| Author(s) | Mostafa Hammosh |
| Affiliation | Assistant Professor, College of Engineering, University of Bahrain, Bahrain |
| Title | Norms and Standards in Urbanism and Architecture |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Architecture & Planning. Volume 15, No 1. (2003/1423) |
| Abstract | Muslim cities are still under consideration of academicians as well as practioners in planning and architecture. However, most of these considerations are limited to the morphology and physical aspects of the built environment. Very few studies are interested in the hidden rules that dictated such forms among which are the norms and standards that stemmed mainly from the symbiosis between the Islamic law Sharia` and the customs and traditions of the diversified Muslim societies. The paper attempts to extract such norms and standards that have been applied in different areas of urbanism and architecture through the study of both the available Islamic legal literature and the physical heritage of old Muslim cities. Such norms and standards are found to embrace most fields of building and physical planning that are known nowadays. Their definition is believed to serve architects and planners to better understand the Islamic urban heritage and thus contribute in the process of revival and renewal of the Islamic heritage. |
