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Welcome to ARCHNET, an Open Access, intellectual resource focused on the built environment of Muslim societies.Our mission:&nbsp;<ul><li>Facilitate excellence in scholarship, and professional work by providing ready access to quality, unique texts, and media focused on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, conservation issues, visual and material cultures, and related topics, both historically and in terms of contemporary best practices.</li><li>Enable teaching and learning in these domains by providing educators with reliable, effective pedagogical material and teaching aids.&nbsp;</li><li>Serve serves as a platform through which scholars, practitioners, and institutions can bring their work to new global audiences.&nbsp;</li><li>Promote intercultural understanding and dialogue through reliable, high-quality, peer-reviewed material on the diversity of, and pluralism within Muslim societies and the interaction between Islamic and other religious, cultural, and philosophical traditions.</li><li>Enable easy access to a wide variety of resources via a custom-built, web-based, mobile-friendly platform optimized to minimize financial, infrastructural, linguistic, and other barriers to access.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li></ul>Launched in 2002 after several years of development, ARCHNET is a pioneering digital resource that has proven a reliable authority on the built environment of Muslim societies, past, and present.&nbsp;ARCHNET is a partnership between the <a href="https://www.archnet.org/collections/1342" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries </a>(AKDC@MIT) and the <a href="https://www.archnet.org/authorities/1903" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aga Khan Trust for Culture</a> (AKTC), with support from the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT. ARCHNET NEXT was developed by <a href="https://www.performantsoftware.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Performant Software Solutions</a>.

About

Ahmed Bin Shabib

architect/planner

Rashid Bin Shabib

Dubai Municipality 

client

community center

United Arab Emirates

One of Dubai’s oldest urban parks, built in the 1970s, Khazzan Park housed a large water tower and was located in a low-income neighbourhood of the city. The park had been abandoned for a decade when the architects approached the municipality and persuaded them to commission them to repurpose the park. They first rehabilitated the landscape and conserved the existing plants, and restored the water tower to allow it to continue to be a landmark in the area. They then designed three civic buildings out of recycled materials within the park: a library, cafe and pavilion. The park meets all its energy needs from solar panels. Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture

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digital photograph

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Khazzan Park and Community Centre

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architectural drawing

IAA699780

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IAA699781

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IAA699782

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IAA699783

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Khazzan Park and Community CentreDubai, United Arab Emirates

Khazzan Park and Community Centre
Dubai, United Arab Emirates