I think you [missed] it!

Dubai! The commercial convivial city, which has forgotten its past, maybe. Hmmm! possibly one of the reasons being ‘time’ - seems to wade through life too fast now in this land of black gold.

Just imagine, people from across the globe coming here every day in search for a livelihood and they hardly know about the transitional phases that this city has gone through to become what it is today. Perhaps it is not even required to go into such details. Don’t you read before you go to a different place?

For instance I have met people who would claim for not going to the older parts of Dubai, and somehow they are perfectly fine with it. It is not a big deal, but like really?

Let me cut short. I am Architect by profession and somehow old, derelict buildings have always fascinated me. For instance, when I came in Dubai for the first time, areas of Bur and Deira seemed to be the best areas to hang around. Even then these areas cannot be considered as ancient because of the newand modern dwellings that have paved their ways through. However, I had done some research before landing and I somehow knew where and what to look at that would be a feast for my eyes.

The time spent in roaming around in the narrow streets, the spice souks, the fish market and then old mosques provided me with a ample understanding of this emirates' culture, at least that is how I thought in the beginning but I was so wrong. I kept thinking something was missing until I came up to the gateway that opened to an old residential neighborhood – the Bastakiya.

 

It is said to house almost sixty units at one time, but then most of them were turned down to make way for new developments in the later part of the last century. The best part for me was that traditional wind towers were used in Al Bastakiya houses to keep the house interior cooler than outside temperature and heat. Luckily the quarter is conserved and is open to the glorified as well as the common man to go inside and be part of the experience. I would say that the rest of the information can be found online, since, the name is there, you can search on your own.

What I really want to create is a scenario, through my words and photographs where one can focus on the first signs of the cultural barrier that this small area had created among the locals and the expatriates. Al Bastakiya was a neighbourhood, solely dedicated to the migrants who came in during the dawning of developments for a 'New Dubai', which was to become the metropolis of the region. This dates back to Sheikh Saeed's era.

Why am I even focussing on this topic? If you were to be told that you would work or live in an environment like this for long, I think the photographs in this blog will not fascinate you. Nevertheless, they will interest you, making you think that still Dubai is acknowledging their past and providing you with a glimpse in what they have provided to facilitate expatriots back in the days. The houses are conserved only for the sake of tourism now. That is how buildings are dealt with when they have served their purpose or, are of no use (I am being a little harsh to say this). You simply turn them into museums with a ticket to enter and they are good to stand their until their last brick falls. But on the other hand they are narrating you a story of a specific time in history.

The histories of times are told in this way, is'nt it? There have always been people, there have always been events, and then there always were these soulful, clueless structures forming the background- architecture of that time. Not all are great pieces of architecture, but they were there to make an era glorious.

Dubai has grown to become a giant in the list of most demanding cities to work in. And with all that it is providing better communities to accomodate its guests.



Photographer and author - Sameer Aftab