House in the Medina of Tunis

Typo logy : House in the Medina of Tunis

Coun try : Tunisia

C ON TE N TS OF TH E F I L E

Comments Analytical group Forms of the typology Inventory of the country’s typologies

Current state of vitality and preservation Transformation process Capacity for rehabilitation Lexicon

SYNTHESIS

It is in Tunis, founded on the shore of the lake of the same name, that we f ind architecture with a tremendous influence of the Turkish know-how which produced an architectural tradition of over three centuries. This is a tradition of several centuries which goes back to the Turkish period in the 16th century, and is found both in housing, including several palaces, and in constructions in the suburbs. These constructions are found in groups in the medina (Tunis) or detached in the suburbs. They correspond to the type known as courty ard houses. The original inhabitants have practically abandoned the medina, which is now occupied by newly arrived immigrants, generally on a temporary basis.

ANALYTICA L GROUP OF THE TYPOLOGY Urban Grouped Fixed Definitive Permanent «Seated» High / medium Compact (Environment) (Implantation) (Character) (Origin) (Use) (Cultural) (Economic level) (Morphology)

FORMS OF THE TYPOLOGY

INVENTORY OF THE COUNTRY’S TYPOLOGIES

House in the medina of Tunis House in Testour Sulaiman house

House in the medina of Sfax Borj dwelling in the suburbs of Sfax House in Tozeur (Djérid)

House in Matmata House in Douriet-Chenini House in Djerba

This project is financed by the MEDA programme of the European Union. The opinions expressed in the present document do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union or of its member States. 1/5 House in th e medi na of Tu nis

FORMS OF THE TYPOLOGY

Implantation These constructions are found in groups in the medina (Tunis) or detached in the suburbs. Although spatially v ery different, these two situations do not v ary substantially from the typological outline, though the examples in the suburbs occupy larger surface areas as they are not subject to the same Urban f abric limitations of space as in the medina.

Use/asso ciated activit y Dwelling.

Dating Turkish period, 16th century.

Altitude Elevation Orientation All orientations are possible depending on their location in the urban fabric. Based on the orientation of the main room.

Ground surface covered Functional outline Av erage homes: 100 m2 As in other medinas in the Maghreb, the Palaces: up to 2,000 m2 patio is the centre of the house. Howev er, more modest houses, with just Surface area of housing a ground f loor and terrace, may also Av erage homes: 400 m2 hav e long rooms laid out around the Section 2 outer edge of the house. The GF+1 is Palaces: up to 4,000 m the most frequent solution. The court bordered by porticoes is a space set Number of floors aside for family life. In the case of large GF+1. The important role of the terrace f amilies, both floors are occupied. In as a domestic and social space also has smaller families, the first f loor is usually to be taken into account. used at night. The kitchen and toilets, well and water Number of homes tank are on the ground floor. One or several homes. The terrace is a living space in its own right. An open, transparent, airy place in 0

Number of families the house. ± An extended family. In the case of well- Projections out over the street in the to-do families, servants may also be f acade are frequent. included. A subsidiary/dependant D es pit e t he m ajor dif f erenc es in s ize, satellisation may occur around large decoration and sophistication between residences. modest and middle-class homes and large residences and palaces, the basic Averag e number of m ember s per famil y structure is always the same. The 8/10 members buildings also share party walls within the urban fabric. Roof

W alls Load-bearing rubblework and aerated lime mortar.

Framework Bearing walls. Timber door sills and earth and lime floors. It also includes v aults and arches.

Roof The roofs are generally horizontal, and there are very few sloping roofs. The roofs may be made of timber or vaults. In both cases, the exterior textural finish is identical due to the application of lime to make it waterproof. .

Rendering Generally a rendering of aerated lime mortar. By way of decoration: earthenware on the walls combined with marble, and plaster in bas-relief. In the courtyard house, the facades are on the inside. The outer walls are whitewashed.

Openings and proj ections in the f acad e Very few openings in the facade. Appearance of compact walls with just doors opening in them, though the free facades of large residences do have other openings. In any case, this ty pology is designed and laid out so that all of the openings give onto the inner courtyard or patio where much of domestic life goes on. .

Traditional syst ems of air-conditioning Due to its location in a climatic area where the heat/sunshine hours/light vectors impose greater restrictions than the cold, this ty pology is geared to these conditions. The morphological density of the medina, the regulating role of the patio (a well for light, ventilation and passage) and the materials (earth, lime) used for roofs and for finishing (lime/whitewashing) contribute to the microclimate of the medinas and their houses.

Drinking water supply systems Simultaneous use of the well (next to a wall in the patio) and the water tank . (beneath the centre of the courtyard to collect rainwater; it is still used despite the lay ing on of running water).

W aste wat er drainage systems Cesspools were used before the public drainage system was built.

CURRENT STATE OF VI TALI TY AND PRESERVATION

There is a wide range of states of preservation and vitality. Beside houses which hav e always been maintained and occupied by dynamic family life, we find residences with squatters or which are simply abandoned in a dilapidated state. The ASM (Association de sauvegarde de la Médina de Tunis) has been working hard for years to revitalise the Medina of Tunis.

TRANSFOR MATION PR OCESS Effect / Cause Since it attained independence, Tunisia has undergone a socio-economic and cultural evolution, intensified in recent decades. Economic development has led to an improvement of living conditions and a major population increase. Social evolution has been marked by the destructuring of f orms of community life as a result of the individualisation of economic production. This process has basically led to a change from the traditional patrilocal dwelling to the individual, so-called modern dwelling. Traditional architecture, characterised by the fixity of its forms, no longer offers satisf actory responses to new emerging housing needs. This has prompted designers to an ongoing search for a new, more adapted form of architecture.

Typological transformations: .

- Modif ication of the urban landscape in terms both of volume and of structure and spatial organisation. The causes are varied and not necessarily linked to the abandonment of certain traditional materials and techniques. The adoption of a new code of urbanism which edges out “introverted” architecture (courtyard house with no external facades) to introduce an extroverted type of architecture is one such. - Definition of new spatial organisations. Allocation of new spaces (bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, ...) and the break-up of the traditional patriarchal family (which grouped together the father and his married sons). - Improvement of sanitary installations and transf ormations affecting the kitchen and other rooms.Spontaneous superposition of two social uses of space (one traditional, the other “modern”. - Division of the traditional house and its transformation (after a fashion) into several smaller houses, generally rather disfigured.Break-up of the family and consequences of the laws of inheritance.

Change in use:

 The f ormer owners leave the house which is then turned into an oukala1 or a craft workshop. Change of owner of the house or in owner’s social status.  Abandonment of the Makhzen (store, warehouse). Change of owner of the house or in owner’s social status. .

Change in use of construction materials and techniques:

— In use, living: lime (primarily used in limewash and to waterproof terraces, even in modern dwellings). - Little used, in decline: dressed stone (now used occasionally for strictly decorative purposes. Reinforced concrete and industrially produced brick and other baked clay products are being introduced. — No longer in use: dressed stone for structural purposes.

- Recent incorpor ations: cement, reinforced concrete, steel and industrially . produced baked clay products. The reasons for this are economic (availability on the market) and psychological, even cultural (they are associated with modernity ).

CAPACITY FOR REHABILI TATION

Asp ects of the t ypolog y:

Score from 0 (very poor) t o 10 (excellent)

• Capacity for sale or rental on the property market 5

• Capacity for adaptation to present-day family and social requirements 2 • Capacity for adaptation to present-day comf ort requirements 4

Score from 0 (insignificant) to 10 ( major)

• Technical difficulty of rehabilitation 6

• Administrative difficulty of rehabilitation 6 • Financial difficulty (very high cost) of rehabilitation 5

Obstacles pr eventing rehab ilitation/causing the user to decide not to reh abilitate:

Score from 0 (does not repres ent an obstacl e) to 10 (represents a major obst acle) . • Administrative difficulties 2 • Major technical difficulties 3 • Irreversible deterioration of the structure 3

• Listed/protected building 2 • High cost of rehabilitation 6 • Absence of aid/subsidies 2

• Cost of the project and permits 5 • Status of building/lease 5 • Inflation of property prices 2

• Social decline (delinquency, …) 8 • Poor environmental conditions (absence of minimum infrastructures, …) 8

• Desire to change the building for a modern one 9 • Lack of sensitisation/appreciation on the part of the users 9 • Not considered necessary (by the user) 8

Comments:

These comments are based on a medium-quality house belonging to a middle- class family. The rehabilitation of middle-class homes in Tunis raises more difficulties on every level, particularly financial. The cost of restoring one of these houses may be more than ten times the price of a new construction. Transf ormations of more modest houses may totally escape any kind of administrative and technical control, while retaining a relatively high value on the property market of this housing category. .

LEXICON

File created: 23/02/01 File last modified: 03/05/01