Integrating Aspects Of Cultural And
Environmental Sensitivities Into Affordable
Housing In The Arab Gulf Region
Author(s)
A. Mokhtar
Abstract
Supported by strong oil-based economies, governments in several Gulf Arab
states are committed to providing their citizens with free or highly subsidized
housing. These are typically offered in the form of three or four bedroomed,
single or double storey villas built on a freely provided piece of land. Thousands
of these units are constructed every year to satisfy the growing population in
these states. Unfortunately, the designs for most of these units follow ubiquitous
design guidelines that do not fit well with a variety of cultural requirements for
housing in the region. In addition, these designs are not sensitive with regards to
the climate in which they are built. Consequently, both house owners and
responsible government agents have begun to express their dissatisfaction with
these designs. The lack of cultural sensitivity relating to the need for high levels
of privacy has forced many owners to make costly modifications, and often
limits their use and enjoyment of their property. The lack of environmental
sensitivity has resulted in inflated government budgets that are needed to supply
subsidized electricity and water to these houses. As a result, both owners and
government agents now demand better designs, ones that are sensitive to the
culture as well as the environment. This paper provides a different design
approach that aims to satisfy these demands by integrating both cultural and
environmental requirements. The paper investigates these requirements, shows a
proposed architectural design, and critically reviews the design identifying its
abilities and failures to satisfy and integrate these requirements.
Keywords: architectural sustainable design, cultural sensitivity, housing, Arab
Gulf, courtyard houses.
Keywords
architectural sustainable design, cultural sensitivity, housing, Arab
Gulf, courtyard houses
Related Book
Other papers in this volume
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