Renovated traditional courtyard house in the Amanat al-Asima area near the Kadhimain Tomb, south of the River Tigris on the NW edge of Baghdad, Iraq.
Renovated traditional courtyard house in the Amanat al-Asima area near the Kadhimain Tomb, south of the River Tigris on the NW edge of Baghdad, Iraq. A low rise residential unit designed to provide air, light, privacy & security in a desert climate. Usually up to three storeys built around the four sides of an unroofed courtyard supply communal spaces & private accommodation for several generations of the same family & their guests. Open to the sky but closed to the outside world. Access is via a single entrance passage off a narrow public alley, the exterior is a vertical wall with a few small wooden latticed windows above the ground floor, & the open roof floor is protected by a high wooden fence. Inter-related spaces, stairs & galleries provide efficient movement of people while ducts, cellars, the courtyard & heat exchange ensure air circulation & thermal comfort - all without electricity or other power source. A fine example of the grander type of C19th domestic architecture in Baghdad. Courtyard houses were popular into the C20th but changing tastes, wars & neglect have taken their toll. This photo was taken in March 1983 (during the Iran-Iraq War) after the house had been refurbished by (Architecture Planning Partnership), a British firm set up by conservation architect & architectural historian John Warren (who died in January 2018).
Size: 3848px × 2700px
Location: Kadhimiya Courtyard House, Amanat al-Asima, Baghdad, Iraq
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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