Tradition stereotypes and cultural resistance through building forms: the case of Yemen
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2012
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Edições Universitárias Lusófonas
Resumo
Até Maio de 1990 o que é hoje a República do Yemen dividia-se entre dois estados separados: a República Árabe do Yemen também conhecida como Yemen do Norte e a República Popular Democrática do Yemen, ou Yemen do Sul. A Reunificação implicou uma complexa e delicada distribuição de poderes em que o presidente do Yemen do Norte ficava o presidente do novo país e o presidente do Yemen do Sul o seu vice-presidente. Isto era um acordo difícil de se aguentar e em pouco tempo o vice presidente chefiou uma tentativa de secessão que levou a uma curta Guerra civil ganha pelo presidente estabelecido.A partir daí a intenção óbvia de criar um carácter nacional homogéneo manifestou-se em acções como a transfusão da população do sul para norte e vice-versa. Do ponto de vista específico de uma gramática arquitectónica, um dos aspectos mais evidentes para um visitante agora é a difusão de estereótipos característicos das cidades do norte e que parece estarem a ser muito bem aceites, por muito estranhos que apareçam no tecido consolidado pelas maneiras próprias de construir no sul. Percebe-se que se apresentam como uma versão deste tempo de um “Estilo Yemenita” que é suposto sobrepor-se à enorme variedade de tradições regionais de construção, tal como foram documentadas por este autor em publicações anteriores.Contudo isto não é uma regra geral; e um caso exemplar é o do Hadramaute onde uma sólida tradição de construção em terra ao serviço de uma linguagem arquitectónica com uma forte identidade não perdeu nenhum do seu vigor. Isto pode-se explicar por várias razões mas há uma que é abertamente expressa: o sentido de identidade dos Hadramitas e a resistência que parecem opor a quaisquer influências que ameacem a relativa independência que mantiveram ao longo da sua história.Este artigo tenta ilustrar o confronto entre os estereótipos do que deseja ser uma representação de “arquitectura nacional” e os sinais identitários de formas e técnicas, umas consolidadas outras em evolução, tal como se observaram numa área significativa do Hadramaute durante o trabalho de campo levado a cabo em 2006.
Until May 1990 the present day Yemen Republic was divided into two separate states: the Yemen Arab Republic also known as North Yemen and the People‟s Democratic Republic of Yemen, or South Yemen. The Re-unification involved a fairly complex and delicate balance of power where the president of North Yemen became the president of the new country and the president of South Yemen its vice-president. This agreement was hard to maintain and, shortly after, an attempt at secession led by the vice-president ended with the victory of the established president of the country. From there on, the obvious intention of homogenising a national character took such forms as the transfusion of southern population to the north and vice versa. From the specific point of view of architectural idioms one of the aspects that strikes the visitor in the present is the diffusion of stereotypes that were characteristically northern and urban, to most of the southern half and which seem to have been gladly accepted however alien they might appear in the architectural fabrics consolidated by their own ways of building until then. They tend to be presented as the contemporary version of a “Yemeni Style” which is supposed to overlay the enormous variety of regional traditions of building, as they were documented by this author in previous published surveys. Yet this is not always the rule; and one case in point is that of the Hadhramawt where a solid tradition of earth construction at the service of an architectural language with a strong identity has not lost any of its vigour. This may be explained by a variety of reasons but one, at least, is openly expressed: the Hadhramis sense of identity and the resistance they seem to oppose to influences that may be a threat to the relative independence they have maintained throughout their history. This article attempts to illustrate the confrontation between the stereotypes of what appears to be intended as a representation of “national architecture” and the identity traits of forms and techniques, both consolidated and in evolution, as they were observed throughout a significant area of the Hadhramawt during a field survey undertaken in the year 2006.
Until May 1990 the present day Yemen Republic was divided into two separate states: the Yemen Arab Republic also known as North Yemen and the People‟s Democratic Republic of Yemen, or South Yemen. The Re-unification involved a fairly complex and delicate balance of power where the president of North Yemen became the president of the new country and the president of South Yemen its vice-president. This agreement was hard to maintain and, shortly after, an attempt at secession led by the vice-president ended with the victory of the established president of the country. From there on, the obvious intention of homogenising a national character took such forms as the transfusion of southern population to the north and vice versa. From the specific point of view of architectural idioms one of the aspects that strikes the visitor in the present is the diffusion of stereotypes that were characteristically northern and urban, to most of the southern half and which seem to have been gladly accepted however alien they might appear in the architectural fabrics consolidated by their own ways of building until then. They tend to be presented as the contemporary version of a “Yemeni Style” which is supposed to overlay the enormous variety of regional traditions of building, as they were documented by this author in previous published surveys. Yet this is not always the rule; and one case in point is that of the Hadhramawt where a solid tradition of earth construction at the service of an architectural language with a strong identity has not lost any of its vigour. This may be explained by a variety of reasons but one, at least, is openly expressed: the Hadhramis sense of identity and the resistance they seem to oppose to influences that may be a threat to the relative independence they have maintained throughout their history. This article attempts to illustrate the confrontation between the stereotypes of what appears to be intended as a representation of “national architecture” and the identity traits of forms and techniques, both consolidated and in evolution, as they were observed throughout a significant area of the Hadhramawt during a field survey undertaken in the year 2006.
Descrição
Malha Urbana: Revista Lusófona de Urbanismo
Palavras-chave
URBANISMO, CONSTRUÇÃO, IÉMEN, URBANISM, CONSTRUCTION, YEMEN
Citação
Varanda , F 2012 , ' Tradition stereotypes and cultural resistance through building forms: the case of Yemen ' , Malha Urbana: Revista Lusófona de Urbanismo .