Art of Building in Yemen - Hardcover

"The architectural tradition of Yemen is certainly one of the most fascinating in the entire Middle East. This thorough, carefully-wrought book is a comprehensive study of a complex, rich, and beautiful architectural style - so different from what most Americans or Westerners know."- Dr. Carl Brown, Director, Near Eastern Studies Program, Princeton University.

This is the first systematic survey of the architecture of Yemen, covering the full range of vernacular building types, styles, and materials found throughout the country. It may also be the last look at this architecture in its purest, most homogeneous form as Yemen becomes increasingly susceptible to the Western influences which have already begun to alter the environments of its richer neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula. The carefully chosen photographs and line drawings make this a definitive reference book for architects, travelers, and readers interested in a remarkably varied and elaborate architectural tradition.Part one, "Space and Form," covers the environment and its control through dams, terraces, wells, and moats; the basic types of shelters from tents and caves to the remarkable "tower houses" (commonly six stories high) and the basic types of settlements from desert outgrowths and hilltop hamlets to urban centers of trade and polity; building methods and materials, including mud, plaster, stone, and brick; and architectural elements such as roofs, walls, gratings, doors, and windows (many with brilliantly colored glass).The book's second part, "Regional Surveys," notes architectural variations and distributions from the coastal strip to the midlands, highlands, and plateau, and includes a separate chapter on urban development.Fernando Varanda is an architect who has spent a number of years in Yeman under the auspices of the United Nations and later the Art and Archaeology Research Papers of London.