The pages of this book contain some incredible myths and legends, as well as superstitions, visions and extraordinary true stories. The book is divided into a number of short chapters that deal indirectly with design through the use of analogies and metaphors on the many aspects of things encountered in life. These tales then represent a journey, both direct and symbolic, fashioned from the observation of the Universe, man, animals, the microcosm, plants, dry land, mountains, oceans and islands, and man-made buildings and cities. Each story is accompanied by an illustration from the mind of the author to further help the reader immerse themselves in the strange worlds evoked by the tales. If you enjoy the fabulous and fantastical, the weird and wonderful realm that lies on the edge of the imagination, then you will surely enjoy In Days of Old and revel in its glimpse into our mysterious and mystical past.

Mosques: the Dome and the Mihrab is a scholarly look into the development of mosque architecture from its conception in Medina with the Prophets Mosque right up until the present day. The study looks in particular into the importance of the dome and the mihrab as well as their symbolism and the significance of the positional relationship between them. The book is a full-colour coffee table sized book, packed with beautiful photographs and architectural drawings that take the reader on a journey through time, revealing the symbolic secrets to some of the worlds most beautiful architectural and religious monuments.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, an ancient island on the western seaboard of the Arabian Gulf became very prosperous because of its mineral resources. As it witnessed a vast development it was invaded by an army of architects from all over the world who brought with them many architectural styles. The land though was not a barren desert as far as architecture was concerned. A group of local graduates thought that metaphoric architecture had started there centuries earlier by the great Badia al Zaman after whom the island was named. On the arrival of his son Saad, now in his old age, to his birthplace, Jazeerat al Zaman, after his many travels in Africa, India and China, experiencing many adventures on land, under water and on the air, and with three marriages behind him, one from the nation of earth, the other from the nation of water and the last one from the nation air, he was met by Shiymaa, a young female architect who was also a TV presenter. Together with his grandson Saim, also an architect, they listened to and recorded the old mans stories. These, whether they were real or at times exaggerated, will make the reader meet, under the water, with cities, monsters, and houries; on land, with kings and queens, bandits, underground castles and the world of the enchantress; and in the air the reader will live in the world of jinn and flying damsels, and will witness the fight between good and evil and the marriage between jinn and humans. The two young architects drew analogies from these stories and created a new architecture, later to be known as the Jazeerat al Zaman style. In the process of creating this work they were confronted with the economic and social changes of their country and the world. This story is about the birth of a new world where materialistic and religious values clashed, different cultures intermingled, past and present blended, myth and reality became indistinguishable, and where in its most sublime and cheapest expressions love was practiced. When you read this story you will find yourself in a different world and you wont know whether you are dreaming or you are awake, but in the end, I hope, you will become wiser and more knowledgeable and you will become humble enough to learn even from the birds and animals that play a great part in this story. Now, finally, from me and Mirsal the hudhud, we wish you a pleasant time reading this story.

For the last few decades at least, art and architecture have been controlled by the so called celebrities, who use their publicity machines to impose their dishonest ways on society and the young. The artist now distorts the human face and form, and in so doing, destroys the very beauty that God has created. The musician uses tones that are in disharmony with the natural frequencies of our planet and the human body. Similarly, the architect disregards thousands of years of Mans thoughts, discoveries and experience and creates a bankrupt kind of architecture, driven by computer software, where the presentation becomes more important than the content. A 3D fly-through of anything can make it magical. I have been on many such assessment juries, and have wished that the brief had excluded 3D animation because of its power to deceive and seduce. I have always looked to create timeless architecture, a coherent link from the knowledge and expertise of our forefathers to the as yet undreamt of discoveries of our children yet to be born. I would spend a lot of time thinking of how to avoid the obvious and instead create an enduring architectural form that is relevant to our times. One day, before I went to sleep, I was once again thinking of how to create such a thing. In my sleep I had a dream in which I was driving my car through Andalusia in the south of Spain. To the right were the mountains, to the left, the sea, with the sun in front of me. I usually listen to the Quran when driving, in particular the Qisar Suwer (the short chapters). When the Surah Wash-shamsi wa duhaha came, which deals with the sun, the moon, the earth, mankind and the proper relationship between them, the CD began skipping and repeating the same verse over and over again. No matter how I tried to eject the CD or skip to the next track, it just kept repeating. When I woke up the next day, the energy in me had changed and things came effortlessly to my mind. The mathematics between the moon, the sun and the earth became more clear and the initial idea for the building was born. What follows is the details of its design and construction.

The early seventies was an explosive time of new ideas and rapid change with London being one of the main centres of activity and innovation. In the midst of this, and as an already established architect of some repute, caught up in this wave of novel thought, Basil Al Bayati began to take an interest in the creative process itself and in particular, its relationship to architecture and the genesis of architectural form. It was, at the time, undiscovered territory. Creativity was, for the most part, viewed as an elusive gift, the exclusive possession of artists and inventors and little progress had been made in unravelling its mysteries and presenting them in a logical manner for the critical evaluation of others. In this, Basil Al Bayati was something of a trailblazer and his investigations led ultimately to the publishing of his first book, Process and Pattern, published by aarp in 1981. In it, he developed the ideas of the excitor apparatus as a means for explaining how information is processed and the nature of its interaction with a memory surface which can be taken to include anything that can give and receive impressions whether that be the human brain and nervous system, a landscape or a design plan. This book contains his first thoughts on these themes, taken from early notes and essays originally written in the early seventies, and as such must be considered within the context of the time and place in which they were developed. Although some of the psychological principles may seem out-dated by modern standards, we feel that the value of this text as a pioneering study is too great for it to be withheld from the public domain. It is with great pleasure that we present it here for the first time.