The Pond

العمــارة الحديثة الاقليــمية فى الخرطوم بين المعـــاصرة والارث الحضـــارى

لم يعد الحديث عن اثر العولمة على الهوية المعمارية مطروحا الآن بقوة كما كان فى العقد الاول من القرن . ربما يرجع السبب فى ذلك الى انتشار العمارة الاقليمية - الوسطية : التى تقوم على ارضية مشتركة من التقاليد والتجديد ، ليس فى مدن العالم الثالث فقط بل والكثير من مدن العالم .

تقدم هذه الرسالة رؤية جديدة لورقة سبق ان قدمتها فى مؤتمر علمى قبل سنوات عن العمارة الحديثة فى الخرطوم . السبب فى اعادة كتابة الورقة هو ما تأكد لنا بالملاحظة الشخصية من ان العمارة الحديثة الاقليمية لم تعد محصورة فى دول العالم الثالث فقط كما كان فى النصف الثانى من القرن العشرين ، بل صارت تمثل توجها عالميا امتد فى كثير من المناطق وخصوصا فى الشرق الاوسط ودول البحر المتوسط . لذلك يمكن القول ان العـمارة الحديثة الاقليمية فى الخرطوم و الكثير من المدن فى العالم الثالث ، لم تعد حركة معزولة بل اصبحت تشكل جزء من حركة التجديد العالمية المعاصرة ، وربما كان لها تأثير على حركة العمارة ما بعد الحديثة فى الدول الغربية .

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تركز مقدمة الورقة على توضيح بعض خصائص السودانيين التى تتمثل فى انهم قوم  يميلون الى سرعة استيعاب الحداثة  ، وانهم  فى ذات الوقت حريصون كل الحرص على الهوية ومولعون بممارسة انماط الثقافة التقليدية فى حياتهم الخاصة والاجتماعية . تنتقل الورقة بعد ذلك الى توضيح اثر هذه  الخصائص التى تتميز  بقبول التحديث بقوة وتتمسك بالارث الثقافى بقوة ايضا على العمارة الاقليمية فى الخرطوم .

الغرض من هذه الدراسة هو التوثيق لحركة العمارة الاقليمية فى الخرطوم . الملاحظ ان العمارة الاقليمية التى تقوم اساسا على ارضية مشتركة من الارث الحضارى والمعاصرة تتبنى فلسفة تصميم تبدو الاكثر ملاءمة للاستجابة  لارث التقاليد ومفاهيم العصر . تعتمد الدراسة منهجية البحث الميدانى وتقوم بتحليل بعض نماذج من العمارة الاقليمية بالخرطوم لتحديد الى اى مدى نجح التصميم فى التوازن بين الاستجابة لمتتطلبات التقاليد والتعبير عن مفاهيم العصر .

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تعرض الورقة بعض النماذج التى توضح تطور العمارة الحديثة الاقليمية فى الخرطوم فى خلال الاربعة عقود الماضية . تشترك نماذج الدراسة فى الوعى باهمية المعالجة البيئية ووضعها على قائمة الاولويات فى برنامج التصور المعمارى design concept  ، و تتميز بمعالجات بيئية مبتكرة الى جانب استخدام المعالجات البيئية التقليدية .

تستخدم جميع النماذج المعروضة من المعالجات البيئية التقليدية ما هو معروف مثل الفناء الدخلى كمستودع للهواء البارد ؛ الجدران السميكة والمزدوجة للعزل الحرارى ؛ تظليل الواجهات والمساحات المحيطة بالمبنى للحماية من الاشعاع الحرارى المباشر ؛ العناية بالمساحات الخضراء وتقليل المساحات الزجاجية فى النوافذ..الخ.

تستخدم نماذج الدراسة ، الى جانب المعالجات البيئية التقليدية ، حزمة من المـعالجات غير التقليدية . اهم المعالجات المبتكرة هى استخدام نظام خليط يجمع التبريد الصناعى والتبريد الطبيعى . تشترك جميع نماذج الدراسة فى ازدياد الوعى بضرورة استخدام نظام خليط يجمع التبريد الصناعى والتبريد الطبيعى الذى يوظف الحلول المعمارية التقليدية التى ورد بعضها فى المعالجات التقليدية من قبل . اهم مزايا هذا النظام انه يقلل استهلاك الطاقة ، ويزيد كفاءة  التبريد )درجة التبريد مقابل استهلاك الوقود( ، ويجعل المبنى رفيقا بالبيئة بصورة افضل .

 

Heritage and Regional Modern Architecture in Khartoum

Introduction

Khartoum, the Capital city of Sudan, was founded under the colonial rule in the early twentieth century as a pre-planed modern city. Since its foundation, western modernization was introduced in Khartoum by the British colonial administration and the Egyptian presence; as well as the other foreign communities residing in Sudan such as the Greeks, Italians, Syrians and Armenians. Before independence all aspects of modern public life, including professions, education, public service etc. were largely shaped by foreign presence and the dominant European culture. Although, this picture has changed totally after independence, and everything was shifted to Sudanese hands a strong feeling of the influences of globalization persisted.

Despite the influences of westernization and later globalization, assimilation of modernity and foreign cultures has been the norm in Khartoum. It is remarkable to note that people are open to modernity, while Sudanese culture is strongly maintained and tradition is widely observed. The reason for this in my opinion is because Khartoum population is a mixture of different ethnic groups that come from all parts of Sudan, when they migrated to Khartoum they brought along their provincial cultures. Although, Khartoum acts as a melting pot of the distinct cultures of the Sudan, each cultural group preserves the special characteristics of their own localities.

In Khartoum while public life is predominantly modern, private life on the other hand is a combination of modernity and traditionality. People reconcile the contradictions between the local and the global and manage to express identity through maintaining balance between modernity and traditions. As a result there is no conflict between the two streams: indigenous cultures and modern coexisted in a harmonious blend. These characteristics have surely had an impact on architects, and the rise of modern regionalism must not be seen in isolation.

Although the regionalists adhere to global architectural norms, it is observed that their work is rooted in cultural heritage. This paper argues that regionalist modern  in Khartoum is the concluding statement of many years of search by regionalists for how to satisfy the demands of modern living standards, and to respond at the same time to the needs generated by tradition.                                                                      

                            

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The influence of globalization on identity doesn't at present generate controversy as did during the first decade of the millennium. The reason is partly because globalization has become an accepted phenomenon so widely distributed throughout the globe. It has even been suggested that globalization is sometimes desirable on the assumption that it generates a process which takes place through a two-way mechanism which makes it possible for communities to contribute in world global culture. The reconciliation with globalization has recently paved the way for the emergence of regionalism as an intermediate category between heritage and modernity. In a similar way Post-Modern appeared in the western countries which, as Charles Jenks describes it, is a double coded combination of modern and other language of expression such as traditional architecture. Regionalism, however, can be seen as more advanced form of post-modernism, its role is not confined only to preserving heritage but also as a mediating agent that values the experiences of the past and transmitting them to the future generations.

   

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Theorists differentiate between 'regionalism' as a tradition which came mainly as a reaction against westernization and a more liberal regionalism which accepts globalization and modernity. The reaction against westernization after independence has lead in many developing countries to the emergence of the ‘regionalist approach’. Traditional regionalist response would focus on expressing local identity through the revival of elements of traditional architecture. Non-conventional regionalism on the other hand seeks to introduce a new synthesis that is rooted in heritage and at the same time modern.

Architecture in Khartoum has never been fully documented. Apart from few scattered efforts, there is no comprehensive documentation of modern architecture in general. This paper is intended as one of the first early initiatives in this respect. The study methodology relies on fieldwork examination of selected examples that represent modern regionalism in Khartoum. The aim of the analysis is to establish the extent as to which regionalists in Khartoum were able to respond to modernity without disjointing from traditions.

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The earliest example is the Kuwaiti Embassy building in Khartoum (1977) designed by Technical Studies Bureau (TEST) Khartoum (Fig.:1).

Fig. (1) north façade of the Kuwaiti building, Khartoum

To achieve its environmental goals the architects go for inward planning option with a conventional courtyard (Fig.:2). The plan is a simple setting-up with a central courtyard that is surrounded by rooms arranged on two floors.  Rooms are reached directly from the courtyard at ground floor level, and from an access balcony at first floor. The courtyard, however, is not open to sky as would have been expected, but covered with transparent synthetic roofing that meant to allow sun light and to keep out dust common in Khartoum. Roofing the courtyard no doubt restricts natural air circulation through the courtyard and the surrounding rooms, thus defeating the whole idea of using natural means of cooling.

                                                                              Fig. (2)  courtyard view in the embassy building

Fig. (3) office glass walls behind screening arcades

The design is intriguing in that its form is inspired by local heritage, and in the same time it is a modern building with aluminium and glass facades behind screen walls. Façades are protected against direct sun radiation by unroofed arcade surrounding the building on all sides. The object of screening is not only shading glass walls, but also allowing cool air movement coming across the surrounding green landscape to rise up against the glass walls pushing the accumulating  hot air upwards to escape from the opened top and cooling glass surface (Fig.: 3,4).

                                                                              Fig. (4) screen walls shading glass facades