An aerial view of the wind-towers in the Bastakia district in Bur Dubai.©Gulf News |
Bastakia, in Bur Dubai, is the last Barjeel (wind-tower) district left on the Arab side of the Gulf which withstood the construction boom of the 1960s and 1970s, said Djamel Boussaa, a lecturer in architectural engineering at the UAE University in Al Ain.
The area, he said, reflected an important era for the city that developed in the first half of the 20th century. The lecturer described it as the only remaining old housing district featuring rising wind-towers built around 1902 by a group of Iranian merchants.
Boussaa, who teaches in the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, highlighted the architectural and cultural importance of Bastakia in a research paper delivered to an architectural conservation conference.
He said cultural and historical tourism could revitalise the area and give it more meaning, adding: "A sustainable conservation approach of the area should be adopted."
The Historical Building Section of Dubai Municipality, he said, had been developing a plan for Bastakia and had moved its offices to two renovated buildings in the area, stressing the importance of making the area a desirable place to live and work.
The department has been working on the restoration of Bastakia since 1996, after the threat of its demolition had passed.
Other proposals the section has been exploring, he said, included wooing owners back to their restored houses and/or loaning properties to people who could appreciate their historical value. The section is also keen to revive the area by constructing tourist walkways inside the district.
Boussaa said that there were 50 houses in the area in 1975. Each had been designed around a courtyard for an extended family, however, today only half have survived.
Boussaa said that the conservation of architectural heritage has been a main aim in the UAE during the last two decades. The expert pointed out that the economic boom had brought about an astonishing variety of architectural styles which, hitherto, were alien to the UAE.
"In order to save what was left of Dubai's urban heritage, Dubai Municipality has established a conservation strategy which will last into 2008," he said.
