Regional architecture firms are growing 'astronomically' on the back of the building boom in the Gulf, according to one of the editors of a new study on the region's architecture conducted by an influential European organisation.

The Holland-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has just launched Al Manakh - a comprehensive look at architecture trends in the Gulf region.

According to Editor Todd Reisz, Bahrain was playing a crucial role in a key period for the industry.

'You have regional firms which have grown astronomically for the last 10 years - we are going from talking about 10s of people in an office to thousands just in 10 years,' he said.

The publication came after a year-long survey of the region's architectural projects and Reisz admitted Bahrain was a 'tough nut to crack' in terms of gathering information - adding the country was at 'the beginning of a story' in terms of contemporary architecture.

Asked to name a Bahrain-based project which caught his eye, he plumped for the ongoing Durrat Al Bahrain development  in the south of the country.

'One thing that has been of curious note to us is this Durrat project, which seems to be in some ways replicating qualities of things going on in Dubai, but at the same time breaks free from the typical development in Manama - that gradual urban sprawl,' he noted.

'All of sudden there is this kind of new entity which is actually a brand new city and it redefines the definition of a city - meaning the citizen is really a customer.

He also highlighted some of Bahrain's emerging architectural firms as an 'incredible force,' but said new buildings in the Gulf had yet to result in what could be identified as a regional style.

'First of all there is absolutely no denying that globalisation is playing a key role in this,' he said.

'Not only are foreign architects coming into Bahrain, but Bahrain is as well going outside to finance other projects.

'But does that mean when a Bahraini financial institution is investing in a huge development in Dubai or Abu Dhabi there is something of Bahrain there?

'No - nothing that you would immediately sense.'

Reisz said the study and book had been borne out of the realisation that little was known about developments here outside the region.

'As a Western office, we suddenly realised how little there is actually known about the region,' he said.

'What people do know about the region is generated by the press that Dubai gets and, at least in the western press, when Dubai is featured it is done in a really severe if not caricatured manner.

'The coverage is either taking a really moral high tone on what is going on, or just focuses on the outlandish - and what we wanted to do was really kind of scrape away this caricature and really get to the essence of what is going on in the region.'

However, he wondered if the population of the region would sustain such a rash of ambitious projects.

'I think what one needs to focus on is yes, Dubai is considered the second biggest development site after Shanghai - but the difference in the population of those two places is very large.'

'I think it leaves a lot of room for questions of what this will mean,' he observed.

Reisz said that most of the region had plans in place to co-ordinate the huge amount of construction currently being undertaken.

'I imagine there is someone envisioning how this sprawl of Manama will eventually define itself,' he added.TradeArabia News Service