Housing was the first work of architecture by man, while nature presented the first influential force on the composition of residential architectural expression. With the process of the creative spatial formation of the house, the man faced the necessity to make choices that cater to his psychological and protection needs, to attain his internal equilibrium. As well he held an urge to express the creativity of this content through formations that reflect those inner motives in order to reach a unity of form and content. Here, the author identifies housing and the initial architecture as being "a humanitarian space which is governed and shaped by the internal human emotions both conscious and subconscious ".
Man has consistently developed the idea of his home, reflecting the effects which have evolved with the maturity of social relationships and the family, which has become the bedrock of every society. The nature of the formation of this network varies, as well as the magnitude of the proportion of the different correlations it holds, from a community to another and from one epoch to another, in the same community. Such may include the conversion to religions and beliefs, and foreign cultural influences, which occur as a result of the interaction of the society with other societies with different cultural backgrounds. Human life has evolved with the development of civilizations, and the cultural creations have changed and turned in all areas and fields according to his cultural affiliations.
The aim of this book is not to analyze the values, upon which housing architecture was based, but to research and present the basic principle for the formation of housing in different environments, cultures, and civilizations. The author's view is that through this approach man has innovated the concept of the courtyard, or the internal open space or his own private sky, which has thrived as an architectural phenomenon, throughout the history of human civilization since its inception and until the present time Although it may not be the only solution to attain this human approach, but it certainly has presented the best solution.
The book provides a reading of such an approach between the architectural inheritance of our ancestors, and the possibility of formulating the experience and approach according to the same law in different forms of architecture of today through architectural designs and experiences of the author in Bahrain which have been implemented.
And Then the Private Skies Approach in Housing Architecture Was Achieved
Tarek Waly
August 10, 1992
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