AMMAN - The architecture in Amman's older areas is characterised by practicality, economy and subtle elegance, an architect and heritage expert said on Thursday.
Describing the architectural style prevalent in Jabal Luweibdeh, one of the capital's oldest neighbourhoods, architect Rami Daher said early Arab settlers who migrated to Amman brought the architectural traits of the Levant with them.
"Amman was considered a land of opportunity when Transjordan was newly established in the early 1920s, so many Arab merchants chose to settle there," he noted, adding that buildings from that era are "humble, economic and not pretentious" but "elegant".
Delivering a lecture on Jabal Luweibdeh architecture at the Institut Français, Daher said the style of building developed in the 1940s-1960s into "dynamic architecture influenced by tropes of modernity" as newly graduated architects from Arab universities began collaborating with masons.
He added that a "tradition of coexistence" between Christians and Muslims and between different social segments characterised the culture that accompanied the urban expansion in Jabal Luweibdeh, one of the seven mountains forming Amman's centre.
"There were churches, mosques, schools, hospitals, cultural centres and a lot of embassies," the heritage expert elaborated, noting that an active public life developed in the area in the mid-20th century.
Daher said interest in and appreciation of "our urban Ammani culture" grew in the 1990s, which helped turn Jabal Luweibdeh into a "place of culture and art".
The lecture was organised by the Institut Français to launch a competition for designing a new façade for the cultural centre, which is located in Jabal Luweibdeh.
The proposed installation should incorporate the institute's new logo and complement the architectural style of Jabal Luweibdeh, according to Institut Français Director Charles-Henri Gros.
The competition celebrates the institute's five decades in Jordan and is in line with changing its name this year, having been previously called "Le Centre", Gros noted.
Architects, designers and artists can submit their proposals until the end of January 2012. Five judges, representing the institute, the French embassy and the Greater Amman Municipality will select the winner.
Daher said the Bajjali building, which includes the Institut Français, was built in the early 1960s.
The building provides an example of the modern style that characterised that era and possesses a subtle "urban sensitivity" and dynamism that many new structures lack, he said, explaining that it overlooks Sharia College Street and rotates to face the Paris Circle.
Dafer stressed that "functional diversity is very important in the city", and creating urban spaces that can be used as public spaces is important.
He said the circle and the cultural centre are a part of Amman's heritage, functioning as a "dynamic cultural duet" in the heart of Jabal Luweibdeh
© Jordan Times 2011
