Syrian Parliament Building

Architect: Unknown
Year: 1932 – 1954
City: Damascus, Syria
Building use: Governmental, Public
Status: built
Team: craftmaster: Muhammad Ali Alkhayat ‘Abu Suleiman Alkhayat’
07 The Trefoiled arch consists of three connected smaller archs, while the Accolade arch’s shape is formed from four circles, two with their centers on the inside and two on the ourside.
(قتيبة شهابي، زخارف العمارة الإسلامية في دمشق (دمشق، الجمهورية العربية السورية، وزارة الثقافة، 1996)، 218-219.) [Kotaiba Shihabi, Ornaments of Islamic Architecture in Damascus (Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic: Ministry of Culture, 1996), 218-219.]
08 The lunar window is an element found in traditional Islamic ornamentation. It consists of a small circular opening that can be found surmounting doors and windows. Its shape resembles a full moon, hence the naming. [Ibid, 281.]
09 The Muqarnas (or Stalactite) consists of a group of small alters and dents that are interconnected, arranged, and stacked in carefully studied patterns. [Ibid, 327.]
10 Ablaq is the term used to refer to alternating coloured stone courses, commonly found in Islamic architecture. [Ibid, 15.]
The Syrian Parliament building was designed and built in multiple phases between 1932 and 1954, atop the ruins of the first movie theatre in Damascus, Cinema Janaq Qal’a.01 It was bombed by the French mandate in 1945 which destroyed the first and oldest block. The building exemplifies an interpretation of “Modern Arab architecture”02 that was implemented in many other projects by the Ministry of Public Works from that time, characterized by borrowing ornamental and functional elements from traditional vernacular architecture and iterating on them.
The Syrian Parliament is located in the center of Damascus, at the intersection of AL-Salhiya and Al-Abed streets. It occupies a plot of land that covers 5600 square meters, with unbuilt space allocated for gardens and courtyards.
The building is comprised of three interlocking blocks, each from a different phase of construction. At the center of the three is a dome that signals the current plenary hall beneath it. There are three entrances to the building; two mirrored entrances on either side of the northwestern block, and a third entrance into the southeastern block.
01 رشيد جلال, قصة السينما في سورية, تحقيق صلاح دهني (دمشق: المجلس الأعلى لرعاية الفنون والآداب والعلوم الاجتماعية, 1963). [Rashid Jalal, The Tale of Cinema in Syria, ed. Salah Dehni (Damascus: The higher committee for Arts and Humanities, 1963).]
02 “بناء مجلس النواب السوري،” مجلة نقابة المهندسين، كانون الثاني 31، 1955، 5. [“the Syrian Parliament Building,” Engineers Association Magazine, January 31, 1955, 5.]
The blocks were built as follows:
The northwestern block was initially constructed in 1932. It housed a plenary hall with an area of 200 square meters that served as the venue for parliament sittings from 1932 to 1954. It also included six offices on the ground floor and three on the first floor.03 The bombing of 1945 left this block significantly damaged and destroyed the plenary hall, of which reconstruction works were overseen by Nazreet Yacobian Contracting Company.04
The middle block was constructed in 1945 under the direction of Mr. Saadallah al-Jabiri, Head of Parliament at the time, to accommodate the increase in the number of parliament members. The ornamental work on this block took seven years, and the first parliamentary session with it housing the new plenary hall took place in 1954. This plenary hall was larger than the first, accommodating 140 seats for parliament members in addition to seats reserved for the Council of Ministers, and had balconies on two levels that accommodated 300 seats for visitors, with one balcony allocated for the President, another for state officials, and a third for the press.05
03 Marked as (آ) in plan.
04 “عمر المالكي، “البرلمان السوري’ أيقونة عمرانية جميلة،” Esyria، آب 7، 2011، LINK. [Omar AlMalki, “‘Syrian Parliament’ a beautiful urban landmark,” Syria, August 7,2011,]
05 Marked as (ب) in plan.
06 Marked as (ج) in plan.
The southeastern block was built in 1947 by the order of Mr. Fares al-Khoury, then Head of Parliament, as a response to the lack of office space for parliament staff and officials in the first block. It includes seven offices on each floor.06
The main facade is evidently symmetrical, with the higher domed structure that houses the plenary hall in the middle and the two identical entrances on either side, clearly marked by large arches framing a recess that contains the entry door. The building’s facades feature other elements inspired by traditional architecture such as windows with Trefoiled and Accolade arches,07 Lunar windows,08 the use of the Muqarnas,09 and occasional streaks of black stone inspired by the traditional Ablaq.10
The lower part of the dome is adorned on the inside with mosaic drawings copied from those in the Umayyad Mosque, and featured windows designed in the Abbasid style. Muqarnas made of gypsum was used as a transition from the base of the dome into the supporting columns. A large Andalusian-style chandelier hangs from the center of the dome; four meters in height and two and a half meters in diameter.
All exterior walls were constructed using refined white limestone obtained from Talfita village (25 kilometers from Damascus) with Black basalt stone, from Deir Ali village (17 kilometers from Damascus), used in some stone courses. Yellow stone from ‘Ayn At Tina village (50 kilometers from Damascus), was used in some ornamental details.11
11 “بناء مجلس النواب السوري.” [The Syrian Parliament Building.]
The main hall’s interior is adorned with intricately carved wooden panels, while the dome is clad with walnut, cypress, and ‘Rumi’ olive wood. The chandelier was also made from walnut wood, and the windows featured gypsum and colored glass. In addition, colored marble is used for flooring.
The building’s structure primarily employs load-bearing masonry with cement Mortar. Reinforced concrete walls are only used to support balconies and transfer the load to the walls. Roofs were constructed using reinforced concrete slabs and beams, except the plenary hall which was covered by a dome. Given the solid nature of the site’s ground, there was no need for metal reinforcement in the concrete foundations.
Notably, the entire building was equipped with central heating and electrical and phone systems, with mechanical facilities situated in the basement beneath the southeastern block.12
12 [Ibid.]
01 رشيد جلال, قصة السينما في سورية, تحقيق صلاح دهني (دمشق: المجلس الأعلى لرعاية الفنون والآداب والعلوم الاجتماعية, 1963). [Rashid Jalal, The Tale of Cinema in Syria, ed. Salah Dehni (Damascus: The higher committee for Arts and Humanities, 1963).]
02 “بناء مجلس النواب السوري،” مجلة نقابة المهندسين، كانون الثاني 31، 1955، 5. [“the Syrian Parliament Building,” Engineers Association Magazine, January 31, 1955, 5.]
03 Marked as (آ) in plan.
04 “عمر المالكي، “البرلمان السوري’ أيقونة عمرانية جميلة،” Esyria، آب 7، 2011، LINK. [Omar AlMalki, “‘Syrian Parliament’ a beautiful urban landmark,” Syria, August 7,2011,]
05 Marked as (ب) in plan.
06 Marked as (ج) in plan.
07 The Trefoiled arch consists of three connected smaller archs, while the Accolade arch’s shape is formed from four circles, two with their centers on the inside and two on the ourside.
(قتيبة شهابي، زخارف العمارة الإسلامية في دمشق (دمشق، الجمهورية العربية السورية، وزارة الثقافة، 1996)، 218-219.) [Kotaiba Shihabi, Ornaments of Islamic Architecture in Damascus (Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic: Ministry of Culture, 1996), 218-219.]
08 The lunar window is an element found in traditional Islamic ornamentation. It consists of a small circular opening that can be found surmounting doors and windows. Its shape resembles a full moon, hence the naming. [Ibid, 281.]
09 The Muqarnas (or Stalactite) consists of a group of small alters and dents that are interconnected, arraneged, and stacked in carefuly studied patterns. [Ibid, 327.]
10 Ablaq is the term used to refer to alternating coloured stone courses, commonly found in Islamic architecture. [Ibid, 15.]
11 “بناء مجلس النواب السوري.” [The Syrian Parliament Building.]
12 [Ibid.]