My gratitude to all who helped me accomplish this task successfully,
especially the Nubians who made my research enjoyable, and without whom
this research would have been impossible. The Nubians at Abu Simbel Village
and the returnees at the lake shore welcomed me among them and helped me
with everything. My gratitude to my committee members who provided their
support, encouragement and assistance in accomplishing this task. They
were always there to listen, encourage and provide feedback. My special
gratitude to my wife Ebtesam who supported me during the difficult time
of writing this dissertation. She was the friendly ear with whom I shared
all the confusions and difficult hours of clarifying my thoughts and ideas.
Finally, my special thanks to my friend and editor Pauline Kaldas whose
critical and valuable comments allowed me to make this dissertation more
readable.
LIST OF Figures
Figure
2.1: Map of Africa, Egypt, and Nubia.
2.2: Map of Egypt and Sudan.
2.3: Map of Old Nubia.
3.1: Fakhri's House at Abu Simbel El-Tahjir.
3.2: A House at the Self-help Quarter.
3.4: Map of Abu Simbel village.
3.5: The Self-Help Quarter.
3.6: The Uncompleted House at the Self-Help Quarter.
3.7: Am Sidi's House.
3.8: Am Abdel Rahim Dongolawi, a vernacular builder.
3.9: Building a House in the Self-Help Quarter.
4.1: The High Dam Lake.
4.2: Arrival to the Returnees Villages.
4.3: Map of Qustul The Return.
4.4: Houses of Qustul The Return.
4.5: Am Hassan's House.
4.6: The Courtyard of Am Hassan's House.
4.7: Am Ahmed Hassan's House.
4.8: The Courtyards of Am Ahmed Hassan's House.
4.9: Sadat's House at Qustul.
4.10: Map of Adendan The Return.
4.11: Houses of Adendan.
4.12: Am Gamal Shifa.
4.13: Am Gamal's House at Adendan.
4.14: The Courtyard of Am Gamal's House.
4.15: The Site of Old Qustul.
5.1: The Setting of Old Nubia.
5.2: Example of a
naja.
5.3: Historical Nubian Dwellings.
5.4: Barrel Vaulted Nubian Dwellings.
5.5: The Old Nubian Dwelling.
6.1: The government's mage of the displacement
6.2: Relocation Sites in Egypt and Sudan.
6.3: Map of New Nubia.
6.4: Type 2-room House.
6.5: Type 3-room House.
6.6: Type 4-room House.
6.7: Example of Village Planning.
Introduction
Learning must be a process of discovery and recovery in response
to worthwhile questions rising out of conscious life in concrete situations.
(Maxine Greene)
What this research is
This study is about Architecture. It is an attempt
to explore ambiguities and confusions surrounding the architectural enterprise
in our own time. It is a call for a return to the architecture of everyday
life, and an attempt to understand it from a point of view different from
that of professionalism and institutionalized architecture. It is an effort
to see anew and understand the architecture that surrounds us day and night.
This study stemmed from my personal experience and puzzlement
with architecture in Egypt during the last fifteen years. As an Egyptian
I was astonished by the long history of architecture in Egypt and, at the
same time, puzzled by the absence of an Egyptian identity in the environment
that surrounded me. As an architect, I experienced confusion by learning
and practicing architecture alien to what I saw and experienced around
me.
The dilemmas and questions addressed by this research were
overlooked during my architectural education. During the period of my practice
I was-- perhaps like many practicing architects-- deeply involved in the
daily activities and problems of the profession. I did not have the luxury
of time and distance to reflect upon what was taking place around me. I
was confused by many contradictions, yet I was not able to understand their
meanings because of the taken for granted assumptions embedded in the architectural
profession.
The aim of this study is to understand the meanings hidden
behind the facades of architecture around us. My displacement from the
environment of Egypt allowed me to break with the familiar context and
to critically reflect on my educational and professional experiences with
architecture. This critical reflection allowed me to recognize the assumptions
taken for granted about architecture. These assumptions concealed and distorted
important meanings of my experience with architecture. By reflecting on
those assumptions, I was able to bracket them and, at the same time, discover
meaningful ways to understand architecture as part of our everyday life
experience.
In order to understand the meanings of architecture as part
of the environment around us, I chose to research architecture as understood
by people in a real life context. The context I chose for this study was
Nubia. I was interested in discovering the meaning or different meanings
of architecture as experienced by these people who used and lived with
it.
Nubia was the region between the First and Third cataracts
of the Nile south of Egypt. Due to the construction of the High Dam in
1964, Nubia was flooded by the lake water created behind the dam. As a
result, the Nubians were relocated in new communities noof the dam. The
Nubians who had lived for hundreds of in vernacular villages and dwellings
were relocated to new communities designed by professional architects and
planners. The designed houses were different from the vernacular dwellings
of old Nubia.
The twenty-five years which have passed since the dislocation
of the Nubians have witnessed many changes in their way of life. The Nubians
applied many changes to the units they received from the government in
order to suit their way of life. The modifications made to the environment
were an expression of a world view which was different than that of the
professional architects who planned and designed the displacement villages.
Fifteen years after the displacement, a group of Nubians decided to leave
the displacement communities and return to the lake shores and settle there.
They built dwellings similar to the traditional dwellings of old Nubia
before the displacement.
The goal of this study is to understand the meaning or different
meanings of architecture in the midst of this cultural unrest. How do the
Nubians experience the architecture produced by professional architects
and planners? The displacement communities were the context of social and
cultural changes of the Nubians' way of life. My interest here is to understand
the relationship between the changes in architecture and changes in the
Nubians' way of life after the displacement.
The vernacular architecture before the displacement enjoyed
a strong and distinctive character and identity admired by many observers.
The displacement communities were designed by professional architects who
had a different view of the world, which was infiltrated through their
design of the villages and houses. The professional architects did not
take into consideration the Nubians' way of living as a basis for their
design. The Nubians did not participate in the design and planning of their
new villages and houses.
This conflict is experienced by many people all around the
world. Architects and planners are deciding the fate of large groups of
people. They very seldom understand the way of life of those for whom they
design. They apply many assumptions and ideas based on stereotyped images
of the people for whom they think they design. These often distorted images
are produced by the institutionalized view of the architectural profession.
What this research is not
This research is not an attempt to prove a point or blame
someone. Its goal is understanding architecture as lived and experienced
by the people. It is an attempt to see new possibilities for a better future
based on understanding meanings hidden behind the facades of buildings
and environments. It is an attempt to de-school and re-educate myself
in order to be able to re-define my role as an architect in society.
This study allowed me to develop an attitude toward architecture
and to see our enterprise in a new light. It was not a search for facts
so much as it was a search for new meanings, and an attempt to recognize
the assumptions that were then taken for granted about architecture.
The meaning of architecture can only be understood when
studied through the experiences of those who live it. Believing that architecture
is part of our daily life, I am interested in the meaning or different
meanings of architecture as places for dwelling and environments where
daily life experiences take place. I have attempted to achieve an understanding
which stems from everyday life itself and not from theoretical or preconceived
ideas of architectural professionalism.
Send comments and questions to:
Last Modified: April 19, 1998
