The Courtyard in Cairene Traditional Houses; A Territorial Dispute, Game of Spaces Geometry and Light

Sadek Ahmed Saad

Abstract


The courtyard lost its role in contemporary Egyptian architecture. Despite its importance in the family social life, the western model of the villa and townhouse is adopted. The author argues that presenting the courtyard as a climatic solution only is inaccurate in introducing the courtyard to local urbanism. The study adopted qualitative and quantitative approaches, collecting historic courtyards houses in Cairo analyzing their courtyard form, geometry, and introductory spatial sequences. Related literature was reviewed for collecting data and introducing criteria. The study sample analysis proved the strong relationship between the spatial territoriality, the house transition zone, the public right to assert the order of their built environment (through collective deliberation) and other forces, which are of great importance to the courtyard role and meanings.


Keywords


Islamic Architecture; The Courtyard; Islamic Cairo; Territoriality; Introverted Architecture

Full Text:

PDF

References


S. Özkan, ‘Foreword—Courtyard: a typology that symbolises a culture’, in Edwards, Brian; Sibley, Magda; Hakim, Mohamad and Land, Peter (eds): Courtyard Housing. Past, Present and Future, New York: Tylor and Francis, 2006, pp. 15–17.

T. James, Pharaoh’s People: Scenes from Life in Imperial Egypt. NY: Bloomsbury, 2006.

S. Saad, Rehla Fi Zaman el-Madina: El-Helal el Khasyb "A Trip in the History of the City: The Middle East. Cairo: Cleopatra for Publications, 2017.

K. Azab, El-Fustat; El-Nasha’a, El-Izdehar, El-Inhesar. Cairo: Dar El-Afak El-Arabiea, 1998.

W. Kubiak, Al-Fustat, Its Foundation and Early Urban Development. Cairo: AUC Press, 1988.

P. Sanders, ‘From Court Ceremony to Urban Language: Ceremonial in Fatimid Cairo and Fustat’, in The Islamic World from Classical to Modern Times: Essays in Honor of Bernard Lewis, Princeton: Darwin Press, 1991, pp. 311–321.

T. James, The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt. Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2005.

L. Benevolo, Die Geschichte der Stadt. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 1991.

A. Fekry, Masaged El-Kahira we Madaresha. Part three: El-Asr El-Mamluki. Cairo: Dar El-Ma’aref, 1974.

A. Fekry, Masaged El-Kahira we Madaresha. Part two: El-Asr El-Ayubie. Cairo: Dar El-Ma’aref, 1969.

The French Government, Description de l’Egypte, Etat Moderne. Books (5, 6, 7), vol. 1, 2, 3. Paris: The French Government, 1809.

J.-C. Garcin, B. Maury, J. Revault, and M. Zakariya, Palais et masions du Caire. Tome I. Époque mamelouke (XIIIe-XVIe siècles). Aix-en-Provence, France: Institut de recherches et d’études sur les mondes arabes et musulmans, 1982. Accessed: Sep. 20, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://books.openedition.org/

A. Garg, ‘Evolution of courtyards of Kolkata. Case study of Khelat Chanda Ghosh’, ResearchGate, 2020. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339643187_Evolution_of_courtyards_of_Kolkata (accessed Sep. 12, 2020).

N. A. G. Mohamed and W. H. Ali, ‘Traditional Residential Architecture in Cairo from a Green Architecture Perspective’, Arts Des. Stud., vol. 16, pp. 6–26, 2015.

B. Maury, A. Raymond, J. Revault, and M. Zakariya, Palais et masions du Caire. Tome II. Époque ottomane (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles). Aix-en-Provence, France: Institut de recherches et d’études sur les mondes arabes et musulmans, 1983. Accessed: Sep. 30, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://books.openedition.org/

T. Okasha, El-Qiyam el-gamalyiah fi el-omara el-islameiah (The Aesthetics Dimensions in Islamic Architecture). Cairo: Dar El-Ma’aref, 1980.

S. Saad, ‘Die Visuellen und Ästhetischen Faktoren, die die Gestaltung der Städtischen Räume beeinflussen, am Beispiel von Kairo [The Visual and Aesthetic Factors affecting Urban Spaces in Cairo]’, PhD, Technical University, Vienna, 1994.

Y. H. Wazeri, ‘Comparative Study between Three Courtyards of Traditional Houses in Islamic Cairo’, J. Islam. Archit., vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 171–179, 2013.

M. Shibub, ‘The Modern and Traditional Houses in Libya’, Int. J. Arts Sci., vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 511–520, 2017.

M. Zakaria, Le Rab´ de Tabbana, vol. XVI. Cairo: IFAO, 1980.

M. Laffah, ‘The Courtyard garden in the traditional Arab House’, in Edwards, Brian; Sibley, Magda; Hakim, Mohamad and Land, Peter (eds): Courtyard Housing. Past, Present and Future, 2006, pp. 208–219.

A. al-Rahman Al-Jabarti, (D. 1826) Aja'ib al-athar fi al-tarajim wal-akhbar, known in English as Al-Jabarti's History of Egypt. Cairo: Bulak Press, 1930.

T. al-Din el-Maqrizi, El-mawa’iz wa’l I’tibar fi Dhikr El-khitat wa’ L-athar [Topographic and historical Description of Egypt]. Cairo: Bulaq Press, 1441.

M. Ibn Iyas, (Died 1522). Bada’a El-Zuhur Fi Waka’a El-Duhur. Cairo: Egyptian General Book Authority, 1960.

J. Akbar, Crisis in the Built Environment: The Case of the Muslim City. Singapore: Concept Media Pte Ltd., 1988.

S. Mangopo, ‘The Meaning of Spaces in Toraja Traditional House’, in Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 2019, vol. 436, pp. 838–841.

M. Zakariya, ‘A personal interview: Historic Houses in Cairo’, Jul. 14, 1982.

B. Edwards, M. Sibley, M. Hakim, and P. Land, Courtyard Housing. Past, Present and Future. New York: Tylor and Francis, 2006.

F. Al-Kubaisy, ‘Greenery buildings significance of courtyard houses design in the Arab world’, Renew. Energy Environ. Sustain., vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 1–10, 2020.

S. Farzaneh, S. Mehdi, and S. Amir, ‘Traditional courtyard houses as a model for sustainable design :A case study on BWhs mesoclimate of Iran’, Front Arch Res, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 2095–2635, 2017.

S. Shrestha, L. Hu, and Y. Zhang, ‘Development and Sustainability: Traditional Courtyard House of China and Nepal’, North Am. Acad. Res., vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 511–540, Mar. 2020.

A. Poropat, ‘Family house courtyard in the context of sustainable arrangement’, Teh. Vjesn., vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 513–524, 2017, DOI: 10.17559/TV-20160402125822.

The organisation of Islamic Capitals and Cities, Ed., Principles of Architectural Design and Urban Planning During Different Islamic Eras. Jeddah: Organization of Islamic Capitals and Cities, 1992.

R. Arnheim, Visual Thinking. Berkely: University of California Press, 1984.

F. Ching, Architecture; Form - Space and Order. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2007.

R. Krier, Urban Space. Solingen: Umbau-Verlag, Solingen, 2005.

S. Saad, ‘The Spatial Identity of Historic Cairo. Part One: Typology, Geometry, and Geographic Distribution’, in Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Cities' Identity Through Architecture and Art, Cairo, 2017, vol. 1, pp. 324–330.

G. Cullen, The Concise Townscape. London: The Architectural Press, 2002.

R. Curran, Architecture and the Urban Experience. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983.

Egyptian Authority for Surveying, ‘Islamic Monuments in Cairo’, Egyptian Authority for Surveying, Cairo, 1948.

S. Saad, ‘Space, Architecture and Power. Top-down and Bottom-up Placemaking in Historic Arabic-Islamic Cities’, J. Islam. Archit., vol. 7, no. 1, Jun. 2022.

S. Saad, ‘Cairo in The Age of Great Urban Transformations. Changes in Street Patterns Only, or a Shift in Power Networks as Well?’, in The Future and the Built Environment, Istanbul, Aug. 2019, pp. 389–408.

S. Saad, ‘Spatial Territorialities in Open-end Streets in Historical Cairo, The Major Street as Case Study’, Scientific Bulletin of the Faculty of Engineering of Ain Shams University, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 433–451, 2007.

S. Saad and H. Eysa, ‘Close-end Streets and Urban Territorialities in Historical Cairo. A Quantitative Evaluation’, Assiut Univ., vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 1859–1870, 2004.

S. Ebrahim, El-Haya el-Egtimaia fe Madinet el-Kahira khelal el-Nisf el-Awal mi el-Qarn el-Tasea’a Ashar. Cairo: Egyptian General Book Authority, 1992.

A. H. El-Shafa’y, (Died 1488 AD). El-Fawa’ad El-Nafisa El-Bahera fe Bayan Hokm Shawara’a El-Kahira fe El-Mazaheb El-Araba’a El-Zahera (Streets regulations according to four mezheb in Islam). Cairo: Egyptian Authority for Antiquity, 1988.

S. Saad, El-Kahira el-Tarykheya. Khetabat el-Sametien. (Historic Cairo, Messages of the Silent). Cairo: Kotobna for Personal Publications, 2019.

S. El-Hazlul, El-Madina el-arabia el-islameya. Athar el-tashre’a fi el-bena’a el-omrani (The Arabic-Islamic City. Impact of Religious Rules on its Built Environment). Riyadh: Saudi Association for Urban Sciences, 2010.

El-Mawardy, (D. 1057) Fi el-ahkam el-sultaneia. (Royal Decrees). Beirut: Scientific Book Publications, 2000.

R. Dehbandi, A. Einifar, and M. Helaleh, ‘A Comparative Study of Entrance in Traditional and Contemporary Houses of Iran | Dehbandi |’, J. Islam. Archit., vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 154–162, Dec. 2017.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.18860/jia.v7i2.15427

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.