National Museum of Soares dos Reis
1795
Porto, Portugal
This Neoclassical building, purpose-built to house a museum, shows the influence of the British architect Robert Adam.
Unknown
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Alexandria, Egypt
The building was built in the Neoclassical style to match 19th-century European counterparts.
Drawing of the railway bridge between the mainland and Venice
c. 1830
Austrian State Archives
Vienna, Austria
Bridges symbolise connections between places as well as historical eras. This one was built using modern construction methods and materials.
1841–1843
Potsdam, Germany
The innovation of steam-engine technology, following Thomas Newcomen and James Watt, revolutionised the industrial sector. Installing a high-tech machine in a building form that in the Arab and Ottoman world is associated with sacred spaces perhaps not only celebrated the vogue for the “East”, but also in some way elevated the Industrial Revolution beyond the daily and profane.
Cairo, from the Gate of Citizenib, looking towards the Desert of Suez
Published 1849
Sharjah Art Museum / Sharjah Museums Department
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (Sharjah)
1865
Beirut, Lebanon
This quintessentially Ottoman-style building was erected during the empire’s rule. The infirmary provided medical care to military personnel.
Lisbon Astronomical Observatory
1867 (first observations)
Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal
Astronomy has a long tradition in Portugal due to the country’s maritime prowess, but governmental astronomical observatories were a 19th-century phenomenon.
1873
Tripoli, Lebanon
A 19th-century public school run by missionaries, the architecture is traditionally Lebanese with European influences.
1875
Beirut, Lebanon
The building, commissioned by the Jesuits in the European style, heralded the introduction of higher education in Arab and Ottoman lands.
1877
Nazareth School
Beirut, Lebanon
Evoking a European fortified palace façade on a hilltop, the building represented a new educational form in Lebanon.
Barbadinhos steam pumping station at the time of its inauguration
1880
Historical Archive, Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres (Portuguese Water Company)
Lisbon, Portugal
Looking like a small palace set beside town houses, the pumping station turns to face the world. The smoke seen coming from the chimney suggests that the photo was taken when the pumping station was at the peak of its operation.
School of the Voz do Operário (Voice of the Worker) society, external view
1883
Photography Archive, Lisbon City Council, CML
Lisbon, Portugal
The factory-worker class gave birth to workers’ associations, societies and unions, and also buildings such as this one in simple architectural forms.
A watchman on a Constantinople street
Hegira late 13th – early 14th century / AD late 19th – early 20th century
Sharjah Art Museum / Sharjah Museums Department
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (Sharjah)
1891
Beirut, Lebanon
The first railway station in Lebanon followed the style of small European railway stations of the 19th century.
Istanbul Archaeological Museums
1891
Istanbul University, Nadir Eserler Kütüphanesi (Rare Books Library)
Istanbul, Turkey
The museum, which was founded during the 19th century at a time when many Arab, Ottoman and Southern Mediterranean countries were founding public museums in parallel with European counterparts, was constructed in the “canonised” Neoclassical style that evoked ancient Greek classical architecture.
1892
Istanbul University, Nadir Eserler Kütüphanesi (Rare Books Library)
Istanbul, Turkey
The vogue for travel on the Orient Express called for the construction of a new luxury hotel to accommodate its wealthy passengers. By using the vocabulary of European architecture and ensuring that all the “luxuries of home” were available, guests felt immediately comfortable.