New initiative to promote UAE’s modern architectural heritage

New initiative to promote UAE’s modern architectural heritage

The Ministry of Culture and Youth has launched the Modern Architectural Heritage of UAE initiative which aims to recognise and preserve the UAE’s architectural heritage post 1960s and raise awareness about its significance in shaping the country.

Designed with the overarching theme of spreading awareness and fostering appreciation for the built environment, the Ministry’s initiative spotlights post-1960s buildings and structures underlining their role in the developmental journey of the country.

It aims at working closely with various stakeholders and the community, to amplify the significance of post-1960s buildings and structures and to encourage further research, documentation, conservation, and preservation efforts. In the long term the initiative aims at enhancing the UAE’s global position propelling cultural and architectural tourism in the country.

Coinciding with the Year of Sustainability, the initiative will focus on how conserving modern architecture paves the way for future sustainability by adapting these buildings to meet contemporary environmental and social requirements.

The UAE’s modern architectural heritage comprises interior spaces, buildings and the spaces between them, neighborhoods, iconic landmarks, designed landscapes and the built environment. It can be divided into two periods that define socioeconomic transformations during the 1960s up to 1990 and post-1990s to the present day. The term was coined in