Syrian update

Syrian refugee camp in Yarmouk, photo by Associated Press

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared recently that Turkey and Saudi Arabia tried to enter with their armies into Syria for the past two years. Various militant/terrorist groups operating in that country are known to be supported by the ruling elite in Turkey and Saudi Arabia while the legitimate government is allied with Russia, Iran and China.

Regarding this situation, Michael McFaul, former US ambasador to Russia, posted on twitter that "Putin is winning in Syria" on 12 February. He followed up his first remark with: "Creating facts on the ground beneficial to his Syrian ally". McFaul is in present a professor of political science at Stanford University.

From the Past : Karim Khan Zand

Kharim Khan Zand was a "Vakil", a ruler and founder of a short lived dynasty in Iran in the 18th century (1751 - 1794). His rule was not marked by glorious military conquests but by the stability and equilibrium he gave to the state, whose capital was in Shiraz. His time was a transition towards the modernity attributed to the Qajars. 

Iraq-Iran War and the threat of religious division

War is never a good thing even if there are certain individuals that see in war some positive aspects. Those who think in this way know war only through video games or through their twisted imagination. There is no glory in counting the lives you took or in bringing destruction.

The Iraq-Iran War (Iran-Iraq War of First Persian Gulf War) started in September 1980 and ended in August 1988 with over a million dead in total. In Iran the conflict is also know as the Imposed War and the Holy Defense. Saddam wasn't all that bad, he greatly improved living conditions in his country and introduced various rights and liberties that made Iraq a rather open and modern society but this did not last. His rise to power was a strong declaration of his intention to dominate, Saddam was no wise man, he was a man in need for power. And as history shows us, such types of leaders are terrified of the prospect of losing their power.

First of all, Iranians are Shia while Arabs are mostly Sunni. In 1979, Saddam persuaded his former "friend" and president of Iraq, al-Bakr, to resign and name him his successor. Prior to this Saddam was his deputy and effectively modernized Iraq. In the same year of 1979, Khomeini started the Islamic Revolution in Iran that aimed to remove the Shah from power, to stop Western influence and promote Islamic values. Saddam was Sunni, not very religious and largely perceived as pro-American while Khomeini was Shia, a cleric and neither Pro-American nor Pro-Soviet. Iraq had/has around 60% Shia and Syria around 15%. In the war, Syria allied itself with Iran because "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". On the other hand, in Iraq, Khomeini's calls for revolution were a constant danger for Saddam's vision of a "mighty Iraq".

And so, instead of building a mighty Iraq and a mighty Iran, the two countries became pawns in a game that brought almost eight years of suffering, we have the rest of the world to "thank" for arming their fears and hatred of each other. Now, hopefully, the region can see peace, progress and cooperation, of course, only if the Arab countries of today will not follow Saddam's footsteps.

This picture was also used for propaganda purposes.

[All pictures are of Iranian soldiers, don't know who is the owner of them]

America, Israel and the World

---

First of all, before the year 1948, Israel did not exist. In fact, the region was named Palestine because the people living there are Palestinians. Those Jews that fight for a Jewish state in Palestine are named Zionists, a form of national-socialism. Israel was founded by Ashkenazi Jews, meaning "German Jews", and while in the 11th century they were a small minority comprising no more than 3 percent of the world's Jewish population, they now represent around 80 percent. Their language is Yiddish, not Hebrew.

Theodor Herzl is the key figure in the forming of the Zionist ideology.

We must not fall into the trap of thinking that all Jews are extremists, there is a movement of Anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews that put peace and cooperation above death and terror. Sadly, the money and through this, the power, is in the hands of the Zionists, who want to eliminate all Arab communities in Palestine and gain an edge against other countries through the use of deceit. Why is America helping them, even if innocent Palestinians die? You can find the answer by yourself. Obama said in the AIPAC meeting that the security of Israel is important... why not also the security of Palestinians... why not peace? Tens of thousands of people protested against AIPAC and against the genocide that is taking place in Palestine. The world needs to wake up, it needs to put human development and well-being above stupid disputes. Israel must give up its nuclear weapons and start a process of cooperation with the Palestinians. The Palestinians also need to accept the Jews and try to live together because in the end they are all of the same origin.

The US must stop helping Israel and ask for UN Peacekeeping forces to intervene and stop the killings, why should the American citizens pay for Israelian bombs? Who would like to live thinking that their hands are stained with the blood of Palestinian children? The majority of Jews are dragged into this mess against their will, the same with most Arabs and their Islamic extremist "rulers".

Yagmurlar by Șebnem Ferah

---

Șebnem Ferah is a well known Turkish singer that manages with staggering success to tear down the barriers of language with her excellent voice and catchy songwriting. Her stile is a type of hard rock with some pop and progressive elements.

Yagmurlar means "rains" and if you don't know Turkish, don't worry, you are not the only one although this is a beautiful language, enjoy the music. The song is from the album entitled "Kadyn" (Woman).

---

This recording is provided for educational purposes only, please buy the album.

Bab-Toma by Abdullah Chhadeh & Nara

---

Bab-Toma comes from the album ”Seven Gates” which refers to the seven gates of Damascus. Bab-Toma means Thomas's Gate, it is situated in the north-east corner and it leads into the Christian quarter. Abdullah Chhadeh is from Syria and has a wide artistic development along with math and physics. He started with playing the oud but soon was fascinated with the sound of the Kanun. For more, read here.

---

Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa, formerly named Burj Dubai, is widely known as the tallest building on the planet but the tower is much more than a super-tall skyscraper. Seen from below, this impressive example of human ingenuity seems like a stairway to heaven, a spiraling construction that seems to disappear into the sky. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The main contractor was Samsung C&T from South Korea. The project's developer was Emaar Properties who is also responsible for building King Abdullah Economic City.

The United Arab Emirates is bordered by Oman and Saudi Arabia, and has access to the Persian Golf. This little patch of land at first sight has nothing to indicate a potential for development, a long time being the home for sea pirates. At the beginning of the 20th century, the pearl industry has seen some good times, but only for two or three decades, the Second World War marking the end of it. Having no more than sand we can imagine what the economic predictions were. When oil was discovered in the 60s, an economic boom started to resonate along the coast, now, the Emirates enjoy one of the highest life standards in the world, clearly offering them the possibility to build from virtually zero in a few decades what others built in a couple of centuries.

This burj (tower in Arabic) in spite of its height, is of a very simple design. The plan borrows from architectural elements prevalent in Islam, like the onion dome and the pointed arch. Some are of the opinion that Frank Lloyd's Mile High Illinois project from 1956 inspired the Burj Khalifa, also, the Tower Palace III from Seoul, also designed by SOM, has some resemblances with this Arabic tower.

Here you can clearly see the onion shaped dome and the pointed arch similarity.

Tower Palace III

In the center we have a concrete core that is buttressed by the three wings. The 60 cm thick corridor walls on either side of each wing give a great degree of stiffness, offering good resistance to earthquakes. Overall, the entire building is designed in such a way as to deviate the wind-flow around it, reducing the stress caused by the forces of nature. Baker says that the Burj "is really a series of 30-story buildings stacked on top of one another". Every 30 floors or so, two or three story mechanical levels (seven of these to be more exact) are placed in order to maintain the building in working order. Here we can find water pumps, tanks, electrical substantions and things like that.

The climate and geography of the area require different approaches. In a country where even the bus stops have air-conditioning, a building as big as the Burj Khalifa will need some way to efficiently ventilate the air. Because the outside temperature and moisture are considerably higher than in the building, the stack effect is reversed, hot air is sucked in from the top and directed downward. Another problem is water, or the lack of it. Dubai relies on sea water that goes through a process of desalinization so there is a real need to make use of the tower's full potential, the cold water is collected through condensation, providing 15 million gallons per year. Also, sand has the habit of getting into every hole, and to cover every space it can find, that is why ledges were kept to a minimum and the windows are washed every couple of months.

Here you can see the position of the Burj Khalifa complex inside the wider Downtown Dubai project.

Some 26 thousand low-E anti-glare glass panels are used in the exterior cladding. The tower used over 330 000 cubic meters of concrete and 43 000 tons of steel rebar. Burj Kalifa contains 57 elevators, the main service elevator rising to 503 meters, making it the world's highest, there are also two double-decker.

Samsung C&T Corporation, the main contractor, used an automated self-climbing formwork system for building the concrete structure. For pumping the concrete at heights of 600 meters, special pumps were used. The structural steel spire was built inside the building and then jacked to its full height of 200 meters through the use of hydraulic pumps.

Having such a high-end image, the tower incorporates the first Armani Hotel, something that for most of us does not mean much, but it's interesting to look at... to say the least. At levels five through eight, 160 guest rooms and suits were created, with suits on the 38 and 39 floors. Also, over 1000 works of art have been commissioned for being placed inside the burj.

A typical Armani Hotel floor plan.

 The typical Armani room.

Great view for the lucky few.

A great view of Dubai

Other Architecture Articles / دیگر مقالات معماری / Alte Articole de Arhitectura

This article is extended in Awil-um Magazine (August-September 2010)

The Ziggurat at Ur

Around 2100 BCE the king Ur-Nammu, founder of the Sumerian 3rd dynasty of Ur, started the construction of a series of ziggurat buildings, it is also important to mention that in his time the first legal code was written. He was eventually deified because of his piety and his reputation of building and restoring shrines.

The Ziggurat from Ur is situated in modern day Tell el-Mukayyar, in Iraq. As I said before, the project was started by Ur-Nammu, but it was finished by his son, King Shulgi. With time, the building suffered a series of restorations, the most important are in neo-Babylonian times (6 BCE), by king Nabonidus and it is believed that he greatly modified the original structure, and in the 1980s, when Saddam Husein ordered the rebuilding of the facade and the main staircase.

It consisted of three inward sloping platforms with the base measuring approx. 60 by 40 meter. Because only the first platform is left standing we can not say for sure how tall the structure was, estimates are around 42 meters. On top, a temple dedicated to the moon god Nannu was constructed, it was most probably an enclosed rectangular building.

The temple and the upper stages were accessible only to priests, so the monument was not dedicated to ordinary people, in fact, it was considered to be the home on Earth of the particular god, in our case, Nannu. The one responsible for uncovering this treasure was Sir Leonard Woolley who excavated the remains between 1920 and 1930.

The guide showing a drawing of how the ziggurat originally might of looked.

From the Middle East: Azam Ali

”From the Middle East” will be a series of articles addressing the music produced by artists from Egypt, To Iran, from Turkey to Yemen. As i am an European, my taste in music is shaped by western standards, this is the case with most westerners i think, so i suggest keeping an open mind to all that is ”different”. We will not judge things as good or bad here, we must consider music as a universal language.

The year was 1970, nine years before the Iranian Revolution. The country enjoyed then a time of cultural openness from music to fashion. Azam Ali was born in Tehran, but her childhood will be shaped more by India then her own culture, having left with her family for Panchgani at the age of four. For eleven years she will study here with the accent being on arts and spirituality.

The American dream, the beginning of a new life in a country that's the spearhead of humanity motivated her and her mother to move in 1985. Here she will study with master Manoocher Sadeghi a series of instruments, especially the santour. This did not satisfy her searches so she decided to concentrate more on her vocal qualities.

She sings in Vas, a duet with percussionist Greg Ellis and with Carmen Rizzo and Ramin Torkian in the project Niyaz which in Persian and Urdu means yearning. She also released two solo albums, Portals of Grace (2002) and Elysium of the Brave (2006).

Portals of Grace is a complicated album, in the sense of beautiful, not hard to grasp. It combines Sephardic and Arabic music with medieval songs more from the region of France. It's the kind of album you would most likely want to listen in a warm summer night while daydreaming. The songs pave the road for a spiritual journey. 

Elysium of the Brave on the other hand is in a different ballpark, at least when it comes to the overall sound. Traditional and Arabic elements which abound here just as much as in the first album are offered to the listener with a more modern approach through the use of electronic music.

Freedom Tower

The Iranian Freedom Tower is a masterpiece designed by architect Hossein Amanat. The monument is located in the center of a large plaza forming a symbolic entrance-complex in Tehran. The structure is comprised of four huge columns joined on top and forming four arches, two wider and taller ones and another smaller two.

It is build from eight thousand blocks of white marble stone transported from Esfahan region. The main financing came from a number of iranian industrialists. The monument was opened on 16 octomber 1971 and it stands 50 meters tall. It's best to let the images speak.

Maquam E` chahid, the algerian monument commemorating their war for independence is strongly influenced by the Borj-e Azid.