Descripción
A unique study of a traditional Mecca house in western Hejazi style. Soft acetate academic binding 21x30cm. (1), 33pp printed to rectos, including fairly brief English text extensively illustrated with 27 original hand-mounted and neatly ms captioned colour photos @10x15cm each and 9 full-page floor plans and sections. The house is located in the Shubaykah District about 500 metres west of the Masjid al Haram. (Burckhardt described this area as the cleanest and airiest, with good houses for Jeddah residents who won't let them to outsiders, with coffee shops from where the post is sent to Jeddah each evening, and where caravan brokers for the Bedu are based). It was built in the c1920s by Al-Ajaj, and owned by the Azhar, one of Mecca's notable families, involved in Hajj-related business. Unfortunately the precise address is not given, though one of the photos shows the number 22 on the front door. The study notes the demolition of traditional houses in the area for redevelopment (p3). This one may well have gone since (and perhaps prompted the study), as during 1988-93 the Great Mosque underwent major expansion on its western side, adding 57,000 square metres to its area (Illustrated Atlas of Makkah, p225). Shubaikah is described today as home to numerous hotels, most set in high-rise towers on Ibrahim al Khalil Road. The study describes the Azhar house as set in narrow alleys which help to regulate temperature and reduce exposure to the Sun. It had experienced some modifications (such as aluminium doors, and air conditioners), and was being used as lodgings for Hajjis. It is laid out over 3 floors with rooms on mezzanine levels. The ground floor includes a "Qa'ah" or void open to the sky providing daylight and ventilation with two facing Diwans opening on to it, at least 3 bathrooms, plus offices, Khazanah, kitchens and bedrooms. The top floor has the "Kharjah" or open terrace typical of Mecca houses, with rooms that serve it. It has characteristically high wood beamed ceilings, and thick granite walls with mud and later concrete cement, with brick used for the Kharjah. Decorative elements are evident in the doors, arches, columns, and Shamsiyah (light well). More information is contained in the captions, one of them featuring a member of the Azhar family before the ornately decorated main entrance. The plans and sections are drawn on a scale of 1:100. The authors were students at the School of Environmental Design, established in 1976, to cover architecture, landscape, and planning. They credit the advice and guidance of Dr Ahmet Eyuce, who had conducted a survey of 14 traditional Jeddah houses in the early to mid-1980s, looking at the use of terraces, and "solid-void" proportions in their facades (the relationship between the space taken up by stone walls, and open spaces including mashrabiyya windows and balconies). N° de ref. del artículo 4999
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