The Exhibition Building of Agricultural and Industrial Works

Notes

This building was inaugurated in 1932, in a period when architecture in Iraq was transforming and adapting to modern needs, after the establishment of the Modern Iraqi State in 1921.

The building is located in a spacious plot in an area that was witnessing substantial economic growth. The building block spreads along the street but is also introverted into a garden. The architect adopts a “glamourous formality” in designing the building’s shell, especially in treating its openings; he chose this type of design to emphasize the Ottoman heritage of the content exhibited in the building. Khaled Al-Sultany described this design as “kitsch” since the exterior elements don’t concur with the modern program, in contrast to the interior architectural solutions and functions. The street façade is a symmetrical composition of arched openings and several minaret-like towers topped with turquoise Islamic domes. The entrance bay displays Islamic features such as the colossal arch inside the rectangular frame delineated with geometrical patterns. The architect intended to accentuate the contrast between the horizontal and vertical elements in the composition in order to provoke the curiosity of the viewer and create a sense of “time travelling”.

Sources

Khaled al-Sultany, Study on Representations of Architectural modernity in Iraq, Amman: Adib Books, 2021, p. 96-100.

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