Vernacular Architecture as Model to Design a Prototype for Affordable Housing in Mosul

Abstract

The Rifat Chadirji Prize 2017 is an open international competition focusing on ideas responding to local challenges in Iraq. As European architects, it was very exciting to explore the Iraqi vernacular architecture in order to understand the urban and social behavior as well as to analyze the typical strategies able to control the indoor environmental comfort. The design of a prototype for affordable housing for the post-Daesh Mosul will become a chance to propose a model which can be easily replicated with the objective of increasing the capacity of housing in the city and providing a practical and inspiring solution for returnees. The approach is therefore articulated in a few domains that are the guidelines of the project: social sustainability, cultural heritage, flexibility, non finito (not jet completed), and sustainable architectural features. So the lesson learned from the past drives the sustainable concept design: architectural solutions spring from the analysis of the rich cultural heritage and its architectural vocabulary, techniques and social values aiming at a solution that can be feasible but also in line with the local traditions, habits, economics, society.