Mashrabiya
[1][2] It is a type of projecting oriel window enclosed with carved wood latticework located on the upper floors of a building, sometimes enhanced with stained glass.
There are two theories for its name: The mashrabiya is known by different labels across the Arab world; takhrima in Yemen; barmaqli or gannariya in Tunis, shanashil or rowshin in Iraq and Jeddah.
[13] Mashrabiyas, along with other distinct features of historic Islamic architecture, were being demolished as part of a modernisation program across the Arab world from the first decades of the 20th century.
[16] Such initiatives have contributed to a renewed interest in traditional practices as a means of building sustainable residences in harsh climatic conditions.
[17] Mashrabiya are vernacular architectural elements; a type of balcony or oriel window in the form of a small latticed opening encasing the second or higher floors of a building and typically overlooking an internal courtyard.
Typically, people did not sleep in any assigned room, rather they would take their mattresses and move to areas that offered the greatest comfort according to the seasons: to the mashrabiya (or shanashil) in winter, to the courtyard in spring or to vaulted basements in summer.
[25] The wooden screen with openable windows gives shade and protection from the hot summer sun, while allowing the cool air from the street to flow through.
[30] Recognised as being the predecessors of the iconic closed balcony,[31] or "gallarija", in 2016 Maltese authorities scheduled a total of 36 ancient mashrabiyas as Grade 2 protected properties.
[43] Tristam Ellis, writing in 1881, provided a detailed account of shanshil in Baghdad:[44] An elaborate mashrabiya could signal wealth and status.
The poem includes references to the social status of the lover's family who reside in the town's largest house complete with sophisticated mashrabiyas.
[45][46] The mashrabiya, with its concept of secluding women from public view, played into the erotic fantasies of European male audiences.
[47] John Frederick Lewis painted both interiors and exterior views of the mashrabiya in works such as: The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch's House in Cairo (1864); The Reception (1873), The Midday Meal (1875), and The Siesta, (1876).
Other paintings that feature mashrabiya include Walter Charles Horsley's Women and an Old Man in the Harem (1883), Arthur von Ferraris’ The Coffee House (1888) and Jean-Léon Gérôme's The Horse Market, (1867).
Certain 20th century artists and photographers, such as Lorna Selim and Rifat Chadirji were prompted to document mashrabiyas for very different reasons.
The reasons for its decline are complex, including both cultural and practical considerations such as the emergence of modernism and the availability of new technologies and materials, the high cost of the labour-intensive work of producing lattice and concerns about fire danger.
Contemporary architects have recognised the environmental value of traditional designs as a means of providing natural and efficient solutions to cooling problems in hot climates.
