Planning southern Iraq: placing the progressive theories of Max Lock in Um Qasr, Margil, and Basra in the context of Iraqi national development, 1954–1956

Between 1954 and 1956, the architect, educator, and planner, Max Lock (1909–1988) produced a trilogy of plans to modernize the historical city of Basra and create new areas at Margil and Um Qasr in the south of Iraq. The New Basrah Plan was heavily inspired by the works of Patrick Geddes and aligned with contemporaries such as Lewis Mumford, Lock’s planning was progressive in scope and looked to differ from the planning of post-war principles in Britain through his notions of ‘civic surgery’. Contrary to this, his plans for Um Qasr and Margil focussed on infrastructure and the creation of more industrial areas not prioritizing people and place as highly as he did in the New Basrah Plan. Lock’s ‘Civic Surgery’ offered an alternative to mainstream thought by attempting to create usable, humanistic spaces, which hampered by politics and legislation, resulted in the plan’s shelving and were contradicted by his other works’ philosophies. New retrospective analysis of his underappreciated career reveals the complexities of his planning which this article demonstrates through the ‘failure’ of the New Basrah Plan and his plans at Um Qasr and Margil

Between tradition and modernity: Max Lock and the Ubullah Neighbourhood Plan

Ubullah is a zoned neighbourhood to the north of Basra, which the British planner and architect Max Lock was commissioned to plan in 1956 by the Basra Port Directorate. This followed a series of separate but relatable plans in southern Iraq completed in plan form during the previous two years. This article critically assesses how the Ubullah Neighbourhood Plan straddles both tradition and modernity within Iraq’s wider developing context, both through its physical architectural and townscape features, as well as its segregated location, away from the city centre. Owing to Basra’s location, within Iraq yet close to the Gulf, it negotiates wider geographies than its national picture; Lock’s plan acknowledged these through the scale to which he planned and the forms and types of building he aimed to procure through the publication of the Ubullah Neighbourhood Plan. This article further places the plan within its architectural and planning context, illustrating similar modern works within the Gulf, Iraq and Europe which forms Lock’s professional context. Ultimately, the plan was doomed to failure; from the outset, it was a plan that made sense for Lock to complete due to his portfolio of work in Basra and southern Iraq, yet difficulties with the location’s proximity to the city and its cut off nature meant Ubullah would be an isolated enclave on the periphery of the city. In addition, national politics and growing disquiet with the influence of the British within Iraq and neighbouring countries in the Gulf ensured the Ubullah plan by Lock was shelved.

European architects at the confluence of tradition and modernity in the Persian Gulf, 1954-1982.

The driving force behind variations in the architecture of the Gulf between 1954 and 1982 was a complex assemblage of geopolitics, changing cultures and advancements in architectural discourse. The timeframe selected for this thesis spans part of the post-Second World War period and is intended as an illustration of change in architectural style in the West in the context of the rapidly changing political and economic scene of the Gulf. The historiography of the architecture in the Gulf during this period has been notoriously Eurocentric, focusing both on the architects from the West and the Gulf's geographic area. This thesis by contrast promotes an understanding of Western architecture in the Gulf through an assessment of patterns in geographical and global architectural contexts. In doing so, it advances an understanding of global movements of architecture, raising questions about architects from the Gulf whose work is misunderstood. Where possible, this thesis has used work from architects such as Mohamed Makiya, Kamran Diba, Rifat Chadirji and others to contextualise regional architectural development against the backdrop of the five Western-led case studies which are the focus of this thesis. Case studies are structured in chronological order and include: Max Lock's Ubullah housing scheme (1956); Candilis-Josic-Woods' housing for the National Iranian Oil Company in Abadan (1956); Alfred Roth's work in Kuwait from 1964-1974; Doxiadis Associates' Riyadh Plan (1968-1972); and Jørn Utzon's Kuwait National Assembly (1972-1982). Overall, the case studies illustrate a conflict between the traditional forms and spatial syntaxes of Arab architecture and the contradictory theories and forms of Western-induced modernism. Furthermore, these case studies show how local, regional and global examples of architecture intertwine with the selected projects; the thesis assesses the complex assemblage of physical and political conditions Western architects faced when designing in the region during this period. By using original archival material, this thesis gives a fuller picture of the global architectural scene and deepens the understanding of architectural development within the Gulf during this period