Bahrain: Cultural Master Plan
The Kingdom of Bahrain (Arabic: مملكة البحرين Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn, literally: Kingdom of the Two Seas) is an Arabic island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family.

Bahrain is a generally flat and arid archipelago, consisting of a low desert plain rising gently to a low central escarpment, in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia. The highest point is the 134 m (440 ft) Jabal ad Dukhan. Bahrain has a total area of 665 km2 (257 sq mi). As an archipelago of thirty-three islands, Bahrain does not share a land boundary with another country but does have a 161 km (100 mi) coastline and claims a further 22 km (12 nmi) of territorial sea and a 24 km (13 nmi) contiguous zone.

Bahrain has mild winters and very hot, humid summers. Bahrain's natural resources include large quantities of oil and natural gas as well as fish stocks. Arable land constitutes only 2.82%[78] of the total area. Desert constitutes 92% of Bahrain, and periodic droughts and dust storms are the main natural hazards for Bahrainis. Environmental issues facing Bahrain include desertification, coastal degradation, and illegal land reclamation.

Masterplan Interventions

• Reaffirm the national identity
• Acknowledge strategic position of Bahrain
• Protect & preserve heritage
• Efficiency through a compact city
• Create more public spaces
• Reconnect the centre to its three bays
• Enforce environmental priorities
• Diversify energy sources
• Protect water resources
• Highlight the natural beauty of the island
• Implement public transport
• Integrate universities with society
• Promote cultural tourism
• Encourage craftsmanship

For the Spring Semester, the lapa studio will continue its focus on the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Cultural Master Plans (CMPs) developed in the last semester, have now been ratified into a single document.  The single CMP addresses the critiques and comments of the individual work, and sets a series of priorities and goals for the next stage of the project – Architectural Interventions.

The work of the Spring Semester will be to develop different projects which follow the guidelines of the CMP, and populate the urban landscape with cultural programme.  Each student will develop a project brief, will study its feasibility in the greater context of the CMP, and then will develop and detail the architectural design.

The goal of the semester is to develop a diversity of projects which will enhance the Bahraini urban fabric, and will contribute towards improving the quality of urban life, and the value of culture in Bahrain.
 

Images from the lapa Site Trip to Bahrain, December 2009.

The final aim of the fall semester of the lapa studio is the development of an Urban Constitution.

The studio is divided into five groups, which each develop an Urban Constitution based on thier different understanding of Bahrian.  The result is five distinct Urban Constitutions which aim to set a plan for future development in Bahrain, and which address issues of Urbanism, Transportation, Environment, Education, and Tourism.

During the semester break, the lapa team analyses and processes the 5 different plans, and combines elelments from each to create the Cultural Master Plan for Bahrain.  This comprehensive document is both a set of goals for development, and a set of regulations and guidelines for future projects.

Fanny Christinaz, Jonathan Germain,
Linda Wiksten, Basile Zufferey