| Abstrakt: |
This paper is based on studying traditional mud brick architecture in the New Valley (Egypt). Constructions in Dakhleh Oasis are bound to each other to cope with the harsh hot arid environment. Domestic architecture, according to Islamic principles, is characterized by private and semi-private spaces. Nowadays the old settlements are mostly abandoned and new houses are built on western planning models and new materials, breaking down with traditional uses and not adaptable to the harsh hot-arid climate. The aim of the paper is to analyze the main characters of the traditional architecture in the old settlements (Balat Al Qasr), pointing out both the typological and the technological aspects (local materials and construction processes), focusing on their environmental sustainability (presence of bioclimatic features, integration into the landscape, minimum waste of resources).The appreciation and successful protection of the vernacular heritage depend on the involvement and support of the community, continuing use and maintenance. The achievement of this result will allow maintaining or reviving lost abilities and offering sustainable and compatible technologies for adaptation to contemporary living standards. On the other hand, sustainability is most significantly associated with ecological crisis phenomenon, like climate change, deforestation, soil degradation...etc., it nevertheless describes a field of investigation that is based on a community-oriented definition of problems. Sustainability addresses the question of how communities can shape their modes of change in such a way so as to ensure the preconditions of development for future generations. From this point of view, sustainability refers to the viability of socially shaped relationships between society and nature over long periods of time. This should be contributed with constructing criteria for evaluation sustainable communities. In the second example for study, a presentation of the sustainability that imposes a strong commitment to action directed towards reshaping the relations between communities and their environment, thus defining a strategically context, which re-collaborate the goals of future community development. A case study of Siwa oasis sustainable development project, which has chosen by the United Nations (UN) as one of the best development projects, is selected as a case study to be analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
