DESIGN
A new exhibition in Germany showcases the domestic lifestyles of the Arab world, satisfying a Western fascination with the Orient’s ‘ideal for living’ that dates back to Le Corbusier and beyond.
Many of today’s architects and designers draw inspiration from the Arab world. Yet due to the current political situation, the West’s knowledge of these countries is generally limited to news reports on politics and social issues. This may be partially redressed by an evocative exhibition showing at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany until the end of August. Called ‘Living under the Crescent Moon’, it explores the myths and realities of the Arab world, offering a comprehensive and fascinating survey of Arab domestic cultures. The elaborate installation conveys the refined sensuality of life in Arab countries. Demonstrating the diversity of domestic lifestyles between Morocco, Syria and the Arabian peninsula, it embraces the nomadic tents of the Tuareg and Bedouins to Moroccan casbahs; the grand courtyard houses in cities such as Cairo,
Clockwise: Nomads, Mauretania; Rural house in Qahtan, Saudi Arabia; Living room in the Tihama region, Saudi Arabia; Interior of a Casbah near Skoura, Morocco.
Marrakech and Damascus to buildings by 20th-century architects such as Hassan Fathy from Egypt and Elie Mouyal from Morocco. The rich heritage of Arabian domestic architecture reveals an astonishing modernity – in the multi-functional uses of rooms and objects, the systems to regulate indoor temperatures, and the efficient use of water. Fathy and Mouyal utilise many of these solutions in their buildings, marrying them with elements of modern architecture. Reconstructed rooms and models enable visitors to experience different building types, while domestic objects such as ceramics, tex-
tiles, tools and architectural elements provide impressions of everyday rituals. Photographs and films show the interiors of homes, offering insights into a little known realm of the Arab world, as the private sphere is traditionally protected from outsiders. The exhibition makes it immediately evident that design challenges are the same in the West and in the Arab world: for example, solutions for life’s routines, such as sleeping, eating and housekeeping; or how decoration, form and function relate to one another in buildings and objects, and how ornaments, symbols and colours still express cultural identity. Arab countries can draw upon a vast repertoire of solutions within their own traditions with regard to sensible and sustainable modernisation of indigenous architecture and modes of living. Ultimately, what can Westerners learn from all this? That hospitality is and remains the highest virtue in any household. www.design-museum.de __Yvonne Courtney
PHOTOGRAPHER: DEIDI VON SCHAEWEN (2) THIERRY MAUGER (2). ALL © VITRA DESIGN MUSEUM
DOMESTIC BLISS
74 ALEF MAGAZINE March/April 2008
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