Journal of Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism

The School of Bunesti, Arges, Romania: Hand-made Architecture, A Craft of Self-limitation

Ana Maria Goilav — 2024-11-12

Weary of the present-day inflation of possibilities for planning, building, learning, and living, and with an increasingly acute sense of the artificiality of our professional training, we—a historian, an architect, and a small group of students—chose to get away from urban scenery and to put ourselves to the test through a summer. We settled in the middle of a forest, giving ourselves time for reflection and action from a radically different perspective. Inspired by classic authors and classical culture, since 2008 we have been taking the local natural building techniques of a Wallachian valley as a guide to the timeless topography of the ancient world.

The Mosque of the Blessed Tree in Safawi, Jordan

Maher Azmi Abu-samra — 2024-11-12

The Mosque of the Blessed Tree in Mafraq, Jordan represents a revival of Islamic architectural heritage. Situated near an ancient terebinth tree where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have rested, the mosque was erected according to traditional building techniques and Islamic principles. The design, led by MAS Design Office, involved careful integration of local materials along with load-bearing structures. Despite challenges, including limited time and budget constraints, the project was completed in six months. The mosque's design emphasizes simplicity and balance, with features such as a central dome, shallow domes in prayer halls, and pinnacles echoing traditional minarets. The project also involved training local craftsmen in complex stonemasonry techniques.

Rehabilitation of the Monastery of São João de Cabanas, Afife, Viana do Castelo

Fernando Cerqueira Barros — 2024-11-12

The former Monastery of São João de Cabanas stands on the south bank of the river Cabanas in the parish of Afife, municipality of Viana do Castelo (Portugal). It was founded in the Middle Ages, although the current building is the product of a reconstruction a fundamentis begun in 1725. Following the dissolution of the Portuguese monasteries it became private property and in the twentieth century it was the home of the poet and ethnographer Pedro Homem de Mello. It was classified as a Public Interest Building in 1997. The aim of the rehabilitation project was to restore the site with a view to its adaptation to a program of tourist accommodation linked to gastronomy and catering, and as a venue for events. The restoration design and works were guided by a historical study and an architectural and constructional characterization of the building along with archaeological studies and a thorough analysis of the building pathology. A knowledge of the building’s characteristics was vital to a project that was intended to be informed and holistic, with the use of traditional building details, materials and techniques, assuring the maintenance of the site’s distinctive qualities and heritage values.

Rehabilitation of the Pardo Donlebún Palace in Figueras, Asturias

Francisco Ortega Montoliu — 2024-11-12

The Pardo Donlebún palace is an iconic building on the Asturian coast of Spain that has witnessed countless historic events, at the boundary of Asturias with Galicia. It was refurbished through the work of master builders from various regions, such as Asturias, Galicia, Ávila, and even an Austrian based in Asturias. These artisans have reinstated the building’s original materials and also revived trades that had been lost in the region. Key aspects of the project were the sourcing and use of materials from the period when the palace was built, the integration of contemporary construction solutions, and the concealment of fixtures. The restoration respected the original spaces, while replacing obsolete uses with others favored today.

Regeneration of the Citadel of Agadir Oufella

Salima Naji — 2024-11-12

The Citadel of Agadir has for over six centuries been a symbol of Agadir’s importance as a trading port, as a nexus between many caravan routes and the Atlantic. Designated a Moroccan historic monument in 1932, the site was devastated by an earthquake in 1960. In 2020, sixty years after that disaster, work began on its restoration. The project included the reconstruction of historic elements such as the fortress or the medina and the creation of a visitor itinerary. The local community was moreover involved at every stage of the process. The project also included innovative earthquake-proof building techniques reviving vernacular systems and the use of local materials, stimulating the economy of the region and preserving its heritage.

New Vernacular Architecture: Experimental Construction Site in Bärnau, Bavaria

Julius Schönberger — 2024-11-12

This experimental construction site in Bärnau, a small town on the border between the Czech Republic and Germany, explores innovative approaches to vernacular architecture through a prism of sustainability, craftsmanship, and regionalism. The project addresses three key questions. First, how can we learn from historical building methods and materials to build more sustainably while maintaining social and regional relevance? Second, how to revitalize traditional craftsmanship, focusing on making local materials and techniques more attractive to ensure the preservation of valuable knowledge? Lastly, what potential is there for creating buildings with minimal environmental impact using only regional materials, thereby supporting local economies and ecological integrity?

The Church of Santiago Apóstol in Valcabado del Páramo: A Little Village Near León Saves its “Mudéjar Heaven”

Agustín Castellanos Miguélez — 2024-11-12

The inhabitants of the village of Valcabado del Páramo in León province have for years been rallying round to save from ruin the sixteenth-century roof and ceiling of the Church of Santiago, one of the most notable of its kind along the Vía de la Plata—the “Silver Way” trade and pilgrim route in western Spain. This has involved organizing countless activities and collecting the necessary monies for a restoration with a crowdfunding campaign, which has allowed the project to go ahead. Moreover, in collaboration with pupils and instructors from the structural carpentry courses at the León Trades Center, they have had two new roof structures built—over the chancel and porch—using the traditional techniques of Mudéjar carpentry, as the original structures had disappeared over the years. They have also founded a Mudéjar Carpentry Association for the Vía de la Plata and its area of influence, including 13 locations in the provinces of León and Zamora with Mudéjar ceilings, and set up a Visitor Center from which they arrange guided tours along the route of Mudéjar ceilings.

The Restoration of New Gourna: Safeguarding the Legacy of Hassan Fathy

Heidi Shalaby — 2024-11-12

Hassan Fathy’s New Gourna project in Egypt (1946-52) is renowned as a pioneering example of sustainable urban settlement, integrating traditional technologies with modern architectural principles and serving as an inspiration to architects and planners worldwide. But decades of neglect have resulted in major structural deterioration and demolitions of the original buildings. In response, a project titled “Safeguarding Hassan Fathy’s Architectural Legacy in New Gourna” has been undertaken through a collaboration between UNESCO and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, as defined by the National Organization for Urban Harmony (NOUH) for the period 2019-21. This initiative aims to conserve and repurpose the public heritage buildings while addressing the critical issue of groundwater. NOUH has now taken the project into a second phase (2023-24). This paper outlines the symptoms and causes of deterioration in New Gourna Village and reviews the restoration efforts applied to four major buildings: the khan, the mosque, the theater, and Hassan Fathy’s house. Further research will detail the restoration project in each case, including the documentation phase and the specific restoration techniques applied to each structural element and material.

The Campanile at Old Parkland, Dallas, Texas

Craig Hamilton — 2024-11-12

The Campanile, a bell tower located on the Old Parkland campus in Dallas, Texas, was commissioned in 2018 by Crow Holdings as part of the development of a commercial campus with classical buildings and landscaped courtyards. Designed to house a large, newly commissioned bell, its architecture draws inspiration from America's early twentieth-century classical traditions. The 220-foot tower has three sections: base, shaft, and bell chamber, featuring traditional materials such as brick, limestone, and bronze. The project, completed in 2021 despite the challenges of the pandemic, involved skilled craftsmanship and incorporated local symbols, reflecting both classical and regional heritage.

“Residencial La Chimenea” in Chinchón, Madrid: Newly Built Traditional Architecture for a Historic Townscape

Juan Luis Camacho — 2024-11-12

This project arose for the purpose of developing a new residential complex on the site of the former Alcoholera de Chinchón distillery, located on the edge of the historic town center of Chinchón near Madrid. It was a fine opportunity to apply the unvarying features of local traditional architecture on a large scale. The aim was to integrate vernacular qualities so as to create a consolidated urban fringe that would blend with the historic center and also shield it. Thus a mixed residential and commercial solution was proposed, with alternating volumes of different heights on a plan organized around a plaza and an inner pedestrian street. The hallmarks of the complex are its continuous blue balconies and the chimney of the former distillery rearing above the ensemble as an iconic landmark.

Seeing Through Drawing

Richard Economakis — 2024-11-12

Michael G. Imber
The Art of the Architect
Triglyph Press, 2023

A Richly Illustrated Compendium of Filipino Architecture

Gerard Rey Lico — 2024-11-12

Rino D.A. Fernandez, Kristina M.A. Banzon
An Illustrated Introduction to Filipino Architecture
University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2023

Architecture Recovered

David Rivera — 2024-11-12

Eduardo Prieto
Los laberintos del aire: Vientos, miasmas y arquitectura en el Renacimiento
Ediciones Asimétricas, 2023

A New Insight into the Origins of the Greek Temple

Paolo Vitti — 2024-11-12

Alessandro Pierattini
The Origins of Greek Temple Architecture
Cambridge University Press, 2022

“Foreign” Approaches to Ibizan Rural Architecture

Arianna Iampieri — 2024-11-12

Antonio Pizza (ed.)
Habitar la “Isla Blanca”. Interpretaciones de la arquitectura ibicenca
Ediciones Asimétricas, 2023

From Algemesí to Baasneere, on Either Side: Vernacular Tradition and Architectural Modernity

Josep Maria Fortià i Rius — 2024-11-12

Camila Mileto, Fernando Vegas y Lidia García-Soriano (eds.)
Burkina Faso. Arquitectura, Cultura y Cooperación
Universitat Politècnica de València, 2024

Good News for the Building Arts

Lucas Martí Guitera — 2024-11-12

Alejandro García Hermida, Guillermo Gil Fernánez y Rebeca Gómez-Gordo Villa
Nueva Arquitectura Tradicional MMXXIV
Fundación Culturas Constructivas Tradicionales, 2024

Designing the City of the Future through Classic Planning

Pablo Álvarez Funes — 2024-11-12

Nir Haim Buras
The Art of Classic Planning. Building Beautiful and Enduring Communities
Harvard University Press and Belknap Press, 2019

Life in El Cabanyal

José Manuel López Osorio — 2024-11-12

Fernando Vegas y Camilla Mileto
Rehabilitando El Cabanyal: Un recorrido arquitectónico por el barrio de El Cabanyal, El Canyamelar y El Cap de França
Ayuntamiento de València, 2023

Architecture of Archaeology: Advocacy of a Discipline

Estefanía Martín García — 2024-11-12

Felix Arnold
Desenterrar el pasado. Arquitectura en la arqueología
Ediciones Asimétricas, 2023

Design of Public Space: An Essential Tool for a Better Future

Alejandro García Hermida — 2024-11-12

Labics (Maria Claudia Clemente and Francesco Isidori with a text by Marco Biraghi)
The Architecture of Public Space
Park Books, 2023

An Architectural Pedagogy for the Twenty-First Century

Stefanos Polyzoides — 2024-11-12

Architecture as a discipline has evolved over history in response to social, cultural, and environmental changes. The teaching of architecture should therefore balance knowledge of the past with a vision for imagining and designing a sustainable and habitable future. The School of Architecture of the University of Notre Dame bases its academic approach on the study of classical and vernacular traditions with the aim of educating architects committed to sustainable, durable, and beautiful design. Its academic programs, whether degree or graduate courses, offer a holistic education embracing various disciplines and including hand-drawing as a key tool in the learning process. The School’s pedagogy seeks to develop students’ technical skills and also their values, preparing them to face the urban and environmental challenges of today’s world.

New Traditional Architecture in Sidi Bou Said: Continuation of a Legacy

Tarek Ben Miled — 2024-11-12

Over my career I have carried out a large number of projects in Sidi Bou Said, an iconic site of traditional Tunisian architecture. Its geographic location has given rise to an ensemble characterized by the influence of various Mediterranean cultures, such as Italian, Andalusi, or Egyptian. The village’s architecture is distinguished for its harmonious integration with the landscape and an urban design providing for both the private and public lives of its inhabitants. In each of the projects I have done here since the late seventies I have sought to make every new design incorporate the place’s characteristic traditional building techniques, local materials, and architectural forms to the point that these new buildings have blended with the existing ones so as to seem to have been there for centuries. All these projects reflect the importance of preserving the original character of this ensemble, though without neglecting the requirements of contemporary life.

If the Venus de Milo Were Architecture, We Would Probably Have to Give Her Arms: Interview with Antoni González Moreno-Navarro

Alejandro García Hermida — 2024-11-12

Antoni González Moreno-Navarro has for over four decades been one of the outstanding figures in the field of architectural heritage preservation. Antoni’s theoretical contribution has been vital to spreading a wider and more comprehensive concept of “authenticity” in the built environment. At the time he was also pioneering in his contention that a vision of “authenticity” too closely attached to materiality jeopardized the conservation of the main heritage values of the buildings or ensembles to be preserved. Antoni has thus been an advocate of restoration not just as material preservation but as a process respectful of the architectural, historic, and community values of the structures concerned.

A Proposed School for Traditional Building Arts & Crafts in Kalongo, Uganda

Matthew Espeland — 2024-11-12

Uganda is headed for exponential growth both in its population and in its building stock. The buildings of small Ugandan market communities such as Kalongo, a remote village in the north, reflect two distinct construction systems, as contemporary building practices have turned their back on tradition. Interventions by foreign NGOs in the area have contributed to the stigmatization of local building traditions as representing underdevelopment. This proposed design project for a School for Traditional Building Arts & Crafts in Kalongo seeks to bridge the disconnect between building traditions and the growing requirement for durable, sustainable buildings. The proposal sets out the concept of an innovative way of building through the elevation of local materials and traditions on a new scale.

Spiritual Exaltation in Timeless Places of Worship: Insights from the New Maimonides Central Sephardic Synagogue, Hadera, Israel

Nili Portugali — 2024-11-12

The deep emotion we feel when entering any timeless place of worship—a synagogue, a church, or a Buddhist temple—stems from the patterns of space that generated them. These are patterns that reflect the innate patterns printed in our minds from the outset and that are thus common to us all as human beings of any culture or religion. In designing the Maimonides Central Sephardic Synagogue I endeavored to capture the timeless spiritual exaltation one experiences in the places of worship where Maimonides prayed, such as the Iben Denan Synagogue in Fez, Morocco or the Ben-Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Egypt, and to revive the traditional patterns based on Maimonides’ halachic rulings—the laws he set down in his book Hayad Hahazaka, as passed on to me in the synagogues of Tzfat, the holy Kabbalah city of Galilee, birthplace of Judaism’s mystical strand, and hometown of my family since the early nineteenth century.

Vernacular Architecture in the Sotavento Region of the Algarve

José Baganha — 2024-11-12

The circumstance of a recent commission for work on a tourist/residential development in the area of Castro Marim in Portugal’s Algarve province led me to discover the singularity of the region known as “Sotavento”. This is the southernmost part of Portugal, with the Atlantic to the south, the Baixo Algarve to the west, and with the Algarve Calcário (also known as “Barrocal”) extending north of the Ria Formosa lagoon, sheltered by its islands, and stretching down to the town of Tavira, north to the Serra do Caldeirão, in its eastern range forming a boundary with the inner Baixo Alentejo, and east to the river Guadiana. This article arises from a study I made of the region. The regional singularities we find here are, as elsewhere, various manifestations of the way humans inhabit the landscape and build dwellings and shelters for animals as well as accommodating the activities (chiefly farming and fishing) plied here over the centuries.

The Vernacular Embarrado Technique in San Pedro, Cuba

Francisco Uviña Contreras — 2024-11-12

Vernacular embarrado earthen building is a technique used in several parts of Cuba and especially the community of San Pedro, near the city of Trinidad in the province of Sancti Spíritus. This essay reflects upon the continuity of the technique, with particular emphasis on the efforts made by the Conservator’s Office in Trinidad to revive this traditional building practice. It starts with an overview of the historical context of the region and goes on to describe the embarrado technique together with the challenges it faces in the community.

Résistance Anti-Industrielle: Counterprojects

Lucien Steil — 2024-11-12

This article discusses the role of “counterprojects” in architecture and urbanism as critiques of the industrialization and speculative development of urban spaces, particularly in the Brussels of the sixties and seventies. It highlights the contributions of Maurice Culot and Léon Krier, opposing the destructive modernization that was wiping out historic urban fabrics and displacing local communities. Their counterprojects aimed to revive traditional urbanism, emphasizing local craftsmanship, natural materials, and mixed-use neighborhoods and countering the sterile, high-rise developments that had come to dominate European cities. Some of these counterprojects exemplified this other vision, advocating for cities that prioritize human scale, social justice, and environmental sustainability. The author calls for the integration of these values into contemporary urban planning.

Freehand Drawing in Representing the Vernacular Architecture of Sveti Stefan in Montenegro

Goran Koprivica — 2024-11-12

The Sveti Stefan luxury hotel complex in Montenegro attracts guests for its historic and cultural qualities. Endangered as vernacular heritage due to its inaccessibility to the general public, the interior of Sveti Stefan is slipping into oblivion as a result of the lack of control by the Montenegrin authorities over cultural heritage. The collection of drawings presented in this paper evokes the relationship between the island’s vernacular architecture and its natural environment. The use of freehand drawing rather than digital imagery can reflect the spontaneously created quality of non-pedigreed architecture, conjuring up its ambiance. By highlighting the beauty of Sveti Stefan through pencil drawings we aim to influence the preservation of its vernacular character.

Heritage and Community: Rehabilitation of a Traditional Kabyle House in Achelouf, Bejaia

Alaeddine Belouaar — 2024-11-12

This paper details the rehabilitation of a traditional Kabyle house in the village of Achelouf in Bejaia, Algeria, emphasizing its importance as part of local heritage and identity. The intervention, initiated by local associations, has involved support from CAPTERRE (the Algerian Center for Earthen Cultural Heritage) and the participation of students and local volunteers. This collaborative effort reflects the community’s commitment to preserving its cultural heritage.

Application of the Layered Brickwork Vaulting Technique with Lime Mortar. Primary Sources and Experiences with Mexican and Extremaduran Master Builders

Enrique Rabasa Díaz — 2024-11-12

Layered brickwork vaults—known as bóvedas de ladrillo por hojas, among other names—are those in which bricks are laid vertically or at a slight angle, forming arched courses that require no formwork, as the bricks adhere to the previous course through the mortar. Although their geographic and chronological range is wide and there is a great variety of resultant forms, here we consider details of execution and application common to them all and analyze bricklaying techniques and possible arrangements of courses according to written sources and current experience. Our conclusions confirm the possibility of establishing general criteria allowing the use of such vaults to be recovered and applied in new construction.

Evolution of Maghrebi-Andalusian Muqarnas Design: Analytical Study of Muqarnas in North Africa and Spain

Makram Haddad — 2024-11-12

Muqarnas is one of the most important architectural elements of traditional Islamic architecture, although with great structural and geometrical differences across Islamic geography, leading to the emergence of many muqarnas styles. This paper looks at changes occurring in Maghrebi-Andalusian muqarnas from its beginnings to the form it takes today. This is done by using traditional muqarnas design techniques to draw and analyze models from different periods and settings in North Africa and Andalusia, Spain. We observe changes occurring at unit and plan-design level, seeking a general understanding of these developments.

Bulgarian National Revival Houses: Current State, Risks, and Opportunities

Lucas Alcaide De Wandeleer — 2024-11-12

This article explores the architecture of Bulgarian houses during the country’s National Awakening, with an analysis of their historical and cultural context, climatic and landscape factors, building systems (some of them unusual, such as post-and-plank walls), traditional construction trades, and common structural pathologies. It focuses on their current situation as reflected by their state of preservation and use, taking as a case study the Kozichkovi houses in the town of Kotel, with an intensive analysis of details as required to understand this heritage. The study concludes that, despite its gravely endangered state, this architecture may yet be preserved, and puts forward various options for its revitalization.

Traditional Building Systems in the Biocultural Heritage of the Mixteca Poblana Region of Mexico

Óscar Rafael Cruz Vázquez — 2024-11-12

Subsisting in the mountains of the region known as Mixteca Baja in the state of Puebla in central-southern Mexico are cultural practices and knowledge linked to traditional building systems developed since ancient times thanks to the close relationship between the inhabitants and their natural environment. This study seeks to contribute to an analysis of the surviving biocultural and constructional aspects of traditional dwellings in Mixteca Baja that are worth highlighting as an example of sustainable building. The study was conducted by the ethnographic research-action method, in collaboration with the inhabitants of San Jerónimo Xayacatlán, Puebla state, with field work including interviews with key informants who conserve knowledge of local building processes and are able to describe the value of the biocultural heritage of a region whose indigenous peoples cherish and maintain their traditions.

The Cellar Complex of Baltanás, Palencia Province: An Exemplary Change of Model in Cultural Heritage Preservation

Beatriz del Río-Calleja — 2024-11-12

In Baltanás (Palencia province, Spain) there is a remarkable ensemble of 374 cellars dug out in two hills just outside the town. In recent years various measures sponsored by the Town Council and the Bodegas Association have been taken to protect, preserve, and publicize this valuable heritage, including the designation of the ensemble as a cultural interest site, the preparation of a special improvement plan, the launch of a crowdfunding campaign, a 3D planimetric survey of the complex, research on the associated intangible heritage, and the drawing up of a preventive conservation plan. These measures are part of a sustainable preservation strategy taking advantage of the peculiar characteristics of the Baltanás cellar complex to experiment with innovative heritage management instruments.

Quintería Caves in the Rural Environment of Daimiel and Manzanares, Province of Ciudad Real

David Cejudo Loro — 2024-11-12

The quintería cave dwellings in the municipalities of Daimiel and Manzanares and environs in the Ciudad Real province represent heritage of great value, the result of adaptation to the environment and scarce resources. This building type has not been the subject of specific studies in this area, so the object of this survey is to document quintería caves as widely as possible, with a bibliographic review of various documentary and cartographic sources. The caves were then identified and documented and persons associated with them were interviewed. This approach has allowed us to detail the constructional systems, building processes, and state of preservation of more than a hundred such structures over the last ten years. The current state of neglect of these cave dwellings, regarded until recently as substandard housing, is jeopardizing a remarkable type of Manchegan folk architecture.

Traditional Building Knowledge in Indian Lime and Earthen Plasters

Rosie Paul — 2024-11-12

India's traditional building systems and knowledge involving natural materials provide fine examples of low-carbon, place-adaptive architectural solutions as well as embodying simplicity and holistic sustainability. They utilize locally available materials prepared and applied so as to build structures and dwellings that are resilient to climate conditions and able to provide comfort and livability. Culturally, this knowledge is transferred orally from generation to generation and continuously recreated. Unfortunately these knowledge systems and practices have become endangered owing to a rupture in their continuity for reasons such as a preference for and incentivization of easier conventional solutions like cement and steel. With a focus on natural plasters used traditionally, this paper highlights some of these diverse plasters along with their natural additives.

Lessons of the Alhambra: Architecture, Environment, Culture

Eduardo Prieto — 2024-11-12

With its powerful sense of place and intricate network of buildings with pleasure and vegetable gardens and water channels, the palace city of the Alhambra is one of the most sophisticated exemplars of Islamic architecture and also an extraordinary model of sustainable architecture linked to an equally extraordinary material and symbolic culture. It is a model from which lessons may still be learned, from building in keeping with context and an ingenious treatment of water resources through to the use of a limited but effective range of elements, along with the deployment of environmental types and composition strategies based on organization by strata, porosity, filters, depths, the use of inhabited spaces as thermodynamic conduits, and a shrewd combination of thermal inertia with natural ventilation.