How can we tap into the traditional wisdom about our built environment in order to develop an Omani Eco House? What strategies of sustainable building can be found in the old settlements, and translated into today's designs?
Around the world, architects start looking at traditional buildings again. In times of megacities and glass skyscrapers, such archaic buildings like Arctic igloos, Mongolian yurts and African kraals, which are made from snow, felt, grass or earth are rediscovered as sources of knowledge for sustainable designs. Why?
Because these buildings not only created shelter, but achieved the greatest comfort for the user with the least means. In other words, they were efficient and sustainable.
Oman, too, has a great tradition of houses and cities, which were built in harmony with the climate and the site, using local materials and skills. This heritage is in front of our eyes, however, it is slowly vanishing.
On excursions with the students to some of the old settlements like Al Hamra or Ibra, the GUtech Eco House team analysed and discussed this valuable heritage of Oman. In the beginning, students seemed to feel a distance to their country's past.
However, on one occasion, a student discovered her grandparents' house. The family's name was still written above the entrance of the abandoned house. In fact, the knowledge of the past is still within living memory. We should tap into it before it is gone and use it for more sustainable architectural and urban designs. For example, building with mud bricks is an established skill.
It can be sourced locally, and the bricks are dried in the sun. No additional energy is needed. Mud bricks can be recycled again and again. No waste is produced. And most importantly, a house built with mud bricks creates a very comfortable indoor climate, as the material insulates against the heat from outside and buffers the humidity inside.
The GUtech Eco House will be mainly built of mud bricks and thus link to the tradition of Oman while providing a modern and sustainable building.
Also the efficient use of water in the old settlements is inspiring. The plantings of the oasis were not only securing food for the village, but offered enjoyable views while creating a pleasant microclimate.
In the GUtech Eco House, we will recycle wastewater and irrigate a garden in front of the house that will only use native plants. No fertiliser, no pesticides, and much less water are needed to create a pleasant outdoor living area.
What is slowly being rediscovered, as strategies for sustainable building are actually obvious historical knowledge, and common sense. We need to understand the advantages of these traditional principles again and apply them in future modern homes.
The authors interviewed Prof Heinz Gaube, visiting Professor of Islamic Architecture and Urban Design at GUtech and author of various publications on art and architecture in Oman and the Islamic world
How could the old settlements in Oman cope with the harsh climate and scarce resource, and yet achieve a relative comfort for the inhabitants?
Prof Gaube: There are three points that contributed to this. First, if possible the direction of a village was oriented in the main direction of the wind. Second, buildings were arranged around narrow streets to create shade, and between shaded and sunny parts of the street the air could circulate. Third, houses were built with small openings in the thick walls of the ground floor rooms.
Here, the air would be sucked in, circulate through the room, and flow to the staircases, from there to the large central hall on the upper floor, and finally the air would exhaust through openings in the roof. This breeze from the outside does not really cool the house, but for the people it gives a feeling of comfort.
How do you see the city structure of modern Muscat?
Prof Gaube: Unfortunately, none of these traditional principles are followed in today's settlement pattern in Muscat. The freestanding villas that we see everywhere are not really appropriate for this climate. You have to create public awareness that people turn away from these villas and understand that this kind of buildings just consume too much energy.
What is your vision for the architecture and urban development in Oman?
Prof Gaube: I am sure that there will be a new thinking. People will say, "I will not sit in a car for 45 minute to get to work. I want to live in a denser city." There will be a new kind of architecture and a new kind of city in Oman.
© Muscat Daily 2012
