Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : Algerian vernacular architecture in the context of sustainability : Learning from Casbah and M’zab

Sürdürülebilirlik bağlamında Cezayir vernaküler mimarisi : Casbah ve Mzab’dan öğrenilenler

Auteur : FELLAHI Nadjda

Université de soutenance : Yaşar Üniversitesi

Grade : Master 2016

Résumé
Algeria as a country of 2,381,741 square kilometers has three different climate zones : Mediterranean, semi-arid and arid, in its three different regions : Northern, Central and Southern. Each region has developed its typical vernacular tradition ; one that responded to climate, topography and life style. Following modernization and westernization of the country since one hundreds of years, traditional building practices started to be abandoned, leading to a radical transformation of the built environment. The current situation of the urban environment depends only on reinforced concrete construction that does not respond to the country’s regional variety as it disregards nature, climate and lifestyles of many. This study explores the vernacular building types from the two geographical regions of the country ; Casbah (Mediterranean) and M’zab (arid) in order to understand their sustainable architectural design strategies ; their own responses to climate, and their fit with the people’s lifestyle. The aim is to evaluate the degree of sustainability achieved on those traditional building practices. This will be concluded first by knowing the architectural design principles which should be in a building in order to call it sustainable. This research helps to understand more about the architectural heritage of Algeria. It gives us a clear knowledge on design strategies of traditional houses in the two regions according to the climate, lifestyle, and local available materials. The findings show that, both case studies have precious sustainable methods, and powerful in the most sustainable criteria, when it comes to the three standards of sustainability : economy of resources, life cycle design, and design for human comfort. These might be useful for designers and architects in using those sustainable strategies in their new building projects.

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