ppt on verancular architecture of Shibam, Yemen city

1. YEMEN
ARCHITECTURE

2. YEMEN CITY
Location:-middle east of the Arabian Peninsula between Oman
and Saudi Arabia.
Climate:-Temperature are generally very high, rainfall is limited
with variation based on elevation. Average temperature is 25°C
to35°C at day time and at night 15 to 22°C.

3. Envionmental factor:-A hot, dust-laden wind, the Shamal, blows in the spring and summer-period, from
March till August. sometimes these winds can be very strong, and cause Sandstorms, that can occur
throughout the year, although they are most common in the spring. Most rain falls during the winter
months in sudden, short but heavy cloudbursts and thunderstorms

4. SHIBAM
Shibam often referred to as Shibam Hadhramaut is a town in Yemen. With about 7,000
inhabitants, it is the seat of the Shibam District in the Hadhramaut Governorate. It is famous for
its mudbrick-made tower houses.

5. Shibam is often called "the oldest skyscraper city in the world" or "the Manhattan of the
desert", and is one of the oldest and best examples of urban planning based on the principle of
vertical construction. The city has some of the tallest mud buildings in the world, with some of
them over 30 meters (100 feet) high, thus being early high-rise apartment buildings. In order to
protect the buildings from rain and erosion, the walls must be routinely maintained by applying
fresh layers of mud.

6. 04/03/15
The walled city of Shibam, (Yemen) is considered
one of the oldest ‘high rise’ urban planning,
and one of the most accomplished “traditional
examples of Hadrami urban architecture, both
in the grid lay-out of its streets and squares, and
in the visual impact of its form rising out of the
flood plain of the wadi, due to the height of its
mud brick tower houses”. Isolated from other
settlements, the city relied (and it still does) on
agriculture, mud generation and reuse of mud in
construction, through a system of spate irrigated
lands.
Considered one of the finest examples of
Arab and Muslim construction techniques,
the city included a very advanced sewage
disposal system.
a) organisation of a blind alley (in yellow on the urban
plan, to discharge the solid and liquid waste dropping
from the houses; b) the two-outlet toilet which allows
the separation of liquid and solid excrement; c) the
façade of a building equipped with sewage shafts and
excrement collection baskets.

7. 04/03/15
Shibam City Plans and its
Architecture
There are many natural factors combined to mould the plan of
Shibam into its present, mainly due to the nature of the ground
on which it is built.
The city lies along rocky mountain of the south, making it
expand to that direction. Moreover, on its northern, western and
eastern borders, the city is surrounded by palm trees and fields
reserved for cultivation.
The citizens of Shibam had to resort to the construction of
close-knit, narrow but high buildings, rising up to seven or
eight storey's, with ceiling-heights ranging from 2 to 6 meters.
Hot climate has made the houses to be close-packed, and the
streets are to be shaded to avoid the scorching heat of the sun.

8. 04/03/15
The City Wall and Entrance (Sur and Siddah)
Mud-brick wall (sur) surrounds the city .The height of the wall
varies between 6 and 9 meters. There exists only one main gate
to the city. When closed during the night and wartime, it isolates
the city from the outside world.
The siddah represents the main defensive position in Shibam. Its
southern and northern facades are congruous. It is prominent
from the rest of sur’s structure because of its dimensions and
characterised by three arches: the main central arch and two
smaller arches.
The central arch contains a large wooden gate that is
used at present by cars whereas it was used by caravans
and camels in the past. The smaller arches are located
one on each sides of the main arch, each having a gate
smaller than the main and are used by the pedestrians

9. 04/03/15
The Public Squares (Sahat)
The plan of the city of Shibam with its narrow sheets with limited
available land area incorporates five public squares. Closed packed
houses with public buildings are located around these squares.
High buildings surround these squares with open spaces that function
as communal centers that attract visitors and the immunity on many
social and commercial occasions. Moreover, there are small shops in
the narrow streets forming the facades with commercial
activities.
Traditional Layout and Climate in Shibam City
In designing and planning dry, wet and hot regions, architecture encounter two
major problems:
1- Securing protection from heat,
2- Providing sufficient air conditioning.

10. 04/03/15
Undoubtedly climate is a determining factor in
Shibam traditional planning. Thus, it is noticed
that there is a sort of systemization in the urban
structure of all dry and hot regions; the
traditional planning of the town is characterized
by:
1 - Narrow zigzag roads,
2 - Vast open Squares.
The narrow zigzag roads, which are open into
vistas with closed end, do the same function
of the squares. They store the moderate cold air
at night and do not let it leak at the first blow
of air

11. 04/03/15
Running of Current Breeze at Day and Night in Clay Building

12. 04/03/15
The outside surface of these buildings is least exposed to the external environment surface are painted
with Lime that possesses high reflective property compared to other materials. Response of the thermal
traditional building to the high temperature difference of day and night occurs through the heavy massed
walls and roofs of high thermal insulation and high thermal storage capacity,
The houses are topped by flat roofs surrounded by parapets to form terraces. These terraces are
waterproofed with an application of ramad - a plaster of lime, wood ashes and sand.

13. 04/03/15
The most pleasant rooms are on the fourth floor. One room has two wooden pillars, a wardrobe with fine
carved doors and a mashrabiya (a handsome wooden screen) at the window. There is also a hidden
staircase that leads to three upper terraces from which you can see all the surrounding villages.

14. 04/03/15
Builders dig deep into the ground to find firm soil
and, at the bottom of the trench, place a layer of
animal droppings covered by a layer of salt. On this
course they place timbers parallel to the walls, with
stones packed in the interstices. In this manner,
the builders construct a masonry wall of stone and
lime up to street level. Then they pile sun-dried
mud bricks up to the sixth floor, reducing the
thickness of the walls as the building rises so that
the internal dimensions seem to be constant and
the external profile tapers slightly from ground to
roof.
CONSTRUCTION
TECHNIQUES

15. Defence
Surrounded by a fortified wall, the
historic city of Shibam is one of the
oldest and best examples of urban
planning based on multi-storeyed
construction. It represents the most
accomplished example of traditional
Hadrami urban architecture, both in
the grid lay-out of its streets and
squares, and in the visual impact of
its form rising out of the flood plain
of the wadi, due to the height of its
mud brick tower houses.

16. Protection from floods
They have stone structures used in the foundation of the building, which protects the building from
flood destructions.
This also makes the structure more stable, strong and durable, thus the life of the building increases.

17. Culture
Located between two mountains on
the edge of a giant flood wadi and
almost completely isolated from any
other urban settlement, Shibam and its
setting preserve the last surviving and
comprehensive evidence of a
traditional society that has adapted to
the precarious life of a spate
agriculture environment. It is
vulnerable to social and economic
change and the constant threat of
annual flood incursions.

18. 04/03/15
Rivalry between families
The defensive character of Shibam with its
dense conglomeration of many-storeyed
buildings with almost no fenestration at
ground level is an exceptional testimony to the
strong competition that existed between rival
families over this region. While the highly
homogenous society traces its roots to Shibam
over centuries, the traditional way of life
exemplified by the city and its tower houses is
threatened by social and economic change.

19. 04/03/15
The study can summarize the main advantages of using this kind of building
construction to the following main advantages:
1. The material are available in large quantities,
2. Low cost materials, so low-income families can afford it,
3. Simple construction techniques may be used when constructing with this system,
4. It is suitable for the construction to most parts of the building,
5. It is non-a flammable material-resistance to fire,
6. It has high thermal capacity, low thermal conductivity, and can maintain
comfortable internal temperature,
7. It is a material of low energy usage. Subsequently, it saves biomass fuel and as a
result, it conserves the environment.
CONCLUSION