The adaptability of the bedouin tent in the hot dry climate of jordan

AA E+E Environment & Energy Studies Programme Architectural Association School of Architecture Graduate School MSc & MArch Sustainable Environmental Design 2012-13 Term 2 Research Paper

The adaptability of the Bedouin tent in the hot dry climate of Jordan

Rawan Suheil Akram Qobrosi April 2013

Authorship Declaration Form

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY STUDIES PROGRAMME ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION GRADUATE SCHOOL

PROGRAMME:

MSc / MArch SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 2012-13

SUBMISSION

RESEARCH PAPER 2

TITLE The adaptability of the Bedouin tent in the hot dry climate of Jordan

NUMBER (excluding references)

OF WORDS footnotes and 4630

words

STUDENT NAME: Rawan Suheil Qobrosi

DECLARATION: “I certify that the contents of this document are entirely my own work and that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of others is duly acknowledged.”

Signature:

Table of Contents: -

Abstract

1.

Introduction

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2.

Jordan Climate

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3.

Wadi Rum 3.1 General Description 3.2 Wadi Rum Climate

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4.

History of Black Tent

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5.

Analysis 5.1 Characteristics and Environmental strategies

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- Shape and Structure - Orientation and ventilation - Shading and solar access - Material

6.

Conclusions

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7.

References

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- Appendix / Dissertation Proposal I. Descriptive Title II. Overview of the proposed research area III. Research Question and Hypotheses IV. Methodology V. Expected Outcome VI. Sources and Key References VII. Timescale

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Acknowledgements I would like to thank my tutor Paula Cadima for her help and guidance in the research paper and throughout the course.

I would like to thank Zeid Baggili for making it possible to reach the real Bedouins in Wadi Rum, his time and help.

I would like to thank Nasser al Zawaydeh for his help to access the tents, and Abed Al Rahman, Abu Adel and Um Omar for their generosity and time to help me understand the desert and the Bedouin lifestyle in Wadi Rum.

Abstract: The black tent spread from Mesopotamia, to reach the Atlantic coast and the mountains of Tibet, adapting to a wide range of environments. This research paper will investigate how the black Bedouin tent that is found in the desert of Wadi Rum south of Jordan adapts to the extreme outdoor conditions, and analyse the structure, characteristics and environmental strategies found in the Bedouin tent in terms of orientation, ventilation, solar access and the materiality. It will also compare a Bedouin tent to a modern camp site tent, so as to absorb and understand the distinctive characteristics of the Bedouin tent and its passive strategies. The results prove that the Bedouin tent has adaptive strategies and corresponds to the hot dry conditions of the desert and none of these qualities are found in the camp site tent.

1. Introduction “These are the black tents which balance in the wind, on the summit of the mountains.

And neither earthquakes nor thunder can manage to uproot their slightest branch, the last piece of wood.” * An Arab riddle The black tent is a special form of vernacular architecture that is highly adaptable and responsive to the outdoor conditions. This paper will analyse the practical qualities found in a Bedouin tent and compare it to a modern camp site tent.

Wadi Rum is located south of Jordan. All the people of Rum are of Bedouin origins and few still live the nomadic lifestyle in the preserved area of Wadi Rum. Therefore, an original Bedouin tent and modern camp site tent were selected and are going to be studied and analysed in terms of the structure, and environmental strategies that are implemented in the desert to handle the harsh climate throughout the year. This research will help the reader understand the adaptability and the environmental strategies that made this common prototype with its qualities reach a vast territory with a huge range of environments and still be in use to this day.

2. Jordan Climate Jordan is located in the Middle East between latitude 31° 00' North and longitude 36° 00' East (Ghazaleh, et al., 2007). Jordan is 80% desert, and the climate is hot and dry. Generally, the climate can be divided according to the elevation from sea level into three main regions (See Fig.1): Firstly, the mountain region is 900 to 1700 meters above sea level. This region climate is Mediterranean. The summer is mainly moderate and dry and the winter is cold and rainy, where the average annual rainfall is 425mm.

Secondly, the valley region can reach to 400 meters below the sea level, where the Dead Sea; the lowest point on earth is located. The summer is hot and dry and it is warm during winter. The rainfall annual average does not exceed 10mm. Finally, the desert region ranges between 500 to 900 meters above sea level. The summer is very hot, dry, and dusty. However, winter is dry and cold with average annual rainfall that does not go above 50mm (Ghazaleh, et al., 2007).

3. Wadi Rum 3.1 General Description 2

Wadi Rum (29° 34′ 35.4″ N, 35° 25′ 11.74″ E) is a protected area, which has a total area of 720 Km of desert to the South of Jordan (See Fig.1). Wadi Rum is a valley that is cut into the sandstone and granite rock (Wadi Rum, 2005). All the people in Wadi Rum are of Bedouin origins. Most of these local Bedouins became villagers, and some semi-nomads that move into the desert and return to Rum village in winter. Few remain with a true nomadic lifestyle between the mountains of Wadi Rum with their goat hair tents (Wadi Rum, 2005).

Fig.1 Geographical Map of Jordan locating Wadi Rum and the regions according to the elevation from sea level (Source: After ezilon maps, 2009) * Dalman, 1939,p.16 cited in Drew,1969 p.42.

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3.2 Wadi Rum Climate According to the Jordan climate division mentioned previously, Wadi Rum is part of the desert region. As seen in Fig.2 the monthly daily average temperatures obtained from Meteonorm 7.0, the overheated months of Wadi Rum are June, July and August, where the mean daily maximum temperatures range between 36째C to 39째C. On the other hand the cold season starts in December and ends in February where temperatures drop below zero and chances of snow are common, but the mean daily maximum temperature can reach up to 22째C. However, March and April, late September to November are considered the mild period.

Cold Period

Overheating period

Cold Period

Fig.2 Monthly daily average temperatures for Wadi Rum, Temperature and Solar Radiation (Source: After Meteonorm 7.0 / Weather Tool)

Prevailing winds in the hot month of July are mainly from the south, and south west. In the cold month of January, prevailing wind direction comes from the south and also north east winds (see Fig.3). The aridity of the desert is accompanied with direct solar radiation all year. The sky is clear most of the year which provides effective passive solar heating during the days in the cold period where the temperatures reach the comfort band during the day (Givoni, 1998). According to the psychometric chart (see Fig.4), an effective passive strategy for the hot dry climate in Wadi Rum is natural ventilation. In addition, night ventilation in buildings with thermal mass can help in the hot months of June to August. However, direct evaporative cooling is effective in the overheating period.

Fig.4 Psychometric chart and passive strategies for Wadi Rum (Source: After Weather Tool) Fig.3 The wind rose for January and July months (Source: After Weather Tool)

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4. History of the Black Tent Around 3000-4000 BC the black tent was first found around Mesopotamia. From there the tent spread geographically reaching the Atlantic coast of Mauritania in the west on one side, and Afghanistan, with a Tibetan tent group on the Eastern border on the other (Drew, 1979).

This geographical wide span of this primitive form of dwelling is due to the domestication of goats, sheep, and camels. The goats and sheep provide the material for the tent cloth. And the camel could carry greater loads than donkeys so it helped the nomads to roam the desert and reach this vast territory. Also as a result of the camel’s capabilities the size of the black tent was increased (Faegre, 1979 p.9).

1. The tent constitutes the principal form of dwelling or its use is extremely widespread.

2. Widest extent Fig.5 Geographical distribution of the Black tent (Source: Drew, 1979)

This continuous geographical spread as shown in Fig.5 makes the black tent the most primitive and timeless architectural dwelling that adapted to a wide range of environments and is still in use to this day (Faegre, 1979; Drew, 1979). The common factor between all these environments is the dry climate and the low precipitation (Drew, 1979).

According to Drew (1979) and following Feilberg’s division the black tent can be divided into two main types: The Persian type to the east and secondly the Arab type to the west. The Arab tent is used by the Bedouin tribes of Arabia, the Sinai, and parts of Jordan, Syria, Israel, and Iraq. The Bedouins call it “beyt es-shaar” which means the “house of hair” in Arabic.

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5. Analysis The analysis was done in the preserved area of Wadi Rum. An original Bedouin tent was identified and a modern tent located in a touristic camp site. The original tent is owned by a semi-nomad. The location of the tent is shown in Fig.6. The owner, Um Omar, and her daughter live in the desert part of the year and spend the rest in the settled village of Rum (Um Omar, 2013). Um Omar’s tent (Fig.7) and the camp tent (See Fig.8) are going to be analysed in terms of shape and structure, orientation and ventilation, shading and solar access, and the material in order to understand the positive aspects of the traditional tent.

Um Omar Bedouin Tent

N

Rum Village

Camp Site Fig.6 Wadi Rum Preserved area map, locating the analysed tents.

(Source: After Wadi Rum, 2005)

N

Fig.7 Original Bedouin tent of Um Omar, front and back views.

Fig.8 Camp site tents located by the mountain.

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5.1 Characteristics & Environmental Strategies - Shape / Structure The Bedouin tent is made of goat hair strips also called cloth breadths which are hand-woven by women on ground looms. Each piece is 60 to 80 cm wide. These strips can extend all through the length of the tent (Oliver, 1997) as shown in Fig.9. Afterwards these strips are sewn edge to edge to provide a large rectangular roof (Faegre, 1979; Abbot Hall Gallery, 1983). Moreover, this technique makes it possible for a new strip to be inserted or replaced (along the poles) every year, pushing the old strips towards the back (see Fig.10 and Fig.11) (Abbot Hall Gallery, 1983).

Fig.10 View of goat hair strips on the roof cloth and detailed sewn edge to edge strips

Fig.9 Tent with a loom, South Jordan.

(Source:Drew, 1979)

Wooden Poles

Goat Hair Strip 60-80cm

Walls; Ru’ag Women’s Side

Men’s Side

Tension bands

Hemp Rope

Fig.11 Detailed plan of Um Omar tent, and a section through the middle.

(Source: After Faegre, 1979)

The standard size of a tent is around 15m long by 3.5m wide (Oliver, 1997). The Bedouin tent in Wadi Rum is a three pole tent. It has two sections, men’s quarter towards the east and women’s quarter to west. The width of the tent is 3.5m and there are 15 wooden poles with almost 2m height and the approximately 3m between the poles to give the 15m length. The roof is supported using three longitudinal rows of wooden poles. The middle row of poles is higher than the front and the back rows with a minimum of 15cm (Abu Adel 2013), as illustrated in Fig.11.

These middle poles act as the main bearers and are placed under wooden planks that are sewn to the roof cloth to prevent the poles from tearing the goat hair and allow separation from the structure as seen in Fig.12 below. As a result it provides the gently rounded outline for the middle row of poles (Drew, 1979; Abed Al Rahman 2013).

The Bedouin tent has tension bands which are sewn across the goat hair strips (see Fig.12) so that the long rope stays of hemps are attached to the tension bands with a stay fastener (see Fig.13 and detail shown in Fig.14).These long hemp ropes stretch the roof tight, that the tension created is just concentrated on the tension bands. All together the tension bands, wooden poles and the long hemp ropes create an independent support system under the roof, which gives the aerodynamic shape of the tent. This dynamic shape with the long hemp ropes help absorb the shock of the strong winds blowing around the year (Faerge, 1979; Abu Adel, 2013).

Moreover, the Bedouin can lower the roof of the tent to make it less resistant to the wind (May, 2010; Abed Al Rahman, 2013).

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Stay Fastener

Tension Band

Rope Stay Fig.12 Middle pole and the wooden plank.

Fig.13 Tension Bands across the roof cloth strips.

Fig.14 Detail of stay fastener with the tension band.

The walls also called Ru’ag are separate elements from the roof but are attached using large pins and secured to the ground by stones or sand (Abbot Hall Gallery, 1983). The Ru’ag can be moved to any side of the tent depending on the wind direction and protects from common sand storms. The Ru’ag is usually made of loose weave compared to the roof. It also contains geometric designs of white strips made of wool hair taken from sheep (Faegre, 1979) as seen in Fig.15. The internal walls are called Qata, which is a dividing wall between the men’s side and women’s shown in Fig.16. The women has the bigger side because it is considered the living, working, and sleeping area, as for the men’s it is where they have their guests (Abu Adel, 2013).

Qata

Fig.15 View of the walls (Ru’ag)

Fig.16 View of Qata; dividing wall between women and men’s sections

The key learning from the original tent structure is the flexibility and separation between the structure (the wooden poles), walls and roof which allows the tent to move with the wind to handle the different directions of the wind.

On the other hand, the camp tent is totally changed into a steel frame structure of 3.5mx3.5m with built in windows on two sides (see Fig.17 and 18), and a barrel roof for higher internal height (Abu Adel, 2013). The camp tent fails to handle outdoor conditions, because the tent cloth is attached to the steel structure and keeps being blown off (Abed Al Rahman, 2013). The Bedouin camp owner tried to solve this by fixing the steel frame to the ground with a concrete base to make it more robust as shown in Fig.19. As a result this caused deflection in the steel beams due to the strong winds that the tent did not move or adapt with.

It is apparent that the aerodynamic shape of the Bedouin tent is more adaptable to outdoor conditions compared to the camp tent. The tent is flexible and can be lowered to have less resistance to the wind compared to the barrel roof of the camp tent (May, 2010; Faegre, 1979). The tent structure is very simple and yet complex with high efficiency and high adaptability to move with the wind (Rappaport, 1969).

Fig.17 View of Camp tent, showing the windows

Fig.18 View of the bent steel frame structure with the built in windows and door.

Fig.19 View of additional concrete base added for stability

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- Orientation and Ventilation Whenever a Bedouin tent is pitched it is always placed to achieve the greatest advantage from the prevailing conditions. According to the season, Bedouins can place it under a tree for extra shade or behind a mountain to minimize the strong winds (Oliver, 2003). Therefore, in terms of orientation Um Omar’s tent is pitched towards the South.

In the summer the tent can be left completely open, where the roof acts as a shading element and the walls are rolled up or totally removed for cross ventilation. Moreover, these curtains can be moved to either side according to desired winds (Abu Adel, 2013; Abbot Hall Gallery, 1983). This can also create different enclosures. However, in the cold period they take the sun position into account for passive solar heating during the day. The tent can also be totally closed from both sides and roof lowered to protect the tent from cold winds (Drew, 1979). Also, goat hair strips can be added behind and in front of the tent to act as wind breakers to block cold undesirable winds (Rapoport, 1969).

During the interview with the Bedouins, the ambient temperature was measured inside and outside at 31°C, also strong South West winds were blowing through the guests section as seen in Fig.20, the wind speed reached 5.3m/s in front of the tent and inside the tent it was measured up 1.8m/s and at the back 1.5m/s. Such air velocity reduces the heat sensation because of the high heat loss from the body by convection (Givoni, 1998). Thus, this creates a comfortable internal condition for Um Omar (Um Omar, 2013). It was fascinating how instantly the tent adapted and moved with the wind and the separate walls opened up. On the other hand, Um Omar has the tent closed from the back to block the northern winds trying to maintain a microclimate for the temperature drop during the night (Um Omar, 2013).

Fig.20 Front view of the Men’s section with the wind blowing through the walls

However for most of the camp sites, orientation is not taken into consideration. Camp tents are always located next to the mountains. These tents are modular units that do not adapt to beneficial orientation. A row of tents that are close to the mountain as seen in Fig.21, are not used in the cold season because they only receive undesired directed winds (Abed Rahman, 2013). This proves the importance of the high adaptability in changing orientation according to the prevailing winds to handle the outdoor conditions found in original Bedouin tents.

Moreover, in terms of ventilation strategies, the camp tent has fixed openings with 40cm x 40cm dimensions.

Figure 22 and Figure 23 show the location of the windows and external view of a window respectively. Ventilation strategies should be considered at least to remove the hot air trapped inside, but for this to work it should be oriented with the prevailing wind to take away the heat (Koch-Neilsen, 2002). However, camp tents do not adapt to the changing wind direction they end up obstructing the air movement (Koch-Neilsen, 2002). The front window faces north while the side faces east which get obstructed by the adjacent tent. The internal conditions in the camp tent where extremely stuffy during the stay and no daylight or air blew through these windows. Opening the door and the two windows had a very minimal effect in cooling down the tent. Therefore, a person always chooses to move out rather than remain inside the camp tent and rely on the windows for ventilation (Abed Al Rahman, 2013). Compared to the limited opportunities found in the camp tent, the Bedouin tent adapts to the outdoor by directing it towards the desired and undesired winds along the year with high adaptive opportunities through its movable elements from walls to roof and even structure.

North facing East facing

Fig.21 View of the Camp site tents, few tents are in use.

Fig.22 Internal view of the camp tent, locating the windows.

Fig.23 External view of a window

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- Shading / Solar access The most important function of the tent is to provide shade as shown in Fig.24, and in doing so, it acts as a very effective wind breaker (Drew, 1979) as mentioned previously. The black colour of the goat hair actually provides extra shade which is a distinctive advantage than the lighter coloured fabrics, because it is more opaque to sunlight (Drew, 1979).

According to Faegre (1979) the interior shaded space in a Bedouin tent can be 20°C to 30°C cooler than the outdoor conditions. Moreover, the spot measurements taken during the interview with Um Omar at 12:45pm on st the 1 of April, 2013 shows almost 18 degrees difference between shaded sand and outdoor sand (see Fig.25).

Sitting under the Bedouin tent with its opaque colour the glare is gone and the solar rays can actually get through the weaves as shown in Fig.26. The illuminance levels drops from 97000lux outdoor measurement to a comfortable 500lux inside the tent.

48.8°C 30.7°C

Fig.24 View of the shaded internal men’s quarter.

Fig.25 Surface temperature of shaded Red sand by the tent and exposed sand.

97000lux

500lux

Fig.26 Solar rays penetrating through the roof weaves.

Fig.27 Illuminance levels of the outdoors and internal space of the tent at 12:45pm

In contrast, the indoor temperature of the camp tent was 34°C which was higher than the outdoor temperature by 3 degrees, although the tent was actually shaded by the mountain in front of the camp site for half of the day.

Also, the barrel shape of roof will have part of its surface in the shade which as a result can reduce the heat gains (Koch-Neilsen, 2002), yet the surface temperature of the roof from inside was 48.8°C, although the moment the measurements where taken the sun had just started hitting the tent. This higher internal temperature is partly due to the poor ventilation. However, the illuminance measured was only 200lux with the door of the tent open because it was very stuffy and dark to close it (see Fig.22).

Also compared to the Bedouin tent solar rays could never pass through the tent fabric; neither, good daylight could enter through the windows or ventilate the tent. Reflecting this to the distinctive features of the Bedouin tent that has a huge opening towards the south, and sun rays pass through its fabric weaves provides a pleasant condition.

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- Material As per Faegre (1979) “Black tent dwellers are weavers.” They weave their roofs, walls, floors and even their furniture. Almost all black tents use the goat hair, which has strength, length and tensile qualities that give the black tent its distinctive form and qualities (Faegre, 1979; Oliver, 1997). For that same reason they all have the black colour.

The goat hair is a responsive material in winter when it rains the fibre gets swollen and shrinks, as they take the water in and the weave gets tight (Faegre, 1979; Dahl, 2010). In addition, it has a special quality of natural oiliness found in the goat hair which prevents the rain penetrating inside the tent. Sheep wool that is added to the walls (Ru’ag) is very stretchable and can handle the tension the tent is under. This material can also help insulate from the cold (Faegre, 1979). Despite all the qualities of the materials used, they still do not offer the best wind protection for the cold period. Therefore, Bedouins try to find additional protection behind sheltered areas, with extra walls as wind breakers (Faegre, 1979). In addition, according to Abu Adel (2013), the Bedouins usually need to have an open fire in the sleeping area. The smoke can get out through weaves if they had all the walls closed, or they can keep a front part open.

However, in the hot summer days the weave gets loose and helps the heat to scatter. As a result the wind can blow through it and the diffused solar rays can penetrate into the tent (Drew, 1979; Oliver 1997). The black colour is predicted to absorb the heat and create a rather uncomfortable hot internal condition within the tent. In reality, the dark shades of the goat hair provide a dense shaded area, and insulates against the radiated heat (Faegre, 1979). The surface temperatures taken for the walls and roof of the tent cloth, had different temperatures over the same element (roof) depending on its position towards the sun, which proves how each part of the roof and its weaves were responding differently and losing the heat (see Fig.28 and Fig.30).

Similarly, this can also be reflected on the clothing of the people in the desert. The white robe is thought to reflect the sun, and the looseness of the robe actually helps circulate the air underneath (Oliver, 2003). According to Shkolnik, et al., (1980) there is no difference between the Bedouin black or white robe, because the additional heat absorbed by the black surface can pass through the loosely woven fabric when it got heated. As a result it pulls cooler air from the bottom of the robe and the heat is lost before reaching the skin. The temperature of the air space between the robe and the skin was the same as the surrounding temperature in both robes, although the surface of the black robe was higher by 6°C than the white robe.

43°C

33°C

Ta= 31°C Fig.29 Detail image showing how responsive the original goat hair fabric compared to the camp tent fabric 44°C

28°C 37°C Fig.28 Internal surface temperatures of the goat hair fabric.

Back

28°C Inside

43°C Front

Fig.30 Section showing outer and inner surface temperatures taken on 1st April at 12:45pm.

In modern life other fibres are used but goat hair has to mix with fibres for its good qualities (Oliver, 1997).

Moreover, the camp tent cloth is made of 85% polystyrene and 15% goat hair (Abed al Rahman, 2013). As a result the distinctive qualities and responsive potential of the goat hair are lost. As seen in Fig.29, the pictures were taken at the same time where the original Bedouin tent fabric is loose and the openness in the weaves are apparent. In contrast the camp tent fabric is not responsive to the outdoor temperature, which is another reason for the overheated stuffy internal conditions felt during the visit.

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6. Conclusion According to the analysis of the Bedouin tent in the previous sections, it is quite obvious now that black tent responds to the outdoor environment and local climate of the desert of Wadi Rum. This aerodynamic design intends to provide extremely comfortable conditions for the Bedouins and their life style compared to the extreme condition just outside this goat hair house.

The dynamic shape, detached structure from the walls and roof can absorb the strong winds that the tent is oriented towards. In addition, the movable walls create adaptive opportunities for the inhabitants to handle the undesired winds or even create more shading. As in for the materiality the goat hair fabric is a natural receptive material that can respond to the outdoor conditions, either to loosen up the weave and let the rays in or shrinks and the fabric gets tight when it is cold. Yet, the black tent is like an outdoor space, there is no distinctive separation from the outside. Therefore, in the cold period tents can provide some insulation, but Bedouins still need to find a sheltered area to help cope with the cold temperatures at night in addition to having a fire. This pushed a lot of the Bedouins in Rum to be semi nomads where they can settle in the village in the cold period.

According to Rapoport (1969) the materials used in the Arab tent and technology of the structure are used as modifying factors rather than deciding the form. They create a certain enclosure with high level of adaptability to that specific culture and physical environment. This is in contrast to the new non-responsive material of the camp tents, rigidity of their structure, fixed orientation, non-adaptable openings or movable walls all created this uncomfortable internal condition.

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7. References

Books -

Dahl,T (2010). Climate and Architecture. Routledge. Oxon.

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Drew,P (1979). Tensile Architecture. Granada Publishing Limited.

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Faegre, T (1979). Tents Architecture of the Nomads. John Murray, London.

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Givoni,B. (1998). Climate Considerations in Building and Urban Design. John Wiley & Sons. Canada.

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Koch- Neilsen,H. (2002). Stay Cool. A design guide for the built environment in hot climates. Earthscan.

New York

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May, John (2010). Buildings without Architects: A Global Guide to Everyday Architecture. Rizzoli. New York.

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Oliver, P (2003). Dwellings: The vernacular house worldwide. Phaidon Press Limited. London.

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Oliver, P (Ed. 1997). Encyclopaedia of Vernacular Architecture of the world. Cambridge University Press

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Rapoport, A. (1969). House, Form and Culture, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall.

Journal Articles -

Ghazaleh, S., A. Alshboul, N. Abu Dayyed and A. Abu Ghanimeh, (2007).Building's Envelope: Surfaceto-volume ratio as an energy saving tool in Jordanian homes. Nuova Energia [online] Available at: http://www.nuova-energia.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=736&Itemid=128 [Accessed on 1 April 2013]

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Shkolnik, A., Taylor,R.C., Finch, V., and Borut A (1980). Why do Bedouins wear black rrobes in hot desert. Nature Vol 283 (5745). pp 373-375.

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Brand, L.A. (2001). Development in Wadi Rum? State Bureaucracy, External Funders, and Civil Society International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 33 (4), pp.571-590.

Personal Conversations: -

Abed Al Rahman. (2013). Characteristics of the original Bedouin tent [interview] (Private Conversation on st the 1 April 2013)

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Abu Adel. (2013). Lifestyle of a Wadi Rum Bedouin living in the village [interview] (Private Conversation st on the 1 April 2013)

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Um Omar. (2013). Adaptation of a semi-nomad in the desert [interview] (Private Conversation on the 1 April 2013)

st

Other References: -

Abbot Hall Art Gallery (1983). The last of the Bedouin in Jordan. Kendal

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Ezilon regional Maps (2009). Physical Map of Jordan [online] Available at: http://www.ezilon.com/maps/asia/jordan-physical-maps.html [Accessed on 26 April 2013]

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Wadi Rum (2005). About Wadi Rum [online] Available at: http://wadirum.jo/About_Wadi_Rum.htm [Accessed on 27 April 2013]

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APPENDIX Dissertation Proposal I. Descriptive title: Applying the adaptive and passive strategies of the Bedouin tent to the Bedouin village house in Wadi Rum.

II. Overview of the proposed research area A Bedouin like Um Omar keeps on adjusting and modifying her environment to achieve what is comfortable to her and this is a sustainable life style, and with the modern lifestyle she moves to Rum village for the cold period to rely on mechanical systems. In addition, a large number of Bedouins have moved permanently into Rum village.

Moreover, the general remark about nomadic tent is that the nomad is constantly assembling and disassembling the materials to construct his house.

The Rum village is a Bedouin community, which had a couple of houses a few decades ago, but now has more than 300 houses and is experiencing an alarming rate of growth (Brand, 2001). However, with the changing lifestyle and needs more Bedouins are settling in Rum village, with poor performing concrete block houses that lack any adaptive opportunities. Many move out and stay in tents placed in their backyards during the hot season, due to the very hot indoor conditions of the village houses. But can’t the adaptive qualities and passive strategies of the tent be used to refurbish the village house of the Bedouin to improve its performance? This is what I will be focusing on in the dissertation. Ideally, this would be the best of both worlds. Bedouins can have the modern houses that meet the modern day’s needs, while also combining the characteristics found in the Bedouin tent to make their houses more adaptive and comfortable to live in.

Moreover, coming from a nomadic life style, Bedouins can be the most accepting users to a sustainable adaptive house, as they are used to moving a wall or lowering a roof to create a comfortable microclimate within their tents.

“Although I moved to Rum Village for my family, but there is nothing like staying in “Bayt es-shaar” especially in the hot period. Most Bedouins in the village have their tents in their backyards. We move out when it is warm! ” Abu Adel,2013

Regardless of the judgement concerning the aesthetics of the village, it is growing fast due to sudden attention to Wadi Rum and growing tourism. This resulted in a major interest of retaining and supporting the local culture as a touristic attraction but there is little effort to ensure the sustainability of the houses. Therefore, Wadi Rum is at an important cross road and steps must be taken to avoid jeopardising the very fragile environmental balance of Rum (Brand, 2001). Although the Bedouins were involved in the design of the Rum village in the preserved area (Brand, 2001), the qualities of the tent and characteristics were never inherited to the design of their house. The village houses may provide a modern lifestyle, but they poorly handle the desert climate of Rum. Now houses are completely relying on the mechanical systems.

III. Research Question and Hypotheses Can we improve the Bedouin village house by integrating the learnings from their first form of dwelling and use it to refurbish the village houses with the same adaptive strategies? I believe that there are aspects of the tent that can be applied to the village house, and may serve as a base model for the village, because working with a Bedouin has more potential to create a sustainable adaptive house.

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IV. Methodology - Literature review: further study of the Bedouin tent elements and village houses in Jordan by referring to the references to be consulted in section below.

- Built Precedents: the need to identify built precedents where the adaptable elements of tent where integrated in the design, potential case study of Dana reserved Village to learn from vernacular village house, potential for new sustainable building in Jordan within the same context.

- Fieldwork: The field work will include occupant survey of residents in the Rum village, one or two houses will be selected for further investigation by installing data loggers, and a data logger in a Bedouin tent to compare the readings and understand how each house is performing in the hot period of July.

Also potential analysis of Dana preserved vernacular village houses and installing a data logger in one of vernacular village houses found there to try to understand the difference and qualities of the vernacular house compared to block work village house.

- Analytic work: The site and climate analysis. And also take the cases studied that were measured as a base for a series of simulations to improve on the performance of a typical Rum village house.

- MSc design applicability: the literature review, with field work done in the house and the tent will help evaluate and use these learnings to provide solutions that improve the performance of the village house.

V. Expected outcome The expected outcome is to improve the standard of living by providing passive strategies to the house of the Bedouins that are familiar with their comfortable environment in the tent. And in doing so, act as a base case that is applicable to the village houses of Wadi Rum.

VI. Sources and Key References Drew,P (1979). Tensile Architecture. Granada Publishing Limited.

Faegre, T (1979). Tents Architecture of the Nomads. John Murray, London.

Givoni,B. (1994) Passive and Low Energy Cooling of Buildings. Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Givoni,B. (1998). Climate Considerations in Building and Urban Design. Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Mier, I and S. Roaf (2007). The future of Vernacular: Towards new methodologies for the understanding and optimization of the performance of vernacular buildings. In: Vellinga, M. (2007). Vernacular Architecture in the 21st Century.Taylor & Francis.

Oliver,P. (Ed. 1997) Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the world. Cambridge University Press.

Weber, W. and S. Yannas (2013). Lesson from Vernacular Architecture. Earthscan.

UNESCO World Heritage Center (2013). Wadi Rum Protected Area (Jordan) [online] Available at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/4286 th [Accessed on 4 April 2013]

To be consulted: Roaf, S. (1979). A Study of the Architecture of the Black Tents of the Lurs.Diploma Thesis at the Architectural Association, London.

Gustav Feilberg, La tente noire. Contribution ethnographique a l'histoire culturelle des nomads. Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen 1944 (250 pp) Khammash, A. (1986).Notes on Village Architecture in Jordan. University of Southwestern Louisiana.

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VII. Timescale Term 3 Months Weeks

1

May 2 3

4

5

June 6 7

8

1

July 2 3

4

5

Term 4 August 6 7

8

September 9 10 11

Literature Review/ Built precedents Field Work Analytic Work Development of Work Writing Finalizing Dissertation Presentation

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