\JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE Jounal Home Page: heparan cn-melang sc idinde phd ON THE FABRICATION OF CULTURAL MEMORY: HISTORY THEME MALLS IN DUBAI etepead onoary [oot epee rgT0-1eB60jer91.3117 | ‘Jobo Bin Depermint of rohcectarl Engineering Usted rab Emircen Unversey A tim, Uneed Arab SinG ecu 2c ot motile cia nthe wor, rapidly comenting Rimage fs lott aby end icon of Intmic tlermnce Dubos economic opporsitien, (Baise ace ml geogrphc centre me hee othe tle ewe mete fegion Ths etcie esla howe ety which ip averoneimngh,gopslcel by Sesto of iy obae wt Sern nnn wrtrce cl cored & esas Sool cote, conadeeg thn wantin, the wee resens Seo the rescn's long history of ele and trenat” Both malls highlight early ‘Sieiicar journey docrmented fw hatorcal manrsenpts: Tee arte concnfes {eneers praide scald fora cate! memary casei "ede to order for iNiRODI CHOW People move. We become refugees from violence and exploitation and poverty, and boredom. This has happened before. But before, we believed we would settle, or resettle, or de tying. Now we go eround and around. Weno longer believe theres settlement. Istvan Gsiesery-Ronay Im his memoir “Hotes on Mutopi” [1] tavan ciscer-Ronay reflects on a widely shared sense of floc and anomie in a world where the fluidity and movement assocated with shifting contemporary ‘apial flows, production centers, and population movement become more and more pervasive, Nowhere is this realty of perpetual motion more apparent than in Dubai ‘The unremiting mobiity of Duba’s population is ‘tsalf extraordinary. Unfortunately, popubstion figures by nationality and origin in UAE are dificult to determine, since the UBE National Buren of Statistics does net identify resident numbers by nationality [2] Even overall census numbers give only an approximate ‘de of total population, asitisunderstandably dificult ‘to trace illegal immigrants, those who overstay visas, ‘thosewho work under touri vie's and many of those without offical ctizenship status (Bidoun). According to the Unted tations, however, by 205 UAE had pethapsthefifth brgest international migrant stock in ‘the world [5]-World Bank data and foreign embasey lauveys suggest that out of = total popubition of around’ 35 milion, somavhere between Go and’ 90 percent of the population are now-ctizens. Jure Sno} notes that this makes USE, along with Gata, the country with the highest ratio ofimmigrantsto citizens in theworld [2]. Numbers for the city of Dubal ts are equally difficult to estimate, but by all accounts expatriate ‘numbers in Dubai are proportionally higher than in UAE overall, Tourit inflow and outflow is e/en more staggering. Gulf News reports that 93 milion tourists Visited Dubai zon, with an average say of under 4 days [4]. Even executive expatriates, who are employed in Felatively stable work environmentsand are saying in country longer than in thepas, sill tend to rotate out approximately every 4 years [5] This suggests that up to one quarter of those employees are on the move every year. Again, the business focus of Dubai's economy suggests that the majorty of UAE's egatrate eccautivesareloated there, ather than in Abu Dhabi or dsevhere in the country. Taken altogether, na country with a total ctizenry of no morethan about 14 millon, no fewer than 8millon are non-citizens, and at least another 10 milion each year are tourists. Together with inflow and outflow of hhowctizen workers and cRizens on vacation trips to destinations outside the country, this amounts to a truly etracrdinary movement of people into and out of UAE, and most especally Dubai. It is no wonder, then, that # any image could convincingly condense the fet and lived experience of a place like Dubai, t would be picture of ovenshelning and unendingmovement, of ceaseless flow, churn, and turbulence. In evary concetvable sense, Dubalisa city in moti Dubai has developed at an ecraordinary pace since the oil boom of the 19705. In a very real sense, thecity isboth new and in constant renewal under the pressures of population growth and the ral esate development that is required to support &. Historical urban fabries have brgely dispppaared, or have been developed into something like outdoor theme parks or urban history enclaves primarily saving the interests of thetouriom industry. Thisis especally evident inthe reconstruction efforts that characterize the older historia fabrics along the Dubai Creck. So litle of Dubai'surban histor islet standing, particularly when considered inthe contest of rapid and extensiveurkan ‘ecansion that has overwhelmed earlier development, that there is some justification for the widespread perception that Dubai has no usefor history, certainly not any history # could aall ts own [6l[7| Indeed, ities can perhaps be forgiven for thinking that Dubat isa aly of contemporanety alone [Sf]. While a sense of history may be difficult to discern in Dubai however can be glimpsed in unexpected placesand in unlikely expressions. Among the most intresting of these are the histories presented in Dubai's theme malls, Mohamed ELAmrousi and 1 have argued dsevhere that bereft of much historical urban fabric, Dubai's museums remain the primary public vehicles for preserving and disseminating 2 sense of history [ns]. Infact, the popular history-themed malls in Dubat serve as integral parts of » brger 3/stem of museum and museunlike institutions which function as 2 structural whole in preserving an active sense of connection to a shared Arab-idamic past that is otherwise eclipsed by change, renewal and insistent contemporanaty. Under analysis, the entice museum exteprise in Dubai appears to revelve around an implict recogntion of historical lossand absence, and 2 concomitant effort to erase or ameliorate that condtion within the walls of the cty’s museums and by their particular treatments of the collections they house [1]. As an extension of this logic, the history- themed malls of Dubai, im their role as popular “museums”, necessarly substitute real historical artifacts with reproductions and reinterpretations. However, they do so without sarfcing everything of histovialimpertance or cultural meaning. These places are most certainly not mph \wonderlands or entertainment zones, ust as they are not ust distractions froma bus/ work-life. nerarethey only decorative venues for retail commerce (although they are indeed all of those, aswel). tis easy to miss the public service function and genuine educational impact of these malls they are interpreted soley as commercal complexes. Together with the large numbers of vistors they attract, thefact that they are publicly perceived as serving authentic educational foles gives them an outsized impact in connecting 28 | outro lleicrchneceare, $0) Jone 2016 people te history and collective meaning, This fect is ‘aptured in a vistor’s apprecation of such malls as more than just shopping venues. Spanking of the Ibn Battuta mal, patron recently remarked that “I find | have actually finally, learnt something about Arabi. 1 ‘an takea bain-brak from shopping, and at last tis not just shops Ihave already seen” [1]. Mall vistors areawarethat they are seding history as portrayed by and in support of commercial interests but this does ‘not seam to lessen their apprecation for the genuinely ‘culturaland histeriographialroles such malls an play. BN BATTUTA MALL ANO WAFIMALLS KHAN MURIAN. Histon-themed shopping is present ina number ‘of locations in Dubai from the historic and recently rebut tedile souq of Dubai Creek to all new recreations of the historical market experience in the ‘Mina Al Salam resort and, especally, the l Gasr hotel in Madinat Jumeirah. These shopping venues generally attempt to repliate historial sougs and market spaces in rebtively straightforvard somavhat fancful and santized form. Other recent history ‘themed Shopping malls are 2 litle more complax, applying notions of historical gacein more figuative ways, By far the most interesting of these recent histon-themed mallsin Dubaiare theibn Battuta Mall ‘on Sheth Zayed Roadand theKhan Murpn in the Wafi ‘ity Mall naar the Dubai Creek. Both malls trent from ther urban contests to crete hermetic worlds where historial images and reproductions produce spaces hheavy with references from across Islam, the Arab world, and beyond. Khan Murjn, in particubr, ‘occupies an entirely independent space below the ‘main Wafi mall. The typialy brief transtion from parkade to histon-themed space present in the Iba Battuta mall, marked as i is by floor surface ‘ranstions, temperature changes and lighting effects, fs further elaborated in the Khan Murpn as the leisurdy pace of the escators reinforce a sense of descending ntoanothertimeand space. Both mall spaces are organized as itineraries ‘through historial geographies of an idealized Arab world. Khan Murjn, which takes ts name from the famous +4” century caravanserai of Baghdad, bears ‘only passing simiarty to ts mamesike. However, the reference to journeysand temporary stays embodied in the notion of the caravanseral as an ian for travelers sts the tone for a wide ranging impression ‘of taveland geographic expanse, This is reinforced by anarrangamant of distinct shopping venues named for important areas across the region from Sjra in the near east, across Egypt and west to Morocco. These places are ornamented with high quality marbles and Inks, ted Ottoman arcades and otmatey carved wooden doorsand mashrabiyyas(aticework window ‘Ereans) Together these give the effect of times and plicesfar removed from contemporary Dus. Theibn Battuta mall smiarly, reproduces iconic and broadly Islamic geographies from North Afria and Egypt to the Near East, Persia, India and China, all ofwich are places tbo Battuta recounts in his travel ‘memoir, Rihia Journey, ques) [3]. In this mal, the notion of museology and histori curatorship is entirely ‘expict with highly designed phquesand text panels located adjacent to carefully lighted vitrine displays holding recreations of variousartfactsassocated with the edensive 4" cantury travels of the historic ba Battuta as he made his way across sam and beyond. ‘These museumike displays are arranged along the primary circulation route of the mall, proceeding without much distraction or potental sidetracking from a gatal and decorative rendering of Andalis, fon one end, toa simiarly immersive trentment of a ‘chinese port on the other. This progression of space, rendered as 2 compression of Ibn Battuta's journeys, reinforces 2 sense of transit and identfiation, ‘overlying vitor movement through the mall space with the buger geographic Rineraies of the historic bn Battuta (Figure). Figures lnagerepreductions atta reconstructions vine Alplay anainerpeetive captions he Ibn teats Maly Dubai In Khan Murjan, an edraordinary stained glass 284,2010. [8] M.Davis “Sond, Fearad Mong) in Dubai,” in Evil Peradlses: Dreamworlds of Neosiberasm, Cites, IM, Davis and D. Monk, Eds, New York: New Press, pp.48-58,2010. [5] _M. Bagnee, “Brand Dubai: The Instant Ci the Instantly Recognizable City,” International Planning Studies, vel-12,ne.2,pP-173497,2007- [ho] M.Kanna, “The‘State Philosophical in the'Land without Philosophy’: Shopping Malls, Interior ties, and the Image of Utopia in Dubal.” Traditional Dwelings and Settlements Review vol 36,n0.2, Pp-5973, 2005. J. 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