The defensive vernacular settlements in oman, a contextual study

Benkari, Naïma

doi:10.2495/ha-v1-n2-175-184

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The Omanis withdrew from the coasts to protect their independence behind the mountains, where they consolidated their defensive systems, which were never crossed by the invaders. Since the liberation of the land from the Portuguese by the Al-Ya'arubi Imams, in the seventeenth century, most of the strategic cities in Oman had their defensive character consolidated [4] (Fig. 2).…”

Section: The Process Of Urban Development In Omanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Development in Oman: An Overview

Benkari

2017

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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During the past two decades, the Gulf countries have experienced the most rapid urban growth in the world. The traditional societies in this region have been guilelessly opened on the market economy and western lifestyle. In spite the progress realized at many levels, these societies became victims of its consumerist style. This article aims to present an overview of the urban development in Oman since it started its 'modernization'. This study is not only interested in how the country has been developing since its "renaissance" in the 1970s, but also how does this development appear, compared to its traits in the neighboring Gulf countries. Based on the assumption that urban research is a tool of analysis that can enlighten future decisions and actions in the domain of urban development, this study is also a critical review of the published research about the urbanization in Oman since the 1970s. This research showed that, although it shares several aspects with what the other Gulf cities have witnessed, urbanization in Oman was slower, less drastic and relatively more controlled. The scrutiny of the published research on this topic also revealed that the urban studies about Oman, and the GCC countries in general, were insignificant before the rise of leading cities such as Dubai, then Doha, to the international scene. It concluded that even if these urban studies have progressively broadened in their topics, disciplines and case studies, their effect on the new orientations chosen for the future developments in these countries remains negligible.

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Section: The Process Of Urban Development In Omanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Development in Oman: An Overview

Benkari

2017

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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“…The entrance of the village is also roofed by such structures and furnished with built-in benches. Such equipped entrances, commonly called ‘sabah’, are characteristic of Omani-fortified settlements and buildings (Benkari 2017b ). Structures made of mountain rocks and earthen bricks wrap around the mountainside with planted terraces.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Except for some prominent mosques and civilian structures, the rest of Oman’s built heritage did not receive the same attention or play the same role in this narrative. Regarded as a ‘minor heritage’, vernacular settlements and their traditional stone and earthen architecture were superficially addressed by laws and mostly neglected by both the government and the community (Bandyopadhyay 2000 ; Benkari 2017b ; Benkari, Naima, Salim Woaud Al-Araimi, and Khalifa Khalsa Al-Salmi: Oman heritage policy and its applications in the built heritage protection, under press). Such a situation is not unique to Oman, as vernacular heritage was only recently recognised as ‘worthy’ of consideration and protection (De Filippi 2005 , 4,5; Salazar 2012 ; ICOMOS 1999 ; Correia et al 2014 , 171).…”

Section: Introduction: Vernacular Heritage In Omanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Community-led initiatives for the rehabilitation and management of vernacular settlements in Oman: a phenomenon in the making

Benkari

2021

Built Heritage

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Once abandoned for more than three decades, vernacular settlements in Oman are now being progressively reinvested in to foster the country’s heritage tourism sector. The present research focuses on the emerging phenomenon of community-led initiatives for vernacular heritage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse in Oman. Through an examination of three case studies, its aim is to describe this process and its modes of action and discuss its effects on vernacular settlement transformations. A mixed research methodology was designed to include (A) analyses of relevant primary and secondary data, (B) documented onsite observations, (C) interviews with local community representatives and key players in the operations of rehabilitation, and (D) extractions and analyses of quantitative data from a hotel booking website.The research sheds light on unsuspected interrelations within and between the projects being implemented in these settlements and their operating modes. It reveals the focal role of a local community in a kind of ‘bottom-up’ management of its built heritage, coupled with a ‘horizontal cooperation’ between the three initiatives studied in this research. Moreover, it shows that a heavily centralised and top-down policy for the field of heritage conservation and management is among the main obstacles that hinder such initiatives. Furthermore, community-led operations of vernacular heritage rehabilitation are being undertaken under insufficient regulations in terms of land use, building restoration and adaptive reuse. In this context, the paper discusses some of the serious threats and concerns faced by such initiatives and proposes actionable solutions to mitigate these hindrances.

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“…A separate entrance allows family members to access the house's private spaces, including the sallah (living room), kitchen, bedrooms and/or multipurpose rooms. The house's exterior design, which is influenced by military style, is distinguished by the contrasting features of massive walls with decorative roof stepped parapets and carved wooden doors/windows with mashrabiya screens [1], [4], [17].…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential Architecture: Evaluation of Tenants’ Satisfaction in Private Culture

Cazacova

Yapicioglu²

2021

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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This paper focuses on the significance of privacy in housing design for private cultures and analyses residential satisfaction of design. Furthermore, the paper presents the unique features of a traditional house in Islamic cultures, and the role it plays providing residents of these houses with the desired privacy along with the importance and the meaning of residential privacy in private cultures, and how the contemporary architecture respects the privacy achieved in the traditional Islamic housing. Mirbat town in the Sultanate of Oman is used as a case study for this research and builds on the authors' previous study of Mirbat's old and new residential quarters where the detailed study of the architecture of 102 traditional residences were conducted and assessed. Furthermore, two additional surveys of young and older residents (as focus groups) of traditional and contemporary housing in Mirbat were conducted to expand and strengthen the findings of the current research, which aimed to study residential satisfaction as it relates to different aspects of privacy and as a measure of evaluating residential quality. Through a comparison of old and new quarters of Mirbat, and traditional and contemporary residences, the authors expose the differences in design between the old and the new. Finally, the authors conclude that those unique features that were employed in traditional housing design are no longer employed in contemporary residences' design (or employed only as decorative elements) compromising the privacy of the residents.

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The defensive vernacular settlements in oman, a contextual study

Cited by 10 publications

References 2 publications

Urban Development in Oman: An Overview

Urban Development in Oman: An Overview

Community-led initiatives for the rehabilitation and management of vernacular settlements in Oman: a phenomenon in the making

Residential Architecture: Evaluation of Tenants’ Satisfaction in Private Culture

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