Layers of Meaning and Evolution of Cultural Identity: The Case of Wind Towers in Dubai

Eman Assi

doi:10.3390/conservation2010004

Abstract

Place identity is an important constituent of general cultural identity, in that it provides its share of continuity, sustainability, and character to the built environment. The image of cultural heritage is stored knowledge that reflects the identity of a specific culture. In the formation of a place, some features gain identity with the environment. This study aims to explore the evolving image formation of wind towers in Dubai, and how this image is related to the concept of meaning and cultural identity of the place. This study focuses on the process of place identity formation and its relation to the evolving cultural values of society, as well as how it is applied to the changing meaning of cultural heritage objects. Based on the value assessment approach, different examples of wind towers, taken from either traditional houses or contemporary buildings influenced by the local architecture in Dubai, the author attempted to study how the interpretation and meaning of wind towers has evolved through time, thus influencing the cultural identity of Dubai city. This study is based on qualitative research. It concludes that a wind tower, as a cooling device, represents a unique example of an evolving creative process of architectural expression, resulting from the social and cultural complexity of the Persian Gulf in the early twentieth century. They were introduced through commercial exchange, adapted by the mercantile community, and integrated into local cultural systems—thus creating new architectural features and urban character—and reintroduced as a modern symbol of cultural identity for Dubai and the UAE.

Highlights

In looking at the history of wind towers in the Middle East, the term wind tower is defined broadly to include any vent rising above the roof level which is designed to facilitate air circulation into the room below in order to improve its climatic conditions.There is no exact information about the first application of wind catchers, or when they became common in the Gulf Region, there are some images of what appear to be wind tower catchers in Egyptian tomb paintings going back as far as the second millenniumBC
Due to the similar climate conditions and proximity of the United Arab Emirates to other neighboring countries such as Iran and India, who have been familiar with the use of wind towers as cooling devices for a long time, wind towers were readily adopted in traditional buildings in the UAE
The most concentrated number of wind towers can be found in the residential neighborhood of Dubai called Alfahidi Historic Area

Summary

Introduction

In looking at the history of wind towers in the Middle East, the term wind tower is defined broadly to include any vent rising above the roof level which is designed to facilitate air circulation into the room below in order to improve its climatic conditions.There is no exact information about the first application of wind catchers, or when they became common in the Gulf Region, there are some images of what appear to be wind tower catchers in Egyptian tomb paintings going back as far as the second millenniumBC. There is no exact information about the first application of wind catchers, or when they became common in the Gulf Region, there are some images of what appear to be wind tower catchers in Egyptian tomb paintings going back as far as the second millennium. Large houses in Cairo in the fourteenth century certainly had “malqaf” unidirectional wind catchers, which descend into the summer area of the house. A painting in one of the tombs shows a wind catcher with two openings. One can find wind towers in many cities of Iran, such as Yazd, Kerman, Kish, and Bandar Abbas, the most influential is the wind tower in the city of Yazd. Its location on various trade routes allowed it to spread throughout Iran, and to many countries nearby, such as India and Afghanistan [1]

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