Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Architecture in the Middle East: a background : Geopolitical and environmental characteristics -- Cultural and religious influence : Architectural and urban classical local antecedents ; Colonial architecture, East-West encounters ; Decolonising architecture: nation building -- Architecture of development: an urban and housing quest -- Contemporary architecture: faster and higher ---- 2. Architectural vocabulary: elements of local styles : Site typologies : Biological layer ; Cultural layer ; Physical layer ; Social and communal layer ; Environmental layer -- Massing and volumetric composition : Compactness ; Connectedness ; Transition ; Fragmentation ; Skyline -- Function and space : Space/function versus place ; Space as a process ; Space configurationality -- Scale and proportion : Human scale and proportion ; Materials and scale ; Size and scale -- Light and form : Light as energy ; Light as space ; Light as form ; Light as metaphor -- Order and geometry : Geometry and order as design ; Geometry and order as structure ; Geometry and order as allegory -- Ornament and symbolism : Ornament as motif ; Ornament as symbolism ; Building as digital ornament -- Patterns, textures and colours : Architectural patterns versus decorative patterns ; Local versus imported patterns ; Composition of patterns, textures, and colours ---- 3. Cultural and contextual meaning : Cultural judgment and symbolic codes (cognitive schemata, transmission) ; Representation and expression of cultural meaning -- Identification / communication / transmission -- Integration / development : Spatial-cultural arrangement (transformation and experience) ; Climate and environment (adaptive and creative sustainability) ; Building know-how and processes of production : Local / global building know-how; Technology-based culture ; Morality, ethics and responsibility ---- 4. Trends and discourses of contextual architecture : Regionalism and internationalism: a design reference ; A paradoxical design: reactivating or mimicking 'Islamic' / 'Arabic' architecture ; Reinvention of tradition or heritage in design: continuity or discontinuity ; Designing with nature ; Nationalist, post-orientalist and fantasist design ; 'Theme parks' and megaprojects: designing in the Gulf ; Sustainability-based design ---- Appendix : Orientation: towards a model of contextual enquiry-based design -- Conclusion.

Architecture in Context: Designing in the Middle East provides a foundation for understanding the critical context of architecture and design in this region. It does this by: presenting a practical overview of architectural know-how in the Middle East, and its potential for cultivating a sense of place introducing local architectural vocabularies and styles, and how they can still be reactivated in contemporary design exploring the cultural and contextual meaning of forms as references that may influence contemporary architecture discussing important discourses and trends in architecture that allow a rethinking of the current global/local dichotomy. Highly illustrated, the book covers architecture and design in North Africa, the Levant, the Gulf, and Turkey, Iran and Iraq. -- Publisher's website.