Components of Architectural Language and Early Recovery for the Destroyed Old Mosul City

Abstract— The Old City of Mosul suffered extensive destruction following its occupation in 2014 and the subsequent military operations for its liberation in 2017. Given the scale of devastation, early recovery efforts initially progressed slowly but later accelerated through various responsible entities. Architecture, much like spoken language, operates on three fundamental levels—morphological (form), topological (activity), and typological (meaning)—which are central to debates on the primacy of form versus content and subjectivity versus objectivity. The war and destruction have caused profound psychological, social, economic, urban, and environmental crises, raising a key research question regarding the relative significance and prioritization of these three components in early recovery activities for the Old City of Mosul. This study aims to examine the nature, significance, and prioritization of architectural language components in the early recovery processes of Mosul’s devastated urban fabric. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, the study conducted field surveys and assessments, documenting recovery activities until December 2020 across various areas of the Old City. By calculating the percentage of recorded observations for each component relative to the total number of observations, findings indicate that the typological dimension (meaning) received the highest priority, followed by the morphological dimension (form) and then the topological dimension (activity), with relatively small variations in priority levels. Keywords: Destroyed Cities, Early Recovery, Architectural Language, Place Components.