Employing traditional heritage elements in shaping contemporary architecture

Abstract

The architecture of Baghdad suffers from a lot of problems, ranging from the application of materials and form to the expression in contemporary buildings that not only change the traditional architectural identity but also the performance of the buildings that meet the needs of the local population. This unfortunately increases the damage related to cultural values and environmental sustainability regardless of adaptable solutions that can improve the energy efficiency of building performance. The traditional elements of architecture in the city of Baghdad represent a source of inspiration for contemporary architecture and are exploited to enhance its identity and spatial affiliation. The process of exploiting these elements takes place on several levels, including those that achieve environmental, symbolic, or formal aspects. Hence, the research problem crystallizes in the lack of clarity on the levels of benefiting from the elements of traditional local architecture in enhancing the identity of contemporary architecture and its spatial affiliation. The research aims to shed light on how to analyze the components of the performance and value of traditional architecture in the city of Baghdad, which is rich in cultural heritage and which can be translated into contemporary architecture that creates continuity in traditional cultural identity. The study uses the theoretical descriptive approach through which data is collected on the vocabulary of local traditional architecture of the city of Baghdad and its roles at the environmental, formal, and aesthetic levels to arrive at a main vocabulary for the theoretical framework, which is represented in four basic vocabulary represented in the aspects of form formation, dependence on the environment, and the interface. , aesthetic aspect, and cultural value. These vocabulary were applied to two recently elected projects in the city of Baghdad, through which the four indicators and the role of each of them in enhancing the identity of contemporary architecture and its spatial affiliation were analyzed.