Islamic Architecture Today and Tomorrow: (Re)Defining the Field

This book brings together established experts, designers, and emerging scholars from the broad world of Islamic architecture to consider the field’s changing nature and continued relevance in our rapidly globalizing context. Reflective essays address the meaning of “Islamic” in built environments, as well as the geographical, chronological, and disciplinary diversity of a dynamic field of study that encompasses far more than medieval mosques and tombs. Essays address the use and interpretation of historic structures and spaces; contemporary design, conservation, and touristic experience; and research, publication, and pedagogical practices.

Looking forward, the volume invites readers to consider built environments in Islamic contexts as integral to global systems from an interdisciplinary and inclusive standpoint. While this volume offers nuanced perspectives on a host of pressing questions, it ultimately aims to advance a necessary and ongoing conversation. The book will have wide appeal among architectural historians, art historians, and other scholars working on material in the traditional Islamic regions of the world (North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia) and beyond, as well as scholars of religion and society.

More information here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/I/bo186918478.html

Table of Contents:

"Introduction: The Changed and Changing Field of ‘Islamic Architecture’"
Mohammad Gharipour and Daniel E. Coslett

1. Research and Scholarship

Chapter 1.
"The Study of Islamic Architecture: Reflections on an Expanding Field"
Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom

Chapter 2.
"Widening the Horizons for the Study of Islamic Architecture"
Bernard O’Kane

Chapter 3.
"Modern Architecture and Colonialism in the Islamic World"
Brian L. McLaren

2. Scope and Scale

Chapter 4.
"From Garden to Landscape: Lessons from the Taj and the Alhambra"
D. Fairchild Ruggles

Chapter 5.
"Invisible Geographies in the Study of Islamic Architecture"
Abidin Kusno

Chapter 6.
"Silencing Palestinian Architectural History in Israel: Reflections on Scholarship and Activism"
Alona Nitzan-Shiftan

Chapter 7.
"Islamic Architecture in the Americas: Advancing a Transregional and Hemispheric Approach"
Caroline ‘Olivia’ M. Wolf

3. Historiography and Context

Chapter 8.
"Cultural Encounters, Local Practice, and Historical Process in the Ancient Middle East"
Dell Upton

Chapter 9.
"Neo-Eurocentrism and Science: Implications for the Historiography of Islamic Art and Architecture"
Samer Akkach

Chapter 10.
"Carving an Epistemological Space for Southeast Asia: Historiographical and Critical Engagements"
Imran bin Tajudeen

4. Fieldwork and Documentation

Chapter 11.
"A Field Without Fieldwork: Sustaining the Study of Islamic Architecture in the Twenty-first Century"
Nancy Um

Chapter 12.
"Architectural History in Turkey: Between Fieldwork and Archival Research"
Patricia Blessing

Chapter 13.
"Documenting Islamic Architecture: Objectives and Outcomes in a Time of War"
Sharon C. Smith

5. Education and Pedagogy

Chapter 14.
"Reorienting Perspectives: Why I Do Not Teach a Course Titled ‘Islamic Architecture’"
Jelena Bogdanovic

Chapter 15.
"Decolonizing Architectural Knowledge: Situating Middle Eastern Pedagogies in a Globalizing World"
Ashraf M. Salama

Chapter 16.
"Educating the Public about Islamic Art and Architecture through Museums"
Sheila R. Canby

6. Curation and Publication

Chapter 17.
"Displaying Islamic Arts in Global Cities"
Jorge Correia

Chapter 18.
"Curating the ‘Islamic’: The Personal and the Political"
Leslee Katrina Michelsen

Chapter 19.
"Islamic Architecture on the Move: Publishing Architectural History in the Digital Age"
Nancy Micklewright

Chapter 20.
"Illustrating Islamic Architecture: On Visual Presentation and Scholarship"
Lorenz Korn

7. Globalization and Change

Chapter 21.
"Uneven Geographies and Neoliberal Urban Transformation in Arab Cities"
Rami F. Daher

Chapter 22.
"Affection for Nouvel Architecture: On Contemporary (Islamic) Architecture and Affect"
Sebnem Yücel

Chapter 23.
"The ‘Islamic-Modern’ Project in this Age of Uncertainty"
Vikramaditya Prakash

8. Experience and Use

Chapter 24.
"The Tourist Gaze, Visiting Mosques, and the Folds of Architecture"
Elif Kalaycioglu and Waleed Hazbun

Chapter 25.
"Decolonizing the Conservation of Islamic Built Heritage in Egypt"
Hossam Mahdy

Chapter 26.
"(Dis)Placement and Placemaking: Reconsidering Islamic Architecture through Refugee Agency"
Kivanç Kilinç and Bulent Batuman

9. Practice and Profession

Chapter 27.
"'Islamic Architecture' and the Profession"
Nasser Rabbat

Chapter 28.
"A Trinity of Values in Architecture for Muslim Societies"
Rasem Badran

Chapter 29.
"Relevance, Tradition, and Practice in Islamic Architecture"
Kamil Khan Mumtaz

Chapter 30.
"Architectural Competitions: Creating Dialogues and Promoting Excellence"
Hasan-uddin Khan

Contributor Biographies

Index