1. COMPARISON BETWEEN
CASE STUDIES IN EGYPT &
INDIA’S VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE
Prepared by: Habiba Ehab Ahmed 18108736
Under Supervision of: Dr/ Mai Eid & Arch/ Makarious
Refaat
2. INTRODUCTION
VILLAGE ALLUR
● LOCATION: Chitapur Taluka, Kalaburaji District in Karnataka
( 17 12*N 77.08*E )
● COUNTRY: India
● AREA: The town is speard on thirty-five kilometres.
● POPULATION: 5683
● Allur is a small village/hamlet in Chitapur Taluka of Kalaburagi District of
Karnataka state. It comes under Chitapur Taluka panchayath, Kalaburagi
division. The village is 18kms away from Chitapur Taluka. It has its own
historic background. There are ancient ruined temples and mosques
scattered in this area which probably belonged to the Rashtrakutas.
3. INTRODUCTION
TOPOGRAPHY:
The entire district is on the Deccan Plateau, and the elevation ranges
from 300 to 750 m above MSL. Two main rivers, the Krishna and
Bhima, flow through the district. The predominant soil type is black soil.
CLIMATE:
Climate in this area is Hot dry climate and the village is too
hot during summers. The highest day degree temperature
during summers is around 34*C – 42*C. Average
temperature in January is 27*C and 29*C in February.
According to 2017 weather survey reports, the average
rainfall was 410mm per year, the maximum wind speed was
20mph. the average humidity was 56% and average pressure
was 1009mb.
4. ARCHITECTURE
● ARCHITECTURE:
Buildings in this village are usually constructed with stone in Islamic Architecture or Chalukyan
Architecture by Rashtrakutas. One of the most significant influences on vernacular
architecture is the microclimate of the area in which the building is constructed. Buildings in
warm climates, in contrast, tend to be constructed of lighter materials and allow significant
cross ventilation on through openings in the fabric of the building.
● ABOUT THE HOUSE’S LIFESTYLE:
The lifestyle of an area is determined by the activities performed by the people & the activities
performed in the context of housing. A rural house has to incorporate a large multitude of
activities within it. The activities inside & those in the surroundings of a house show the life of
a villager & his family members as a daily routine. The people use different spaces in the
house to fulfilling their activities. The aim of vernacular architecture was to cater to large
families to live under one roof & enjoy the commonly owned facilities of the homestead.
5. ARCHITECTURE:
● The house is located behind Angal Basveshwara temple.
The main door faces towards the East.
● This is one of the well-preserved houses of Allur.
● The façade is usually symmetrical around a central
projection. The tallest and most impressive feature of the
house.
● There is a huge front façade made of stone and a little
wood, it acts as an entrance to the house.
● There are two doors in the entrance one for the main
entrance to the house, and the other door for the entry of
the cows.
6. ARCHITECTURE:
• As we proceed inside, there is a central courtyard that is open to the
sky and has a teak wood pillar on all sides.
• In hot dry and hot humid climates, the courtyard is the center of the
building and provides a comfortable place for living.The courtyard
makes a plan internally oriented and prevents the internal spaces from
solar radiations and hot-and-dusty winds. It is always shaded
throughout the day even if the building is oriented in any direction. In
the evening, air temperature falls considerably due to reradiation to
the night sky.
• Around this courtyard, we find a mezzanine floor on either side. On
one side it is used for storing grains and fodders for the cattle and on
either side it is used for sleeping. The central courtyard has a sloping
stone roof to face the onslaught of the torrential monsoon.
7. ARCHITECTURE:
● It has an open roof space in the middle so that the rainwater is collected within and
excess water is drained out.
● Both the families share a separate kitchen, separate puja room separate bedroom, and
one common hall, the rooms are symmetrically divided from the padasala.
● On the upper floor there are eight rooms which consist of two halls and six rooms which
are used mainly for sleeping and storing grains and drying grains.
● Light and ventilation are obtained through small windows and openings.
● The house is made primarily of stone.
● The principal building material is stone and wood.
● The house is totally made using locally available materials accessible around the area to
suit the climatic and traditions of the owner.
8. ARCHITECTURE:
● The lime plaster is used to help to keep the insects away and also reflected sunlight
to reduce the heat within the house.
● The roof of the house is also covered with flat stones, and slabs, packed with mud.
● The wooden pillars support the roof.
● The kitchen is at the rear of the house or even a little away to keep the smoke away.
● There was a separate toilet area for ladies which is placed at the rear side of the
house.
● The whole façade is constructed using Shahabad stone.
● Small windows are provided so that hot air should not enter the building. The design
criteria in this Hot Dry region are to resist heat gain & promote heat loss & increase
thermal capacity because of high temperature, low humidity, hot winds & clear sky
with high solar radiation.
9. INTRODUCTION
GHARB SOHAIL
● LOCATION: Banks of the Nile river, Nubia
● COUNTRY: Aswan, Egypt
● AREA: The town is spread on thirty-five kilometres.
● POPULATION: 3000+
● Located on the banks of the Nile near Aswan, the colourful village of Gharb
Sohail gives a feeling of travelling back in time to ancient Nubia, the home to
one of Africa's oldest civilisations. Nubia is a region along the Nile that
stretches across southern Egypt down to Khartoum in central Sudan.
10. INTRODUCTION
TOPOGRAPHY:
Minimum elevation: 82 m
Maximum elevation: 356 m
Average elevation: 185 m
CLIMATE:
Aswan has a hot desert climate like the rest of Egypt. Aswan is one of the hottest, sunniest
and driest cities in the world. Average high temperatures are consistently above 40 °C
during summer while average low temperatures remain above 25 °C. Average high
temperatures remain above 23 °C during the coldest month of the year while average low
temperatures remain above 8 °C. Summers are very prolonged and extremely hot with
blazing sunshine although desert heat is dry. Winters are brief and pleasantly mild, though
nights may be cool at times.
11. ARCHITECTURE
● ARCHITECTURE:
● Religion and beliefs:
Religion and beliefs in Nubia affect their dwellings in ornaments, orientation, and
arrangement of spaces, the addition of specific spaces, or even the chosen colors. Most of
the paintings and decorations on the homes have religious connotations. Also it can affect the
form of their entrances and emphasizing the gateways.
● ABOUT THE HOUSE’S LIFESTYLE:
The lifestyle of an area is determined by the activities performed by the people & the activities
performed in the context of housing. A rural house has to incorporate a large multitude of
activities within it. The activities inside & those in the surroundings of a house show the life of
a villager & his family members as a daily routine. The people use different spaces in the
house to fulfilling their activities. The aim of vernacular architecture was to cater to large
families to live under one roof & enjoy the commonly owned facilities of the homestead.
12. ARCHITECTURE:
● Adaptation and directness of response:
● Nubian builders used materials from nature rocks for
foundations, earth, and water for adobe bricks and
mortar. The bricks are standard bricks that are made
locally by the people.
● Nubian vault; where they built it oriented to north with
upper openings to let air rarefy to the court.
● Lack of windows increases the area of solid walls which
helps decrease thermal transfer from outer space to inner
space.
● Using light colors in painting external walls to reflect sun
rays and reduce absorbance of heat.
● Upper openings help good ventilation that they provide
access for hot air which rises up and out through upper
openings.
13. ARCHITECTURE:
• Nubians tried to satisfy all their needs by applying some architectural
and design solutions, and also they created some spaces for practicing
their psychological needs like privacy or welcoming people in their
houses.
• Peace and safety by reducing windows in external walls.
• Women enter the house away from the main door, where men are
sitting on the platform (Al-Mastaba)
• Deewani is isolated from the whole house; as there is a wall
separating the open courtyard from the entrance and courtyard of the
deewani
• ‘’Al-madyafa'' includes an inter wall that prevents guests when they
enter the house from seeing the people inside the courtyard.
14. ARCHITECTURE:
● Power in Nubian culture represents their armor from devils, bad luck, and evil
people. It exists in many forms and symbols they believe in its power according to
their popular stories and cultural heritage. These symbols are rooster, scorpion,
and crocodile.
● All forms of interaction between family members, which extend also to a strong
interaction between tribes and society, have a strong reflection on their
architecture, design, and spaces.
● An open courtyard is an indication of a strong relationship between family
members.
● Al-Madyafa: a room where all guests stay to visit and sit with people in the house.
● Platform (Mastaba): a platform in front of the entrance of the house, where the
men met and sit together for talking and gathering.
● Presenting women and girls’ proficiency.
15. ARCHITECTURE:
● They put hanging plates on the top of their houses in geometrical forms as
they are the eyes of people.
● They use eye and ''Kaf-Fatima'' symbols as protection from envy.
● Mummified animals like crocodiles, rodents, or birds, which refers to the
power, so that people be aware of looking and envying them. Also, Horns
protect animals from enemies so they protect houses from envy.
● Entrances and the gradient elevated parts that surround the entrances, and
also the lack of openings.
● The orientation of all main entrances to Nile direction.
● Using curved lines and zig-zag horizontal lines which refers to the Nile's flow.
● Using blue painting and also white lime painting on the facades, which refers
to the Nile during the flow.
16. CONCLUSION
This study is devoted to presenting vernacular architecture as its main
sort of architecture, which is excessively integrated with people, their
environment, lifestyle, beliefs, and culture, and it varies according to
the region in which this architecture locate. Also, the study highlighted
that people are still attached to this type of architecture, despite the
great technologies and developments all over the world; because of the
great relationship between this architecture and people’s culture,
which is passed down from one generation to another, so, new
generations are psychologically attached to this architecture which
expresses their parents and ancestors culture.
