Structural Stamina

Due to the harsh climate of the region, Omani buildings require a very specific construction process that can withstand and protect against the environmental factors. This includes design and layout of the building as well as the materials used to construct it.

Siting was a very important factor to take into account. The buildings usually had a long east-west axis that minimized the eastern and western facades from receiving direct sunlight and leaving larger northern and southern facades. This is very evident in the layout of the Nakhl Fort. From the complex overall layout to the shaping of the smaller inner buildings this method ensured that the majority of the structure would not receive direct sunlight which would have drastically raised the temperatures inside the fortification.

In the layout of the fort, the bulk of the buildings are located on the eastern side of the compound, while the mainly uninhabited spaces are on the western side where the impact of the sun is significantly more intense. The sleeping quarters and other night-time places are oriented to the cooler night air. In terms of design, the windows and openings that face the sun are usually smaller which helps to keep extra heat out, as well as dust. In rooms where windows are necessary, there are larger windows along the bottom of the walls, where cool air comes in and smaller windows located along the top of the rooms, out from which the hot air escapes. This circulation of air helps to maintain a cooler room temperature.

A view of the Majlis (Source)

All Omani Forts share similar room characteristics, and Nakhl is no exception. In the more important rooms, such as the local governors Majlis (council chamber) the ceilings are elaborately painted and carved. The women's rooms are located in the most private area of the fort, typical of the era it was built, and sport richer decorations than the rest of the Fort's rooms, particularly wood or lattice screens across the window. The sitting rooms have excessively thick walls, to keep the sunlight and consequent heat from travelling through the walls until nighttime, where the mud brick construction acts as a thermal mass and protects the inhabitants from the cold. In the lower levels of the fort there is a Falaj (water supply channel), as well as wells, hot springs, and cisterns for water storage. Due to the consequent expansions and restorations, the Forts lower levels consist of labyrinthine passages and hallways, as well as dungeons too low to stand up and too narrow to sit down in.

A view of one of the many inner tunnels (Source)

The fort is constructed mostly of mud brick. The bricks are created from mixing sand and clay from the earth with water, as well as adding chopped straw or palm leaves. The mixture is then rammed into a brick form. The straw and palm helps the bricks dry evenly and prevents cracking. After the bricks are laid, they are coated on the exterior with a similar mud called sarouj that helps seal and protect the building as well as making it aesthetically pleasing. The sarouj is a rural ingredient of handmade mortar and plaster. It consists of soil from date palm groves, which is mixed with water and dried in the sun. It is then baked in a traditional oven, and then mixed with other local ingredients to give it a characteristic light tan colour, and finally baked one last time in the sun. Date Palm trunks are used in the foundations, as ceiling supports (joists and rafters) and in some of the larger walls to help strengthen the structure.

Defensive cannon on top of the fort (Source)

Nakhl was designed mainly as a defensive fort, and similar to forts built after 1500 in the area, it is designed for cannon fire. The tower turrets are elevated higher then pre-cannon constructions, to offer a better view and farther range for the cannons. Consequently, all the walls of the fort are thicker, either to withstand the shock from their own cannons firing, or constant enemy bombardment. The walls of the fort are pockmarked with tiny, downward slanting slits, which were designed for firing muskets at invaders without being exposed to enemy fire. All the doors and gates have a low, 1 meter high doorway. This would force enemy invaders to bottleneck and enter one at a time, with their backs bent in a vulnerable position. As well, in case enemy forces managed to penetrate all the other defenses, their were slots located above doorways and openings in which boiling hot liquids could be dumped onto enemy bodies.

-Dave Holborn and Andrew Winters

Information Citations:

Lawrence, A.W. Trade Castles & Forts of West Africa. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1964.

Oliver, Paul. Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Toy, Sidney. A History of Fortification. London, Heinemann Educational Books, 1966.

Image Sources:

Kijal. "Path of Darkness" (image). Available from: flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kijal/131160960/in/photostream/
(accessed January 10 2010).

Kijal. "Protection" (image). Available from: flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kijal/130557871/in/photostream/
(accessed January 10 2010).

Kijal. "Welcome to the Majlis Room" (image). Available from: flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kijal/131160955/in/photostream/
(accessed January 10 2010).

Constructing a Spaceship

Although the sites for La Maison Tropicale were in Africa, the buildings were actually manufactured in Prouvé's atelier in Paris and then shipped to Naimey, Niger and 3,800 miles to Brazzaville in 6 containers loaded into the belly of an airplane. All of the components were flat and tightly packed yet each container was light enough for 2 men to carry.

House being unloaded from plane

The ability for the Maison Tropicale to be constructed and dismantled easily was critical to its design. Because the primary and most difficult tasks of construction were done at Prouvé's atelier, the jointed steel-frame structure was very easy to put together by the time it got to Brazzaville.

Unloading of the building and beginning of construction in Naimey, Niger.

Prouvé tried to mimick the system of cooling implemented in the Congo's local architecture yet maintain strength against the elements that traditional European construction offered.

Testing of construction in Maxeville, France

The Masion Tropicale's shell was made using a folded sheet-steel frame with both fixed and sliding wall panels. There were two central steel supports, shaped like inverted U's, which were the principal load bearers. These two supports were located in the inner cella portion of the Maison that was surrounded by a veranda on all sides; the incurring load was thus carried by the exterior veranda walls.

Louver detail from reconstruction building (Source)

Many parts of the house were adjustable, such as louvers and sliding doors, allowing for adequate ventilation needed in the Congo's warm and humid climate. These louvers were also designed to reflect the sun and deflect rain from hitting the walls of the building.

Porthole detail (Source)

Blue glass portals on the walls protected from solar radiation entering the interior.

Interior construction of the double-roof and roof venting. (Source)

The house's double roof structure with a long chimney down the center facilitated interior cooling and ensured permanent air circulation. This roof venting was protected by gauze so that mosquitos and other bugs could be kept out of the interior of the Maison.

Wooden slatted floor (Source)

The floor was made of wooden slats, also allowing for further ventilation from the cool air below the building, and was built upon metal pillars to raise the structure.

La Maison Tropicale was wired for electricity and included plumbing (Source)

Maison Tropicale. Jean Prouve (1951) from MRojo on Vimeo.

Video of La Maison Tropicale being assembled at Tate Modern
http://www.wallpaper.com/art/la-maison-tropicale-jean-prouve/2084

-Tegan Maccari



Information Citations:

Henry, Patrice. Jean Prouve: La Masin Tropicale, The Tropical House. Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 2009.

"Jean Prouve: La Masin Tropicale, The House, The Architect, The Exhibition".
http://lamaisontropicale.com/www/
(accessed January 9 1010).

Peters, Nils. Prouve. Hohenzollernring: Taschen, 2006.


Image Sources:

"Installation view of the tropical house involved in an expirement at Maxeville" (image). Henry, Patrice. Jean Prouve: La Masin Tropicale, The Tropical House. Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 2009, page 108.

"The dispatch of the first Tropical House to Africa was Niamey-bound, transported as air freight" (image). Henry, Patrice. Jean Prouve: La Masin Tropicale, The Tropical House. Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 2009, pages 94-5.

"Tropical house being delivered and unloaded from a cargo aircraft" (image). Vegesack, Alexander van. Jean Prouve: The Poetics of the Technical Object. Vitra Design Stiftung, 2005, page 210.

"Vertebrae of the ventilation system and the legs of the porticos" (image). Henry, Patrice. Jean Prouve: La Masin Tropicale, The Tropical House. Paris: Editions du Centre Pompidou, 2009, page 96.