Courtyard Housing

Courtyard housing is one of the oldest forms of domestic development spanning at least 2000 years and occurring in distinctive form in many regions of the world. Traditionally associated with the Middle East where climate and culture have given shape to a particular type of courtyard housing, other examples exist in Latin America, China and in Europe, where the model has been reinterpreted. This book demonstrates, through discussions on sustainability and regional identity, and via a series of case studies, technical planning and design solutions, that the courtyard housing form has a future as well as a past.

Brian Edwards is the Professor of Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art, Heriot-Watt University. He has a PhD from the Mackintosh School of Architecture at Glasgow University. With more than 16 books to his name, he has considerable expertise and experience in the area of sustainable housing, urban design and architecture.

Magda Sibley is the Director of the Architecture undergraduate course at Liverpool University and the Departmental international links coordinator. Dr Sibley has conducted various design workshops in cities such as Cairo, Amman and Fez, and has recently completed research projects (funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Board) on housing and public baths in the world heritage cities of Fez, Aleppo and Damascus.

Mohamad Hakmi is Dean of Architecture at Al-Baath University in Homs, Syria. With a PhD from Sofia University he has held several senior academic positions in the Middle East and is the author of a number of books and journal articles on architecture, urban design and heritage conservation. His research interests include high-density courtyard housing, an area of academic concern which flowed in part from his election a few years earlier as Mayor of the City of Homs.

Peter Land is Professor of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Educated at the Architectural Association in London, Yale University and Carnegie Mellon University, his research interests include high-density housing, low-energy design and courtyard typologies. He was the UN Chief Architect for the Lima Experimental Housing Project in Peru which features a neighbourhood of 450 courtyard houses.