Writer seeks champions for Erickson’s Baghdad project
Hadani Ditmars is a Vancouver journalist and author of Dancing in the No Fly Zone: a Woman’s Journey Through Iraq whose feature on Arthur Erickson’s 1981 design for a project in Baghdad was published last month in the UK’s Architectural Review.
Erickson, who died in 2009, was one of several international architects commissioned to build up Baghdad for the 1983 conference of non-aligned nations. However, the conference was cancelled due to the Iraq-Iran war. Many of the projects, including Erickson’s, were never built.
Erickson's design - inspired partly by a Frank Lloyd Wright design from the 1950's - is being championed again by Mowafaq Al-Taie, a septuagenarian architect who inspired Ditmars’ forthcoming book Between Two Rivers: a Journey Through the Ancient Heart of Iraq published by I.B. Tauris.
Al-Taie has just published his own book in Arabic called Frank Lloyd Wright: Genie of Baghdad. He worked with Erickson on the original project when he was an advisor to the mayor's office and has since been a consultant to two post-invasion mayors - namely on how to reintegrate sectarianized Baghdad neighbourhoods. He has suggested a revival of the project – especially the series of gardens as a much-needed public and non-sectarian green space – but so far there are no funds available.
Ditmars is hoping the Canadian government will pick this up as a "winning hearts and minds" project and is reaching out to various government agencies as well as individuals and foundations that may be able to assist.
She may be contacted at hadaniditmars@gmail.com with suggestions on who might champion the revival of this project – which Al-Taei uses as a shining example of urban planning and design when he teaches at the University of Baghdad.
