The soul of today Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, since its inception just over 80 years ago, has shared the contradictory aspects of tradition and modernity, always hanging between the ethical intransigence of Wahhâbi costumes and the exogenous boost to an astounding technological progress, increasingly looking for a difficult coexistence of form and contents.
Saudi architecture cannot escape this seeming contradiction, because, in this specific context, functional aspects should not be irrespective of spiritual demonstration, which the Nation relies on, unlike the assumptions of secularized world; and because Islamic principles are supposed to represent a bridge to the standard distinction between religious and civil architecture, as well as for a cultural connection to the rest of Umma.
Taking for granted such assumptions, the actual adhesion of real action to ideal premises is not just recently questioned and is part of the ordinary debate between critics and experts of the Saudi Kingdom.
There is a risk of weakening the very identity the traditional Islamic style portrays even today, and this claim points out an identification loss of different Peninsula regional styles depicting climatic and constitutive conditions of local areas. This as the use of reinforced concrete and introduction of air conditioning have progressively made useless any structural and compositive measures that have historically given form and function to usual both religious and civil buildings.
However, it’s not that this separation between modernity and tradition is proved to be so drastic, as efforts and attempts made by contemporary architects to reach a synthesis demonstrate.
Riyādh, with its current nearly six million inhabitants, has had ever growing urban developments. As for urban renewal, Makkah is the city showing the major strains of its historic fabric: much of the old city, made with unbaked mud brick, has been destroyed. Also Jeddah has widely renewed its urban fabric since the 50’s, and, as a result, a number of modern architectures have replaced many ancient historic buildings. Jeddah, however, is not free of Islamic-style new buildings. Madīnah, like Makkah with its Masjid al-Harām, is inextricably connected with the presence of Masjid an-Nabawī, the Prophet’s Mosque. Architectural styles of Hijâz as a whole have absorbed the Ottoman political and cultural influence of Egypt, Syria, and Turkey since the XVI century. In Farasān Islands features of buildings have developed into a unique architecture typifying these islands. In terms of castles and palaces, Najrān southern Region exhibits the most significant and unique features in the Arabian Peninsula. In the Eastern Province you will find both Islamic vestiges and very modern universal-style housing and attempts to hybrid architecture.
Ultimately, Riyādh Diplomatic Quarter is an example of integration between Islamic tradition and technological development, a model for the Muslim Umma as a whole.