abu-nuwas: Abu Nuwas Project, Baghdad, Iraq
Planned and Designed 1981
The Abu Nuwas Conservation Development Project was the redevelopment and revitalization of an important band of downtown Baghdad, Iraq, stretching 3.5 kilometers along the Tigris River. The master plan focuses on Abu Nuwas Street as a formal boulevard, punctuated by a number of major cultural facilities. The city and the river are reunited by extending these cultural facilities out to the river edge to leave redeveloping the existing riverfront park as a varied series of gardens, and providing a continuous pedestrian route along the articulated river edge.
These new facilities, gardens, and urban recreational activities hark back to the Abu Nuwas area's traditional role as the cultural and entertainment centre of the city, to the historic importance of Baghdad and Iraq as the primary cultural centre in the region, and to the cultural and intellectual activities that were focused in Baghdad during the Abbasid period (9th-12th centuries AD). Major riverfront cultural facilities include an Arts and Crafts School, Baghdad History Museum, Plastic Arts Institute, National Library, Performing Arts Complex, and Science Discovery Centre.
Inland, within the existing urban fabric, incremental private redevelopment was to be guided by a detailed set of urban design guidelines, while major Government-initiated comprehensive redevelopment was to occur at key locations in the International Sector, and adjacent to four stations of the Baghdad Metro system.
In addition to the major new construction, the project was to include conservation of Betaween, an important section of the Abu Nuwas area, which represents, in its existing buildings, the various styles of the traditional Baghdad urban and suburban houses from the early part of this century. Selective removal and infill development was to also clarify the residential, commercial and entertainment functions occurring in the area.
Illustration by Michael McCann
