Towards a Deleuzian Approach in Urban Design
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Difference and Repetition in Redevelopment Projects for the Al Kadhimiya Historical Site, Baghdad, Iraq: Towards a Deleuzian Approach in Urban Design A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ARCHITECTURE In the School of Architecture and Interior Design Of the college of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning 2018 By Najlaa K. Kareem Bachelor of Architecture, University of Technology 1999 Master of Science in Urban and Regional Planning, University of Baghdad 2004 Dissertation Committee: Adrian Parr, PhD (Chair) Laura Jenkins, PhD Patrick Snadon, PhD Abstract In his book Difference and Repetition, the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze distinguishes between two theories of repetition, one associated with the ‘Platonic’ theory and the other with the ‘Nietzschean’ theory. Repetition in the ‘Platonic’ theory, via the criterion of accuracy, can be identified as a repetition of homogeneity, using pre-established similitude or identity to repeat the Same, while repetition in the ‘Nietzschean’ theory, via the criterion of authenticity, is aligned with the virtual rather than real, producing simulacra or phantasms as a repetition of heterogeneity. It is argued in this dissertation that the distinction that Deleuze forms between modes of repetition has a vital role in his innovative approaches to the Nietzschean’s notion of ‘eternal return’ as a differential ontology, offering numerous insights into work on issues of homogeneity and heterogeneity in a design process. Deleuze challenges the assumed capture within a conventional perspective by using German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s conception of the ‘eternal return.’ This dissertation aims to question the conventional praxis of architecture and urban design formalisms through the impulse of ‘becoming’ and ‘non- representational’ thinking of Deleuze. The research attempts to conceptualize the relationship between history and the occurrence of new social contexts and to locate varying forms of active and temporal engagements with the material formations of cultural environments and historical sites. This dissertation explores the possibility of using history as a dynamic, intensive force in an architectural and urban design thinking process as a mean to escape the historicism and representational image functionary towards a re-engineered creative historical/architectural dialogue. The dissertation will conceptually analyze the difference between mimicking historical styles in a decontextualized manner and repeating them with difference using the theory of Difference and Repetition outlined by Deleuze. More precisely, this dissertation will show what Deleuze creative ontology of becoming and change might offer to ii architectural and urban design discourses where their practices can be improved through repetition, and where it is believed that reproducing history may reinforce pride and develop the sentiment of nationalism while making way for more accepted forms of imitation. A good example is a historical revivalism happening in Iraq. Although Deleuze’s influence on architectural and urban design thinking has grown dramatically since the early 1990s, the affective strategies that have resulted from his creative approach remain mostly unaddressed in Middle Eastern architectural knowledge. This dissertation aims to fill that gap. Methodologically, it will compare and contrast two different design strategies for the redevelopment of the Al Kadhimiya historical site in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. This comparative research investigates the problem of representational thinking in architectural and urban design practices and to what extent repeating the past produces sociocultural uniformity or cultural difference. The significance of this dissertation ranges widely from exploring the ethico-aesthetics of heterogeneous architecture in contemporary design associated within the innovative cultural paradigms to the role of philosophy in emerging new subjectivity and relational practices in architecture and urban design, including creative and strategic spatial practices. iii © 2018 Najlaa K. Kareem ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iv DEDICATED To my Beloved Parents & Family Without whom this dissertation would never have come into existence v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and about all, I would like to thank the Almighty Allah (God) for providing me the opportunity, health, knowledge, and skill to start this study and to persist and finish it in an acceptably. I would like to thank all those who contributed to this dissertation. I would like to start by expressing gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Iraq (MOHESR) for awarding me a Ph.D. scholarship which supported me to do this scholarly research and advance my academic career in architecture and urban design. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the chair of my Ph.D. committee Dr. Adrian Parr, and Dr.Patrick Snadon and Dr. Laura Jenkins, the members of the supervisory committee, who supported my early work on this dissertation and sustain it to its completion. I am particularly grateful for Dr. Adrian Parr for her confidence and the freedom she gave me to do this research, thank you for your effort, guidance, and support over the years. You set an example of excellence as a scholar, instructor, and role model. I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Patrick Snadon who always gave me constant encouragement, advice, and valuable suggestions for this research. I am also very grateful to Dr. Laura Jenkins who is kindly and generously sharing her expertise and insights through this process. I am deeply grateful to all my committee members for assenting to read the manuscript during the summer and to participate in defense of this dissertation. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to the faculty at the University of Cincinnati, the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. I would particularly like to thank Professor Craig Vogel for his invaluable guidance and suggestions, and I would like to thank Professor Edson Cabalfin who has been so helpful and cooperative in giving his support. vi Gratitude and appreciation also extend to the Harvard College Library, Aga Khan Documentation Center and Visual Archive at MIT, Library of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for supporting me in getting the original studies of the Al Kadhimiya historical site (TAKHS). I would like to thank the administrative and librarians’ staff at the University of Cincinnati Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP) Library for supporting me in obtaining the first volumes and the original editions of studies related to the theories of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and his collaborator Félix Guattari. I would also like to thank the mayoralty of Baghdad (Amanat Baghdad), and the staff of the Engineering Department in the Al Jawadain Holy Shrine for providing me with the latest information, original materials, archival date, achieved projects, and drawings related to the Al Kadhimiya historical site in Baghdad, Iraq. This dissertation could not have been completed without the main source of my strength, my parents, Mrs. Iqbal and Mr. Kadhim Kareem. Thank you for all your unconditional love. I would also like to thank my brothers, Ali and Ahmed, my sisters, Ella and Zhara, for their love and care, and for their assistance in getting important literature and documents on the redevelopment of the Al Kadhimiya historical site in Baghdad, Iraq, from the libraries of Baghdad University, University of Technology, University of Thi-Qar, governmental and religious institutions and ministries. Finally, special thanks to my small family, my husband, Mustafa Al Janabi, a Professor in Modern History. I have been lucky to have his expert suggestions and unwavering support. My son Mohammed, my daughters, Noor, Ruqayah, and Zainab, thank you for filling my life with happiness. I owe the completion of this dissertation to all of you. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii ii Dedication v v Acknowledgments vi vi Table of Contents viii viii Table of Figures xi xi Chapter One: Research Framework 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Research Questions 4 1.3 Research Aims 4 1.4 Research Scope 5 1.5 Hypothesis 6 1.6 Methodology 7 1.6.1 Historical Background 8 1.6.2 Formal Analysis 11 1.6.2.1 The Al Kadhimiya Historical Site 11 1.6.2.2 The Dewan Architecture and Engineer Firm Proposal 13 1.6.2.3 The Assemblage Architects Firm Proposal 15 1.6.3 Comparative Analysis 17 1.6.4 Conceptual Analysis 20 1.7 Literature Review 21 1.8 Theoretical Framework and Intellectual Apparatus 25 1.8.1 Helen Morgan Parmett’s Notion of ‘Disneyfication’ 26 1.8.2 Gilles Deleuze’s Notion of ‘Difference in Itself’ 27 1.9 Findings and Discussion 28 1.10 Organization of the Dissertation 29 Chapter Two: Literature Review 33 2.1 The Time of Architecture: Deleuze’s Reading of Nietzschean Eternal Return 3 3 2.2 Deleuze’s Philosophy in Difference and Repetition 35 2.3 Nietzschean Eternal Return 38 2.4 Urban Design Thinking in Eisenman’s Critical Practice 44 2.5 Deleuze’s Transcendental Empiricism 50 2.6 Machinic Urbanism in Eisenman’s Design Process 57 2.7 Conclusion 60 viii Chapter Three: Qualitative Methodology 63 3.1 New Territories for Old Architecture: Nomadic History as a Design Strategy in the Redevelopment Urban Project for the Al Kadhimiya Historical Site, Baghdad, Iraq 5 8 3.2 Capturing Old Architecture 66 3.2.1 Mixed Land Uses 73 3.2.2 Compact