Facadism: An Approach for Spatial Reconfiguration

Baghdad’s historical center is a rich site of heritage and cultural values, yet it suffers from urban deterioration. Many urban spaces and historical structures are aging, which has caused a decline in the vitality and function of axes and open spaces. This research is based on the principle of facadism as one of the main approaches to the preservation and rehabilitation of historic and traditional buildings. The purpose is to address urban degradation and the spatial reconfiguration of urban space in a way that promotes its sustainability and revitalization. This research aims to formulate a theoretical framework that includes a list of interference patterns and their role in spatial reconfiguration. This will be applied to the spatial reconfiguration and development of Al-Rasheed Street in the historic center of Baghdad. A questionnaire elicited the opinions of experts, designers, and implementers in academic and executive institutions on the possibility of reshaping local spaces using facadism. The results of the questionnaire showed that experts support the possibility of adopting this method in spatial reconfiguration in order to intervene in the degradation of historical environments, and also to create a homogeneous and interconnected urban environment that prevents the eradication of cultural and urban heritage. By adopting the preservation of a façade in its various forms, considerations need to be made regarding its compatibility with the nature of the problems in the study area and the ineffectiveness of the pattern of dismantling and transferring a building to another place. This is due to the importance of the historical place and the need to preserve all its historical items within the fabric, in addition to the effectiveness of some detailed patterns in different items of formation.