A study on dwelling forms of traditional villages of Northwestern Africa

This research focuses on the traditional villages of Maghrib region, northwestern Africa. Its objective is to elucidate the spatial character of the dwellings and villages which belong to the indigenous Berber through a fieldwork. This time the survey took place in southern Morocco. One of the typical elements of the Maghrib villages and cities is the medina. Another such element is Kasbah. These two apparently originate from Ksar and Tighremt, dwelling types unique to the Berbers. Tighremt is a house which has three or four floors. Each floor's plan is almost square. The house is used as a granary in an emergency. Almost windowless thick walls surround the house. At the corners rise the ornamented watch towers, namely Borg. Many of the houses have a courtyard in the center. This is called Duaya. On the other hand Ksar is a general term for the Berber villages. A typical Ksar is surrounded by high walls called Assour and along the wall stand several Borgs. The village consists of houses with courtyards in the middle and complicated arrays. The dwellings and villages of Berber have limited openings to the exterior. This results in quite unsocial dwelling form. There are two reasons for it. First, there is a defensive aspect, to take precautions against the attacks of the nomads. Second, there is a climatic aspect, to fight against severe weather such as sandstorms. The courtyard Duaya is an ingenious device which enables the dwellers to seclude themselves from the exterior and at the same time live in high density. It not only serves for the lighting and ventilation but also for the simultaneous satisfaction of privacy and openness. It also absorbs the planar distortion caused by the irregular increase of the houses. Thus Duaya functions in many ways. However, in this study, special attention is payed to its visual aspects. Measuring with a simple model the solid angle ratio of each house's interior element, Duaya was proved to have a positive effect in the lighting.