Environment and Cultural Behavior through History in Irbid City, Jordan

Ref.: 290
Área temática: 04 Abstracts donde los autores no han indicado el área temática.
Fecha de recepción: 23/11/2008

AUTORES (* Autor principal)

S. SHUNNAQ, Mohammed * (Jordania) - Yarmouk University

ABSTRACT

This research focuses on the study of settlements in Irbid city and the type of materials and tools used for their construction starting with the third millennium B.C until present. Irbid is now the third largest city in Jordan after Amman and Zarqa and is located around 80 km north of Amman. The study will also present a close examination of the vernacular architecture in the traditional neighborhoods: the essential materials used such as stones, binding and rendering materials, and plaster, decorations and ornamentation on buildings, and the spatial distribution of the houses.

The methodology used is based on anthropological and ethnographic analysis. This paper reveals that the population of Irbid City had always used the available primary materials from their surrounding environment in the construction of their dwellings without importing any materials from external sources until the 1950s. Their houses had been authentic and genuine both in style and primary materials used. Most of the more recent housing models are imported and often poor in style and materials used are environmentally harmful. Dwellings in Irbid city had had a unique style and architecture that mirrored the natural and social environment; this phenomenon is, however, gradually disappearing.
This Paper will explores the internal structure of Irbid city, the third largest city in Jordan. The paper employs a combined approach in its analysis from human ecology and ethnographic analysis, the theoretical frame of the paper, argues that changes occurring at the societal level are reflected at the division of parcels in the city.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA