Abstract
This paper is going to highlight the way in which the cultural and social factors influence traditional houses in Qatari Society. In order to achieve this therefore, it will be wise to bring out the connection between the house and the cultural and social factors. After bringing out this connection, it will also be prudent to connect the house with the context of the family. This is because the family forms an important institution in the society, which is in turn the melting pot of the cultural and the social factors. Therefore, in this paper, I will also explore the design and layout of traditional houses in the Qatari society as one example on an Islamic society between the periods of 1900-1950 and the social and cultural impacts focusing on the behavioral phenomena such as privacy and territory within the dwellings of the Qatari society.
Introduction
A house-form, according to Rapoport, is the consequence of a whole range of socio-cultural factors seen in their broadest terms . The house is also a reflection of culture and civilization. On the other hand, the family is a micro-level institution of society with the basic element being the individuals being born and raised within house. Therefore, the house is not only a shelter but it is also a reflection of the human situation in a certain environment as influenced by the cultural and social factors in the society. The house is manifestation of the family structure, religious believes, individual needs and desires. It simply reflects the family’s economical, cultural, and social backgrounds, and aspirations.
The urban development of cities and towns in Qatar during the beginning of the 19th century, as well as the other Arabian Gulf countries, was influenced by many aspects. The location was usually selected for economical reasons. Consequently, this was based on the nature of the inhabitants’ occupation. Fishing, pearl diving, and trading were the main occupations for settlers on the coastal cities such as Doha, Al Khor and Wakrah. Because of this, the Bedouins (nomad tribes) settled at the inner side of the country near the water resources.
The second main reason determining the house location was the availability of building materials and resources. Generally, every town was characterized by three to four types of buildings: domestic, which includes houses; religious, which includes mosques; public, which includes Suqs (trading areas); and sometimes military, which includes forts and castles.
It can also be said that the settlers’ origins and Islamic heritage shaped both the urban planning of their cities and towns and the space planning of the buildings. In his book, The History of Qatari Architecture, co-author Ibrahim Jaidah argues that the Qatari cities adopted the same concept of Islamic cities, in which “The compact form of residential areas in traditional Islamic urban centers was a precise reflection of the values placed on social interaction, extended family, neighborly relationships, and preservation of privacy.” That was achieved in the traditional urban planning through placing all the public and religious functions in the center and surrounding them by domestic buildings.
Courtyard house design on the other hand, was dominant in the coastal and the inner areas. This type of design was adopted from the Islamic architecture, and was developed as a response to the environmental conditions, and privacy requirements It is worth noting that the majority of the families were extended families which strengthen the relationship between the relatives, however it required special attention to privacy matters.
Qatari houses, as any other typical house, were built to satisfy various human needs and purposes. The culture of the occupants therefore, significantly affected the architectural design. The need for privacy, personal space, territoriality among other factors influenced housing designs in Qatar. The Islamic teachings define the roles of the family members between each other and in relation to the physical space. The privacy of the family was one of the essential elements that affected the form of the traditional Muslim houses, including the Qatari houses. Consequently, the areas within houses were classified as public, semi-public, semi private, and private ( Fig 1).
The general layout of the majority of Qatari houses consisted of a lobed entrance at 90-degree angle designed to conceal the inside of the house when the door is open. The houses also had an inward courtyard, which was the main source of light and ventilation in house. The rooms were built around the courtyard to assure the house users privacy. Each room had windows, which were placed in rectangular recesses with iron bars from the outside as well as two wooden leaves from the inside. There was a Liwan (hall) between the rooms and courtyards. The Liwan overlooked the courtyard through arches. The residents of the house used the Liwan to perform their tasks or during their meal times. The houses also consisted of a room for guests and visitors, private room for women, and a Majlis. Besides, the houses had water wells as a source of domestic water for washing purposes, sprinkling the courtyard, and for irrigation. This water was not used for drinking purposes. All public utilities were placed in strategically, though in limited areas depending on the needs and requirements of the residents as well as the residents’ social habits and customs. The rooms in these utilities had no dedicated functions. The rooms were therefore, used as required. The flexibility in the use of these rooms had been made possible because they were of limited number beside the fact that they had flexibility of furniture items and belongings
Regardless of the financial status of the owners of the houses, Qatari houses usually had a majlis. The majlis was a rectangular room separated from the rest of the house by a wall that screened the inside of dwelling. The Majlis was generally bigger than the ordinary living rooms, and it differed from ordinary rooms because of the number of windows. In the houses, there were alcoves to keep copies of the Holy Quran. The majlis were usually decorated with geometrical and floral gypsum moulds. Their ceilings on the other hand, were painted with colorful geometric shapes.
The houses differed in sizes and in general had two types. The first type consisted of simple houses, which were occupied by ordinary people in villages and cities. These houses mostly consisted of one or two rectangular (3 x 4 meters) rooms, with an internal bathroom for each. The rooms always overlooked the courtyard. There were deep opening in the walls acting as the windows for light and ventilation. The toilet was built in one of the corners of the courtyard. The majlis was an independent structure and it was near the main door of the house. The center of the courtyard was also build with a roofed passage using the stems and fronds of palm trees (Al-Arish). People used to climb up the roofed passages to sleep on the roof at night during summer time. Part of the courtyard was used to raise goats and sheep .
The second type, which was owned by wealthy occupants was characterized by many covered areas. They had the same layout with the first type. However, they had more rooms at the ground floor for residents with a section of the rooms dedicated for servants. The number of courtyards ranged from one to four. In addition, these houses had one or more upper rooms, which were usually built in one of the corners of the house that overlooked the street. These rooms were used as sitting rooms during the summer. They had many windows that overlooked the courtyard or the upper Liwan hall. Sometimes independent bathrooms were added to these rooms. The walls were usually decorated with geometrical or floral gypsum decoration. There was a special room called (Bankah) that was usually accessed by using ascending staircase from inside the courtyard .
The privacy is one of the most important parts of the housing architecture in Muslim societies. Consequently, this pattern was quite visible in the Qatari society during the period between 1900 and 1950. The privacy factor was carefully addressed in the design of house elements. Several forms of privacy were achieved via the design of traditional houses in Qatar. The first was the privacy between dwelling place of the neighbors or the individual’s dwelling place and the street. This kind of privacy can be regarded as visual and acoustical privacy, which aims at protecting the members of a family from outsiders who may infringe into their privacy by trespassing or even listening to their conservations.
Hierarchies were an essential factor in implementing the courtyard concept. This is because the courtyard needed to achieve the religious and social requirements, in particular, the required degree of privacy. Typically, the houses were positioned in a way that allowed only one of their external walls to face the street. If there was a necessity to add more openings to this side of the wall other than the door, then the builder made sure that these openings were screened to avoid exposing the residents of the house.
Based on the position of the house, the door could open onto either a blind alley or a public main road. Either ways, there was regularly a space incorporating a dogleg or right-angled turn to provide the required privacy. Furthermore, the Benet entrance was used in which case the entrance door was designed to open into a wall to obstruct views into the inside from outside hence guarding the privacy of the household. (Fig2) shows a good example, which reveals the relationship between the main entrance and the courtyard. There are many evidences on the privacy considerations in the design of the houses in Qatar during that period. For instance, the use of recessed windows with shutters was one of the evidence. The high boundary walls, which extended above the rooftop to shelter people who slept on the roof, also provided the other evidence .
The second evidence was the clear delineation between the male and female spaces, and the third is the separation between the family and the guests. The houses in the Qatari society are designed in such a way that their guests, especially males are not supposed to enter into the main portion of house. This necessitated the requirement of dividing the different spaces in the house into a formal zone classified as public, semi-public, and an informal zone semi private and private. The informal zone was a courtyard with the family rooms facing away from it for privacy reasons, while the formal zone consists of another separate structure, the Majlis. The Majlis was located near the main entrance and separated from the rest of the house by a wall that screened the inside of household with its entrance facing away from the informal zone or inner house. Another feature was the layout of the rooms around an inner courtyard and the division of household space into two zones that are related to the separation of the sexes .
Another behavioral phenomenon that was emphasized in the Qatari houses and society was strong sense of territoriality. All Qatari houses had fences. In addition, some of the houses had external parapets, which were used as seating areas for the short-period male visitors. In addition, some had trees around house .
A final point that is worth noting is that most of the houses during this period used modest designs because of the lack of materials, and showiness, which was discouraged according to the teachings of Islam. There was no color application in these houses. The natural colors of materials were maintained, which acknowledged the nature of the used materials and was similar to the surrounding environment’s colors .
Islam is not only a religion; Islam is a method of life. Thus, houses in Muslim societies together with all the directly or indirectly related sectors are manifestation for living and practicing Islam. There is no such thing as a standardized Islamic housing, which can be reproduced and be suitable anytime and anywhere. The main characteristic of houses or buildings within Islamic societies is that they responded to the environmental and cultural factors within the region in which these buildings were built. However, the essence the designs, remain one, which is embodying the Islamic values and principles. Although, certain architectural elements such as domes, vaults, courtyard, and mashrabiyyahs, established a visual vocabulary for in Islamic architecture; the design of these elements was based on obtaining answers to peoples’ religious and cultural requirements and desires .
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