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dr Shadi Ghadban

Typology and Composition of the traditional Palestinian House

The Traditional Palestinian House dates before the eighteenth century when the basic unit type has been founded. Since that time this house has gone through different developments prompted be social, economical, cultural and environmental factors that occurred in the region.

The paper will analyze the different general typologies that has been created and used since the middle of the Nineteenth Century till Palestine was disunited in the year 1948. The presentation will include the methodology applied in selection of houses, the initial basic model, the evolutional model and will conclude with the final model that was widely distributed between 1914 and 1948.

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fig. 1
Palestinian Urban Landscape

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Stone as a Main Building Material

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Traditional Patterns of Spatial Organization
Source: Author, Birzeit University and Riwaq

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The development of Palestinian house up to 1948
Source: Revault, Ph., Santelli S., author and others - 1997

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Isometric View in the Traditional Shepherd's House (Initial Model)
Source: Summer School on Vernacular Architecture, BZU/ Riwaq, July 2000

fig. 6
Example of Shepard's House
Source: Summer School on Vernacular Architecture, BZU/ Riwaq, July 2000

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Linear Pattern of Functional and Mass Treatment

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New Quarters Breaking Away from the Traditional Fabric

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Re-ordering in the Inner Spaces in the Traditional Palestinian House and the Disapperance of the three Domain
Source: Summer School on Vernacular Architecture, BZU/ Riwaq, July 2000

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The New Spatial Organization of the Palestinian Traditional House

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The traditional Village Court House
Source: Summer School on Vernacular Architecture, BZU/ Riwaq, July 2000

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Isolated Dwelling Houses

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Luxurious Dwelling Houses