Umm Al-Qura University
The students of the Architectural Heritage Course in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the supervision of the course professor, His Excellency Dr. Muhammad Abu Bakr Baqadir, presented a number of reports on the diversity of the architectural heritage in the Saudi Kingdom. They also provided a promotional visual presentation (a short video) as part of the course requirements (forming three groups of three students each).
The reports focused on introducing the types of architectural heritage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the importance of preserving them, as it is seen as a source of pride and honor as well as a touristic, economic and development resource, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030. The reports also tried to identify the difficulties facing the preservation of the architectural heritage in the kingdom at the present time, and aimed at building an image for the future of such a heritage in the kingdom for the coming years, based on available current data.
Each group was asked to choose a building or group of buildings to be re-designed in line with the principles and methods of preserving the architectural heritage and the needs of the times.
On the other hand, the visual presentation focused on promoting the idea of preserving the architectural heritage in the Saudi Kingdom, and explained the architectural diversity and the impact of cultural, civilizational, climatic and topographic diversity throughout our beloved kingdom on the various traditional architectural styles such as building materials, construction and building methods, and other related items.
To sum up, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is rich in heritage sites that need to be developed and rehabilitated to be consistent with the requirements of the times, with an emphasis on the importance of taking into account, when rehabilitating these sites, the implementation of the principle of sustainable investment. This should be based on the principle of preserving the architectural heritage, especially since heritage tourism has become one of the tributaries of the global economy. Furthermore, the Saudi Vision 2030 is concerned with the issue of architectural heritage as an economic, development and touristic resource that must be given care and attention.
