Jordanian vernacular architecture ver sus2014_eliana baglioni

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Jordanian vernacular architecture
Conference Paper · September 2014
DOI: 10.1201/b17393-21
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Eliana Baglioni
University of Florence
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Vernacular Architecture:Towards a Sustainable Future – Mileto,Vegas, García Soriano & Cristini (Eds)
© 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-02682-7
Jordanian vernacular architecture
E. Baglioni
Architect and Independent Researcher, Perugia, Italy
ABSTRACT: This article will attempt to investigate Jordanian vernacular architecture which distin-
guishes itself by the use of various architectural typologies and materials according to the various geo-
morphological features of the country. Travelling throughout Jordan, it becomes evident that not much
has remained of this architecture which until a few decades ago represented the cultural identity of the
local civilization and its bond with the territory. It is therefore vital to document said architecture and
attempt to activate recovery and rehabilitation programs of what remains. This research was conceived
during a trip to Jordan. A local guide was employed to travelled across the country in order to discover,
observe and analyse various traditional architectures with an aim to better comprehend construction
processes and differences between settlements. Next, a search and study of what little existing scientific
literature remains was performed in order to compare, extend and confirm the collected information.
products of globalization and completely detached
from the environmental and climate context.
The reasons behind such neglect can probably
be found in history.
During the Ottoman empire, which ruled over
four centuries (1516–1918), a rather weak admin-
istration gave way for the decline of many towns
and villages. Agriculture struggled and families
and tribes moved frequently from one village to
another in search of better fortune. The population
level continued to fall until the late 19th century,
when Jordan received several waves of immigrants
from Syria and Palestine, as well as from Muslim
Circassians and Chechens further to the north.
In more recent times, like in many other coun-
tries, the old settlements were abandoned, since
they represented a way of life that no longer exists
in our modern day. Locals have replaced agriculture
with other occupations that provide better sources
of income, or have moved to the cities, again seek-
ing better income (Mahadine, 1997) and in search
of a modern house, with a modern facilities, appro-
priate for a modern life (Khammash, 1986).
Today, old settlements are usually called kirbeh,
which means “the ruin” and reflects their current
status (Al-Nammari, 2003).
2 Vernacular architecture in
jordan
Jordanian vernacular architecture has, however,
existed. Rich and very diverse, thanks to knowledge
now lost on architectural landscape integration in
response to different environmental and climatic
1 InTroduction
Jordan lies in the Middle East, in a region histori-
cally known as Fertile Crescent. Due to its central
position between West and East and its rich his-
tory of conquests, Jordan is crossroad of various
cultures. Its current population is constituted by
native Jordanians, Palestinians, Iraqis, Syrians and
Lebanese. It also has a small percentage of Cau-
casians –(Circassians, Armenians, Chechen), who
fled from their war ridden countries. Jordan is a
good example of religious integration. Given the
above ethnic diversity of its population, the main
religion, Muslim Sunni, coexists peacefully with
Christianity in its numerous variations (Greek-
Orthodox, Catholic, Orthodox, Syrian, Coptic,
Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Protestant).
Currently, Jordan is marked by three major
geo-morphological zones. The desert, which occu-
pies 60% of the country; the Jordan Valley, which
separates Jordan from Israel and Palestine and is
the country’s sole fertile area; and the Transjor-
dan highland, where the main modern and ancient
urban centers are located.
Most of its archaeological sites and historical
and religious monuments are well preserved and
welcome countless tourists. Unfortunately, how-
ever, little is preserved of “popular” architectural
heritage, i.e. the kind related to ordinary life and
to rural heritage.
Travelling across Jordan, one may see that tra-
ditional or vernacular architecture has almost
disappeared; it has been replaced by more recent
architecture. This result is generally of bad quality
due to widespread poverty, built with industrialized

3. 106
features as well as economic activities (mainly agri-
culture and livestock) by semi or wholly nomadic
cultures which still exist today.
The use of local and easily accessible materi-
als (earth, stone and wood) lay testimony to the
human ability to adapt to harsh local conditions,
such as a very hot and dry climate with scarce
water resources.
What has survived of Jordanian vernacular
architecture is generally a rural type architecture,
where living spaces are one with crop conservation
areas and animal shelters. Where the presence of a
courtyard plays a important role for outdoor activ-
ities and represents an extension of the home.
Many villages were founded in the early nine-
teenth century when the Ottoman Empire promoted
agriculture in Bilad al Sham (Greater Syria) in order
to compensate a shortage in agricultural produc-
tion from the Balkans, at the time subject to politi-
cal unrest. With an aim to promote agriculture, the
“Land Code” was initiated in 1858. It became man-
datory to register all cultivated lands whereas lands
left unattended for more than three years would be
confiscated by the government (Daher, 1999).
Vernacular architecture still exists. It is possible
to recognize various typological solutions accord-
ing to three territorial areas (the desert, the Jordan
River Valley and the Transjordan highlands) and
the availability of materials.
Unfortunately, only a limited number of the old
settlements are still inhabited (usually by senior
individuals) and many homes have been converted
into storage burns (Khammash, 1986).
2.1 The desert house
In the desert the traditional house is a tent. It has
been used for thousands of years by Bedouin pop-
ulations (both nomadic and semi-nomadic) who
live primarily raising livestock such as sheep, goats
and camels.
The tent, made of dense animal-fiber cloth and
supported by wooden poles, protects from both the
sun and occasional but extreme torrential rains,
and maintains a comfortable inner temperature,
especially during scorching hot days.
Tents come in variable sizes and are usually
divided into several rooms (from 2 to 6 depending
on family and husbandry size). While tent rooms
may have a variety of uses (such as hosting animals
or guests), they do not necessarily have a fixed use.
During the day, when protection from sand-
storms is not necessary, one of the tent’s longer
sides is kept open, in order to provide natural ven-
tilation. Two fires are generally lit inside, one in the
women’s kitchen and other in the “living room”,
where men lie, or talk business with a hot pot of tea
(Pizziolo and Cataldi, 1985).
2.2 The villages of the Transjordan highlands
Before the establishment of Jordan as an inde-
pendent state in 1946, the Jordanian population
was mainly composed of semi-nomads who settled
in villages (Al Haija, 2012).
Implementation of the Ottoman Land Code
(see paragraph 2) produced a gradual stratification
of the village community into two groups. Namely,
landowners (mellakin), who first settled in the vil-
lages and were able to register most nearby lands;
and share-croppers (fellahin), who worked the land
for the landowners and who on rare occasions were
able to register some land of their own.
In many settlements there was also a strong con-
nection between cadastral patterns and power rela-
tions on the one hand, and architectural patterns
and village morphology on the other. Mellakin
families resided at the highest levels of the village,
building beautiful courtyard-style houses with elab-
orate detailing and vaulted roof systems. Fellahin
settled in small scattered houses in the lower parts
of the village. A third social group also existed, land-
owning families who arrived later in the growth of
the village and settled in an intermediate location
between these two groups (Daher, 1999).
2.2.1 The fellahin house
The basic typology is constituted by a single rec-
tangular room with an approximate dimension
Figure 1. A Bedouin tent in the Wadi Rum desert
(Panoramio).
Figure 2. A basic fellahin house in Iraq Al Amir Village
(Eliana Baglioni, 2010).

4. 107
of 400 cm × 600 cm and is divided into two areas
by an “arch-wall”. The house is based on a single
floor and has a flat roof. In many cases, an outdoor
ramp allows access to the roof.
The perimeter walls are made of “dry” stone
masonries, fitted without mortar. They are very thick
walls, consisting of three layers (two external and
one filler). The outsides layers are in stone masonry
whereas the filler is of compacted earth mixed with
smaller stones (Marino and Lodino, 1999).
Both exterior stone walls are variable in thick-
ness, are generally laid with care, have regular stone
layers and have well interlocking between elements,
at least at the corners.
While there are no transverse elements which fully
cross the thickness of the wall from one side to the
other, a number of stones generally reach beyond
half the total thickness and are placed alternately
between both masonry, thus allowing the interlock-
ing between the external walls and the earth fill, giv-
ing the wall more stability and ensuring structural
collaboration between the three layers of the wall.
The internal masonry wall can also be built with
smaller stones of irregular size; in this case it is
usually set on a mud mortar and plastered with
clay plaster.
The “arch-walls”, called riwaq or gantara (Al
Haija, 2012), are built with “dry” stone in a single
masonryormorerarelywiththesamethree-layerwall
technique. The thickness can vary from 50 to 100 cm
(Marino and Lodino, 1999). These arches occupy the
whole extension of the room. The “arch-wall”is gen-
erally of the lowered type (more rarely constituted by
two semi-circulars or centers) and has large sets that
lock with the perimetral masonries. The “arch-walls”
effectively act as buttresses or form the base of the
house-wall rather than being bonded into the house-
wall (McQuitty, 2007). Another important function
is to decrease the light between the walls and allow
the use of smaller wood beams for the flat roof.
With this system, niches are generated in the
space between the “arch-walls” which are in turn
usually transformed into rawiyat, or silos for crop
storage.
These areas are raised from floor level through
lowered stone vaults and filled to the top with com-
pacted earth in order to obtain a flat surface. The
space below the vault is used as a warehouse.
The silos is generally closed up to the ceiling
by a thin stone masonry wall or wooden structure
filled with earth and straw mixture and has only
two small openings: a small hole at the base, where
preserved cereals can be withdrawn and a hole in
the roof, to introduce new material. The interior
of the silos is completely coated with an earthen
plaster with straw fiber: this implies that the plas-
ter must be laid before construction of the roof
(Marino and Lodino, 1999).
Ultimately, much of the house is used as a ware-
house and various niches are located within the
thick walls.
The area used as living room by day and bed-
room by night, called mastaba, is also raised from
floor level. It is finished with a well-pressed dirt
floor made of several layers by means of a rolling-
stone called madhaleh.
Sometimes, in order to ensure privacy, the bed-
rooms, mastaba, are separated from the others
areas by a hanging carpet, called albjad (Al Haija,
2012).
The area used for domestic activities, called
qaalbeit, also has a dirt floor, executed with less
care, or rarely also stone plates.
Furniture is very rare and is made of earth and
straw mixtures and in organic forms such as small
grain containers called khabieh (Al Haija, 2012).
These homes feature a single door, always placed
parallel to the “arch-walls” and, when present, a
small windows opening in the upper part of the
walls (Marino and Lodino, 1999). Finally, a small
hole in the ceiling serves as a chimney.
The characteristic darkness and small dimen-
sions of the house are partly the result of the con-
servative culture of the inhabitants, where women
are protected and not to be seen in public, and
partly the result of the relatively short daily pres-
ence of men inside these shelters, as they spend
most of their time grazing their livestock far away
from the village (Al Haija, 2012).
This unit is considered as the basis for later
house expansion depending on an increase in the
number of family components and on financial
capacity. (Abdelmajeed and Abdelaziz, 2012).
Startingfromthebasictypologythusfardescribed,
there are many variants or developments.
The first variation is represented by the presence
of a larger home, where interior spaces are divided
by 2 or a maximum of 3 parallel “arch-walls” and
wheremorethantwofamiliescanlivetogether.These
houses can also contain special areas for domesti-
cated animals called mithwads (Al Haifa, 2012).
Figure 3. An “arch-wall” and interior of a fellahin
house (Eliana Baglioni, 2010).

5. 108
The second variation are houses consisting
of more “basic cells”. These houses belong to
extended families where each family has its own
home and where some of the activities are carried
out together. In other cases, they are homes where
one or more families live but where functions are
clearly separated in different cells (living spaces,
external silos and spaces for animals).
A third variation consists in a distribution of
the rooms around the inner courtyard, which has
closed sides. This tipology is considered as one of
the evolving patterns in the village, which indicates
a high social status of its owner and a clear expres-
sion of his financial capacity. Generally, the patio
appears in only one house within the village and
is the house of the tribe leader (Abdelmajeed and
Abdelaziz, 2012; Daher, 1999).
Most of the houses have an outdoor closed yard
for some of the daily activities.
The outdoor courtyard almost always faces east
and is surrounded by walls built with unworked
small stone slaid without mortar to about two
meters in height. The floor is paved with stones or
is of dirt.
The courtyard is divided into very different
areas where a manual mill (molar), an earthen
bread oven (tin or tabun), an outdoor rest platform
(mastaba), a cistern (birke), earthenware water
containers (djarra) and niches used as warehouses
may be found (Marino and Lodino, 1999). The
courtyard contains all the materials and equipment
required by the agro-pastoral family such as piles
of dry grass, mangers, livestock water buckets and
arbors of large twigs to accommodate livestock
and protect them from sun and rain.
There are also spaces to store manure and cat-
tle dung used as organic fertilizers in agriculture or
for heating (Abdelmajeed and Abdelaziz, 2012).
In the most simple houses where the courtyard
is absent, some of these functions are performed
on the roof, which is accessed by a ramp. The ramp
is built with the same technique of the outer walls,
or with two exterior stone walls with an internal fill
in compacted earth.
Fallahin houses are isolated or in groups to form
small neighborhoods.
In this second case, buildings are constructed in
a compact form attached to one another and sepa-
rated by few narrow alleys.
Villages may also have communal latrines and
shared bread ovens (taboun), used by all their resi-
dents (Al Haija, 2012).
2.3 The Jordan Valley house
The river Jordan is the only significant waterway
in the country. It separates Jordan from Israel and
Palestine and extends to the Dead Sea. The area
near the river was always populated thanks to fer-
tile soil and rich agriculture.
The traditional houses of the Jordan Valley and
the Dead Sea coast are usually isolated in the midst
of farmland and are built with “adobe”, molded
mud sun dried bricks. The choice of using mud
bricks depends on the ready availability of clayey
earth and on the high thermal inertia of this mate-
rial, which can maintain comfortable temperatures
inside the house during hot days which can exceed
50°C.
While these houses are single story, modular
and flat-roofed, they nevertheless differ typologi-
cally from the stone houses of the highlands.
The base module is a square shaped room with
a single entry from the outside and often also has
small windows or openings.
Rarely do valley homes consist of only one
room. On the contrary, they consist of 2 to 5 mod-
ules arranged “in-line”, i.e. one next to the other.
Each module has separate access from the outside
and small internal doors which allow passage from
one to the other.
The above conformation suggests a sharp dis-
tinction in the use of spaces. In many cases, one of
Figure 4. A village in the region of Petra (Eliana Bagli-
oni, 2010).
Figure 5. Adobe house near the south coast of the
Dead Sea (Eliana Baglioni, 2010).

6. 109
the modules has two sides fully open and operates
as a covered patio which separates the house into
two sectors. Namely, the home (kitchen, bedroom
and living room) and the warehouse or animal
shelter.
The mud brick walls have a thickness of at least
50 cm and are built with a good tie between the
bricks, albeit the connection between perpendicu-
lar walls is often missing.
The mud bricks are made of a mixture of clay, a
little straw fiber and some gravel. The earthen walls
are erected on a stone basis in order to provide pro-
tection from damp soil or (rare) floods The earthen
mortar in the masonry appears placed with greater
care at horizontal joints (between adobe courses)
rather than at vertical joints.
The clay plaster is almost always present,
whether internally or externally.
The richest houses, which belonged to the land
owners, are surrounded by green trees which pro-
vide shade. These houses are more complex with
rooms arranged around a central courtyard. In cer-
tain cases, rooms are subdivided by “arch-walls” as
in the fellahin house.
Valley houses are rarely surrounded by walls
which close the patio and blend with the surround-
ing landscape.
2.4 Common construction technique solutions
Both the highland and valley houses present some
constants in technology, which consist mainly in
the use of a flat roof and clay plaster.
2.4.1 The flat roof
The roof is made of several layers and with various
materials, each with its own function.
The roof structure is made by wooden beams
(khashab) but may present variations, depending
on a number of factors such as the amount of light
to cover, the availability and type of wood.
It is possible to distinguish four types of
structures:
– single order structures with beams ranging from
wall to wall or from wall to "arch-wall" with a
25 cm wheelbase;
– double order structures with a central beam
from wall to wall and small section perpendicu-
lar beams with a 40–60 cm wheelbase;
– double order structures with a double central
beam and small section perpendicular beams;
– a framework with small section beams ranging
from wall to wall in both directions.
The available wood generally consists in irregu-
lar trunks of limited section, which are unworked
and provides the appearance of a particularly dis-
ordered structure.
First-order beams (main beams) have a circu-
lar cross section varying from 18 to 25 cm and no
more than 3 meters in length. For the second order
(secondary beams), branches are used. These are no
more than 2.5 m long with an 8–12 cm section. The
most commonly used species are pine (snobar), a
local tree found in the southern desert areas (ar’ara),
juniper, poplar (hawr) and sometimes oak (ballut).
Above the wooden structure there is a frame-
work (hadjizz) which consists of parallel reeds
(qassaba) forming a flat surface, in turn stiffened
by a transversely placed rod. Such frameworks are
worked on the floor and then placed on top of the
structural beams.
A layer of thorny plants (ballan) are placed
above the hadjizz. These have the function of pro-
tecting the reeds framework from mice and avoids
direct contact between reed and layer of com-
pacted earth realized above them. This practice is
more widespread in south-central Jordan and in
some cases directly replaces the reeds framework.
Sometimes, in order to better protect the struc-
ture, small branches of oleander (duffla) are used
instead of thorny plants. These possess very fibrous
and poisonous leaves and last well overtime.
The most evident element of the roof is a layer
of pressed earth (trab), mixed with straw and,
sometimes, gravel and small stones. The damp
earthen mixture is compacted through stone rolls
(mahdaleh) or by use of hands and feet. The total
compacted earth layer can reach over 40 cm of
thickness with a weight of 400–500 kg/m2
and
produces excellent natural insulation and thermal
comfort inside the house. The same cannot be
said of new concrete decks or zinc plates that are
spreading across the country.
In order to protect the compacted earth layer,
a final layer of fine grained water-proof plaster is
laid. This is called tawf (Marino and Lodino, 1999)
or samag (Al Haija, 2012). This final plaster is pre-
pared directly above the roof and is placed on top
Figure 6. A courtyard adobe house near the southern
coast of the Dead Sea (Eliana Baglioni, 2010).

7. 110
of the perimeter walls. It is a layer which is subject
to rapid deterioration and hence needs constant
maintenance that involves having to lay a new layer
every year before the rainy season. The compacted
earth layer, on the contrary, requires maintenance
every 3–4 years (Marino and Lodino, 1999).
2.4.2 The clay plaster
Today, many houses no longer have plaster on the
exterior. Traditionally, however, they were covered
by a clay plaster (trab) mixed with straw (qash,
tibn). Progressive abandonment and ensuing lack
of maintenance have resulted in natural deteriora-
tion and in some cases the plaster has completely
disappeared.
The main function of the plaster is to protect
the walls from the rain.
The traditional plaster is composed of three
overlapping layers. The first layer is made up of
a mixture of clay and small gravel, screened by a
wide-mesh sieve to remove vegetation and larger
gravel, and directly placed by hand on the wall in
order to close all irregularities. Hence, the thickness
of the first layer may vary greatly from one point
to another and can reach 4 cm. The second layer
is made of fine sieved earth mixed with chopped
straw, which limits rupturing of the clay plaster
and is about 2 cm thick. A final finishing coat is
passed into several “layers” when the second layer
is completely dry (Marino and Lodino, 1999).
3 closing REMARKS
It appears clear that vernacular architecture such
as the above represents richness and wisdom that
ought to be preserved and revitalized notwith-
standing the fact that only a small part of these
villages remain to this day inhabited.
These few inhabited houses belong to the poor-
est sectors of the population and suffer from lack
of maintenance. Many houses have been aban-
doned and are gradually turning into ruins (khir-
beh). Others are used solely as animal shelter. This
state of abandonment can be primarily traced
back to a choice made by the original inhabit-
ants to live closer to major cities or in “modern”
houses. Indeed, most vernacular buildings have
been demolished and replaced by houses built with
modern conventional materials. What is more, gov-
ernment policy promoted certain demolitions of
vernacular architecture and subsequent allocation
to newer modern houses in order to free archaeo-
logical sites of interest which had been re-inhabited
by the local population (Daher, 1999).
The lack of adequate heritage preservation laws
has led to the destruction and disappearance of
countless historic buildings in Jordan. Attention
to heritage has been paid by both local and for-
eign researchers solely for Roman and Nabatean
archaeological sites such as Jerash, Um Qais, Petra
and few others. These sites are currently only
related to the tourist sector. Some villages have
been enhanced with tourist facilities such as hotels
and restaurants but have provided rather poor
results and fail to ensure occupation for the origi-
nal inhabitants (Al-Nammari, 2003).
It is clear that the preservation and development
of vernacular heritage requires that these houses
adapt to new lifestyles. However, interest in recov-
ering vernacular architecture in turn requires trig-
gering cultural and socio-economic policies aimed
at attracting people back to the countryside.
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