Courtyards: An Internal Paradise

Palais Rhoul's Living Room. Marrakech. Photo by Equalizer

Once aspect of design that has sadly taken place in large areas of the Gulf is the abandonment of local architectural features. The region had taken an ugly detour into trying to imitate architectural features of other countries in a very cheap way. The idea as a whole is wrong, because we happen to have architectural features that are beautiful in their own rights.

One of the main features that was abandoned was the courtyard layout in traditional houses. The courtyard has many benefits, especially for conservative countries such as Gulf countries and the lack of natural habitat. There are exceptions tot the rule in certain pockets of the Gulf in terms of courtyard usage, but the local architectural elements should always be in use at all time. I think what is happenening is a disaster to the local cultural identity. There has been many places that had transformed traditional architectural into a modern design based on traditional elements. One of the finest example I could think about is the Chedi in Muscat.

I think there are many way to transform a courtyard into your own garden of paradise. Paradise by the way comes from Cyrus's Paradaiso or Perdos, which means a walled garden. In arabic it is al ferdaws. Transforming your courtyard into a walled garden is just as simple as having a Japanese zen garden or a more lush and tropical garden. The inclusion of a pool and a dining area also provided an added function to the area. Having the courtyard as the focal point of the house has a much better view that the current view of Tanzifco (waste management company) garbage bins with cats lingering around with bits of machboos on their mouth.