The poetry of building and the evolving Islamic architecture

Pedja Hadži-Manović is an architect with a keen eye for what goes into the depths. He’s an architect, a designer, a gallery owner of rare 20th-century design objects, and a cultural critic who lives in Zurich, Marrakesh, and Belgrade, and focuses on classical Islamic architecture.

He’s also the curator of the CH-DSGN Swiss Non-Conformist Design exhibition held at the National Museum of the Sultanate of Oman. Pedja Hadži-Manović established the P! Galerie in Zurich, Switzerland. Here, the gallery offers rough-designed objects, specialising in rare collector pieces and historic prototypes. The gallery provides items to other galleries worldwide and cooperates with auction houses like Sotheby’s or Christie’s.

He was in Oman for the exhibition CH-DSGN, which illustrated 100 years of Swiss design, and he selected furniture pieces that show the experimental, the primitive, the modest, and the playful, as well as the childishly naive. Original objects by the most famous architect of the 20th century, Le Corbusier, were brought together with objects from a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He also shows contemporary design, such as that by Tom Strala, who uses the ordinariness of building-site materials such as concrete or reinforced iron. The six-month exhibition is accompanied by a supporting programme: the solo exhibition by designer and architect Tom Strala at Bayt Sayyid Nadir bin Faisal, a series of lectures on design, a critical manifesto and art photo work by the well-known Swiss photographer Renate Buser.

Is design important?

First, I don’t think that design is important. It’s not a must to be involved with design. Nowadays, I think that 98% of design furniture is just consumerist nonsense: superficial, produced with no conviction, to please the mainstream taste. It’s an industry that aims to grow and make a profit. I have seen that IKEA came to Oman. They sell items for a quick “wow” moment to catch attention. But after two years, people throw these items away. It happens not because of the low quality but because this design acts as a trendy hype. When the next trend comes, this design will be gone. I am glad that people are critical of design and the design industry.

But good design has depth, and here it gets interesting. Here, we talk about cultural goods. For example, the items we exhibit at the National Museum reflect us and our society. These objects show the joy of failing; they are primitive, they seek spiritual depth, or they are open-minded to any experiment.

How did the connection between architecture and design happen?

My first love was painting in oil as a teenager, then photography. Later, I studied architecture at ETH Zurich. I learned how to approach problems and how to express my own perception artistically. I don’t see differences in architecture, graphic design, furniture, photography, urban planning, or interior architecture. Even though each has different frameworks, it’s all about human perception and giving our reality a poetic quality.

Nowadays, we think that specialization is essential. But that includes the fact that more and more people are unable to see the wider context or to cross the borders.

What is the objective of CH-DSGN?

We show Swiss design, but it’s about something more universal. Switzerland and Oman both traditionally have humble backgrounds. Both cultures have an affinity for simple but sensual solutions. The simple things know how to access our imagination. It’s the same as what we have seen as children: a simple twig, a sword, a tool, or maybe a snake. We get stimulated, our mind starts playing, and our emotions feel joy. It doesn’t matter if we live in Switzerland or Oman; it is enriching to become aware that we have this intuitive and naive side. Here are aspects that can touch us profoundly. I personally think that everywhere reality gets more inhuman, we get reduced to a function of following some defined paths. This design can reactivate our irresponsible and childish sides.

How would you define Swiss design?

Swiss design has been labeled as simple, with technically smartly solved details, innovative, never luxurious, practical... good, well-behaved, and conformist. But strong conformism always creates an adverse reaction. So here, we show this non-conformist side, which is more unknown but finally expresses an experimental and much more radical design.

Has Islamic architecture been evolving?

My answer is based on my subjective perception, and I’m hopefully wrong. Maybe my answer is harsh, but it’s all because of my emotional attachment to Islamic architecture.

In Oman, there is no contemporary Islamic architecture anymore. That is all Western architecture with Islamic make-up. Islamic architecture had a rich tradition in Oman even until the 1980s, much longer than in most other Islamic countries. There are simple fisher villages from the 1980s with a very Islamic character: magical, humble, playful, and a joy to walk around in villages like Quantab or al-Manumah.

But all that slowly gets destroyed. Nowadays, we think that an Islamic arch or an al-Mashrabiya defines Islamic architecture. But that’s like when I put a Mussar on my head, and I think I’m now Omani. Islamic architecture is about depth, the human scale, and being connected to the elements like stars, wind, heat, vegetation, sea, rocks, sand, night, or the moon. What a joy to walk in Old Muscat. It’s not a question about tradition or modernity, but about quality. If a culture is blessed with such a rich culture, it should try to understand its potential. There is an architectural crisis in Oman, and now Western mainstream prestige architecture is popular. Oman appears to fear being outdated and has started to follow all these global trends.

I designed right now a house [that is being built] in Muscat. The materials express the present Muscat with concrete, plastic, aluminum, .... But the house’s structure and soul are deeply defined by traditional Islamic architecture, trying to connect us humans to the elements in a poetic way. Here is the root of Omani architecture. I believe in an architectural renaissance in Oman, not in fake nostalgia or Westernised mainstream modernity without character.

Have you been able to explore Omani architecture?

My first trip to Oman was three years ago, when I came to see the outstanding Omani Mihrabs. Most Mihrabs worldwide are richly decorated, but the Omani ones are much purer, humbler, and express a unique spiritual depth. Exceptional. So, I fell in love with Oman. Then I saw several forts, of which Al-Hazm is my favorite. Then more and more cities and villages. As a result, I became more and more fascinated by the vernacular Omani architecture. Oman has a lot to offer.