In an architectural scene devoured by concrete towers and occasional glass façades disregarding their environment, the Yamama Hospital building in Baghdad emerges as an icon redefining the relationship between material and light and heritage and modernity.
Designed by the architects Noor Makiya and Marwa al-Dabouni through their office “WMN Atelier” as an attempt to restore local character and reimagine a highly aesthetic and functional façade that draws on the spirit of the place without being trapped in the past, it stands as the first architectural practice in Iraq led by two women. Their work fuses the rigour of New York modernism (where Noor trained and worked) with the precision of German structural clarity (where Marwa practises), all while maintaining a profound harmony with the spirit of their home city, Baghdad.
The Yamama building does not content itself with merely boasting “modernity,” nor does it mindlessly replicate the past. Instead, it comprises a complex set of traditional elements transformed through contemporary technology. The designers used local brick, arranged in a modern parametric configuration to create a façade that is visually and climatically efficient. Thus, the building stands as an architectural manifesto reinterpreting local (or near-local) materials through global design sensibilities, demonstrating that other possible routes remain for bridging the old and the new.
Hence, this building offers a straightforward yet effective example of Contemporary Regionalism in architecture, wherein digital techniques converge with environmental considerations to generate an architectural experience that interacts with both climate and urban surroundings.
The façade is characterised by a dynamic, three-dimensional configuration achieving an ideal balance of aesthetics and functionality: parametric patterns create shifting light and shade that enrich the building’s visual and thermal properties. This approach proposes an aesthetic dimension while fulfilling a clever environmental function, as the meticulously carved brick distribution—based on the notion of “Etching Spaces for the Breeze”—allows natural airflow that boosts interior ventilation, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling.
A closer look at images, reveals carefully crafted, intricate patterns. What appears to be the building’s “solidity” is actually skilfully perforated. This technique imbues the structure with a beguiling warmth. Rather than presenting a flat, unyielding face, the façade breathes with the daily rhythms of sunlight—a hallmark of what might be termed “functional ornamentation.”
Meanwhile, the building timidly gravitates towards Minimalist architecture, indicated by the simplicity of its composition, the intelligent use of space, and the sparing use of decorative details. Materials are limited—brick and glass—but deployed strategically, ensuring each element delivers maximal functional performance without superfluous additions. This simplicity ensures a calm architectural presence that asserts itself not through ostentatious ornamentation but through a judicious interplay of light and shadow, and by contrasting open against enclosed surfaces.
I am not entirely certain how closely this fusion approaches the ideas of the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, known for their experimental architecture that merges traditional materials with modern technology by blending formal simplicity with intricate material detailing. Their work often reveals a comfortable, indirect dialogue between post-minimalism and parametricism, partly through their explicit use of raw materials. In certain projects, for instance, brick is accentuated as a principal structural element, left uncovered or unhidden, to evoke a sense of tangible solidity and deep texture. Moreover, the geometric clarity and compositional rigour reflect a faint echo of those concepts—albeit expressed more openly and adapted to the climate.
Yet for all its outward solidity, the Yamama’s design resonates powerfully with what one might term “Paraminimal Architecture,” an approach integrating parametric (computational or algorithmic) processes with minimalist principles. Rather than manifesting the raw heft typically associated with Brutalism—regarded as an overarching architectural philosophy focused on raw materials, functionality, and stripped-down form—the building interweaves subtle ornamentation via small modular brickwork and parametric grids. This “gentle but carefully calculated” scheme mitigates the structure’s bulk with finely orchestrated detailing.
The Façade: Aesthetic and Functional Performance
Discussion of the Al-Yamama Hospital Building necessarily centres on its façade, where material, shadow, and space merge into the distinctive fabric that defines its identity. As noted, the choice of brick was neither sentimental nor merely revivalist; instead, it represented a considered response to Baghdad’s climate and the practical needs of modern architecture in the city.
The raw hue selected for the façade presents a notable visual shift. Baghdad is often associated with pale yellow brick, ingrained in the city’s visual memory. However, this building challenges that perception with a slightly deeper, warmer tone—one that does not entirely reject tradition but subtly reintroduces brick in a more appealing manner.
While many might expect the standard pale-yellow brick, the hospital’s façade appears in a richer, mildly red-tinged clay tone, brimming with energy to evoke a purposeful paradox—a gentle rupture from the usual visual norms and a daring play with raw materials for aesthetic ends, yet not straying beyond the bounds of the familiar. Through carefully adjusting the protrusion of certain bricks, the architects precisely maximise shading where Baghdad’s sunlight is most intense, particularly at points where two façades intersect.
Given Baghdad’s sweltering summer temperatures, the choice of brick also satisfied a practical imperative. Al-Yamama’s façade is designed to promote natural ventilation and passive cooling—reviving ancient methods evident in traditional Baghdadi houses.
Openings and gaps in the brick pattern guide fresh air into corridors and communal areas, reducing the reliance on mechanical HVAC systems. Projecting bricks in areas most exposed to direct sunlight cast deeper shadows, cooling the surface, whilst filtered daylight penetrates inside, producing shifting plays of light and shade throughout the day—reminiscent of Baghdad’s historic courtyard concept. Indoors, the design celebrates light as a vital component: carefully considered apertures cast changing patterns across floors and walls, creating a sensory experience that dialogues with time and climate. Wooden flooring and neutral walls further enhance the feeling of warmth and simplicity, fostering spaces that are more fluid and attuned to light and air quality.
Reconstructing a Local Identity in a Global Framework
Amidst a world replete with generic architectural expressions—particularly glass towers ill-suited to local climates—Al-Yamama reaffirms the possibility of grounding modernity in regional context. This is neither a nostalgic retreat into “traditional architecture” nor an embrace of a purely global aesthetic stripped of local identity. Rather, architects Noor Makiya and Marwa al-Dabouni propose a middle way in which modern technologies and local materials reinforce each other. The result is neither as radical as Zaha Hadid’s flamboyant forms nor as reserved as purely vernacular Baghdadi architecture. Rather, the building projects a distinct presence—self-assured, context-conscious, forward-looking, yet firmly rooted.
A New Architectural Language for Baghdad
If Baghdad is to discover its architectural future, this will not be achieved by importing alien forms or by endlessly reiterating nostalgic embellishments. The city requires an approach that re-examines the interplay between occupants and climate, and between façade and daylight—one that reconciles modernity with cultural tradition.
Ultimately, through the work of Noor Makiya and Marwa al-Dabouni, the city has gained a novel model for how its future buildings might look, function, and feel. As Baghdad seeks a direction, this building could well herald a new vision of context-sensitive, technologically harmonious architecture. It is a project that restores Baghdad’s architectural memory to the forefront without compromising the city’s essential character.
The opinions and information presented in opinion articles express the author’s perspective and do not necessarily represent the magazine’s stance.