Da mito a progetto. Il Pearling Path e la rivitalizzazione dell’antica città araba

A widespread myth among pearl divers in the Persian Gulf tells that, on nights of the full moon, shooting stars streak across the sky, releasing droplets of dew that fall into the sea. Once in the water, these droplets are swallowed by oysters, which slowly transform them into pearls. This myth explains why, in Islamic culture, pearls have long been considered symbols of purity and beauty, embodying a divine miracle in which elements of the sea and sky harmoniously merge. Much like this myth, architecture also has the potential to convey details of the Islamic culture that might otherwise be lost. But what are the most suitable places and languages to narrate such a complex and intrinsically dualistic culture? A society that is now largely settled, though inwardly nomadic; the profound sense of enclosure, darkness, and density of urban fabric in sharp contrast with the vast openness, light, and boundless expanse of the desert; the balance between the horizontality of the natural landscape and the verticality of its divine symbols, represented by domes and minarets. How can we express this complexity, which ultimately reflects the intimate relationship between architecture, cities, traditions, rituals, and Islamic faith? In Muharraq, the former capital of Bahrain, the Pearling Path project, comprising seventeen sites associated with the ancient pearl trade and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012, demonstrates how a nation’s history and memory can be preserved and experienced within its own spaces, rather than being confined to the traditional Western museum settings.