Edited with text by Hamed Bukhamseen, Ali Ismail Karimi.
Reclaiming the architectural history of the Arabian Peninsula through preindustrial practices
Published with Civil Architecture.
The advent of the oil economy and its subsequent industrial narrative has overwritten previous traditions of landscape and territory in the Arabian Peninsula. This is evident in the long spans of highways that disinterestedly cut across the Arabian desert, the vast reclamation of the sea along the Gulf Coast and the clearing away of agricultural land to build cities. Technocratic solutions to the problems of living in an arid climate have replaced practices entrenched in land knowledge, and the availability of desalinated water and imported food has oriented the economy toward rent-based urban development, backed by oil revenues. Two Thousand Years of Non-Urban History acts as a primer to an alternative architecture of the Arabian Peninsula through the work of the Bahrain- and Kuwait-based firm Civil Architecture. Its case studies pair examples of pre-oil formal planning and ecological practice with design interventions and proposals for the region.
STATUS: Forthcoming | 1/20/2026
This title is not yet published in the U.S. To pre-order or receive notice when the book is available, please email orders @ artbook.com
FORMAT: Pbk, 9.75 x 12.75 in. / 160 pgs / 144 color / 56 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $40.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $55 ISBN: 9786148035746 PUBLISHER: Kaph Books AVAILABLE: 1/20/2026 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Forthcoming AVAILABILITY: Awaiting stock TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AU/NZ AFR ME
Published by Kaph Books. Edited with text by Hamed Bukhamseen, Ali Ismail Karimi.
Reclaiming the architectural history of the Arabian Peninsula through preindustrial practices
Published with Civil Architecture.
The advent of the oil economy and its subsequent industrial narrative has overwritten previous traditions of landscape and territory in the Arabian Peninsula. This is evident in the long spans of highways that disinterestedly cut across the Arabian desert, the vast reclamation of the sea along the Gulf Coast and the clearing away of agricultural land to build cities. Technocratic solutions to the problems of living in an arid climate have replaced practices entrenched in land knowledge, and the availability of desalinated water and imported food has oriented the economy toward rent-based urban development, backed by oil revenues. Two Thousand Years of Non-Urban History acts as a primer to an alternative architecture of the Arabian Peninsula through the work of the Bahrain- and Kuwait-based firm Civil Architecture. Its case studies pair examples of pre-oil formal planning and ecological practice with design interventions and proposals for the region.
