Made in Iraq

The project explores architectural and urban transformations of Baghdad through the eyes of Iraqi professionals who worked in the city during the last two decades of the twentieth century. It analyzes their ideas and designs, responses to changing realities and means of resilience.

Since the 1950s rapid development of Iraq involved also profound transformation of the urban structure of its capital city, Baghdad. During four decades, various Iraqi governments commissioned numerous foreign professionals to design and implement projects in the city. The most famous architectural projects of that time included the University of Baghdad campus by Walter Gropius, building of the Ministry of Planning by Gio Ponti, and the Gymnasium by Le Corbusier. In addition, three successive master plans for the city were prepared by a Greek planner Constantinos Doxiades (late 1950s), Polish state-owned firm Miastoprojekt-Kraków (known in Iraq as Polservice – 1960s and 1970s), and Japanese consulting company JCCF (1980s). Through their involvement in these contracts as ministerial supervisors, local partners or trainees, Iraqi professionals acquired know-how and necessary experience. Furthermore, Iraqi authorities aimed at building their own national cadres through investing in education and creating opportunities for Iraqi students in the country and abroad. This policy manifested in establishing the Department of Architecture at the University of Baghdad in 1959. In the 1960s and 1970s Iraqi architects like Mohammed Makiya, Qahtan Awni, Rifat Chaderji, Saeed Ali Madhloom, Hisham Munir were commissioned to design main government buildings and other high-profile constructions in the city.

All foreign experts left the country in the wake of the Gulf War of 1990-1991 and many Iraqi professionals migrated in the course of the following decade. Those who remained in Iraq undertook a difficult task of rebuilding the country against all odds, including international isolation and economic embargo. The work and experience of these Iraqi professionals is the main focus of this research project. It explores their ideas and designs, projects and urban practices that changed the city between 1990 and 2003. Members of the research team analyze different case studies that showcase how the Iraqi professional community and other urban actors navigated the complex institutional, political, social, and economic realities of the time. The perspective of Iraqi urban actors provides new insight on the period under study, until recently analyzed predominantly through the lenses of geopolitics, global economy, and security. Putting urban situation and human perspective at the center of the inquiry, this project combines in-depth interviews with archival research. With many institutional archives destroyed or inaccessible, the team remains indebted to all research participants, who are willing to share with us their memories and experiences, as well as personal archives.