The
Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. The Island’s
area is 665km?. Bahrain was inhabited by people since prehistoric times which are Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, and Arabs. All ruled and influenced
the Island. In 1971, the British withdrew from the Island leaving it
to be an independent country*. Today Muslim Arabs occupy and rule Bahrain. Bahrain architecture nowadays is facing a real threat from the expansion
growth of the expatriates inside the country, sooner rather than later the
conflict will explode more wider than what is happening now. This article will be about the oldest cities of the kingdom which are Manama and Muharraq cities.
Four-fifths of the
population live in cities, the majority in Manama which is the capital and the
largest urban center. Manama has modern buildings which are wide and tree-lined roads as
well as an older section with a traditional souk, or marketplace.
Muharraq is the oldest town, and used to be the capital. The city
has been modernized but in the old sections, people can still see traditional
architecture. The houses have tall gates and shuttered windows which are designed
around a central enclosed garden or courtyard. Some have wind towers and an
old-fashioned form of air-conditioning (بادكير). It is similar to our traditional Kuwaiti houses but the
Kuwaiti houses did not contain wind towers.
Courtyard
houses
The plan of the houses were designed in
Bahrain which looks like having a courtyard at the center of the house which makes it
protected and having all the rooms around it, while still being open to the
sky.
The reason for
using courtyards is that it allows the rooms to be cross ventilated. This is
extremely important in the hot and humid climate of Bahrain. The courtyard is
usually designed as a form of an indoor oasis, Fountains, decoration, and
sometimes greenery are placed in the design of the courtyard. By doing this, the
house will be inward focused, where the best views from the windows will be
towards the courtyard and not towards the streets.
Windows
In
traditional houses, Windows were designed mainly for light, air flow, and for
the view. To allow the sun light penetrate inside the rooms, the windows used
to have transparent glass or stained glass on the top of the opening of the window.
That part of the window is never covered because it is so high in the room,
therefore, no one can look inside. The lower part with the large opening is for
air flow and for the view. It has shutters with grooves in them to allow the
flow of air inside the room without opening the shutters.
Building Materials
The
materials that were used for traditional construction are mostly materials
that were abundant in the land. Bahrain’s most abundant building material is
limestone which is the geological surface of the Island. Traditional buildings
were first made out of limestone masonry. Then they used to fire the limestone
and to turn it into powder. After that, they would add water to the powder and
plaster it over the stone in order for the walls to have smooth surfaces.
Limestone in its nature absorbs water really well and this is why it works really
well in MENA region because of humid climates. In fact, limestone is a good
absorber for humidity which makes the rooms cooler than rooms that use different construction
materials.
Connection
Houses
in traditional neighborhoods usually share walls with each other. Having the
houses compacted with each other is very beneficial in sustaining energy because the houses are all connected. They will act together to stay as cool as
possible at the summer and as warm as possible at winter. Therefore, it will be
easier to stabilize the temperature in the house.
Wind towersبادكير))
These
are tower structures rising several meters above the house. They have large
openings on all four sides for channeling down even the slightest breeze that is inside.
The living
room was situated just below the wind tower to give some relief from the heat
and humidity. The openings of the wind tower contains doors which will be
closed during the winter season.
Mishal Al Musaileekh
*Archive Maitham Al Ali
**Ministry of Culture - Kingdom of Bahrain
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