“Patterns” of Threshold Spaces in the Historical City of Jeddah explores the meaning of threshold spaces and investigates the relationship between the public spaces and residential units in the historical city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while at the same time revisiting Christopher Alexander’s theory in his canonical 1977 book, A Pattern Language. This book questions and analyses “patterns” relating to the cultural, social, and environmental particularities of Jeddah, with special attention paid to the effect of gender segregation in the city’s urban configuration. It discusses the extension that has been undertaken through testing a concept from the urban design theory of the West (the United States and Canada) and applying it to an Islamic city to find patterns in four different scales, which form the basis of the investigation (body, building, street, and city). Empirical methods have been used in the context of historical Jeddah, through which patterns are investigated using different approaches for the different scales. The book aims to explore the meaning of threshold spaces in old Jeddah. Furthermore, it shows that there are eighteen patterns of threshold spaces in the old town: patterns that are solely related to this specific case study, as well as modified patterns to the ones explored by Christopher Alexander. This book shall allow not only a better understanding of the relationship between housing and the historical city but also an exploration of the role of the threshold space in shaping the old city of Jeddah. It will be of interest to researchers, students of architecture, urban planning and anthropology studies, and people involved in cultural heritage, both academics and practitioners.

""Patterns" of Threshold spaces in the Historical City of Jeddah explores the meaning of threshold spaces and investigates the relationship between the public spaces and residential units in the historical city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while at the same time revisiting Christopher Alexander's theory in his canonical 1977 book, A Pattern Language. This book questions and analyses "patterns" relating to the cultural, social, and environmental particularities of Jeddah, with special attention paid to the effect of gender segregation in the city's urban configuration. It discusses the extension that has been undertaken through testing a concept from the urban design theory of the West (United States and Canada) and applying it to an Islamic city to find patterns in four different scales, which form the basis of the investigation (body, building, street, and city). Empirical methods have been used in the context of historical Jeddah, through which patterns are investigated using different approaches for the different scales. The book aims to explore the meaning of threshold spaces in old Jeddah. Furthermore, it shows that there are eighteen patterns of threshold spaces in the old town: patterns that are solely related to this specific case study as well as modified patterns to the ones explored by Christopher Alexander. This book shall allow not only a better understanding of the relationship between housing and the historical city but also an exploration of the role of the threshold space in shaping the old city of Jeddah. It will be of interest to researchers, students of architecture, urban planning, anthropology studies, people involved in cultural heritage, academic and practitioners"--

Islamic architecture has enriched design with a wide variety of structural shapes, including among others, unique arches, a wide variety of vaults and domes which allow for new forms to be developed. The influence that these structural forms have in non-Islamic countries was one of the themes of the 3rd International Conference on Islamic Heritage Architecture and Art, at which the included papers were presented. There is much to learn from past experiences to arrive at solutions which are environmentally sound and sustainable in the long term. As conventional energy resources become scarce, the Islamic design heritage can offer invaluable lessons on how to deal in an efficient manner with cases of hard and extreme environments. Traditional architecture and urban environments in most Islamic countries are now being eroded by overemphasis on a global type of architecture and city planning. As a consequence, many regions are losing their identity. It will become increasingly important for new developments to take light of what the classical Islamic urban designs and architectures have to offer modern society. An equally important aspect covered is the analysis of the materials employed and the types of structural elements, particularly those unique to Islamic architecture. Preserving this heritage requires the development of appropriate conservation techniques in response to the different materials used and the ways structural forms work, including under extreme conditions, such as earthquakes. These papers deal with the design of many types of buildings in Islamic countries, including not only the better known public buildings like mosques, mausolea, citadels and forts, but also houses and gardens, engineering works such as bridges and dams, irrigation systems and many others which have also had a profound impact on society.

​This book seeks to address the key challenges and opportunities of "future cities" embracing novel approaches and grounded technologies in pursuing a vision for smart, inclusive cities. The objective of this book is to discuss multiple areas at the local, national, and international levels and how these challenges can hinder the development objectives planned to be achieved by the cities of the future. The chapters featured in this collection were presented at the 6th Memaryat International Conference (MIC 2022), held at the Effat University, Jeddah. MIC’s objective is to build bridges between science, technology, and innovation, seen as the key levers of attaining the SDGs. This book provides the most innovative ideas presented at the conference to address the key manifestation of “future cities" to embrace novel approaches and grounded technologies in the pursue of a vision for smart inclusive cities. It thus represents a platform for diverse contributions from academics and practitioners to present their different perspectives addressed theoretically as well as in practice concerning the challenges and opportunities of future cities. This includes contributions from decision-makers, architects, urban planners, urban designers, entrepreneurs, and educators to stimulate discussion covering the latest on the challenges and opportunities for better future cities in the different domains of architecture, building science and technology, environmental design, mobility & infrastructure, urban design & landscape, housing & real estate developments, urban planning, governance, socio-cultural & economic development, community engagement, tourism and heritage revitalization.

Housing and the City explores housing histories, theories, and projects in diverse geographies. It presents a geographically dispersed history of the twentieth-century modern housing project and its social diagram, juxtaposed with case studies from the past and the present that suggest that we can live and work differently. While the contributions are diverse in their theoretical approach and geographical situation, their juxtaposition yields transversal connections in the conception of the home and the city and highlights the diversity of architectural solutions in the formation of housing and its communities. The collection also reveals architecture’s contribution to the construction of the self and communities, the individual and the collective—as both urban spatial entities and socio-political concepts. Housing and the City provides essential reading for students, academics, and practitioners interested in the history, theory, or current design of housing. At a time when cities are witnessing new ways of working, changing social demographics, increased geographical mobility, and mass migrations, as well as the pervasive threat of the climate crisis—all trends exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic—Housing and the City presents a historical and theoretical reflection on the question: what does it mean to be at home in the city in the twenty-first century?

Since the dawn of the oil era, cities in Saudi Arabia have witnessed rapid growth and profound societal changes. As a response to foreign architectural solutions and the increasing popularity of Western lifestyles, a distinct style of architecture and urban planning has emerged. Characterised by an emphasis on privacy, expressed through high enclosures, gates, blinds, and tinted windows, ‘New Islamic Urbanism’ constitutes for some an important element of piety. For others, it enables alternative ways of life, indulgence in banned social practices, and the formation of both publics and counterpublics. Tracing the emergence of ‘New Islamic Urbanism’, this book sheds light on the changing conceptions of public and private space, in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, in the Saudi city of Jeddah. It challenges the widespread assumption that the public sphere is exclusively male in Muslim contexts such as Saudi Arabia, where women’s public visibility is limited by the veil and strict rules of gender segregation. Showing that the rigid segregation regime for which the country is known serves to constrain the movements of men and women alike, Stefan Maneval provides a nuanced account of the negotiation of public and private spaces in Saudi Arabia.