Architecture of Saudi Arabia
Construction and building activities followed a simple and modest style back then, as there was a lack of specialized architects in the modern sense.
Instead, native communities would erect their own structures manually through the efforts of builders using basic means and local materials in what came to be known as “traditional architecture.” Every region in Saudi Arabia was famous for its own brand of architecture that expressed its artistic taste.
Building materials used at that time were sourced from the local environment, such as clay, rock, palm fronds, and wood.
[4][1] In the central and northern, it is a desert climate, therefore, the weather is hot and dry and has a great temperature difference between day and night.
The exterior walls are thick which are about 80–100 cm, thus, it can effectively isolate high temperate and create comfort level to the residents.
It has the extreme weather which means in summer months it is hot and dry and has a high rate of humidity temperature day and night.
[1] The Asir region, it is a high mountains province to the southwest side and it has the Mediterranean climates which characteristics are dry summers and rainy winter.
[10][1] The period between the discovery of oil in 1352 AH/1933 AD and the peak of the oil boom in 1393 AH/1973 AD served as a historic turning point in Saudi Arabia's architectural identity, transforming it from a resource-scarce country dependent on limited agriculture and herding livestock to a manufacturing nation.
Economic growth accelerated once crude oil production began on a commercial basis after the end of World War 2.
[13] These standards were adopted across Khobar and included setting road dimensions, land use planning, and determining the size of residential colonies and building heights.
The introduction of automation into construction played a big role in optimizing the entire industry after it had previously depended on manual work.
The establishment of power plants enabled the introduction of machinery that could produce building materials locally, such as concrete and cement bricks.
[15] The National Commercial Bank located in Jeddah, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM),[15] was built in 1983 with a 27-story and set in a 1.2-hectare plaza on the edge of the sea.
[18] There are three triangular courts vertically through the building's façade and this can provide the ventilation and heats, two of the courtyard are seven floor and the third one is nine-story.
[19] The function of mashrabiya is to provide a private place and suppresses the strong desert sunlight to keep the room cool.
In Saudi Arabia, male and female will be separated into different schools, work setting even the sitting and waiting area in public places such as hospital, airports and mosques.
