Insediamenti di civiltà. L’Iraq Housing Program di Costantinos A. Doxiadis fra tradizioni locali e modernità globale (1955-1959)
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Abstract: Thanks to renegotiated oil agreements and the ensuing influx of funds into state coffers, Iraq, in the 1950s, enjoyed an unprecedented period of development. The introduction of new air routes and the signing of important commercial treaties opened the country up to cultural exchanges with the West and brought to Baghdad architects of the calibre of Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. In parallel, the government established the Development Board [DB] and allocated to it 70% of all oil revenues for the purpose of creating modern settlements for the population. In 1955, the Greek architect and town planner Constantinos A. Doxiadis was called upon by the DB to undertake the creation of what became known as “the biggest ever Mideast housing scheme”1. Drawing on Doxiadis’ unpublished diaries, this essay has a dual purpose: to disclose his opinions of the Iraqi modernization process, and to frame the importance of the new settlements for the development of local society.
Keywords: Constantinos A. Doxiadis; Iraq Housing Program; Modernization; Settlements of Civilisation; “Design Colonialism”
Abstract: Thanks to renegotiated oil agreements and the ensuing influx of funds into state coffers, Iraq, in the 1950s, enjoyed an unprecedented period of development. The introduction of new air routes and the signing of important commercial treaties opened the country up to cultural exchanges with the West and brought to Baghdad architects of the calibre of Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. In parallel, the government established the Development Board [DB] and allocated to it 70% of all oil revenues for the purpose of creating modern settlements for the population. In 1955, the Greek architect and town planner Constantinos A. Doxiadis was called upon by the DB to undertake the creation of what became known as “the biggest ever Mideast housing scheme”1. Drawing on Doxiadis’ unpublished diaries, this essay has a dual purpose: to disclose his opinions of the Iraqi modernization process, and to frame the importance of the new settlements for the development of local society.
Keywords: Constantinos A. Doxiadis; Iraq Housing Program; Modernization; Settlements of Civilisation; “Design Colonialism”