Lecture: Where are the Archives of Desert Architecture?

Desert architecture, found in areas with limited archival resources on building techniques—like the  Middle East and North Africa  (MENA)  region—may seem to lack historical depth.  How can we uncover the historical significance of desert architecture, its contributions to sustainable living, and the ways it has been developed and revitalized? 

Centuries of navigating the challenging desert environments of the MENA led to the evolution of unique societal adaptations and architectural innovations. However, colonial and pseudo-colonial powers frequently dismissed these clever and environmentally-friendly practices as insufficient. As the 20th century progressed, an increasing reliance on fossil fuels and modern environmental management technologies contributed to the gradual erosion of these sustainable practices. During the Oil Crisis and the rise of countercultural environmental movements, the desert-friendly architecture of MENA gained critical importance. This presentation draws on my ongoing research, which explores cutting-edge architectural and scientific approaches to develop self-sufficient disaster shelters and lunar habitats, all of which were inspired by the desert architecture found in the MENA region.

As this presentation shows, there are approaches to studying desert architecture that extend beyond conventional written documentation and architectural drawings and blueprints. Through exploring a wide range of conventional and unconventional archives, I reveal the diverse strategies that politicians, colonial agents, experts, and visionaries have employed to study, capture, criticize, suppress, romanticize, politicize, remember and ultimately understand and restore desert architecture.  

Pamela Karimi

Pamela Karimi specializes in the study of modern and contemporary art, architecture, and visual culture of the Middle East. She received her PhD from MIT and is now a Professor of history of art and architecture at the University of Massachusetts. Her expertise lies primarily in the art, architecture, and visual culture of the modern and contemporary Middle East. She is the author of Domesticity and Consumer Culture in Iran: Interior Revolutions of the Modern Era (2013) and co-editor of a number of volumes, including The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in the Middle East: From Napoleon to ISIS (2016). Her most recent book, Alternative Iran: Contemporary Art and Critical Spatial Practice, was published in 2022 by Stanford University Press. Her forthcoming book, titled Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran, is set to be released by Leuven University Press later this year. Currently, Karimi is developing a book manuscript which explores the nexus between design and environmental issues in the Middle East. 
Her research has been supported by numerous awards, including subvention funds from the College Art Association and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts. She has also received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Social Science Research Council, and the American Council of Learned Societies, among others. In 2018, she was honored with the University of Massachusetts Manning Prize for Excellence in Teaching, and more recently, she was named the Scholar of the Year by the Faculty Federation at her home institution.

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