Abstract Houses represent the background or framework stylish facades of Jeddahs townhouses, the windcatcher
for human existence. The Islamic-Arab house with its structural (badgir) of the houses of Dubais Bastakia district, and the
clarity and beauty can be conceived as being generated from the courtyard houses of Yemen, are all evidence to the rich wealth
plan, which gave form and order to the space within as well as of Islamic-Arab residential architecture. Every architectural
measured and scaled by the human body and its experience. The element in the Islamic-Arab house represented a solution or an
Islamic-Arab house was also established and based on a series of answer to a different problem that appeared according to a
sustainable-oriented principles. The design concept of the specific condition. They were a sequence of related problems,
Islamic-Arab house, problems, and solutions can be traced in which were met successfully to achieve a unified and a
many of the existing traditional Arab architecture, in which
harmonious house. In fact, the beauty of these traditional
forms and spaces were dictated by habits and traditions. The aim
houses represents an art form that has resulted from an
of this paper is to examine the architectural vocabulary which
understanding of a unique mode of religious and cultural
governed the design concept of the Arab house and highlights
their distinctive characteristics. It also explores the essential human life.
design problems, which affected the shape and the plan form of
all traditional Muslim houses, in relation to the physical II. VOCABULARY AND SYNTAX
environment. A discussion of the way that tradition, culture, and My father's palace where every footstep had a meaning
religion formed the basis of the Arab house design approach and [1]. This quote from Antoine de Saint Exupery expresses the
the continual reinvention of the plan will also be included. design concept of the traditional Islamic-Arab house, where
However, the main objective of this research is to identify the every step, forms and spaces were shaped by peoples habits
idealized spatial system of the Islamic-Arab house, which and tradition. The Islamic way of life strictly defined the
became a methodological and conceptual tool to constitute the particular roles of man and woman in relation to the physical
basic vocabulary and syntax of its design. environment. While the public areas in a house are the domain
of men, the private and family areas are the domain of women.
Index Term Islamic-Arab House, Tradition, S ustainability, The privacy of the family was also an essential element which
Eco-Architecture, S yntax affected the shape and the plan form of all traditional Muslim
houses, to be clearly defined as public, semi-public and private
I. INT RODUCT ION spaces. The cultural and religious emphasis on visual privacy
In many parts of the Islamic-Arab world, one can realise many in Islamic communities has also tended to produce an inward -
looking plan with plain external walls to discourage strangers
distinctive examples of traditional architecture, mainly houses.
from looking inside. Climate also played an important role as a
Although there were socio-cultural differences in each region,
moderating factor and complemented the cultural and religious
the design of houses retained a common architectural language
need for privacy. The houses of the hot arid zones such as
that responded to both the common hot arid zones climate and Egypt, Iraq and India, are introverted, where family-life looked
the common religious needs. For example, the use of courtyard into a courtyard rather than looking out upon the street.
and the employment of the windcatcher or mashrabiyyah. The However, the architectural vocabulary which governed the
Islamic-Arab house is also one of the best examples that design concept of the Islamic-Arab house and highlighted its
express the sakina. The word sakina comes from the word distinctive characteristics were, the majaz (entrance), the
sakan, which is the Arabic name for a house and relates to courtyard, the combination of the qaah and the malqaf, the
dwelling in peace and purity. The heritage of traditional takhtabush, and the mashrabiyyah.
Islamic-Arab houses includes various forms, which were
developed in response to religious, cultural, and traditional
A. The Majaz (Entrance)
factors along with the specificity of the local built environment.
In Arab houses there were two entrances; the majaz (the
The remarkable traditional houses of medieval Cairo, the
main entrance of a house), which usually opens onto a
courtyard and the doorway, which is the main external feature
B. The Courtyard
The courtyard is the most essential element, which
represented the core of all Islamic-Arab houses. The concept
of the courtyard is commonly used in traditional architecture,
both rural and urban, of the hot arid regions from Iran in the
Fig. 3. Al-Fustt house, a courtyard house, Cairo. [3]
East to the shores of the Atlantic in the West. The courtyard
dates back to the Graeco-Roman tradition (c. 1900 BC.) in
Arabia. With the advent of Islam (632), Muslims adopted the The courtyard was employed in most Arab houses, not only
concept of the courtyard because it suited their religious and to achieve privacy, which is a necessity in Arab society, but
social needs, especially the degree of privacy needed. The also to enhance the thermal comfort inside a house. The
arrangements of the courtyard also provided a satisfactory courtyard is an effective device to generate air movement by
solution to their specific environmental problems. The size of convection. In hot dry zones the air of the courtyard, which
the courtyard varies, as does the number, according to the was heated by the sun during the day, rises and is replaced by
available space and resources [2]. the cooled night air coming from above. The accumulated cool
Historical examples of Arab desert architecture, include, the air in the courtyard seeps into and cools the surrounding
Ukhaider palace in Iraq, Quasir Amara in Jordan and Dar Lajimi rooms. During the day, the courtyard is shaded by its four
in Tunis (fig.2) as well as the twelfth century courtyard-houses walls and this helps its air to heat slowly and remain cool until
of Al-Fustate city, Egypt (fig. 3). The houses of mediaeval late in the day [3].
Cairo such as Al-Souheimi, Zeinab Khaton and Moheb Ad-din
Al-Shafie are also expressive examples.
Fig. 6. Section of the Q'a of Muhib Ad-Din Ash-Shf'i, 1350, Cairo. [3]
architecture and to found a new approach based on a (fig.11), exhibited the architects awareness of the traditional
conception of interpreting forms and masses from the past. He building forms such as dome, vault, loggia, malqaf and
was unique in believing that this language could exist mashrabiyyahs as well as the traditional building techniques.
alongside that of an aggressively modern one that cut all ties
with the past. He fully understood the function of the elements
of the Islamic-Arab house and their balanced relation to the
environment. All his buildings and projects, which were mainly
domestic, comprised the same architectural elements which
were drawn from the Islamic-Arab house. One of his important
houses was the Nassif house in Jeddah (fig.9), which
represented an opportunity for Fathy to reinterpret the
traditional architecture of Saudi Arabia. The house featured all
the essentials vocabularies of the Islamic-Arab house such as,
courtyard, mashrabiyyah, shukhshakhah and windcatcher [4].
each courtyard in order to permit maximum airflow and to Architecture Department for providing financial support to
exhibit the beauty of nature and the art of reflection by publish this paper.
employing decorative fountains in the courtyard [7].
REFERENCES
[1] De Saint-Exupry, Antoine, The Wisdom of the Sands. Chicago,
1979, p. 19.
[2] Danby, Miles, Privacy as a Culturally Related Factor in Built Form,
in Ben Farmer and Hentie Louw, eds., Companion to
Contemporary Architectural Though. London, 1993, pp. 138-139.
[3] Fathy, Hassan, Natural Energy and Vernacular Architecture:
Principles and Examples with Reference to Hot Arid Climates.
Chicago, 1986, pp. 46-47, 57-59, 62-67.
[4] Alkhateeb, Sharief, Arab Architecture for T hose Who Can Really
Live in Style. Saudi Gazette, 19 September 1979, p. 5.
[5] Steil, Lucien, T radition & Architecture. Architectural Design, v.
57, no. 5 / 6, 1987, p. 53.
[6] Chadirji, Rifat, Concepts and Influences: Towards a Regionalized
International Architecture. London, 1986, pp. 49, 118-119.
[7] Steele, James, The Architecture of Rasem Badran: Narratives on
People and Place. London, 2005, pp.70-72.
[8] Author, 2010
Fig.13. Al-T alhouni residence, Amman, Jordan, by Rasem Badran . [7] [9] www.myoops.org/.../LectureNotes/detail/lec4.htm
[10] www.archnet.org
[11] http://www.worldarchitecture.org/world-buildings/
V. CONCLUSION
The idea of perceiving a building as an entity as well as
articulating the function and identity of each member of the Author Dr. Abdel-Moniem El-Shorbagy is the Scientific Chair of
building are the key to understand the architecture of the Architecture and Urban Design at Effat
Islamic-Arab house. The most subtle characteristics of the University. In 2001, he received his Ph.D. in Art
Islamic-Arab house come mainly from its array of elements that History from the University of Canterbury in
New Zealand. He also received a M.A. in
were tested by peoples traditions and culture. Undoubtedly,
Architecture from the same university in 1997
the outstanding architectural quality of the Islamic-Arab and a postgraduate qualification from Lincoln
houses and the positive effect of their images do not only University, in New Zealand, in 1996. Prior to
come from its reliance upon recognised prototypes and attaining his postgraduate studies, he launched
deliberate plans, but also from their interesting exteriors. These and managed his own professional practice from
houses maintained a coherence and unity between inhabited 19801995 and designed numerous residential buildings, villas, and
space, construction and landscape. Therefore, the aesthetic of hotels. He taught Architecture and Design in various academic institutes
in Egypt between 2002 and 2006. Currently, he teaches courses in
the Islamic-Arab house comes from the harmony of putting the
Architecture, Design, Structure, and Islamic architecture at Effat
architectural elements together as well as juxtaposing them in University. He also manages the preparation of the urban design manual
order to provide variety and visual interest through change in for upgrading slums in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
their size and scale. Although, domes, vaults, bearing walls,
mashrabiyyahs, malqaf, courtyard and qaah together created
a recognised language in Islamic-Arab houses, their designs
were based on finding solutions to peoples religious and
cultural needs and requirements. For example, the arrangement
of all spaces around an inner courtyard and the division of
domestic space into two zones relating to the separation of the
sexes. In addition, the qaah, which was roofed by a dome or a
shukhshakhah, represented the central element of the formal
area in a house and provided the basis for designing all the
possible variations of Arab houses. There is no doubt that the
outstanding quality of the architecture of the Islamic-Arab
house was derived, not from stylistic elements, but from the
superiority of its essential features, their proportional
arrangement and their basic ideas.
A CKNOWLEDGMENT
The author wishes to thank Effat University for its effort to
support the research environment. Thanks are also due to the