AN ECO-SYSTEMIC CONSTRUCT OF NORTHERN RIVERAIN SUDAN

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The main problem to be addressed is the formulation of a suitable theory base and the subsequent construction of an eco-systemically based interpretative framework, intended to be a relevant foundation for future analysis of the architecture of the Sudanese northern riverain region and for architectural education in the Sudan. This provisional framework requires the identification and articulation of an appropriate philosophical approach, and an eco-systemically based, interdisciplinary description and analysis of tangible and intangible culture prevalent in paradigmatically bound epochs in the identified region – the case study.

THE MAIN HYPOTHESIS

A more probable and relevant interpretation of the architecture of the Sudanese northern riverain region will be achieved through the construction of an eco-systemically based interpretative framework that incorporates essential and relevant dimensions of the tangible and intangible culture of the region, that includes inter-disciplinary knowledge fields, that acknowledges the complexities of interpreting a vernacular architecture, and that addresses inadequacies of, and fills lacunae in existing architectural historical research and architectural approaches to the interpretations of place.

THE DELIMITATIONS

The area under investigation extends along the Sudanese Nile valley from the northern border with Egypt to the town of Sennar on the Blue Nile and Kosti on the White Nile, south. This is inclusive of the Gezira area between the two Niles. This falls within the regions of the current political sub-divisions of Northern Province as well as El Nil, Khartoum, White Nile and Blue Nile Provinces.

THE DEFINITION OF TERMS

An eco-systemic approach: An approach that permits placing an artefact within a constructed hierarchy of a perceived total realm. This approach is accepted as prevalent and valid. It pertains to eco-philosophy as a way of thinking. It acknowledges the interconnectedness of things and ideas. The significance of the artefact is abstracted into an association with meaning and the subjectivity of the interpreter is acknowledged.

CHAPTER 1: THE STUDY PROPOSAL – THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING
1.1 THE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.2 THE MAIN HYPOTHESIS
1.3 THE DELIMITATIONS
1.4 THE DEFINITION OF TERMS
1.5 THE SOURCES, THEIR TREATMENT AND INTERPRETATION
1.6 THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.7 THE SPECIFIC BASIS OF EACH SUB-PROBLEM
1.8 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
1.9 THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE RESEARCHER
CHAPTER 2: PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR THE CONTEXTUAL STUDY OF ARCHITECTURE
2.1 SUB-PROBLEM 1
2.2 HYPOTHESIS 1
2.3 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 2
2.4 METHODS, SOURCES AND SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
2.4.1 Eco-systems of paradigms
2.4.2 Dialectic processes, absolutism and relativism
2.4.3 Phenomenology of the body
2.4.4 Recapitulation
2.5 SOURCES, LANGUAGE, CLASSIFICATION AND INTERPRETATION
2.5.1 Information sources
2.5.2 Language
2.5.3 Artefacts and their classifications
2.5.4 The origins of artefacts
2.5.5 More on classification – the concept of multiple characteristics
2.5.6 Interpretation
2.5.7 Signs, symbols and interpreters
2.5.8 Recapitulation
2.6 INTERDISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATION: THE VALIDITY AND DIFFICULTIES OF USING A VARIETY OF SOURCES TO UNDERSTAND ARCHITECTURE
2.6.1 The Architecture/Culture/Environment dialectic
2.6.2 Perception of climate
2.6.3 Perception of landscape
2.7 ARCHITECTURE DEBATED
2.7.1 Vernacular architecture
2.7.2 What is beauty?
2.7.3 African architecture
2.7.4 African spirituality
2.7.5 A Sudanese idiom
2.8 A RE-DEFINITION OF ARCHITECTURE
2.9 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER 3: AN ECO-SYSTEMIC CONSTRUCT OF NORTHERN RIVERAIN SUDAN
3.1 SUB PROBLEM 2
3.2 HYPOTHESIS 2
3.3 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 3
3.4 THE CONTEXT: ITS HISTORY AND ITS VALIDITY AS AN AREA OF STUDY
3.5 RECURRING THEMES IN THE LITERATURE ON THE REGION
3.5.1 Social conscience, religion and ethics
3.5.2 Elaborate social interaction systems
3.5.3 Complex and intricate kinship system
3.5.4 The slave trade, racism and political power
3.5.5 Trade routes
3.5.6 The harshness of the environment, the desiccated landscape and the poor economy
3.5.7 Sudanese Sufism
3.5.8 The shaykh’s cult
3.6 IDENTITY OF A PEOPLE: WHO THEN ARE THE NORTHERN SUDANESE?
3.7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER 4: PEOPLE AND PLACE: THE IDENTITY OF THE REGION THROUGH SELECTED ARTEFACTS
4.1 SUB PROBLEM 3
4.2 HYPOTHESIS 3
4.3 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 4
4.4 GENDER ROLES AND BODY IMAGES
4.5 DRESS FORM AND MEANING
4.5.1 Conformity, identity and group affiliation
4.5.1 i) Conformity – albas al bi’jib al nas
4.5.1 ii) Identity – al shilookh
4.5.1 iii) Group affiliation
4.5.2 Clothing as environmental control
4.5.3 Sutraa and hijab: the tob
4.5.4 Wrapping containers, wrapping bodies
4.5.5 Dress forms: history and origins
4.5.6 Attitudes to mechanization and material as economic currency
4.5.7 Clothing and associated meanings
4.5.8 Clothing and national identity
4.6 CLOTHES, BUILDINGS AND SPACE USE
4.7 DETERMINANTS OF HOUSE FORM AND LAYOUT
4.7.1 Social structure and spatial articulation: hierarchical differentiation in the physical environment – changes through time
4.7.2 Social themes concerning gender roles and their impact on house layout
4.7.3 Connotations of the word bayt
4.7.4 Privacy and the individual’s use of space
4.7.5 Time as a structuring element in place making – nomadic cycles
4.7.6 The cardinal directions and spatial perception
4.7.7 Symbolic relationship between burial and dwelling
4.7.8 The courtyards, the streets and the public spaces
4.8 SHAYKHS, VILLAGES, TOWNS AND TOMBS
4.8.1 Islam and Sufism
4.8.2 Bearers of the new religion, Nile dwellers and teachers of Islam
4.8.3 The Nuclei of Urban Centres: the Religious Centres
4.8.3 i) al-Dammar
4.8.3 ii) Hillat Khojali
4.8.3 iii) Wad Hassuna
4.8.3 iv) al-Fijayja
4.8.3 v) al-Fara’/al-Qubba
4.8.3 vi) Kadbas
4.8.3 vii) Um Dubban
4.8.3 viii) al-Sanniyya
4.8.4 Descriptions of religious centres
4.9 OMDURMAN
4.9.1 The morphology of Omdurman compared to the Medina typology
4.10 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER 5: MAKING VISIBLE THE INVISIBLE: THE INTANGIBLE CONSTRUCT
5.1 SUB PROBLEM 4
5.2 HYPOTHESIS 4
5.3 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 5
5.4 THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MEANING OF A PHENOMENON
5.5 SOCIAL SYSTEMS
5.5.1 The Fareeq community network
5.5.2 The nuclear family
5.5.3 Segregation of the sexes
5.5.4 Personal appearance as a form of gender differentiation
5.5.5 Milestones and activities
5.5.6 Social sanction – maintaining social order
5.6 ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
5.7 STATUS AND POWER SYSTEMS
5.7.1 Kushite and Meroitic eras
5.7.2 Christian era
5.7.3 Arab penetration
5.7.4 Funj era
5.8 RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS
5.8.1 Protection from the spirits
5.8.1 i) The Quran
5.8.1 ii) White and shiny things
5.8.1 iii) Bakhour incense/substances of strong smell or taste
5.8.1 iv) Loud sounds
5.8.1 v) Sacrifices and food types
5.8.1 vi) Protection in numbers and words
5.8.2 Rituals
5.8.2 i) Visits to burial places
5.8.2 ii) Flags and colours
5.8.2 iii) More on colour
5.8.2 iv) Rituals at the river bank
5.9 APPROPRIATION OF SPACES FOR RITUALS
5.9.1 Death
5.9.2 Marriage
5.9.3 Religious ritual and corresponding space: the halaqa
5.9.4 Zar
5.10 KNOWLEDGE AND CREATIVE SYSTEMS
5.10.1 Attitudes to knowledge and creativity
5.10.2 Literature
5.10.3 Language and words
5.11 THEMES AND PATTERNS THAT DETERMINE PLACE-MAKING ACTIVITIES
5.11.1 Cultural space/natural space
5.11.2 Levels of control/Agents of control
5.12 INTANGIBLE VALUES AND PHYSICAL/SPATIAL IMPLICATIONS
5.12.1 Origins of built artefacts in the northern riverain region
5.12.2 Intangible/abstract imitation of original forms
5.13 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER 6: A THEORETICAL, INTERPRETATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF SUDANESE ARCHITECTURE
6.1 SUB PROBLEM 5
6.2 HYPOTHESIS 5
6.3 OUTLINE OF CHAPTER 6
6.4 TOWARDS AN INTERPRETATIVE FRAMEWORK
6.5 A COMPARISON BETWEEN CULTURES OF VARIOUS HISTORICAL ERAS
6.6 AN ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION OF SUDANESE HISTORY
6.7 NORTHERN SUDAN IN THE CONTEXT OF SUDAN AND AFRICA
6.8 SUDANESE ARCHITECTURE
6.9 AN ECO-SYSTEMIC FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF SUDANESE ARCHITECTURE
6.10 CONCLUSIONS
CHAPTER 7: RECAPITULATION, ACHIEVEMENTS, DELIMITATIONS AND COUNTER-ARGUMENTS, CONCLUSION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
7.1 RECAPITULATION
7.2 ACHIEVEMENTS
7.3 DELIMITATIONS AND COUNTER-ARGUMENTS
7.4 CONCLUSIONS: INTERFACE: ISLAM MEETS AFRICA
7.5 OPPORTUNITIES FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS