one paid for prime Creek-front property. (An anna was one-sixteenth of an Indian rupee, Dubai's official currency until 1973.)

You may sit in a darkened room, at a table where Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum once sat at meetings to decide Dubai's future, and watch a five-minute documentary of Dubai's progress.

A blurry black-and-white montage of memories affords you a virtual tour of the making of the Maktoum and Garhoud bridges, the excavation of Shindagha tunnel, the Flame roundabout commemorating the striking of oil in 1969 ... On your way out of the Municipality museum, an elderly guard proffers sweets and a visitor's book.

A quick glance through the pages of the book is enough to see that the majority of visitors here are foreign tourists.

How come Dubai residents are not overly interested in having a glimpse of the past? Are sleeker, shinier, taller towers casting a shadow on these historical monuments? Don't historical buildings matter to people any more?

"There are four reasons why historic buildings matter," responds Rashad Bukhash, Director of General Projects Department at Dubai Municipality.

The fact remains, though, that conservation is seen as the antithesis of development. One way to get people to care is by giving old buildings new uses - like the Municipality Museum.

Smart reuse revives decaying urban areas, something that can be seen from Barcelona to Bur Dubai. Once old buildings are retro-fitted to become art galleries, cafes, restaurants, bookshops, museums and offices, new life and vitality gets pumped into the local economy.

Property values start to appreciate as local attractions are carved out of once-moribund precincts.

Look no further than Deira's Al Ras quarter. In one of its historic complexes, you can find Dubai's oldest school, Al Ahmadiya school, The Heritage House built in 1890, and a bustling restaurant around the same courtyard.

Not too many tourists would have trekked to this corner of Dubai before, but the superbly restored complex is now a powerful magnet for those who want to see a traditional, turn-of-the-century UAE home.

One of Dubai's most successful examples of adaptive reuse of a historic building is the Majlis Gallery in Bastakiya. Before its reincarnation as a vibrant art space, the Majlis was home to gallery co-owner, Alison Collins.

She has used it in one form or another for the past 30 years, and her only complaint has been the termites and water leakage.

"It's the ambience of the place that drew me here. I now live in an apartment... but the Majlis continues to be my second home," says Alison.

While glitzier monuments have ticket sales to subsidise their maintenance, humbler residential architecture can only be revived by sensitive tenants (who need to take water seepage and termites in their stride!).

Eco-friendly too

Adaptive reuse is good for the environment too. Considering the quantum of energy used, the ensuing visual and sound pollution that is the by-product of a new construction, reusing an older building is cheaper and more sustainable.

In keeping with modern conservation practice, the Historic Buildings section seeks to restore the entire urban landscape - ancient alleyways, built fabric and streetscapes, rather than just isolated buildings.

(Typical of Islamic cities, the winding alleys or sikkas were shaded by houses on either side. These passages, using an ingenious system of ancient engineering, also funnelled the breeze through the settlement keeping the residents and pedestrians cool. One reason why the Bastakiya retains that authentic feel is because of the way the street-house connections have been maintained).

The Historical Buildings section of Dubai Municipality, also housed in a restored 100-year-old house in Bastakiya, has earmarked five urban zones for restoration:

Hatta Heritage Village, located 100 km out of the city, also falls under its purview. In the 16 years since its inception, the section has restored 105 buildings and hopes to restore
230 by 2010.

Now for the bad news

Nearly 60 of these buildings are privately owned, making them vulnerable to demolition and inappropriate repairs. Nothing can be more telling about a society than the way it handles its past. And Dubai's past, though protected by expert hands, is in danger of crumbling and being lost in the sands of time.

The news is grim. Of the 3,000 estimated historic buildings in the city, only 300 survive. "We are losing our built heritage at the rate of one historic building a day. Unless they are protected by law, there's little that can be done to reverse the process," says Bukhash.

This law, long-overdue, is being drafted by the Ministry of Information and Culture to protect historic buildings in the UAE. By bringing in laws that will prevent owners of historic buildings from altering or redeveloping their properties without permission, conservationists hope to secure the future of the few remaining historic buildings.

Bukhash believes the law, expected to be ready in a couple of months, will protect historical buildings and sites, and facilitate their inclusion in the Unesco world heritage list.

After all, legislation is the conservationist's most potent weapon. Other historic cities such as Cairo and Venice have benefited from a mix of fiscal incentives and strong laws (or the carrot-and-stick approach). They have gone a long way in convincing heritage property owners not to tear down their stately homes.

The Historic Buildings section already has a robust framework in place for restoration.

Ahmad Mahmood Ahmad, head of the section, explains: "We have four divisions within this section. The first is responsible for documentation. It records the present condition of the structure.

"The second is the contracting division which undertakes the actual restoration on site. The third undertakes interior refurbishments, while the fourth section is responsible for raising social awareness by creating publicity material."

The biggest hurdle, apart from the lack of legislation, is the lack of public awareness. An aware and involved citizenry spells the difference between life and death as far as heritage architecture is concerned.

In Mumbai, India, for instance, local citizens petitioned the government to maintain the Victorian-era Oval Maidan, which had deteriorated into a dingy, vice-ridden parkland. Following a High Court ruling, a local citizens' group raised funds and undertook the restoration work, keeping conservation guidelines in mind.

Similar steps would help people realise the value of the 200-year-old heritage precinct, Bastakiya. Business owners, who set up shop there hoping to profit from the unique medieval ambience, rue the lack of awareness.

"The sad fact is that an average resident is still unaware about the historicity and beauty of this place. A majority of our clientele are tourists and visitors from other emirates," says Mojgan Ghandchi, owner of Bastakiah Nights restaurant.

So, is heritage conservation in the region still a top-heavy movement, with awareness hardly percolating to the level of ordinary citizens?

"It's a bit of ... top-down and grassroots. Local conservation groups have been able to alert us on occasion if a building was to be torn down, or if it is in a state of acute disrepair. Yet the onus of preservation lies with the Historic Buildings section," says Bukhash.

Owing to the number of buildings they have restored over the years, Dubai Municipality's expertise has been deployed across other emirates and abroad as well. It was approached by the Abu Dhabi authorities to look at urban renewal of the Qasr al Hisn.

It restored the UAE's oldest mosque in Bidya for the Fujairah authorities, and is now restoring Masafi fort and historic homes in Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah.

Outside the UAE, Dubai Municipality was drafted as consultants for the restoration of, among other places, sites in Syria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

The process

A successful restoration process involves cleaning, repairing and renovating, but they have to be done so as not to damage any valuable details or stress the building further.

Modern upgrades like telephones and cabling are integrated in the least obtrusive manner, so as not to detract from the historicity of the building.

"One of our first priorities is to ensure all restoration follows guidelines set in our internal building codes," says Ahmed Mahmood Ahmed.

"Though the codes are in Arabic now, they will shortly be published in English. Another important document we follow is Elements of Traditional Architecture, published by us, which sets down proportions and measurements for elements such as arches and ornaments found in Emirati architecture."

Explaining how re-use is determined, Ahmed says, "The Conservation Committee has the final say in deciding the kind of business allowed in heritage precincts. For instance, buildings in Bastakiya are leased (based on) four types of occupation patterns: for non-profit organisations such as WWF, for museums and art galleries, for souks and shopping, and for residences.

"All tenants sign a lease undertaking that they will not carry out any repairs or restoration to the premises without permission from the Committee."

Defining characteristics

Emirati architecture is distinguished by certain well-defined characteristics, shaped by the climate and the Islamic way of life. Chief among these are the courtyards. As relevant to modern architecture today, courtyards are temperature regulators in an arid climate.

They cool the interior of a house by setting up convection air currents. Hot air from the interior is funnelled upwards, while cooler air blows in through the rooms ranged around the central court.

Bastakiya's tony cafes have transformed them into pleasant places where you can sip a tall cool drink while admiring absolutely exquisite pieces of art. XVA Gallery has yards
of local muslin draped artily over its courtyard while the Eye gallery displays stunning pieces of sculpture.

Other clever climate control features of historic Emirati buildings include 'air pullers' and wind towers. Many contemporary buildings, such as the Madinat Jumeirah, have adapted windtowers as an expression of their regional identity. This has ensured that an icon of UAE national architecture will continue to reign in parts over Dubai's skyline.

In the past, wind towers rose high above the dwellings to capture the gusts of wind and funnel them into the rooms below. At XVA, one can still see how the windtowers work
as effective cooling devices.

Of course, in many cases the openings are protected with wire mesh to keep pigeons out, or are sealed to prevent water seepage - a constant headache for tenants of heritage properties.

Similarly, air pullers were devised in accordance with Islamic social norms of privacy.

As Bukhash explains, "The opening for a window was replaced by two parallel walls with a cavity in between. The interior wall was taller than the outer. 'Airpullers' allow the breeze to strike the higher wall, get funnelled through the opening and then pass between the lower wall into the room, providing both air and privacy to the occupants.''

The materials used in historic buildings reflected Dubai's position on the trade routes from Africa to Asia. Unlike today when cement and steel are used to fuel Dubai's development, in the past things were quite different.

Gypsum and coralstone, the building blocks of traditional architecture, had many advantages, chief among them being ease of supply.

"The gypsum was mined at Garhoud, while coralstone was quarried all along the coast. The coral stone used in construction was light and porous, acting as a perfect insulation.

"Traditional materials like lime and gypsum used for the plasterwork and ornamental details were easily available and more durable. A well-built historic building could easily outlive the 40-year lifespan of a concrete and steel one," informs Rashad Bukhash.

However, when it comes to authentic restoration, sourcing materials and people with the right skills can be a problem. Nearly all the materials once used for construction are now obsolete.

Yet in keeping with best practices as laid down in the 1966 Venice Charter, the conservation lodestar, restorers must use methods and materials used by contemporary craftsmen, so as to differentiate it from mere renovation.

That means historic buildings in Dubai use sarooj, or mud mortar, instead of cement. The chandral poles in ceiling joists are sourced from Tanzania, the coralstone comes from Yemen. India and Burma yield the teakwood used for decorative screens.

Likewise the technical skills to perform these projects are renewed through training. Says Ahmed Mahmud Ahmed, "Over the last 16 years, we have built a team comprising people from different nationalities, but all trained to work on historical buildings. The Historical Buildings section, started in 1990 with 6 labourers, has now grown to 380,
all trained in conservation work."

Restoration efforts at Bastakiya are at a frenzied pace, battling the onslaught of termites and seepage from underground water. Businesses established here have learnt to cope with the dust and noise of ongoing work, and the precinct's cars-free status ensures
the crowds stay out.

Within its solitude, you can stumble upon the 200-year-old remnant of a Dubai Fort wall, or a stamps museum, or browse through some cool Indian clothes at Fae.

The downside? Business owners rue the inordinate time in getting a trade license, the thick masonry where hammering a nail is a time-consuming project in itself, the high ceilings that challenge air-conditioners and the lack of private spaces within a house.

But given a chance, would they prefer moving out into a glass and steel high rise?
Oh, no, they say. After all, history lies enshrined here.