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Secret renderings of the new U.S. embassy in Baghdad have appeared on the Internet following their inadvertent release by a Kansas City, Mo. design firm. The drawings (which include landscaping details) are provoking ample discussion in newspapers and on web sites. In the wake of the misstep, the U.S. State Dept. ordered the Berger Devine Yeager firm to remove the renderings from its web site. The company went further, taking the whole site offline (as of June 15). A version of the web site cached by Google, however, confirms that the firm is doing site design for the embassy. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????We understand how to involve the client most effectively as we direct our resources to make our client?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s vision a reality,?EUR??,,????'?????<???????? Patrick Lenahan, senior architect and project manager says on the firm?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s home page. The new embassy in Baghdad will be the world?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s largest, though it may not be large enough or secure enough to cope with the chaos in Iraq.
Secret renderings of the new U.S. embassy in Baghdad have appeared on the Internet following their inadvertent release by a Kansas City, Mo. design firm. The drawings (which include landscaping details) are provoking ample discussion in newspapers and on web sites.
In the wake of the misstep, the U.S. State Dept. ordered the Berger Devine Yeager firm to remove the renderings from its web site. The company went further, taking the whole site offline (as of June 15).
A version of the web site cached by Google, however, confirms that the firm is doing site design for the embassy.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????We understand how to involve the client most effectively as we direct our resources to make our client?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s vision a reality,?EUR??,,????'?????<???????? Patrick Lenahan, senior architect and project manager says on the firm?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s home page.
The new embassy in Baghdad will be the world?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s largest, though it may not be large enough or secure enough to cope with the chaos in Iraq.
Los Angeles Times architecture writer Christopher Hawthorne reviewed the huge project on June 15 and found the computer renderings pregnant with meaning. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????It?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s pretty difficult to camouflage 104 acres in the middle of Baghdad,?EUR??,,????'?????<???????? Hawthorne writes. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????Particularly 104 acres over which canary-yellow construction cranes have been hovering for months. The embassy compound on the west bank of the Tigris River will cost $592 million and include 27 buildings behind a series of protective walls. We know it?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s due to be finished by the end of the summer. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????But since the U.S. government has declined for security reasons to name the embassy architects or release any plans, we haven?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??t had any sense of what it?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s going to look like ?EUR??,,????'?????<??????????? or what its design might say about the nature of the American presence in the Iraqi capital. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????Then, late last month, an editor and writer named Tom Engelhardt discovered nearly a dozen computer-generated renderings of the embassy on the website of a Kansas City, Mo., architecture firm called Berger Devine Yaeger. Engelhardt posted a story on his online journal, Tom Dispatch, that linked to the BDY site. Imperial Ambitions Rendered ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????These days, architectural renderings by cutting-edge firms ?EUR??,,????'?????<??????????? the kind of designs you?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??d see in a glossy design magazine ?EUR??,,????'?????<??????????? often include human figures pasted into digital landscapes, chatting on a cellphone or walking a dog. This 21st century collage technique is meant to add a sense of life and vitality, even hipness, to the images. But the Baghdad renderings prepared by BDY attempt to do essentially the opposite: They clear the grounds surrounding the buildings almost completely of human life. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????In Iraq, density and urbanity have themselves become enemies, things to be feared or at least treated with tremendous wariness. In these designs both have been banished altogether. The horizons are clear, the sightlines unencumbered. Aside from the palm trees, the images suggest no connection whatsoever to Baghdad, Iraq or the Middle East. The pool is forever awaiting its first swimmer. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????That emptiness means that the few people we can see in the renderings carry the weight of exaggerated symbolism on their pixilated shoulders. The image of the deputy ambassador?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s residence shows a man looking down from a second-story breezeway or open-air stairwell. It?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s easy to imagine he?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s trudging home, exhausted, after a harrowing armored-car trip across the city. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????In the window of the ambassador?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s residence, meanwhile, a single figure can be glimpsed wearing what appears to be a dark sport coat and light-colored pants and looking down over a stretch of asphalt. An opening in a nearby wall is flanked by two armed soldiers and some awkwardly sited palm trees. It?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s tough to tell for sure, but the man seems to have his hands stuffed into his pockets. He is certainly not holding a gin and tonic, puffing on a cigar or clapping a visiting Houston oil executive on the back. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????The scene is martial and oddly suburban at the same time. There is some paranoia to be found in the image, if you insist, but also a dash of Edward Hopper. The figure stands for any American in Iraq, cocooned away from the daily life of a dangerous city. Looking out toward Baghdad, he sees only an eerily still reproduction of a typical Middle American driveway. The man looks very little like a diplomat, a person who by profession, by definition, is connected to another country and its culture and who moves through a world defined by courtesies and protocol. He looks privileged and well protected, yes. But mostly he looks alone.?EUR??,,????'?????<???????? Sources: Associated Press, chinadaily.com, L.A. Times
Los Angeles Times architecture writer Christopher Hawthorne reviewed the huge project on June 15 and found the computer renderings pregnant with meaning.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????It?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s pretty difficult to camouflage 104 acres in the middle of Baghdad,?EUR??,,????'?????<???????? Hawthorne writes. ?EUR??,,????'?????<????????Particularly 104 acres over which canary-yellow construction cranes have been hovering for months. The embassy compound on the west bank of the Tigris River will cost $592 million and include 27 buildings behind a series of protective walls. We know it?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s due to be finished by the end of the summer.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????But since the U.S. government has declined for security reasons to name the embassy architects or release any plans, we haven?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??t had any sense of what it?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s going to look like ?EUR??,,????'?????<??????????? or what its design might say about the nature of the American presence in the Iraqi capital.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????Then, late last month, an editor and writer named Tom Engelhardt discovered nearly a dozen computer-generated renderings of the embassy on the website of a Kansas City, Mo., architecture firm called Berger Devine Yaeger. Engelhardt posted a story on his online journal, Tom Dispatch, that linked to the BDY site.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????These days, architectural renderings by cutting-edge firms ?EUR??,,????'?????<??????????? the kind of designs you?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??d see in a glossy design magazine ?EUR??,,????'?????<??????????? often include human figures pasted into digital landscapes, chatting on a cellphone or walking a dog. This 21st century collage technique is meant to add a sense of life and vitality, even hipness, to the images. But the Baghdad renderings prepared by BDY attempt to do essentially the opposite: They clear the grounds surrounding the buildings almost completely of human life.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????In Iraq, density and urbanity have themselves become enemies, things to be feared or at least treated with tremendous wariness. In these designs both have been banished altogether. The horizons are clear, the sightlines unencumbered. Aside from the palm trees, the images suggest no connection whatsoever to Baghdad, Iraq or the Middle East. The pool is forever awaiting its first swimmer.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????That emptiness means that the few people we can see in the renderings carry the weight of exaggerated symbolism on their pixilated shoulders. The image of the deputy ambassador?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s residence shows a man looking down from a second-story breezeway or open-air stairwell. It?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s easy to imagine he?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s trudging home, exhausted, after a harrowing armored-car trip across the city.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????In the window of the ambassador?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s residence, meanwhile, a single figure can be glimpsed wearing what appears to be a dark sport coat and light-colored pants and looking down over a stretch of asphalt. An opening in a nearby wall is flanked by two armed soldiers and some awkwardly sited palm trees. It?EUR??,,????'?????<????????????EUR??,,??s tough to tell for sure, but the man seems to have his hands stuffed into his pockets. He is certainly not holding a gin and tonic, puffing on a cigar or clapping a visiting Houston oil executive on the back.
?EUR??,,????'?????<????????The scene is martial and oddly suburban at the same time. There is some paranoia to be found in the image, if you insist, but also a dash of Edward Hopper. The figure stands for any American in Iraq, cocooned away from the daily life of a dangerous city. Looking out toward Baghdad, he sees only an eerily still reproduction of a typical Middle American driveway. The man looks very little like a diplomat, a person who by profession, by definition, is connected to another country and its culture and who moves through a world defined by courtesies and protocol. He looks privileged and well protected, yes. But mostly he looks alone.?EUR??,,????'?????<????????
Sources: Associated Press, chinadaily.com, L.A. Times
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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