Port City of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia): Architecture, Building Material Trade and Logistics in the Red Sea Region during the Ottoman Era from 16th-20th Century

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Mohamed Elfath Ahmed
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 388948310

The research project in Jeddah, a historical town (al-Balad) in Saudi Arabia, aims at documenting and investigating the traditional architecture, the building materials, origin and logistic processes during the Ottoman Era from the early 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century. Al-Balad is still vibrant and densely populated today. More than 200 historical buildings exist in the Old City, which are in good condition to be studied. Some buildings lie in total ruins, while a great part of them are still inhabited. In 2014, al-Balad was listed by the UNESCO on the world heritage list. Yet, little is known about the development history of the port city during the Ottoman era and the architectural history of the buildings. Not yet analysed information on the builders and subsequent owners of the houses are available in the historical archives of Istanbul. Through archaeological dendrochronological investigations, the buildings themselves can be analysed, dated and compared with the archival information. For this purpose, a catalogue of the historical buildings of Jeddah will be created in order to understand the construction phases during different eras and to give evidence on the respective cultural orientation, social structure and building technology in Jeddah. There was a major shortage of high quality construction wood in the Red Sea region. Nevertheless, the builders seem to have had a high level of awareness regarding wood constructions, which becomes apparent through their use of different domestic and imported wood materials, tools and construction methods.Despite the enormous effort for the procurement of the construction wood and the poor quality of the stone material, they tried to implement the typical floor plan and façade solutions of the Ottoman Empire as well as highly artistic design details. The trade with building materials, partially from Northern Europe, opened up new scenarios for the trade connections in the region and allowed for cultural influences on the building industry before and after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1861. The documentation of Jeddah's buildings, with regard to the architectural history and with a particular focus on the building materials and constructive entities, will be compiled in a database. Hence, statements on the urban development and the classification of the historical architecture during the Ottoman era can be developed. The systematic and scientific database for the heritage of al-Balad may also help any future rehabilitation work in the city, ensuring the preservation of the historical substance.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants