28. Courthouse 1977

Abdul Rahman Makhlouf

Bus Route 040

Built in 1977, the Courthouse was a direct response to Abu Dhabi’s need for a centralized Sharia Court. Its architect, Abdul Rahman Makhlouf, describes that convenience was the driving force for his design. It was at the brink of Abu Dhabi’s development and Sheikh Zayed had hired Makhlouf in 1968 to revise Abu Dhabi’s master plan. At the same time, Makhlouf was asked "to maintain the Arab Islamic architectural style of public and main buildings of the city." [1] According to the architect, the design of the Courthouse was inherently Arab-Islamic in that it provided a clear visualization of the inner workings of Sharia law. The idea was to build a structure that was accessible to all populations, as well as all elements and grades of court. [2]

The space of the Courthouse was arranged in four concentric circles. The outer layer housed six main reception areas, one for each department: General Administration, Fatwa (Islamic judicial interpretation), Civil Court, Criminal Court, Personal Affairs Court, and Supreme Court. Each reception area was connected to the next inner circle of buildings that housed offices for the departments’ employees. The various reception rooms and offices were not connected, but the next layer in the circle – the courtrooms – did form one continuous circle in the middle of the structure.

The isolation of departments on the exterior made it easy for people arriving at the Courthouse to find their way. However, departments were connected inside the Courthouse for efficiency, as the work of separate legal departments often overlapped. At the innermost part of the building was a circular, open-air space that was originally used as a mosque. The area was completely void of interior design, reflecting Makhlouf’s idea that "the mosque for Muslims is any clean place to pray in." [3] His pure modernist architecture reflects the nature of a religious tradition that is itself inherently modernist in its emphasis on practicality. The building’s central mosque was convenient for a majority of Court employees, who would take respite from work at the mid-day prayer.

The convenience of the Courthouse used to take precedence over its intimidating nature as an institution of law. Layers of wide-open arched entranceways invited you to enter. Continuous archways cutting through the layers of façades, along with the roofless middle section, guided natural light toward the interior.

The Courthouse has since been covered with reflective cladding, and the central area has been enclosed with a dome. As its form has changed, so has the building’s function after the restructuring of the Abu Dhabi Judiciary system in 2006. [4] Here, with form carefully following the functions of contemporary Sharia law, we have a clear example of modern Emirati architecture.

Notes

1. Abu Dhabi Municipality report, p. 47, quoted by Yasser Elsheshtawy in "Cities of Sand and Fog: Abu Dhabi’s Global Ambitions," in Yasser Elsheshtawy (ed.), The Evolving Arab City: Tradition, Modernity, and Urban Development, New York: Routledge, 2003, p. 267.

2. Personal Interview with Abdul Rahman Makhlouf, January 20, 2014.

3. Ibid.

4. Abu Dhabi Government Portal. Judicial Department. Web. January 20, 2014. link