AKAA2007 FINAL 01-65:AKDN 2007 · 2020. 1. 31. · AKAA2007_FINAL_01-65:AKDN 2007 23/7/07 14:24...

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Rehabilitation of the City ofShibamWadi HadhramautYemen

gtzTechnical Officegophcy

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Introduction

The mud-brick high-rise buildings of Shibam cluster in a walledmass that exudes the genius of Yemeni architecture. As an urbanmonument, Shibam is of international architectural significance, yet the motor of this rehabilitation project is not the preservation of buildings but rather the creation of new economic and socialstructures that will restore the vitality of the city. A joint Yemeni-German initiative, the Shibam Urban Development Project hasstemmed depopulation by providing technical and financial supportfor the renovation of almost half of the housing stock. It has workedwith the local authorities to improve essential services and infra -structure. Most importantly, it has given local people the means andthe confidence to take concrete steps towards improving their lives.Through new community-based organisations local craftsmen arebeing trained, women are being offered literacy classes and the chanceto learn new skills, and agriculture in the outlying area is being revivedthrough the restoration of the old canal and spate irrigation system.


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Jury Citation

Over the course of two decades, a numberof agencies and individuals have committedtime and resources not simply to preservethe unique urban and architectural heritageof the ancient city of Shibam, but also toestablish a viable alternative to the mun -dane mass architecture found in manyeconomically depressed parts of the world.In restoring nearly 200 houses and dis -se minating social services, the UrbanDevelopment Project has approached thecity as a living community rather than ahistorical artefact frozen in time.

Through the efforts of ngos, architectsand stakeholders, Shibam has eludedimminent obsolescence under the amnesiacpressures of globalisation, growing into a platform for the reinvention of the verna -cular high-rise in twenty-first centuryconditions. Located on the thresholdbetween past and present, tradition andmodernity, this walled city of vertical mud-brick high-rises, with its labyrinthine streetsand lanes, unfolds its own iterative narrativein a stunning, almost oneiric topography. All these efforts have allowed the citizens to re-imagine their city beyond its sheerliminality in the cosmopolitan discourse of contemporary urbanism.


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restored privateowned housesrestored (awgaf owned)restored publicbuildings &monuments

valuable housesrestoredruins (33u)

priority interventionsrequiredruinslimits of degradedzones in 2006

restored housesthrough shhpdegraded zonesbefore restorationthrough shhp


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Project Description

Shibam is one of the few historic cities of theHadhramaut valley that is not built directlyagainst a mountain backdrop. Instead, it sitson a raised earth dais thought to be therubble of an ancient city, and is surroundedby a city wall. Along with Seyoun and Tarim,it is one of major urban centres in Hadhra-maut. In times past it was also the commercialcapital where caravans assembled on theArabia trade route. Although there is nodefinite date for the con struct ion of Shibam,its name is mention ed in early texts and inpre-Islamic poetry (Umru’ al Qais). Theolder buildings date back 200 to 300 years,and they have been repeatedly recon structedover the centuries to sustain the architec-tural mass and volume of the city.

The vertical expansion of the buildingswas informed by the topography and by theneed to preserve the surrounding agri cultu -ral land. The ground floors of houses in thisregion are traditionally taken up with grainand staple food storage. In Shibam theground and first floors have dark and loftydepots with few openings for ventilation.Sheep and goats are kept in adjacent roomsand terraces on the first floor at night. Thesecond and third floors are occupied byseveral living rooms (mahadir) used by themen, while the fourth and fifth floorscontain living areas for the women, alongwith kitchens, washrooms and toilet facili -ties. The sixth and upper floors are used bychildren or by newlyweds in the extendedfamily. Terraces placed at the upper levelsmake up for the lack of open courtyards inthe house.

When the Urban Development Projectstarted in 2000, many of these houses werein danger of collapse and people wereleaving the city. Improvements to thehousing stock had to be a matter of priority.An economist, Burkhard von Rabenau, wasasked to analyse possible ways of assistingowners to carry out the necessary improve -ments to their houses. He suggested that thepeople of Shibam were being indirectlytaxed for living in a listed site, since theywere denied development rights and theoption of building to lower standards. Tooffset this situation, it seemed appropriate tooffer a subsidy. The proposal was discussedwith the Social Fund for Development ofYemen, which agreed to fund the subsidiesprovided they were offered on a clear andtransparent basis, with residents contribu tingtheir fair share, and that the work involved a strong training component, benefiting thelocal workforce.

As a matter of principle, the project insiststhat owners take charge of the restoration oftheir property – that they actively set theirown priorities for the intervention, commis -sion the master builder of their choice, and

manage the construction budget. Subsidiesare given directly to the owners in stages, as the work progresses.

To date almost 200 houses have beenrestored, along with a number of publicbuildings and monuments includingmosques, historic fountains, watchtowersand the city gate. The project followed theadvice of senior master builders in treatingstructural problems in the mud buildings.Responses include adding wooden stilts(ma’atin) along damaged facades to helpreduce the load of the upper floors, usinghori zontal wooden beams to ‘stitch’ verticalcracks in walls, replacing defective structuralelements, and in extreme cases removingadded floors to reduce the extra loadsimposed on the buildings. All of thesestructural interventions are traditionallypractised in Shibam, though it was necessaryto engage senior master builders to supervisethe work of the younger builders and trainthem in these techniques.

All structural elements are made fromilb, a local hardwood, except in extreme caseswhere the upper floors are supported by steeltubes (a method used in spanning ceilings inmud brick building in Hadhramaut since the1980s). Renderings are usually made frommud mixed with local hay and straw. Alluvialmud is collected from the agricul-tu ral fields around the city after every fewfloods. This returns the fields to their origi -nal level, and the funds raised from the saleof the mud are used to maintain the irriga -tion system. For waterproofing the outersurfaces of the building, lime is applied intwo layers followed by a final wash. The firstapplication is thick while the second layer isthinner and is usually mixed, while wet, withfine sand that acts as aggre gate to stabilisethe lime. The final lime wash is usual lymixed with a small quantity of red sugar.

Yet the restoration of the built fabric isjust one strand of the program me. The othervital components are the mobili sing ofcommunity-based organisations and theinitiating of interventions based on commu -nity participation and priorities. In this way,the economic and social impact of the projecthas extended beyond the historic city, reach -ing the whole district of Shibam through theorganisations it has helped set up.

The Hawtah Women’s Charity andSocial Association runs literacy program mes,classes in sewing, hairdressing and comput-ing, and a scholarship programme enablingyoung high-school graduates to go touniversity in the nearby town of Seyoun.

The Hazm Community Centre providesworkshops for women living in extremepoverty. A core unit of around 35 women iscurrently adapting traditional weavingtechniques to create more lucrative productsfor the tourist market.

The Agricultural Cooperative Associat -

ion is based on the old tradition of the waterrights committee and brings together about80 per cent of the farmers and landowners inthe spate irrigation lands around the historiccity. Working with the project, the associa-tion is coordinating the rehabilitation of theintricate irrigation system.

The Mud Architecture Association, withsome 33 active master builders and 220

workers and apprentices on its register,oversees all the restoration work supportedby the project. The association negotiatessalaries of workers and apprentices and hasalso established a social security fund tocompensate workers who are injured on site.The demand for skilled labour in the city hasquadrupled since the project’s inception.

Inspired by the success of theseorganisations, other community groups havelaunched their own initiatives and sought theproject’s assistance to implementprogrammes. Local schools are organisinglessons in traditional crafts, a music ensem -ble is reviving musical traditions to passthem on to younger generations, a privatemuseum has set up a workshop traininghigh-school students to build models ofShibami houses, local craftspeople aredeveloping new products to sell to tourists, a cultural club has organised a travellingexhibition of historic photographs, and soon. The project is ongoing. What has beenachieved so far highlights the importance ofShibam as a living site rather than a museum– a place where the inhabitants are devel -oping and modernising the structures thatimprove everyday life, creating a contem -porary setting with their urban heritage.

Text adapted from a report by Salma Samar Damluji


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Rehabilitation of the City of Shibam

Shibam, Governorate ofHadhramaut, Yemen

Client German Federal Ministry ofEconomic Cooperation (bmz),Germany; Ministry of Culture,Yemen; local community, Shibam

Local Council: Tariq Talib Falhum,director general, Shibam District;Mari‘i Badr Jabiri, secretary general;Hud Bazurais, Shibamrepresentative

Implementing AgenciesGeneral Organisation for thePreservation of Historic Cities ofYemen (gophcy): Abdullah ZaidAyssa, director (2006–2007);Abdullah Bawazir, director (2000–2005). German TechnicalCooperation (gtz), Sana’a: ThomasEngelhardt, director (2007); HelmutGrosskreutz, director (2000–2006).gtz Shibam office: Omar AbdulazizHallaj, team leader (2004–2007);Ursula Eigel, team leader (2000–2004)

Other SponsorsSocial Fund for Development,Yemen; German DevelopmentServices (ded), Germany

Architects and Engineersgtz and ded: Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj(gtz), development of housingprogramme/project support; TomLiermann (ded), historic featuresprogramme and training fortechnical unit; Mohamad al-Kaderi(gtz), management of technical unit(2002-2005); Erik Schweikhardt(gtz), support for technical unit;Martin Zeifert (ded), plumbing andinfrastructure expertgophcy: Jamal Bamakhrama,management of gophcy contri -bution; Sadiq al-Mashhour,management of technical unit(2006); Ali Baraja, field architect;Mazin Sheikh al-Masawi, fieldengineer

AdministrationKhalid Gaashan (gtz), projectofficer/planner

Documentation and ArchivingMonaf Abboud and Abdullah Sabain (gophcy)

ConsultantsBurkhard von Rabenau, economist;Hadi Saliba, conservation planning;Jamal Jaber, wood conservation;Khaled Sharif and Nabil al-Jerafi,solid waste management; NadimRahmoun, infrastructure imple -mentation

Community Development OfficersAisha Said, senior communitydevelopment officer (2000-2004);Hana Bin Taleb and Eshraq Aidan,community development officers;Amina Bin Taleb, junior communitydevelopment expert (all gtz)

Principal Master BuildersHousing Programme: SaidBaswatayn, supervisor; MonumentsFund projects: Jam‘an Basaida,Mbarak al Juraydi and AwadHuwaydi, supervisors. Mud Archi -tecture Association: Salem AwadMsawnaq, chair (2007); Faraj SalimKwayran, chair (2005–2007); SeniorMaster Builders’ Committee: SalemMsawnaq, Ubayd Basawatayn,Salem al Hadri, Jama’an Basaida,Mahfuz Huwaidi, members

Master Builders (Housing andMonument Restoration)

Ali Marbash, Faraj Kwairan, SalehBahdaila, Kamal al-Hadri, Hazmi al-Hadri, Khairan Bayashout, MahfouzBahdaila, Mohamad Baswaitin,Omar al-Hadri, Faraj Badawi, AwadBaziad, Ahmad Bayashout, AshourKwairan, Said Wadaan, AhmadHouwaidi, Ali Bakrbashat, Jum‘anMouzaynan, Ahmad Badawi, AwadWad‘an

Master CarpentersAhmad Bajidah, Omar Bajidah,Mahfuz Bajidah, Sabri Kharaz, Fadil Bajidah, Ahmad Baya‘shut,Brik Zubair, Ali Zoubair

Project DataSite area: 81,000 m2

Cost: us$ 4,000,000 (calculatedDecember 2006)Commission: January 2000

Design: 2000‒2006

Construction: 2000‒2006

Completed: 2006 (new phaseongoing)

Websiteswww.gtz.dewww.shibam-udp.org

The German Technical CooperationAgency (gtz) is an internationalcooperation enterprise commis sion edby the German Federal Ministry ofEconomic Cooperation (bmz) toimplement technical developmentcooperation programmes worldwide.Yemen is a priority partner countryand gtz has been active there since1969. bmz also sponsors the GermanDevelopment Services (ded) to placeseconded experts with developmentpartners.

The General Organisation for thePreservation of Historic Cities ofYemen (gophcy) was established in1984 as the organisation responsiblefor the preservation of the urbanfabric of the Old City of Sana’a. The scope of its mandate was laterenlarged to include all of Yemen, andit is the state authority for historicpreservation of urban heritage,reporting to the Ministry of Culture.

The Social Fund for Development is a Yemeni organisation establishedin 1997 as a major component in thenational social safety net. It imple -ments community developmentprogrammes to improve people’saccess to basic services, and works tocreate an enabling environment forsmall and micro enterprises.

The Shibam Urban DevelopmentProject was initiated in 2000 throughthe efforts of Ursula Eigel (teamleader 2000–2004). After comple tingher studies in law and social sciencesin Frankfurt, Munich and Paris, shejoined gtz in 1975, directing urbanprogrammes in Zambia, Jordan,Yemen and Nepal among manyother countries. She was the teamleader for the gtz project ongovernment reform in Kenya from1988 to 1996.

The project’s current team leader,Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj, is a Syrianarchitect trained at the University ofTexas at Austin, where he receivedboth his bachelor’s and Master’sdegrees. Hallaj works on urbandevelopment, planning and heritageconservation. Prior to his work inShibam, he had a private architec -tural practice in Aleppo, Syria, wherehe also served as the chairperson ofthe technical committee responsiblefor the preservation of the Old Cityof Aleppo.


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