Title

Author(s)

Rabab Raes Kazem, Noor Abdulkhaleq

Affiliation

National Council of Culture, Arts and Literature, Kuwait

DOI

https://doi.org/10.65686/IGAS3124

Keywords

Cultural Memory, Post-Oil Identity, Phenomenology

PP

487-494

How to Cite

Raes Kazem, Rabab, Noor Abdulkhaleq. “The Memory of Oil Re-Inhabiting Kuwait’s Forgotten Modernism.” In Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptive Reuse. Volume 1, edited by Andrea Crudeli, Francesca Molle, and Emanuele Carrai, 487–494. Firenze: STH Press, 2026.

Abstract

The former headquarters of the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) is one of the last few modernist buildings presiding as a symbol of the oil boom and Kuwait’s emergence into modernity. The introduction of oil transformed the country architecturally, socially, politically, culturally and economically. Today, it is surrounded by a landscape suffering from rootlessness where much of what used to exist has been demolished, homogenized, or left to decay. While Kuwait possesses numerous institutions focused on oil and national development, they not only lack contextual researchers, dedicated curators, and experts familiar with the material, but also suffer from disorganized and largely inaccessible archives. This fragmentation hinders meaningful engagement with the complex socio-political, economic, and cultural transitions that marked Kuwait’s shift from a pre-oil to a post-oil society. This paper proposes an adaptive reuse strategy that transforms the KNPC building from a forgotten relic into a living ethnographic archive, where it weaves architectural preservation with embodied cultural memory and temporality etched through collective experience. Rooted in Heideggerian and Pallasmaa’s phenomenological frameworks, the design moves away from ocular-centric heritage preservation and towards embodied, multisensory dwelling. The intervention preserves the building’s material memory, exposing original surfaces and volumes, while layering reversible spatial additions that allow temporal coexistence. A designated research library and reading room, operating as a controlled-access archive, becomes a space for deep engagement with rare collections, oral histories, and post-oil scholarship. The reuse approach reconfigures the site as a hybrid typology that combines functions of a research and cultural institution. By integrating research, public engagement and education, the building becomes a vessel of cultural memory, shifting heritage from static preservation to actively evolving interpretation. This project goes beyond architectural reuse; it positions heritage as a continually unfolding process. It invites visitors to explore Kuwait’s post-oil identity through learning and cultural renewal. The goal is to activate the structure as a catalyst for national awareness, meant to be experienced physically and intellectually, not just visually.

Edited by
Andrea Crudeli
Francesca Molle
Emanuele Carrai

Publisher
STH Press, Firenze

ISBN Paperback – 9791281661141
ISBN Ebook – 9791281661158
DOI – https://doi.org/10.65686/SISY7263

Year
2026

Proceedings of
International Conference on Adaptive Reuse
hosted by The University of Pisa, Italy
15-19 September 2025, at the Gispoteca di Arte Antica dell’Università di Pisa.