MR~Jf 4 198

116 Pages·2012·10.66 MB·English

SUPPORT FOR COURT-YARD HOUSES RIYAD, SAUDI ARABIA
by
Jamel A. Akbar
B. Arch. Riyad University
1977
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the requirements for the
Degree of
Master of Architecture in Advanced Studies
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
February 1981
(i)
Jamel A. Akbar 1980
The Author hereby grants to M.I.T. permission t, reproduce and to distribute publicly copies of
this thesis document in whole or in part.
Signature of Author.......................... ............. . .......................
Department of Architecture
October 21, 1980
Certified by................... ...............................................
N. John Habraken, Professor of Architecture
Thesis Supervisor
Accepted by..... ......... . . . .. o..... .o . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .
ProfessordJulian Beinart, Chairman
MAAc ScSeACpHtUSeEdTT Sb yIN.ST..IT.D C.eE.p.ar.t.m ental Committee for Graduate Students
OF TECHNOLOGY
MR~Jf 4 198
SUPPORT FOR COURT-YARD HOUSES. RIYAD, SAUDI ARABIA
by
Jamel A. Akbar
Submitted to the Department of Architecture on October 21, 1980, in partial fulfillment of the
requirments for the degree of Master of Architecture in Advanced Studies.
ABSTRACT
The objective of this report is to explore the explain the possible relationship between various
application of the support concept in the Saudi patterns in the Saudi culture, and in order to
Arabian context, as a result of the author's clarify the capacity of the courtyard house.
interest in the concept of user participation. Third, a support for courtyard house type was
To do so, the following steps were followed. designed by using the S.A.R. methodology. This
First; an analysis and observations were made report deals only with design aspects on the
for both traditional and contemporary houses. level of the individual dwelling.
Second, twenty-four patterns were developed to
THESIS SUPERVISOR: N. John Habraken
TITLE: Professor of Architecture
Acknowledgement 3
Acknowledgement
The communication with the faculty and students
in the M. Arch. A.S. Program at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology since the fall of 1978
has enabled me to complete this study. I
gratefully acknowledge the guidance, support and
interest of Professor N. John Habraken, whose
direction and advice was invaluable during the
two years of study. I also express my great
appreciation for the personal advice and assist-
ance of Professor Eric Dluhosch during the same
period; Assistant Professor Michael Gerzso and
Ann Vernez-Moudon for their comments.
I am indebted to King Faisal University for
financing me to carry out this thesis; the Saudi
Arabian Educational Mission for their kind
cooperation; and Mary and Nancy Toscano for their
typing efforts.
I would particularly like to acknowledge my
father Abdulkader Akbar and the family for their
moral support, and finally to my wife, Samiha,
for her devotion and understanding.
4
Contents Credits
Acknowledgement............................... 3 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS on pages 14 and 15 are by
Contents...................................... 4 Courtesy of King Faisal Univ.
Credits................................... 4 FLOOR PLANS on pages 20 and 21 were extracted
,
Introduction............................. 5 from paper entitled: "An Introduction to Urban
General Scope............................ 7 Patterns in Saudi Arabia, the Central Region,
Section 1: Observation................... 11 Mousalli, Shaker, Mandily, aarp., Jan. 1977.
Section 2: Patterns................... 45 (Originally done by Riyahd Univ. students and
Section 3: A Support..... ....... 75 Dr. A'adel Ismail.)
Concluding Remarks............111 FLOOR PLANS on page 22 (houses 2 and 3) and
Appendix.....................113 mass plan on page 48 were provided through the
Bibliography.......................... .114 courtesy of Al-Hathlol S. Al-Hussayen, M. and
Shaibi, A., "Urban Land Utilization: Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, MIT Thesis, 1977.
FLOOR PLAN on page 23 is through the courtesy of
Ministry of Housing, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
PHOTOGRAPHS on page 56 is through the courtesy
of Yousef Fadan, Cover: "An Overview of the
Older Part of Riyadh City" through Phillippe
Annez and photo on page 10 (lower left hand side)
was through the courtesy of Saleh Al-Hathlol.
Introduction 5
Introduction
As a starting point for the concept of user par-
ticipation in the housing process, I explored the
application of the support concept in the Saudi
Arabian context. The support concept was de-
veloped by S.A.R. (Stichting Architecten
Research; -- an organization formed in the
Netherlands in 1964, to conduct architectural
research). The first question, then, is: How
can a concept which has been developed in a
western culture, be applied to a Saudi culture,
which is significantly different? The second
question is: What is a support, and is it really
needed? The author will try to answer these
questions briefly in the third section asking
the readers for patience in the interim.
In the following pages, entitled: "Genera-l Scope'.
the author has: tried to summarize the housing
situation in Riyad City. The first section is
devoted mainly to an observation of traditional
houses as well as an analysis, comparison, and
evaluation of contemporary and traditional
houses. In the second section, twenty-four
patterns were developed to clarify the potential
and capacity of the courtyard house, and to ex- relegated to be dealt with at that time.
plain the different relationships between living
patterns in the Saudi culture. Those patterns Notwithstanding, as an architect, I am convinced
are a series of descriptions, assumptions, and that the support concept is eminently suitable
evaluations, followed by recommendations and and ultimatel adaptable to the Saudi culture.
suggestions. The third section represents the It is the attempt of this thesis to formulate a
design of a support based on the analyses made beginning.
in the preceding sections. Only a support for
courtyard houses has been explo-red, in order to
concentrate on the organization and synthesis
of the living patterns.
It is the author's conviction that the concept
of support could also be developed for other
contextual applications and building forms,
such as walk-up apartments or detached houses.
However, these types have not been dealt with in
this report. Furthermore, this report deals
only with aspects related to the dwelling level;
with tissue context assumed to be developed in
detail later. Equally, problems of financing,
procedures of participation, legal aspects, and
many other related aspects which would become
essential for actual implementation, have been
General Scope 7
General Scope
RIYAD City is the capital of the Kingdom of of them include: lack of necessary data and in-
Saudi Arabia and the central region. Saudi Arabia formation for the purpose of design, diffusion of
is located in the Arabian peninsula between the the traditional public spaces, the geometry of
Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. It has hot, dry the street, the scale, municipal regulation,
desert climate with two dominant seasons -- building codes, lack of infra-structure, unco-
summer and winter. Its population, approxi- ordinated administrative structure, increased
mately 1 million -- including foreigners. Re- numbers of vehicles, and the excessively high
cently Saudi Arabia has become a rapidly- cost of land in and around the built-up areas and
developing country with a strong economic power the local roads. Speculation with land remained
because of its oil, which will be depleted in a unbuilt for a long period of time made it dif-
few decades; so the country is planning to de- ficult for public housing to be built. Most of
pend on other resources in the future by build- the problems are due to the fact that the
ing its industrial strength. The government is developments are designed by foreign experts, who
using the existing economic power to build all lack the appropriate background in the Islamic-
the required facilities to serve this goal. urban culture. In order to ease the housing
In Saudi Arabia, immigration from the rural areas problem, the government established the Mini-
and nearby countries to the urban areas is stry of Housing and Public Works, the Ministry
caused by the pull factor from the urban areas. of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and the Real
Thus, RIYAD City is passing through tremendous Estate Development Fund, which grants interest-
growth which is causing changes in the physical free and subsidizes long-term loans.
structure as well as the socio-economic struc- Housing problems in Saudi Arabia can, in general,
ture and the result is acute shortage of housing, be divided into the following categories:
community facilities, services and public first, the lower-income group who need total or
utilities. There are a number of problems. Some partial subsidies from the governmental funds
for land and construction. Second, the limited
income people who don't have access to a piece of
land and consequently, they don't benefit from
the real estate development fund. Third, people
who have a piece of land and need the government
assistance through the real estate development
fund. For the low-income people, the physical
nature of the shelter is secondary. High and
middle income people spend more money on housing.
The concept of housing in terms of produc-
tion could be divided into the following sectors:
Traditional Type First, houses built and owned by the residents
themselves which could be palaces or villas or
shacks. Second, houses built by developers for
renting or selling purposes, in which profit is
the main motivation, like walk-up apartment
buildings and villas. Third, houses built by the
government ministries or agencies.
Housing Typology could be classified to the fol-
lowing. First the traditional house. These
houses were built prior to 1945, and can be
found in the oldest part of the city. They con-
sist of rectangular dwelling units built around
Contemporary Type the central courtyard and are one or two stories.
General Scope 9
They are well-protected and isolated from the
street in which they have very few openings. All
the rooms of the house open towards the courtyard.
Generally, it is characterized by the heavy,
massive appearance and narrow shaded streets.
Second, houses built after 1945: These reflect
the present needs of their inhabitants. They are
constructed by using contemporary building
materials. The majority of these houses are
free-standing within a garden compound. Those
mentioned are the extreme two types. Other
types could be recognized, like row-houses and Walk-Up Apartment Building
walk-up apartment buildings.
Finally, in terms of participation houses in
Saudi Arabia could be classified into three
categories: Firstly, the traditional house
which was designed and built by the users
themselves, according to their own needs and
norms, by using local available materials, in
which they had full control over their built
environment and dwellings. Secondly, houses de-
signed by architects who have been hired by the
users, in which the architects try to accommodate
the inhabitants' requirements and lifestyles Public Houses
10
within his own values and norms. In this
category, the user has very limited control over
his dwelling and no control over his surrounding
built environment. Thirdly, the public houses
built by the government in which the user has no
control over his unit or his surrounding en-
vironment.
Traditional Type