During his stay in power, Saddam Hussein built dozens of palaces (between 80 to 100 according to different sources). Palaces were built; mostly post the Gulf war in 1991, as an expression of his authority. The grandiose architecture and the luxurious environment were supposed to support the image of a powerful leader for his followers.
Since the fall of Saddam and the Ba’ath party in 2003, some palaces have been used as military bases, some were looted, and one family got into a palace and turned it into a makeshift hotel. At present the palaces all belong to the current Iraqi government and there is still a question on what they are actually going to do with them.
My proposal looks at various abandoned palaces around Baghdad and redefines their architecture making them usable by the general public in an inclusive way. I have forested and “re-wilded” a palace. Another proposal seeks to turn them into a series of train stations, which will have links to the rest of Baghdad and the wider region. The third proposal “mummifies” the architecture of the previous dictatorship in an attempt to conceal and eliminate the memories of the Ba’ath party.
I have chosen to present my work in the form of postcards reminiscent to one’s from the 1950’s. Of a time before the oppression of the Ba’ath party, and of a time when Baghdad had a lot more promise in terms of urban and architectural development.
