Modern Heritage Research Grants

This project investigates the architectural and cultural exchange between Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates through the lens of school design from the 1950s to the 1990s. During this formative period, Kuwait played a leading regional role in educational development, exporting architectural expertise, planning models, and financial support to the UAE’s emerging school system. From early Kuwaiti prototypes designed by Tripe and Wakeham to later institutions such as Latifa Girls School in Dubai, these projects reveal how modernist educational typologies were adapted to local climates, materials, and pedagogical ideals. The research documents how school architecture functioned as a vehicle for modernization and nation-building, shaping civic identity and gendered social spaces. Using archival research, field documentation, and oral histories, the study traces shared design languages, imported blueprints, and local reinterpretations—ultimately reconstructing a transnational narrative that links Kuwait’s educational modernism to the UAE’s evolving urban and cultural landscape.