The hanging figuration elements on the facades of the residential buildings in Sana'a (Analytical study)

Abstract

The traditional architecture of Sana'a has achieved a great deal of prosperity as a result of the transfer of experience through successive generations, which has developed as a result of the practical application of a series of past experiences over the years. This architecture is not specified to a particular generation, as there appeared homogenous buildings that carry common pattern confirms the innovative effort of the collective work far from the absolute individuality that lacks the full vision, the traditional architecture of Sana'a is the product of the interferences of individual thought and collective memory. In order for the present architecture to be a product of the past and form a bridge to the future architecture, it is necessary to link the old and the new, and to open new horizons to read the past with contemporary vision. What is happening today in contemporary architecture confirms the absolute individuality in decision-making through appearance of heterogeneous buildings, that are not combined by a common pattern. This has been clearly demonstrated on the facades of contemporary buildings when dealing with traditional heritage and in particular the hanging figuration elements (the problem). Therefore, this research aims at studying the traditional figuration elements that are hanged in a scientific and planned way, and then study the current state of the hanging figuration elements on the facades of contemporary buildings. The final outcome of the design process is to illustrate the negatives that emerged by observing the evolution and change due to the surface dealing with the traditional elements of figuration (the target). To achieve this goal, the research was divided into three main components that were organized to achieve its goal. The first component of research (the theoretical framework) was devoted to explain the research problem with some examples, while the second component (the field study) was devoted to study the elements of the traditional figuration to provide adequate information about them that enable the use of the required form during the designing of the interfaces of contemporary buildings in order to achieve the cultural communication, and therefore benefit from when the analytical study of the current situation. The third and final component (the analytical study) was devoted to analyze the current status of the hanging figuration elements that appeared on the facades of the contemporary buildings, to explain how these elements became and how they were dealt with, reviewing the defects and problems that emerged, On the façades of contemporary residential buildings in Sana'a as the final outcome of the design process. Therefore, the research is a new scientific addition to previous studies that have tackled the subject of cultural communication and preservation of local identity in figuration.