Taking place on 13 March 2018, this symposium, devised by Sultan Al Qassemi during his residency at Delfina Foundation, used Ala Younis’s exhibition at Delfina as a starting point to discuss current research and practice around Modernisms in art, architecture and urban space.

Taking Younis’s exploration of the history of a gymnasium in Baghdad, designed by Le Corbusier and named after Saddam Hussein, this offsite two-part mini-symposium brought together leading scholars and architects to discuss the history and future of modern architecture in Iraq (part 1) and the wider Gulf Region (part 2).

Speakers (Part 1 – Iraq):

  • Adrian Lahoud: Architecture and Social Movements
  • Ahmed Naji: Modernising Medieval Baghdad
  • Talik Chalabi: Transformation and Tradition
  • Jananne Al Ani: Spectres in the Landscape
  • Nahed Jawad: The Architecture of Zaha Hadid
  • Samaneh Moafi: Containing the Gulf: Modern Housing Estates and the Making of a New Gendered Dweller

Watch part 2 of the symposium here.