Tuti is an Island at the confluence ofthe White Nile and the Blue Nile inKhartoum city the capital of the Sudan. Itcan be described as a rural “eye” in thecenter of an urban conurbation, whichmakes it a surprising place.I visited the Island two years ago for thefirst time, and was amazed by itsarchitecture and preserves a significantambiguity, that makes it special anddifferent from the surrounding cities.Although it is in the middle of an urbanand developing area, it sustains its ownlanguage and style, which is supportedby the reluctance of the inhabitants forany changes.Looking at the Island layout, encouragedme to study the philosophy behind thevernacular and Islamic architecture, sinceboth represent the main languageadopted in the Island.The Island suffers from different con-straints, starting with being totallyseparated from the surrounding cities andfrom the overcrowded and compactednatureThe Blue Nile between Tuti Island and Khartoum city

One of Tuti�s roads

Introduction

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Thus it is critical to locate a building thatdoes relate to its surroundings, as a badpainting will always end up on thepainter’s studio wall. The architect canbe a director, because people are forcedto pass through the building door hedesigned, and the fear of any architectis to place anything which is forcedupon the community.This was the challenge and anxietywhich faced me in placing a newstructure within this old historical andhomogeneous settlement.While certain architectural features havebecome fixed and eternal, correspond-ingly, the modern world has helped usfind our architectural roots and remaintrue to our identity.

of houses at the center of the Islandvillage. In addition, these houses radiateoutwards in a haphazard and randomlayout, as well as the unavailability ofspace for cars to manoeuvre, whichresulted in having only one route oftransportation that links the edge of theIsland with the center.The attempt is not to replan the Island.The intention is to redevelop the areasthat will help to establish a significantconnection between the edge and thecenter, as well as placing landmarksthat could be used as bearings and pointof reference.The question raised is how to build oradd new structures in an old settlementwithout affecting its identity?Architecture has always been a commu-nal art. It locates a building within acommunity to be seen by everyone, andit forces itself on everyone.

Inner courtyard in Omdurman house

Inner courtyard in aTuti house

Corner kiosk

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As Hassan Fathy, an Egyptian archi-tect, stated in Casabella 653, February1998, quoted by Attilio Petruccioli, p.p.52-79 “culture is the unique re-sponse of man to his environment inhis attempt to answer both physicaland spiritual needs .” To locate abuilding in such a setting we need tounderstand, appreciate and evaluate thearchitectural quality of the area, and todevelope a sense of dimension,topography, climate, material, structure,proportion, and of the surroundingphysical environment - both natural andhuman made.The challenge is to resist the influenceof Western technology, that is designedonly to suit their culture and environ-ment; and to avoid creating an alienenvironment in an Islamic community.This appears distinctly in some MiddleEast countries that imported Westerntechnology, planning and constructionexpertise; that resulted in directimitation of Western models that werenever designed for their communitiesand does not match their culture.Many Muslim architects and plannersare reacting to this invasion by reassert-ing their Islamic heritage.The fear of adaptation and imitation wasthe main attitude in handling the matter,which led to think seriously about theessence of the Islamic architecture andto use modern technology as a tool inexpressing the architecture of theIsland.The forms of architecture that willbe involved will have a regional identity,a stylistic evolution and a relevance tothe eternal principle of Islam.

One of Tuti�s two storey houses

One Tuti�s newly built houses

Residential street in Omdurman

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