Vagmi Shah | UG180646

“Historical sites are often damaged (for instance during demolition drives or violent attacks) as a
way of challenging social structure or political authority. Using specific examples, discuss how the
erasure of historical architectural works becomes as meaningful as the process of making.”

Identity, Architecture and War

A study of the relation between identity and the violent destruction of architecture
during war.

Preface

Identity; the fact of being who we are; as an individual or a part of a larger community. It is the
distinguishing character or personality that sets a person or a group of people apart. Identity
constitutes different aspects for different communities or nations but each has a distinct form
of identification and association formed over the years. According to Irina Bokova, the former
Director- General of UNESCO, “Heritage is Identity- It is belonging”. Identity helps people to
connect, find similarities and it becomes an anchor. Identity plays an important role in bringing the
people together and making them feel like a part of a whole.

Identity and Architecture

The identity of a person, a community or even a nation resides in the architecture of the place
they inhabit since the buildings depend upon the geography, traditions, rituals, beliefs, customs,
behaviors, visions and the history of that place or community. In this sense, the buildings become
a reflection of the people living there. A building can signify certain cultural aspects and have
symbolic references to the history of the place. Buildings become the physical manifestations of
these intangible concepts which contributes to evoking identity in an individual or a group. Built
spaces educe a sense of belonging among the members of a certain group or nation. They make
people experience their existence in a meaningful manner, thereby helping them remember who
they are. And when these become targeted sites for destruction during wars, the attempt to erase
memory and cultural identity is evident. When a historic site is targeted, it implies that that particular
building holds some importance in the lives of the people there, in terms of their culture and history.
Destruction, transforms the way in which architecture is perceived. From being a permanent
structure that embodies the identity of a place, it is reduced to ruins, a memory of what used to
be. But simultaneously, the mere act of demolition of a building and what it stands for, hints at
the importance and power of a built space and reminds the people of their identity and the need
to protect it. By destroying the architecture, the physical form of the building may be reduced to
nothingness but the values it embodies, still live on (Herscher, 2010)
Throughout history, one can see various examples of cities and buildings getting targeted as
destruction sites. In some places, the entity in power had slowly and gradually removed the existence
of a particular group of people through systematic and calculated destruction of buildings. During
the Second World War, the attacks on Jewish architecture by Nazi, the destruction caused in
places like Warsaw, Dresden and Bosnia, in all of these incidents, the demolition of buildings was a
step towards cultural cleansing, a way of breaking down the identity of the people.
Vagmi Shah | UG180646

The Temple of Bel, Palmyra

The heritage of a place, its identity which is materialized

through architecture must be respected and protected. But
during times of warfare, it is these very historical sites that
become sites of destruction. The Temple of Bel in Palmyra
is a 2000-year-old Syrian monument. Since Palmyra was
under the control of multiple empires throughout history,
it has a mix of all their cultures which is reflected in the Figure 1. Sanadiki (2015) Tourists view the
Temple of Bel in early 2008.
architectural elements including Greek, Roman, Aramean, The grand complex has architectural elements of
Persian and Arab influences. “The temple was a treasure various cultures.
of incalculable value that stood as a monument to religious
accommodation.” (Holland, 2015) The same dedicated
deity, Bel, was worshipped by different sects of people
during different points of time- as Marduk, the lord of lords
by the Babylonians, as Bol, the guardian of the oasis by
Palmyrenes and the Romans identified the deity with a
king of their own pantheon. Bel was therefore a ‘thoroughly
cross-cultural god’. Gods of other cultures also found a
place in the precinct of Bel. An inscription on the temple
called it as ‘the house not just of Bel himself but of all the
gods’ (Holland, 2015). The monument stood as a symbol
of religious syncretism. The making of the temple included
people from all the tribes who inhabited Palmyra. This
common goal of building the complex instilled a sense of
belonging and shared identity among them. The grand
structure built at the center of a larger plaza acted as the
focal point in the city open to all. The Temple of Bel became Figure 2. Reuters (2015) A satellite image
shows the site of the Temple of Bel before its
a symbol of what the Palmyrenes were gradually becoming, apparent destruction in Palmyra.
‘a single people’ (Holland, 2015). In recent times, the space This is one of the most well-preserved heritage
sites.
had become a backdrop for cultural events like concerts.
In 2015, this UNESCO World Heritage Site was reduced to
dust by a militant Islamist group- ISIS. According to Sturt
Manning, the chairman of Cornell University’s Department
of Classics, ISIS considers “pre-Islamic religious objects or
structures sacrilegious.” Through violent demolitions, the
group has destructed numerous ancient sites and antiquities
as a statement to erase the religious syncretistic identity of
Palmyra. ‘The destruction of buildings and artefacts of a
people is a means of cultural cleansing’ (Magliozzi, 2016).
Especially during times of war, when the need to connect,
when identity forms a link between the people and unites
them together, the very act of destruction of the buildings
which symbolised their shared history and culture becomes
a clear attempt to divide them and erase their shared identity.
The destruction of the temple was not a mere removal of
a built structure, but a statement by the iconoclast ISIS to
destroy the existing cultural fabric of Palmyra which is a Figure 3. Unitar/ AFP/ Getty Images (2015)
melting pot of different religious identities. This UN satellite image reveals the extent of
the damage caused by Isis at the site of the
Temple of Bel.
Only two columns remain standing after the
bombing.
Vagmi Shah | UG180646

Sarajevo National Library

“What is more important in a library than anything else – than

everything else – is the fact that it exists,” wrote Archibald
MacLeish, an American poet and writer. Formerly a town hall,
the building was completed when Bosnia and Herzegovina
were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Sarajevo
National Library housed literary works salvaged from
different libraries around the city post World War II, including
the Croatian Information Office library, the German Society
library and the library of the Russian colony in Sarajevo. It
Figure 4. Delic (2012) Sarajevo’s National
also received the collections of the Serbian Muslim cultural Library burns due to Bosnian Serb shelling in
society – Gajret, the Croatian cultural society – Napredak, 1992.
and the Serbian cultural society – Prosvjeta (Lorkovic, 1992).
In 1992, the library was burned to the ground by ethnic
nationalists and millions of pages of written material were
turned to dust. Among them were manuscripts in multiple
languages, documents on Bosnian history that dated back to
five centuries, rare books from the library of Mostar’s Roman
Catholic bishop and half the collection of the municipal library
of Sarajevo (Costa, 1998). The burning of these millions of
books and artefacts was an attempt to erase the ideals and
cultural identity of the people. Bosnia-Herzegovina was in
the middle of a war and Sarajevo was the capital city. The
National Library was an impressive structure which had been
targeted even though it had no military significance. The
demolition of the library during the war was a symbolic act.
The message passed was strong and clear, the motive was
to erase the cultural identity of an entire nation. The purpose
of the war became clear. The intent was to destroy any link
that connected the people with their history and the culture
that they shared. Gradimir Gojer, a Bosnian theatre director
called the destruction of the library a “triumph of barbarism” Figure 5. Bakarši (1994) The National Library
and the “death of the cohabitation of Muslims, Orthodox, The library in ruins post destruction.
Catholics and Jews”. These different communities had been
living together for centuries in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The war
attempted to destroy the proof of coexistence of a place and
the identity of a multi-ethnic state. The destruction of the
National Library resulted in understanding the importance
of protecting the multi-ethnic legacy of Bosnia. “The energy
in that building was something sacred. The building was still
breathing, regardless of the destruction, I felt its power and
it made me cry,” says Vedran Smajlovic, a cellist who played
in played in front of the ruins of the library. Even though the
building was destroyed, the war was successful in only Figure 6. Evstafiev (1992) Vedran Smajlovic
erasing the physical manifestation of the history of the place. plays his cello in the destroyed National
Library, Sarajevo.
The identity of the people is still with them and now it has
become more important than ever to protect it (Huseinovic
& Arbutina, 2012).s and Christians.
Vagmi Shah | UG180646

Beirut City Centre

In another case, we see the disappearance of a culture and

a multi-sectarian identity of Lebanon. In the war-scarred
capital city of Beirut, the contrast between the city centre
before and after the war is explicit. Earlier, the space was
bustling with movement of people since it housed various
stalls, shops, cafes, hotels and banks complete with modes
of public transport.The public centre acted as a meeting
place for people of different districts, sects and social
classes. After the war, an empty half built, scarred building of
the City Centre remains in a desolate and ruined landscape. Figure 7. Springer (2013) A close-up of the
The Lebanon Civil War had many reasons behind it. One Egg’s state after the civil war.
Empty, half built scarred building of the city Centre
of the reasons was the growing tension between different remains in a desolate and ruined landscape.
religious sects of people – Muslims and Christians. The
central market area divided the city into two parts – The
Muslim West Beirut and the Christian East Beirut. This led to
the destruction of the entire market space including the half-
built City Centre. The Beirut City Centre was commissioned
to be a “modernist set of buildings” (Springer, 2013) which
included a space catering to multiple needs of the community,
including a cinema and office spaces.The original proposal
by Joseph Philippe Karam had an unobtrusive egg-shaped
structure and two towers. After the war, the space which
was to be a movie theatre, is now seen as an abandoned
brutalist building. “The Egg” is situated in the centre of Beirut,
a reminder of the war amidst the existing urban fabric. The
dome-shaped structure and a large void for underground
parking are the only remaining parts of the original proposal
which survived the constant bombardment during the war. In Figure 8. Springer (2013) A drawing from one
of the original plans of Joseph Philippe Karam
the end, the appearance of the remnants has changed from An unobtrusive dome shaped structure with two
an unobtrusive set of buildings to an eye-catching structure. towers.
After the war, there was a debate between preserving the
structure or completely demolishing it (Springer, 2013).
Complete destruction of the structure would mean that the
act of demolishing it - which was due to its importance as a
space in the middle of the city, open to people of all sects -
would be successful. The erasure of the attempt to destroy
their identity would lead to denial that such an incident ever
took place.
There have been many such cases. During the war between
Croatia and Bosnia, a 16th century Ottoman bridge in Mostar
was destroyed. It was a celebrated structure of Islamic
architecture. After the war, UNESCO commissioned the
bridge to be reconstructed, restoring it to its former state. By
creating an exact repica of the bridge, the meaning passed
on is that of ignorance. The traumatic event is denied, that
such an attempt to erase history was ever made. Figure 9. Anonymous (2006) Bridge in Mostar
The 16th century Ottoman bridge after
reconstruction.
Vagmi Shah | UG180646

Conclusion

Destruction of Historical sites is not just an act of vandalism. It is the result of an intent to destroy
the existing culture and identity of a people. Architecture of a place, through its buildings, weaves a
story through time, about the people there, their memories and the various events that it witnessed.
The architecture and identity of a place are inter-connected and war threatens to demolish that
very idea. During wars, the loss of cultural values is considered to be collateral damage. But this
viewpoint has shifted. “Place matters. The buildings are the target.” The relation of architecture and
power, of considering buildings as symbols of ideals and political propaganda, makes them the
ideal sites for destruction to cause maximum impact.
In the three examples seen, destruction is a symbolic act of iconoclasm. Temple of Bel stood as
a symbol of religious syncretism, The Sarajevo National Library stood as the identity of a multi-
ethnic state and the Beirut City Centre as a symbol of the multi-sectarian identity of Lebanon. In
all these cases, through the means of violence, the identities of these places were attacked. The
act of destruction, the attempt at destroying the existing cultural fabric of a place and trying to gain
control over the people, the place through violence has been going on for decades.

Self Evaluation: Good

Vagmi Shah | UG180646
Reference List
1. Arango, J. (2017, October 13). Architecture
and identity. Retrieved December 7, 2019,
from Medium website: https://medium.
com/@jarango/architecture-and-identity-
112a9bd792b4
2. Bakaršić, K. (1994). The Libraries of Sarajevo
and the Book That Saved Our Lives. Retrieved
from http://heritage.sensecentar.org/assets/
sarajevo-national-library/sg-3-08-libraries-
sarajevo.pdf
3. Barnard, A., & Saad, H. (2015, August 31).
Palmyra Temple Was Destroyed by ISIS, U.N.
Confirms (Published 2015). The New York
Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.
com/2015/09/01/world/middleeast/isis-
militants-severely-damage-temple-of-baal-in-
palmyra.html
4. CNN, D. M., Schams Elwazer and Joshua
Berlinger. (2015, September 1). ISIS destroys
Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria. Retrieved
October 7, 2020, from CNN website: https://
edition.cnn.com/2015/08/31/middleeast/
palmyra-temple-damaged/index.html
5. Costa, L. A. (1998, June 13). THINK
TANK; The Libraries: Another Kind Of War
Victim (Published 1998). The New York
Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.
com/1998/06/13/arts/think-tank-the-libraries-
another-kind-of-war-victim.html
6. Goodman, N. (1985). How Buildings Mean.
Critical Inquiry, 11(4), 642–653. Retrieved from
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1343421
7. Herscher, A. (2010). Violence taking place :
the architecture of the Kosovo conflict. Stanford,
Calif.: Stanford University Press.
8. History.com Editors. (2018, January 12).
Palmyra. Retrieved from HISTORY website:
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-
middle-east/palmyra
9. Holland, T. (2015, September 1). The fate of
the temple of Bel is a symbol of the tragedy
engulfing Syria | Tom Holland. Retrieved October
17, 2020, from the Guardian website: https://
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/
sep/01/temple-bel-palmyra-isis-yria
10. Huseinovic, S., & Arbutina, Z. (2012, August
25). Burned library symbolizes multiethnic
Sarajevo. DW. Retrieved from https://p.
dw.com/p/15wWr
11. Jashari-Kajtazi, T., & Jakupi, A. (2017).
Interpretation of architectural identity through
landmark architecture: The case of Prishtina,
Kosovo from the 1970s to the 1980s. Frontiers
of Architectural Research, 6(4), 480–486.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2017.09.002
12. Kingston, P., & Ochsenwald, W. L. (2018).
Lebanese Civil War | Lebanese history. In
Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/event/Lebanese-
Civil-War
13. Latief, J. (2014). How architecture shapes
national identity and helps us understand
history | Design Indaba. Retrieved from Design
Indaba website: https://www.designindaba.
com/articles/creative-work/how-architecture-
shapes-national-identity-and-helps-us-
understand-history
14. Lorkovic, T. (1992, October). “National
Library in Sarajevo Destroyed; Collection,
Archives Go Up in Flames” by Lorkovic, Tatjana
- American Libraries, Vol. 23, Issue 9, October
1992 | Online Research Library: Questia.
Www.Questia.Com. Retrieved from https://
www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-12727821/
national-library-in-sarajevo-destroyed-
collection
15. Magliozzi, Z. (2016, February 13). To destroy
architecture is to attack the cultural identity of
a nation. Retrieved September 25, 2020, from
Architectural Review website: https://www.
architectural-review.com/essays/to-destroy-
architecture-is-to-attack-the-cultural-identity-
of-a-nation
Vagmi Shah | UG180646
16. Mehta, K. (2017, May 12). Is the future of
architecture political? Retrieved from Livemint
website: https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/
MQVksAqd6in7KeEKygLIWI/Is-the-future-of-
architecture-political.html
17. Piquard, B., & Swenarton, M. (2011).
Learning from architecture and conflict. The
Journal of Architecture, 16(1), 1–13. https://
doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2011.557897
18. Shear, A. (n.d.). Identity and Meaning in
Architecture. Www.Academia.Edu. Retrieved
from https://www.academia.edu/8376865/
Identity_and_Meaning_in_Architecture
19. Sito-Sucic, D. (2014, May 9). Sarajevo
reopens landmark city hall and library destroyed
in war. Reuters. Retrieved from https://in.reuters.
com/article/us-bosnia-cityhall/sarajevo-
reopens-landmark-city-hall-and-library-
destroyed-in-war-idUSKBN0DP0XO20140509
20. Springer, D. (2013, December 9). The Value
of a War-Scarred Ruin in Beirut. Retrieved
October 8, 2020, from Failed Architecture
website: https://failedarchitecture.com/the-
value-of-a-war-scarred-ruin-in-beirut/
21. T, A. (n.d.). Redefining Cultural Identity
Through Architecture Understanding the
influence of culture on house forms in different
community settlements in Fort Cochin,
Kerala. Retrieved from https://www.ijser.org/
researchpaper/Redefining-Cultural-Identity-
Through-Architecture.pdf
22. Welle (www.dw.com), D. (n.d.). “War crimes”:
UN strengthens resolve against destruction of
cultural heritage | DW | 25.03.2017. Retrieved
October 1, 2020, from DW.COM website:
https://www.dw.com/en/war-crimes-un-
strengthens-resolve-against-destruction-of-
cultural-heritage/a-38117273
List of Figures
Figure 1. Sanadiki, O., & Reuters. (2015).
Tourists view the Temple of Bel in early 2008.
In The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.
theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/sep/01/
the-destruction-of-palmyras-temple-of-bel-
before-and-after-in-pictures
Figure 2. Reuters. (2015). A satellite image
shows the site of the Temple of Bel before
its apparent destruction in Palmyra. In The
Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.
theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/sep/01/
the-destruction-of-palmyras-temple-of-bel-
before-and-after-in-pictures
Figure 3. Unitar, AFP, & Getty Images. (2015).
This UN satellite image reveals the extent of the
damage caused by Isis at the site of the Temple
of Bel. Unesco has described the group’s
destruction of historical sites as ‘war crimes’.
In The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.
theguardian.com/world/gallery/2015/sep/01/
the-destruction-of-palmyras-temple-of-bel-
before-and-after-in-pictures
Figure 4. ddp images, AP Photo, & Delic, H.
(2012). Sarajevo’s National Library burns due to
Bosnian Serb shelling in 1992. In DW. Retrieved
from https://www.dw.com/en/burned-library-
symbolizes-multiethnic-sarajevo/a-16192965
Figure 5. Bakaršić, K. (1994). The National
Library. In The New Combat. Retrieved from
http://heritage.sensecentar.org/assets/
sarajevo-national-library/sg-3-08-libraries-
sarajevo.pdf
Figure 6. Evstafiev, M. (1992). Vedran Smailović
plays his cello in the destroyed National Library,
Sarajevo. In IFLA. Retrieved from https://www.
ifla.org/news/20-years-later-the-national-and-
university-library-of-bosnia-and-herzegovina
Figure 7. Springer, D. (2013a). A close-
up of the Egg’s state after the civil war. In
Failed Architecture. Retrieved from https://
failedarchitecture.com/the-value-of-a-war-
scarred-ruin-in-beirut/
Vagmi Shah | UG180646

Figure 8. Springer, D. (2013b). A drawing from

one of the original plans of Joseph Philippe
Karam. In Failed Architecture. Retrieved from
https://failedarchitecture.com/the-value-of-a-
war-scarred-ruin-in-beirut/

Figure 9. Anonymous. (2006). Old Bridge (bos.

“Stari Most”) in Mostar 2006. In Wikimedia
Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.
wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stari_Most22.jpg