faith & form: roots of urban compactness of old islamic city (stockholm, 2006)

FAITH and

FORMRoots of Urban

Compactness of Old

Islamic City

Hisham MortadaAssociate Professor

Dept of Architecture

College of Environmental Design

King Abdul Aziz University

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Old Muslim City: A Result of A Social

Framework of Principles

A social framework with a

complete set of principles

Old Muslim City: A Result of A Social Framework of Principles

Damascus, Syria Istanbul, Turkey Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Cairo, Egypt Fez, Morocco Isfahan, Iran

Aleppo Bukhara Cordoba

Damascus Cairo Tunis

Old Muslim City: A Result of A Social Framework of Principles

Old Muslim City: A Result of A Social

Framework of Principles

Society Scale

Neighbourhood Scale

Family Scale

Society Scale

Strong Social Interaction

• Limit isolation

• Encourage social life (wider scale)

• Interaction, collaboration, showing kindness,

benefiting others and avoiding harming others

Society Scale: Strong Social Interaction

Urban compactness of early Muslim cities indicates the strong relationship between inhabitants.

This has been manifested in various cities throughout the Muslim world regardless of local

environmental or cultural variables

Fez Isfahan Riyadh

Medina urban fabric during the

Ottoman era in the beginning of the

19th century AD. The absence of

large open spaces prevented any

social disintegration.

Organic urban fabric of

Medieval Cairo during the

Fattimi era (1800 AD) shaped

by collective actions and values

of residents.


Jeddah


Fez Isfahan


Damascus Cairo Meknas

The tiny squares surrounded by and provided access to dwellings in the old city of Jeddah

have had social values by enhancing interaction between residents.



Samarqand Yazd Meknas

The walled city of Lahore (1946 AD), where Muslim, Hindus and Sikh communities

lived for long time as one integrated society. This socio-ethnic solidarity was also

exhibited in cities such as Fez, Tunis, Medina, Isfahan and Damascus, where

Muslims, Christians, Jews and other religious groups lived as a socially integrated

community


Muslim Quarter, Old Damascus Jewish Quarter, Old Damascus

Christian Quarter, Old Damascus


Neighbourhood Scale

A neighbour: a relation, a stranger, and a casual/temporary neighbour.

All are deserving sympathy, affection, kindness and fair treatment.

Neighbourly relation should extend to those further away.

Neighbourhood Scale

An aerial view of the old city of

Tunis, where dwellings are similar

in shape and size, indicating an

absence of social or economic

advertisement in dwelling

physical aspects.

The physical aspects of a

narrow alley in a

neighborhood in the old

city of Tunis, provide an

atmosphere of social

cohesion.

Neighbourhood Scale

MeknasCairoFez

Neighbourhood Scale

Attached roofs of Isfahan houses, a reflection of trust and solidarity

among neighbors

Neighbourhood Scale

Bukhara Isfahan

Neighbourhood Scale

Simple mud house of a small

family in Al-Dariah, Saudi

Arabia, where Majlis or visitors'

room was provided in order to

strengthen ties with neighbors.

Neighbourhood Scale

Old Riyadh, where mud courtyard houses are similar in height (one

story), none of which blocks the air from reaching the other.

Family Scale

The relationship between family members is not temporary, but permanent and enduring.

Family members are expected to make serious and sustained efforts to live together and plan their role in society.

The relationship between all family members is a spiritual relationship that sustains and generates love, kindness, mercy, compassion, mutual confidence, self-sacrifice, and solace.

Bait al-Suheimi, a typical traditional Mamlúki

house (1250-1517 AD) in Fustat, Cairo, where

spaces are close to each other and multi-

functional, enhancing interaction between

family members

Family Scale

Fez Riyadh

Family Scale: Extended Family

Courtyard houses inhabited by extended families

Residential towers inhabited by extended families, Jeddah


An alley bridged by a room linking two dwellings inhabited by an extended family symbolizing

the strong ties between family members.


Qatif Damascus Isfahan


Meknas Fez

The tradition of Islam has set up certain principles to order and facilitate the life of Muslims. These principles, which are integrated in a coherent social framework, are represented in values which themselves are rules implemented in three social scales: society, neighborhood, and family.

These principles have remarkably been expressed in the built environment of early Muslims. This environment featured a compact urban form, whose physical aspects facilitated the maintenance of the principles the tradition of Islam has set up.

Summary and Conclusion