This course studies the concepts that inform the making and reception of modern architecture in the Middle East. In the Islamic world, new fundamentalisms and shifting religious trends have created an environment in which each country must renegotiate its past and reconsider its collective future. Whether by suppressing their Islamic roots, as in the case of republican Turkey, or through reinventing them, as in the case of post-revolution Iran, such countries must constantly transform their national image. It is through public works, such as architecture and planning, that they convey their political and religious ideology. This course examines the debates and theories of modern architectural production that have informed the discourse on Islamic architecture by situating cases of colonial and nationalist architecture in the context of their particular social and religious history.