Planning Assessment
Deciphering spatial identity using space syntax analysis:
New rural domestic architecture "Diar Charpenti" type, Eastern Hodna, Algeria
2022 Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 235-255
Details
2022 Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 235-255
The eastern Hodna, presented to the late 1990s a landscape marked by modest rural homes. In the early 2000s, this region was subjected to an accelerated process of economic changes, which had let appear a new domestic architectural framework, commonly called "DiarCharpenti”. The goal of this paper is to focus on the internal space layout of this new type of houses and decrypt its identity and emergence. Thus, the key question of this investigation is to see whether, or to what extent, their spatial structure is in consistency with the domestic architectural repertoire of this region. The methodology used for the investigation is based on two different approaches. The first one is qualitative: typology (Panerai, Demorgon, & Depaule, 2002). The second approach is quantitative: the space syntax (Hillier, 1996). The verification of the comparative parameters called upon a new method that we developed ourselves: the counting of the integration / segregation percentage. This research has shown that ancestral models of Hodna are, indeed, the ascendant types of 70% of specimens, which proves that the spatiality of "DiarCharpenti" is therefore rather primitive than original. This article was able to provide information on the architectural elements which have always represented for the Hodni, through generations, a real consensus, and has shed light on the new design preferences which now form the new style of the Hodna. This could help those responsible for the "act of building" to better design and plan residential housing in these rural Algerian regions.
Considered as a public art, architecture, through the couple spatiality-volume, is an effective tool to express the cultural identity of a society. Domestic spatiality has long been considered shaped by the culture reference (Erdoğan, 2017; Boutabba, Hynda & Abdallah, 2013; Baduel, 2002). For the rural living space, it’s considered by many as the inhabitants’ expression and consensus on a style maintaining the identity to which a given society is linked to, as well as to the social values embedded in (Aurenche, 2012; Kachmar, 2002). The architects associate rural housing with vernacular housing, with "the architecture of the people" (Oliver, 1997), that which uses materials available on site and traditional techniques. Fathy (1999) attests that architectural forms and architectonic details were, until the abolition of cultural boundaries in the 19th century, the fruit of the happy alliance of the imagination of the people and the landscape requirements. Ruegg (2011) defines architecture of the rural house as a tool of land exploitation, used by men allying subsistence and economy, excluding the needless. Like the vernacular domestic habitat of the countries of North Africa, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region (Majid, Shuichi, & Takagib, 2012; Memarian & Brown, 2005), the typical rural house in Algeria copied its spatiality from its socio-cultural structure (Cote, 1996). But the emergence of the new international order symbolized by the "global villageled to the loss of regional architectural identities for a uniform architecture of the international style (Zahiri, Dezhdar, & Foroutan, 2017) . The economic boom experienced by these countries was seen as the main catalyst for this style (Alitajer & Nojoumi, 2016; Malhis, 2003) . The rural area of eastern Hodna does not seem to make an exception to this new global rule. Fueled by the economic boom generated by the anarchic economy developed during the period of political instability, by the barons of the informal sector, this region has been submitted, since the 2000s, to a process of change at all levels. Indeed, former nomads, the inhabitants of Hodna moved from wandering lifestyle in tents, through several other types nearly endogenous, to a new domestic type of home-castle commonly called "DiarCharpenti" by the locals. A residential habitat extremely electives, ostentatious and extravagant, that seems to ignore aboriginal architecture by not adopting any traditional form at its facade- volume. Thus, many questions remain open about the origin of the spatiality of these "DiarCharpenti".
The genesis of architectural form, specifically space, has been the subject of a long debate among architectural theorists. Hautecoeur (1938) wrote that architectural forms, specifically domestic ones, are not always just transformed antecedent forms. Several years later, Rossi (2001) stated that the architectural innovations are always based on particular emphases of typology not on inventions. In this same order of idea, Borie, Micheloni, and Pinon (2006) testified that space and form always maintain reference reports with precursor ideas and that it is impossible to explain their appearance without referring to their previous models. Three postulates issued by different theorists agree on the strength of the principle of typo morphological and spatial continuity in the architecture of the house. This prompted us to ask ourselves about the origin of the spatiality of these "DiarCharpenti"; by asking a main question, namely. Can it be asserted that this NDT came from a local model and therefore maintains a reference link with its context? In other words, this article investigates the relationship between the spatiality of these houses (NDT) and the domestic architecture of the region.
The analytical background of this research is based on a comparison between the ancestral rural dwelling of Hodna (1875-2000) and this NDT of the "DiarCharpenti" (2000-2013). Therefore, this research has appealed to two distinct and complementary analytical sections, with two different approaches and two types of corpus belonging to successive chronological periods. The object of the first analysis section is to identify, by the typological analysis (Panerai, Demorgon, & Depaule, 2002), the ancestral domestic types of Hodna that preceded the type "DiarCharpenti" and classify them in physical organizational models of living. The second analysis section is intended to affirm or negate, by using space syntax, specifically the gamma analysis method (Hanson, 1998; Hillier, 1996) the existence of a spatial relationship that could link the ancestral domestic models of Hodna to the different genotypes of the "DiarCharpenti" corpus. The typological approach was chosen because of its proven and recognized ability to read, understand and rationalize models and types of living (Lamunière, 1988). Space syntax allows, through an arsenal of mathematical ratios, a reliable and efficient spatial comparison between models of living (Samia, 2012).
From verdant sides of the Mediterranean Sea to the vast Sahara Desert, spreads in an intermediate position, one of the most important areas steppe and arid areas of Algeria. In a landlocked bowl in the heart of this steppe is located The Hodna (Mili, Boutabba, & Boutabba, 2019). The study area extends over a part of the Eastern Hodna. It includes the county seats of four municipalities and a secondary agglomeration, Barika, Belaiba, Magra, Berhoum and Djezzar. Localities situated on the extension and at the crossroads of the most important two roads of the center of Algeria, national roads 28 and 40, making this long-isolated area, an important transition point (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. The study area: A steppe of the Algerian center. (Source: wikipedia.org, 2018)
The Hodna is a region which had its entire territory in the “parcours” (journey/path) area, (Benkhaled, Mili, & Oudina, 2022), where have settled populations mostly nomadic and semi nomadic until the early years of independence. (Mili, Farhi, & Boutabba, 2016). Its society has long been associated with the anchoring and rooting concepts, represented as frozen in time. Region where social, moral and economic values reproduce themselves a like over generations (Mezrag et al., 2018). During the first years of independence, the society and its habitat evolved very little (Sebhi, 1987; Guillermou, 1999), the Hodna remained a deprived region. Sedentarization of the Hodnian population took place gradually after the agrarian revolution during the years 1970-1980, which allowed a great mutation, for the professional mobility of jobs and a change in economic activity following the decline of the latter (Bessaoud, 1980). This has led to quit work of the land for the benefit of two distinct economic sectors. The first is modest, the building sector. The second is important and large, the informal sector, "trabendo" word summarizing, according to Boumaza (2005) , trafficking of all kinds, whose political disturbances of 1988 went to make a real economic institution (Cécile Perret & Chakour, 2007). The 2000s was characterized, in addition to the informal economy, by the great emergence of the legal economy represented by private company (Talahite, 2010). The disengagement of the state after the structural adjustment imposed by the institution of Berton Woods was translated by two complementary components. Firstly, by the installation of concessionaires and wholesalers, following the liberalization of foreign trade. Secondly, by the Facilitation of procedures for the private sector to create an industrial base (Andreff, 2009). This economic effervescence had changed the course of history of this society and had revived a long disadvantaged rural entity, which has now become a much coveted economic zone. These socio-economic changes had led to huge spatial and urban upheavals evidenced by the appearance of large and remarkable houses materializing a new type of domestic housing NDT the "DiarCharpenti".
The architectural framework of this NDT "DiarCharpenti" appears after a first observation as exogenous in all its stylistic and formal expressions to the Hodna domestic architecture and strange compared to the habits, customs and mores of an introverted semi nomadic society which was recently fixed to the ground (Boutabba, Hynda, Farhi, & Mili, 2014; Lucas & Vatin, 1982). It is an indifferent architecture to its host site, "an architecture of splash", if we adopt the terminology of Paul Rudolf (Hamburger, 1995), which develops its forms by ignoring the buildings surrounding it. ThisNDT "DiarCharpenti" has characteristics which are opposed in several points to the former local residential architectural landscape. Indeed, this housing is defined by a location along national roads, against a situation of older types, in the center of the "douars1)". An extroversion of the domestic space of the former against an introversion of the latter. It is a habitat consisting of several floors including the ground floor is dedicated to the lucrative activities, versus a single level totally habitable (Boutabba, Hynda & Farhi, 2011; Semmoud, 2007)
It is characterized by an architecture of import. Sometimes it is Western medieval of fortified castles, following the borrowing architectural elements similar to the dungeons and towers to shelter the stairwells, the barbicans to materialize the main entrance and sometimes even walls of stone fence with a look and dimensions of ramparts; sometimes to the European neoclassical architecture respecting the ordering and symmetry. As it is identifiable by a complex and imposing volume which approximates the pagodas, reminding Asian forms (Figure 2).
Figure 2. DiarCharpenti houses: An eclectic and ostentatious architecture.
The radical difference between the two types of housing is remarkable at the spatial level. The "DiarCharpenti" are characterized by their large plot of land, nearing two hectares with 500- sq m footprint area. The internal organization is run by distributive logic that recalls Middle East type of architecture in vogue, with multitudes of transitional spaces, many gendered reception spaces, binary ablution spaces, lot of open and covered spaces, loggias, terraces and balconies; against simplicity of distribution, sobriety and spatial introversion of traditional houses of Hodna.
The first question we might ask is: How such a physical and human context, a rural population that seems so conservative has been able to adhere to this new design and has generated such a form of dwelling? The exploratory observation has shown that those who have erected this NDT are not strangers to the region, but they are Hodnian. In any case, some of them, due to economic development have made business and trade travels around the world (Bergel & Benlakhlef, 2011) from European countries to the countries of the Persian Gulf, up to the Asian countries, which gave them the opportunity to bring with them in their luggage photos and videos, sometimes, plans for new domestic architecture models, packaged as well as other souvenirs. To the point of finding plans from Middle East, transformed by the future owner until disfigurement; with façades in a pastiche of European neoclassical style, capped by pagoda roofs and a superposition of several pyramids finished by steles. We are facing the emergence of a new social group, the new rich who identify themselves now with a spatial affiliation (Prenant, 2002), the type "DiarCharpenti" which refers to the birth of a new socio-spatial class in referring to the concept of Reynaud (1984) of Hodna’s barons of informal economy.
"Diarcharpenti" type houses are designed as buildings of several apartments, serviced independently by a stairwell. On the ground floor, the spatial organization is in two ways. Either that space is fully occupied by local warehouses and depots for the storage of goods. In this case, the body of the dwelling is entirely relegated to the first level. Either, that the ground floor space is shared between a part reserved for the trade and another for the reception of the male guests. The rest of constituent spaces of housing are then relegated to the first floor. The built part of the ground floor is spatially extended by a large uncovered Back house space "Ep" intended for the parking of mechanical vehicles of the owner. The first floor consists of intimate sleeping areas (parents' bedroom "Chp", boys' bedroom "Chg" and girls' bedroom "Chf"), utility spaces (the courtyard "Co", the kitchen "Cu"), ablution spaces (bathroom "Sdb", toilet "Wc"), and female reception areas (living room «Sej» and guest bedroom «Cha». These spaces form the family private space and that of female guests. When the living room, male reception area "Sl" is upstairs, it is spatially separated from the rest of the house. A sanitary block (Bs), intended for the male guest’s use, must be attached to it. These spaces are structured around transition spaces Hall "H", Corridor "Clr", Vestibule" V" or even stairwell "C". Unlike the corridor "Clr" which is intended only for transition and encourages individualism, the Hall "H" is generally a large covered space. It is both a space for circulation and living. This space is neither neutral nor informal and geometrically dictates the design of the shape and the spatial arrangement of the building. It is used to serve other private spaces of the house. It is also the family meeting space (watch television, review lessons to children, spread couscous and weave). The vestibule "V" is limited to a simple entrance area. It is just a circulation space; dispatching guests and residents' movement (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Spatial characteristics of the type "DiarCharpenti"specimens Bh1, Bel1, Mag6. (Source: Boutabba, 2013)
Given that this research compares the spatiality of two different types of domestic housing (the rural, vernacular dwelling of the region with all its typological variants, on the one hand, and the new domestic type "DiarCharpenti" on the other hand), the use of two study corpus, belonging to different chronological periods, is necessary.
The first corpus focuses on a period from the sedentarization of Hodni, until the years of the economic boom of the region, in other words from the end of the twentieth century until the 2000s. This first corpus is representative.163 architectural surveys of rural houses, located in the study area, have been drawn. This investigation took place between January and December 2009. We started by identifying ancestral domestic typological variants, and then classified them into two distinct ancestral typological models. This first analytical step (I) was performed through typology (Panerai, Demorgon, & Depaule, 2002). This analytical approach is of a qualitative type whose foundation is the French school. The notion of "type" is placed in the same perspective of Raymond (2001), an architectural theory placed in a hinge zone between the mode of design, production of a building and the social, cultural and economic characteristics of its use by the inhabitants. The first classification criterion is the decryption of named types by the Hodnian society (HS). This first classification criterion is based, firstly, on the personal In-situ investigations (plans, photographs, non-directive interviews) secondly, on a documentary background containing colonial scientific and official documents. To check the consensus of inhabitants on the domestic types of nomination, several semi-structured interviews were coupled with the iconographic support, as a visual stimulus. A first series of interviews were carried out with five inhabitants of the locality of Barika, five of Barhoum, three of Magra and four of the villages of Belaiba and Djezzar. The interviewees are septuagenarians from different social backgrounds (spiritual leaders of villages, poets, former singers, pastors and farmers). Other residents were then contacted. The main difficulty which the present investigation has encountered is that of the approximate dating of these architectural types. The analytic typology is based on five points: 1 / The historical setting of the framework of the intervention, 2 / The definition of the corpus; 3 / Prior classification; 4 / Development of types; 5 / Establishment of the typology (Boutabba, H & Farhi, 2012).
The second corpus concerns the following chronological period (a period of 13 years, ranging from the 2000s to 20133). This second corpus is exhaustive. It covers all the "DiarCharpenti" houses, inhabited during the investigation, constructed since the decade of the 2000s, a total of 30 cases spread over the villages forming the study area. This investigation took place between February and May 2010. The second analysis section is intended to identify the different architectural genotypes of "DiarCharpenti" as a first step, then affirm or negate the existence of a spatial relationship that could link the ancestral domestic models of Hodna and the different genotypes of the "DiarCharpenti" corpus. This second analytical section uses a quantitative approach, space syntax of Hillier (1996) and Hanson (1998) , specifically the gamma-analysis method. Space syntax is commonly seen as a set of methods to analyze urban and architectural spaces of different scales, and to foresee their functionality (Arfaoui, Mazouz, & Dhouib, 2019; Bada & Guney, 2009). However, it is also much more than that. It is an overarching theory and research framework, based on rigorous geometrical and mathematical descriptions and quantifications of human spatial systems and on insightful inferences about their social meaning and impact, which provide a coherent and robust form-function model of the human built environment (Nourian, Rezvani, & Sariyildiz, 2013) (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Diagram of the different methodological approaches and types of analyzes adopted.
The analysis process for this study is based specifically on the gamma-analysis method. This analytical method draws its methodological basis from the transformation of architectural plans into a set of objectives, easily comparable data. This method used is defined as the set of rules governing architectural compositions, as we can apprehend them by the graphs that give the representation (Xia, 2013; Peponis & Bellal, 2010; Dawson, 2002) by providing appropriate mathematical and computer tools for the processing of a built-up space field that clearly has all the characteristics of a network (Boussora, 2015). The analysis process of the gamma analysis method is based on the qualitative and quantitative data of the justified graphs of a building. By "qualitative data” (Hillier, 1996) designate "all the characteristics of an architectural plan, made possible by its corresponding graph". The building spaces are abstractly represented by circles and are called nodes. The permeability relation that unites them is represented by a line called connection. This graph, to which a preorder has been associated and by which the outside has been selected as the root, is called justified graph (Figure 5A). The choice of route that one can take to go from one space to another is materialized by the Space Link Ratio ". It relates the number of links (L) to the total number of nodes in a spatial complex (k), according to the formula: SLR = L + 1 / K
In graphs justified by topological types, the spaces of a single building can be differentiated according to the movement they present. The "a" type spaces are located in the terminal position on the graph. Spaces of type "b" materialize a tree-like structure where the elimination of one of the links entails the separation of one or more spaces of the system. Type "c" spaces embody a ring configuration. The "d" type spaces also embody a ring configuration and must belong to at least two rings where they constitute their points of intersection (Boutabba, Hynda et al., 2020) (Figure 5B). According to their degree of ringiness, the graphs are then divided into tree-like graphs (TG) which are characterized by a sequence of spaces of topological type "b" which end up serving spaces of type "a". Internal ringy graphs (IR) which are fitted with rings exclusively limited to the interior of the building, excluding any passage from the outside. The external ringy graphs (ER) have an arrangement in which one or more rings appear which must imperatively pass through the outside. Complex ringy (CR) graphs are characterized by the presence of both internal and external rings
Figure 5. Example of a justified graph of building and a justified graph by topological types. (Source: Hillier, 1996)
By “qualitative data” (Hillier, 1996) designates all "mathematical formulas and ratios, calculated on the basis of the justified graph which comes from the architectural plan of the building studied": mainly Real Relative Asymmetry (RRA) and base Difference Factor (BDF). The (RRA) is calculated on the basis of The Relative Asymmetry (RA) of a spatial complex. This is the average of the integration values of all the nodes constituting its justified graph. It provides information on the general degree of integration of the building as well as on the degree of connection between these constituent spaces.Base Difference Factor (BDF) is used "to measure the differences on graphs that distinguish nodes according to their integration values" (Hanson, 1998).
Base difference factor BDF: H= - ∑ [a/t In(a/t)] + [ b/t In(b/t)] + [ c/t In (c/t)]; Relative Asymetrie RA= 2 (MD-1)/K-2; Real Relative Asymetrie RRA = RA/X X= {6. 644K. log10 (K+2)-5.17k+2}/ (K² – 3K+2).
The interest of this approach is,on the one hand, to highlight the generator process of building spaces, "genotypes" of architecture (Brown & Bellal, 2001). These are defined as the physical properties that constitute generic rule subtending the space in question. The particular physical implementation of these rules constitutes the phenotype (Barkat et al., 2020; Boutabba, Hynda et al., 2019; Letesson, 2009; Cuisenier, 1992) . On other hand, to allow a reliable and efficient spatial comparison between ancestral domestic models of Hodna and the different genotypes of the "DiarCharpenti" corpus.
Given that we have chosen an approach highlighting the structure of correspondence between the physical characteristics of a space and the socio-cultural model of the inhabitants, the first corpus dealt with a double declination. On the one hand, the "physical level": ancestral domestic types (the Pannerai method); on the other, the "human level": a sample of the inhabitants of Hodna. (Colonial Documentation, Interview Survey and Iconographic Support). The typological analysis revealed that the itinerant habitat (the tent or "Guittoune") formed the one and only domestic type inhabited by the HS until 18635). This excellent shelter adapted remarkably to the living conditions of these nomads as well as to the hostility of their natural environment. After this date, between 1872s and 1875s, rudimentary constructions, made up of single room structure, built next to the tent, used by inhabitants (HS) during winter season. These warehouses or rooms called "temporary Gourbi" formed the first type of non-itinerant fixed housing (See Table 1, column 2). French colonization of Hodna seriously hampered the free itinerancy of the Hodnian nomad who found himself obliged, somehow, to abandon nomadism and its corollary "the Guittoune" and adopt a so-called permanent dwelling : "the permanent gourbi", which possessed, in addition of the room (Gourbi), a provisional space (PS) in a circular form, built in lightweight materials and serves as kitchen (Boutabba, Hynda, Mili, & Boutabba, 2019). The build-up of this space (PS) by using building materials, transforming its shape from conical to parallelepiped, and adding a courtyard, as enclosure buffering the internal space from the exterior, created a new domestic type named "DiarSathi" (DS). (See Table 1, column 4). By adding laterally, a space that has the same shape and size as the first space, room or "Dar", as well as the total concretization using permanent materials of the courtyard, this semiprivate space named "Mrah", the type (DS) is ramified into another domestic type, known as "DiarSathi intermediate type" (DSIT). By longitudinal addition, by doubling the module of the (DSIT), in relation to the axis of the courtyard, another improved type made its appearance, called "DiarKraib" (DK). (See Figure 6). On the eve of independence, around the 1950s, the DK courtyard underwent another transformation, by building on its third side, to house a kitchen “Nouala”, a toilet, and a storage “makhzen”, warehouse which now has a separate space. This new spatial configuration was known by "Diar Be Reboe" (DB). In the aftermath of independence, and in order to cope with the rural exodus that affected the country's interior, the government began the construction of the socialist villages as part of the Agrarian Revolution. In the voluntarist goal to establish a new ideology and to radically transform the peasantry, a new architectural design is then propelled by the state. Designed by specialists, it was characterized by a simplistic layout, whose axis is a hallway, on which opens the double alignment of the rooms. The SH called this domestic ancestral type "Diar Belwizdad" (DBW). (Figure 6)
Table 1. Different Preliminary domestic types of Hodna.
At the end of this typological analysis, we note that the type "a room-kitchen" can be considered as a basic type having served as nucleus of evolution by construction-transformations to the pre-independence preliminary rural habitat of Hodna's new sedentary populations. The genealogical diagram (Figure 6) shows the growth potential, both transversal and longitudinal, of this type, starting from its courtyard and its side walls
In light of these results, we note that the first types (DS with its various typological ramifications DSIT, DK and DB) resulted arose from the same spatial logic namely "central courtyard house" considered as the first physical model of living (Mod I). As for the type DBW, it came from logic: "hallway house" observed as a second physical model of living (Mod II).
Figure 6. Genealogical Schema of preliminary Types of eastern Hodna.
(Source: (Boutabba et al, 2019c)
The thirty specimens of the "DiarCharpenti" corpus, located in the five study localities, were codified. To each locality was assigned a code and to each house studied a number. Nine specimens were chosen from Barika (Bk1a, Bk2, Bk3, etc.), eight from Magra village (Mag1, Mag2, etc.), three from Belaiba village (Bel1, Bel2, Bel3.), two from Djezzar localitie (Dz1a, Dz1b) and eight from Berhoum (Bh1a, Bh1b, Bh2) and converted into justified graphs by topological types. The various constituent spaces of the "DiarCharpenti" have also been codified (See paragraph 3). These specimens were then converted into justified graphs by topological types. Which allowed calculating for each specimen the basic syntactic values (SLR, BDF, RRA) using AGRAPH software. Thus each space of each specimen was able to be compared to the other spaces of the same specimen, depending on its degree of integration, and was able to take a rank on a scale (see Table 2).
Table 2. Function integration order outside included.
| Specimen | order of functions integration |
|---|---|
| Bh1a | H 0.09 < V0.12 < Sl 0.17 < Cu = Chp 0.20 < I 0.21 < Chg = Chf = Sej 0.22 < C 0.23 < Co 0.30 < Wc = Sdb 0.35 < Ext 0.37 |
| Bh1b | Clr 0.12 < H 0.13 < V 0.17 < Sl = Cu 0.19 < Chg 0.20 < I 0.21< Sej = Cha 0.22 < Chp = Chf = Chf 0.23 < C 0.24 < Cu 0.26 < Co 0.27 < Co = Wc = Sdb 0.31 < Ep 0.32 < Ep = Ext 0.42 |
| Bh2 | Clr 0.11 < H = V 0.1 7< Cu = Sl 0.19< I 0.20 < C 0.25 < Co 0.26 < Chp = Chg = Chf = Sej 0.29 < Sl 0.30 < Ext = Sdb = Wc 0.32 < C2 0.33 < Ep0.39 |
| Bh3 | Clr 0.08 < H0.13 < V 0.14 < Sl 0.15 < I = Chf 0.16 < Sej 0.17 < Cu 0.21 < Co 0.2 < Chp = Chg = Chg = Co 0.24 < Cha = Bs 0.25 < Sl 0.26 < Sdb = Wc 0.28 < Ex 0.35 |
| Bh4 | H1 0.07 < H2=V 0.13 < Sl 0.15 < Co 0.18 < Sej = Cu 0.19 < Cha = Chg 0.20 < Sdb = Wc 0.24 < Bs 0.25 < Sl 0.27 < Ext 0.36 |
| Bh5 | H 0.13 < Clr 0.14 < Sl 0.17 < V 0.18 < I 0.22 < Cu 0.24 < Cha = Sej = Chf = Chp 0.25 < Chg 0.26 < C 0.27 < Sdb = Wc 0.35 < V1 0.38 < Ext 0.50 |
| Bh6a | H 0.10 < I 0.15 < V 0.17 < Sl 0.19 < Co 0.23 < Chp = Chf 0.25 < Cu 0.28 < C = Chg = Sdb = Wc 0.30 < Sl 0.34 < Ext 0.46 |
| Bh6b | H1 0.16 < Co 0.19 < H2 0.22 < Sej = C 0.23 < I 0.25 < Cu 0.28 < V1 0.29 < Chp = Chf= Cha 0.34 < Sdb =Wc 0.37 < L 0.38 < Bs 0.41 < Sl = Ext 0.50 |
| Mag1 | H 0.13 < Clr1 0.14 < Clr2 0.15 < V 0.18 < Sl 0.20 < C2 0.21 < I = Chp = Chf = Cu = Sej 0.23 < Ep = C1 0.24 < Ri = Chg 0.25 < Bs 0.26 < Sl = Ext 0.28 < Sdb = Wc = Co 0.30 |
| Mag3 | V 0.16 < H 0.17 < C 0.19 < V1 0.23 < Sej = I 0.26 < Chp = Chg = Chf = Cu 0.29 < L 0.33 < Sl = Bs = Co 0.35 < Sej = Sdb = Wc 0.38 < Ext 0.45 |
| Mag4 | V2 = H 0.14 < C 0.19 < Sej 0.20 < Co = Cu = V 0.27 < Bs2 = Chp = Chg = Chf = Cha 0.28 < Sl = Bs1 = Ext 0.41 |
| Mag5a | Clr 0.13 < V 0.16 < H 0.18 < I 0.22 < Cr 0.24 < Sej 0.25 < Sl = Bs 0.28 < Cu = Co = Chp = Chg = Chf 0.30 < C 0.32 < Wc = Sdb 0.33 < Ep 0.43 < Ext 0.55 |
| Mag5b | Clr 0.13 < V 0.15 < H 0.16 < Sl = Cr 0.20< Co = I 0.22 < Sl = Sej 0.24 < Bs = Cu 0.26 < Chp = Chg = Chf 0.28 < C 0.29 < Wc = Sdb 0.33 < Ep 0.39 < Ext 0.50 |
| Mag6 | H 10.10 < V 0.13 < H2 0.14 < I 0.18 < Sej = C = Cu = Co 0.20 < Sl 0.21 < Clr 0.22 < Cha = Chf = Chg 0.24 < Sdb = Wc 0.28 < Ex = V 10.29 < Sl = Bs 0.30 < Chp 0.31 < Ep 0.37 |
| Mag7 | H1 0.13 < H2 0.15 < V 0.18 < Clr 0.20 < Sl = Chp 0.21 < Cu = Chg = Chf = Sej 0.22 < C 0.24 < Sl 0.26 < I 0.28 < Cha 0.30 < Co = Chp 0.31 < V1 0.32 < Sdb = Wc 0.38 < Co 0.40 < Bs = Ext 0.41 |
| Bel1 | H 0.06 < V0.12 < Sl 0.14 < I 0.16 < Cu = Co 0.19 < Sej = Chp = Chg = Chf 0.20 < C 0.23 < Bs 0.25 < Sl 0.27 < Sdb = Wc 0.29 < Ext 0.37 |
| Bel2 | Clr 0.15 < H = H2 0.17 < Chf 0.24 < C 0.25 < Co 0.26 < Sl 0.27 < Cu = Chg 0.28 < Chp = Sej = Sdb = Wc 0.30 < Co 0.36 < V 0.37 < Ext 0.50 |
| Bel3 | Clr = H1 0.12 < H2 0.16 < V 0.17 < Sl = Cu 0.18 < I 0.20 < Co 0.21 < Sej = Cha 0.22 < C 0.25 < Chp = Chf = Chg 0.26 < Bs 0.27 < Sl 0.28 < Sdb = Wc 0.30 < Ext 0.44 |
| Dz1a | H 0.06 < V 0.12 < Sl 0.13 < I 0.15 < Co = Cu 0.16 < Sej = Chp = Chg = Chf 0.18 < C 0.19 < Clr 0.22 < Bs 0.24 < Sl 0.25 < Sdb = Wc 0.27 < Cu 0.28 < Ext 0.31 |
| Dz1b | H1 = H2 0.10 < V 0.16 < Clr = Sl 0.17 < I 0.18 < Cu 0.19 < Sej = Chp = Chg = Chf = Cha 0.21 < C 0.23 < Bs 0.26 < Co = Sl 0.28 < Sdb = Wc 0.29 < Cu 0.30 < Ext 0.33 |
| Bk1a | Clr 0.10 < H1 0.12 < H2 0.16 < V 0.17 < Sl 0.18 < Sej = I 0.21 < Cu 0.22 < Chp = Chf 0.23 < C = Cha = Chg = Co 0.26 < Sl 0.28 < Sdb = Wc 0.31 < Co 10.32 < Ex 0.37 |
| Bk1b | H 0.13 < Clr 0.14 < I 0.19 < Sl 0.21 < Cu 0.22 < V 0.23 < Sej = Chf 0.25 < Chg = Chp 0.26 < Co 0.28 < C 0.30 < Sdb = Wc 0.31 < Sl 0.34 < Co 0.40 < Ext 0.43 |
| Bk1c | H 0.14 < Clr 0.15 < V 0.23 < I 0.24 < Co 0.26 < Cu = Chp = Chg = 0.28 < C 0.29 < Sl 0.35 < Sdb = Wc 0.37 < Co 0.38 < Ext 0.40 |
| Bk2 | H 0.13 < C 0.14 < V 0.21 < I 0.23 < Sej 0.27 < Chp = Chg = Chf = Cu 0.36 < Ext = Sl = Bs 0.37 < Sdb = Wc 0.38 < Sej 0.40 |
| Bk3 | H 0.11 < C 0.15 < I 0.18 < V = Sej 0.21 < Chp = Chg = Chf 0.24 < Cu 0.28 < Co = Sdb = Wc 0.30 < Sl = Bs 0.34 < Ext 0.45 |
| Bk4 | H0.12 < V 0.13 < C = Sej 0.16 < V1 = Cu 0.21 < Chp = Chg = Chf = Cha = Sdb = Wc 0.22 < Sej 0.25 < Co 0.29 < Sl 0.30 < Ext = L 0.31 < Bs 0.41 |
| Bk5 | H2 = V2 0.16 < C 0.19 < V1 0.24 < Sej = Cha 0.267 < Chp = Chf = Sdb = Wc 0.28 < V 0.31 < Co = Ext 0.33 < Cu = Chg 0.34 < L 0.41 < Sl = Bs 0.42 |
| Bk6a | V = H1 = C 0.15 < H2 0.18 < Clr 0.21 < V1 = L1 = Sl 0.22 < H3 0.24 < Cu 0.25 < Sej = Chp 0.26 < Ep = Ext 0.27 < Bs = Cu = Sl = Co 0.29 < Co1 0.31 < Chg = Sdb = Wc 0.32 |
| Bk6b | Clr 0.14 < C2 0.15 < H 0.16 < H1 0.18 < L2 0.19 < Clr 0.21 < Cu1 = Sl 10.23 < Clr2 = Sl 0.24 < Ep = Sej 0.25 < Ext = V1 = L 10.26 < Chp = Chg = Cu = Sdb = Wc 0.30 < Sl = Bs = Bm 0.33 |
Source: analysis results using Agraph software (2013)
Bill Hillier and Hanson (1984) considers the recurrence of certain structural traits as a genotype index. The analysis reveals a first recurrence concerning the spatial structuring mode of specimens and a second relating to the most integrated and integrator space, obtained by the exploration of the values of the basic difference factor (BDF). Thus three groups have been able to be distinguished. 19 specimens or 63.33% of the entire corpus "DiarCharpenti" form the group "I". The specimens of this group are structured around the Hall, which appears as the space the better integrated. 10 specimens (33.33%) form the group "II", they are strictly structured around the hallway. As for the eleventh specimen of the study Mag3, the fact that it is absolutely structured around the vestibule, it forms a third group "III" that capitalizes 3.33% of the corpus of the study. Now, although the complexes of each of these groups share two large recurrences, they can’t be part of the same genotype, due to the divergence of space-link ratio (SLR). To narrow the genotypic search, we sought qualitative recurrence inherent to the nature of the justified graphs, substituting this last to SLR ratio.
This is to explore the nature of graphs by according to their degree of ringy, depending on whether they are tree-like (TG), internal ring (IR), external ring (ER) or complex ring (CR). According to two great modes of structuring of space, the results showed that this NTDH is divided into seven genotypes. Three genotypes structured around the Hall, identified by:
- The genotype A = {H, 12, IR, H*<01}4),
- The genotype B = {H, 2, TG, H*<01};
- The genotype C = {H, 5, CR, H*<01};
Four genotypes structured around the hallway (Clr), identified by:
- The genotype D = {Clr, 6, IR, H*<01};
- The genotype E = {Clr, 2, CR, H*<01}
- The genotypes F = {Clr, 01, ER, H*<01} and G = {Clr, 1, TG, H*<01}.
The third specimen of the locality of "Magra", due to its isolated structuring around the vestibule, it is distinctly not genotypic or would be to treat, at least, as the phenotype of another genotype. It is identified by H = {V, 1, TG, H*<01}
This last analytical step will develop according to two sections. For the first, and alike the process done with the different specimens of the catalog "DiarCharpenti, it consists of analyzing syntactically the two canonical physical models derived from typological analysis of DBW and DB. For the second, it consists of overlapping the first section results with the syntactic characteristics of genotypes.
The syntactical analysis of the two ancestral models has demonstrated two genotypic tendencies. One tends to focus the system of the places on a space of occupancy and passage: the court according to a tree-like justified plan, structuring the relationship between residents, incorporating the outside in an articulation of highly integrated places. Identified by Mod I = {H, 1, TG, H* < 01}. The other, center the complex on a place exclusively of transition, the hallway, in accordance with an arborescence, also consolidating the idea of residents -residents interface, but with an exterior less integrator. Identified by Mod II = {Clr, 1, TG, H * <01} (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Basic syntactic characteristics of ancestral domestic models of Hodna. Source: (Source: analysis results using Agraph software (2013))
To carry out the syntactic comparison between models and genotypes, we began by clarifying the primary characteristics of the cells nuclei, convergence poles systems of the two corpuses, as well as the integration from the outside of their constituent complexes. However, given that the genotypes are formed by a fairly substantial number of nodes spread over more than one level, while ancestral models are composed of a small number of cells distributed strictly on a single level, the comparative parameters have taken into consideration the categorical differentiation by sector of places. To verify these results, we counted the percentage of integration / segregation, a method that we have ourselves developed.
Syntactic comparison by sector of placesThe spaces constituting the ancestral models and genotypes were classified according to six categories of places:
- The Category 01: takes into account the places of life, consisting of the main rooms of private life of domestic pole. This includes the bedrooms and the hall
- Category 02: encompass the places of service, essentially formed of the kitchen and the Court;
- Category 03: includes places of ablution, composed of the bathroom and the toilet;
- Category 04: takes into account the male reception pole formed by the lounge and the toilet block appended to it;
- Category 05: concerns the female reception pole composed of the living room;
- Category 06: contains transitional places, trained of the stairwell, the vestibule and the hallway. This category includes all the circulations, except the hall, whose occupancy function predominates clearly over that of circulation in Hodna's society.
The syntactical comparison was based on the common features to both sides of the comparison, therefore in Proceeding by elimination of dissimilar characteristics. A simple visual examination shows us that only the genotypes "D", "E", "F" and "G" are likely to be compared given that they are structured around the same space as the model II. Given its arrangement around the vestibule, the phenotype H is completely distinct from the two models and consequently is not subject to comparison. As to the remaining genotypes, those structured around the hall, H, they can be compared with the only condition that the hall will be assimilated like the covered version of the central court. (Mathematical reasoning by contradiction).
A= {H,12,IR,H*<01}
B= {H,2,TG, H*<01} ModI = {Co,1,TG,H*<01}
C={H,5,CR, H*<01}
D= {Clr,6,IR,H*<01}
E= {Clr,2,CR,H*<01} ModII={Clr,1,TG,H*<01}
F= {Clr,1,ER,H*<01}
G={Clr,1,TG,H*<01}
Once having completed this first elimination, the comparison will be articulated on the basis of type of interface. The analysis revealed that the two ancestral models reflect the supremacy of the Resident-resident interface on the resident-visitor interface. Hanson (1998) showed "that this is graphically reflected by AR and by GI". This finding allows us to eliminate the genotypes "C", "E" and "F" of the comparison and we limit only to "A" and "B" for the model I and "D" and "G" for model II. The syntactic features by category of places were calculated for the ancestral models (see Figure 8) as well as for the four genotypes selected for the comparison. Latent structures not observed in the plan were revealed.
Figure 8. Syntactic characteristics of integration by category of places of the system of ancestral models I and II.
Table 3 displays vigorous recurrences related primarily to the high integration value of transition places and places of private life, with the tiny exception of genotype "A". The places of services and reception of women occupy median positions in the order of the global integration, albeit with a mutual interchangeability of position. Finally, the categories of male reception and ablution are generally the places that occupy the last positions.
Table 3. Syntactic characteristics of integration by category of places of the overall set (models and genotypes).
| Order of integration by category of places | Génotype /Mod |
|---|---|
|
Transition < Living = Service < Carrier < fermale reception pole = Ablution < male reception pole 0.18 0.68 0.70 1.18 1.42 |
Mod I |
|
Living < Transition < fermale reception pole < Service < Ablution< male reception pole < Carrier 0.76 0.86 0.89 0.98 1.28 1.36 1.72 |
Génotype « A » |
|
Transition< Living < Service < fermale reception pole < male reception pole < Ablution < Carrier 0.83 0.84 0.11 1.27 1.40 1.44 1.63 |
Génotype « B » |
|
Transition< Living = L. Service < fermale reception pole = Carrier = male reception pole < Ablution 0.41 0.85 1.00 1.29 |
Mod II |
|
Transition < Living < L. fermale reception pole < male reception pole < Service < Ablution < Carrier 0.83 0.89 0.98 1.02 1.04 1.32 1.86 |
Génotype « D » |
|
Transition < Living < fermale reception pole < male reception pole < Service < Ablution < Carrier 0.88 100 1.05 1.18 1.26 1.39 2.32 |
Génotype « G » |
Source: analysis results using Agraph software (2013)
Figure 9 shows the existence of a strong syntactic affinity between genotypes "DiarCharpenti" on the one hand, and between ancestral domestic models, on the other. Likewise, it shows great similarities between models and genotypes. These latter detect recurrences at several points, except for the exterior, which displays distinct values between models and genotypes.
Figure 9. Comparison of integration syntactic characteristics by category of places between model I / genotypes A and B and between model II / genotypes D and G.
(Source: analysis results using Agraph software (2013))
The verification method that we developed consists in a first step to give 01 point, if the same category of place of genotype presents the same characteristic as that of the corresponding model, and 00 point for distinct characteristics. In the second step, it proceeds with the sum up of common characteristics. The more this total value is high, nearing 100%, the more there are affinities. On the contrary, values lower than average will be seen as indicative of distinction (Table 4).
Table 4. Syntactic characteristics of internal integration / segregation by category of places of the model I with genotypes "A" and "B" and of the model II with genotypes "D" and"G"
| Category | Transition | Life | Service | Fermale reception | Male reception | Ablution | Carrier | Ʃ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mod I | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Segregated | Segregated | Segregated | Integrated | / |
| Genotype A | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Segregated | Segregated | Segregated | / |
| Ʃ | 01 | 01 | 01 | 00 | 01 | 01 | 00 |
5/7 71.42% |
| Genotype [CHART]B | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Segregated | Segregated | Segregated | Segregated | / |
| Ʃ | 01 | 01 | 01 | 01 | 01 | 01 | 00 |
6/7 85.71% |
| «A» & «B» | 01 | 01 | 01 | 00 | 01 | 01 | 01 |
6/7 85.71% |
| Mod II | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Segregated | Segregated | Segregated | Segregated | / |
| GenotypeD | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Segregated | Segregated | / |
| Ʃ | 01 | 01 | 01 | 00 | 00 | 01 | 01 |
5/7 71.42% |
| GenotypeG | Integrated | Integrated | Segregated | Integrated | Integrated | Segregated | Segregated | / |
| Ʃ | 01 | 01 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 01 | 01 |
4/7 57.14% |
| «D» & «G» | 01 | 01 | 00 | 01 | 01 | 01 | 01 |
6/7 85.71% |
Table 4 shows that the places of transition, living and service are all integrated to model I, identically as for the genotype "A" and "B", this has made these two genomes having 3 points to each one, either1 point for each category. Similarly, the fact that the model I presents segregation for ablution places and the male reception places as well as the genotypes, two extra points are added for each of them. However, the female reception spaces present segregation for Model I and only for the genotype B, this means that only the latter is entitled to have an extra point. Another observed distinction lies in the "Carrier" (Exterior) which remains integrated to model I, but segregated for genotypes "A" and "B". By counting the points acquired, therefore the traits of similarities, we find that the genotype "B" with six points out of seven (85.71%) is closer to the model I than the genotype "A" that counts only five points (71.42%). However, since values are high, exceeding 50%, we are in the position to attest that the two genotypes "A" and "B" have strong traits of recurrences with the model I.
Similarly, that it has been demonstrated and argued for the ancestral model I, we notice two pairs of categories of places which have the same characteristic for model II and for genotypes "D" and "G": the places of life and transition are integrated to their respective systems, while the ablution places and the outside are segregated for them. On the flip side, service places are integrated into the model II and are so only for genotype "D", which increased the sum of similarity traits in five points out of seven (a percentage of 71.42%). As for the genotype "G", although it presents only four points of similarity on a total of seven (57.14%) with the Model II, it is considered as close to the model II because it presents a percentage above the average. If one takes into consideration that bunch of recurrences found for the different categories of places of the genotypes "A", "B", "C" and "D", it becomes indisputable that the architecture "DiarCharpenti" betrays a strong program.
The present research, through the exploration of the morphological structure of the spatial arrangements of specimens "DiarCharpenti" was able to discover, through the comparative method by "category of places" (Hillier, 1996) and a new method of verification by "measuring the internal integration", the identity references of this NDT. Indeed, despite the fact that they are distinctly structured according to two major modes of spatial arrangement related to the hallway and the hall, the specimens "DiarCharpenti" are classified according to seven distinct genotypes.
The results thus displayed by the two methods corroborate that ancestral models of the Hodna are indeed the ascendant types of 70% of specimens "DiarCharpenti". The strong traits of similarities confirm the initial comparison hypothesis and attest that through these syntactic traits, we are entitled to confirm that "DiarCharpenti" came up from the local model and consequently they maintains with their context a reference report. The spatiality of this NDT, is therefore, rather primitive than original. During more than a century of incorporation of transformation and syncretism, the ancestral spatiality, especially that of the house with a central courtyard, shows an amazing resistance to annihilation. An organization which shows that the spatial organizational culture of the Hodna contains in its subconscious a hard core, structuring the spatial imaginary of its occupants and express their particular ways of dwell induced of their cultural background, their "inherited", pulled from their roots and traditions. This NDT is a habitat that gives the impression of being evoulitive, but in reality remains unchangeable. In this sense, if the couple facade-volume is only the translation of the second and third dimension of the house's plan, the outer envelope of "DiarCharpenti" may, therefore, be considered as a pastiche reflecting other thing than a cultural and social truth. May be a desire to appear modern. What "DiarCharpenti' owners express through the spatiality of their houses is not so much a new social way of living, but in contrast, a new way of expressing oneself.
This research was limited to DiarCharpenti's spatiality study, while this NDT is also recognized by its volume and its particular architectural elements, that it would be fruitful to study. This would reveal the driving cause of the owners’ preference of such architecture expression. This research was limited to eastern Hodna as a study context, while this NDT appeared in other regions of Algeria and, which would also be interesting to study. This could provide more comprehensive information on the major transformations that are shaping, in general, space and Algerian society.
1) "douar" is a group of dwellings, fixed or mobile, temporary, or permanent, bringing together individuals linked by a kinship based on a common ancestry in paternal line
2) This work comes from doctoral thesis in architecture of Boutabba Hynda, which ended in 2013.
3) Date of the launch of the legislative document "Senatus Consult" by Napoleon III
4) The first element between the two braces characterizes the most integrated and integrating space. The second identifies the number of complexes. The third specifies the nature of the justified graphs, while the fourth indicates the values of the difference factor.
