Identity Lost and Found: Architecture and Identity Formation in Kuwait and the Gulf: Architecture and Identity Formation in Kuwait and the Gulf

The process of identity formation is deeply influenced by the built environment’s capacity to represent common values. In the Gulf, official narratives always praise modern buildings as the perfect representation of the impatient advancement of the society. On the other hand, the rapid transformation of the city and the injection of ‘other’ narratives have blurred the contours of the local culture, identity and sense of place. Focusing on Kuwait as a case study, this text retraces the transition from the Arab medina to the modern city and how this redefined the notions of tradition, locality and identity. Since the Gulf cities experienced similar developments and approaches to mondialization, this essay investigates the 20th-century architecture as a common denominator for the Gulf: a possible factor to define Khaleeji identity, rediscovered after several decades of neglect.