Photo essay: photographer Nelson Garrido has travelled across Kuwait to document over 150 buildings, revealing the impact of 40 years of social transformation on the Arab state's built environment (+ slideshow).
From the late 1940s up until the mid-80s, Kuwait's thriving oil-export industry created an incredible period of prosperity, during which it declared political independence and established its own parliament. This unprecedented wealth led to a fundamental redesign of its urban fabric, involving architects including Kenzo Tange and Alison and Peter Smithson.
Garrido's photographs reveal the scope of construction that took place during this period, and are the subject of a new book by Roberto Fabbri, Sara Saragoça Soares and Ricardo Camacho, entitled Modern Architecture of Kuwait. In this extract from the book, the authors introduce the project and reveal the story behind three of the buildings featured.

From the late 1940s to the late 1980s, Kuwait experienced an extraordinary social and civic transformation, deeply reflected in its urban environment.
The complete demolition of the Old City centre and the comprehensive redesign of the urban form, together with the creation of the new neighbourhood units, catalysed the attention of major international designers. Working in synergy with local firms and authorities, they left on the ground important examples of late modern architecture.

Over a span of 40 years the process of reshaping Kuwait involved design...