Oral History of the Interior Design of Al Qatif City - Report Example

Oral History of the Interior Design of Al Qatif The history of interior design is among the fascinating developments of architecture over the years. Since the beginning of time, man continues to design and construct structures that illustrate his creativity and essence of aesthetic values. The architectural development since 1930 to 2000 constitutes the revolution of the Victorian era in architecture. Al Qatif is a historical city located along the coastal region of the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The region in this eastern province contains several towns and villages. However, the Al Qatif architecture remains a wonder to observe. The region has a physical environment with high temperatures, ranging 45 degree Celsius in the summer and 20 degree Celsius in the winter. The description of the historical Al Qatif Castle from 1930-1955 The period between 1930 and 1955, the people lived in the confines of the Al Qatif Castel altogether. Sasaons initiated the construction of the castle in the third century. This indicates the age of the castle and its architecture. The building initially was for the royal palace and military to occupy. However, with time and further civilizations, the castle became the housing for the people. Saeed Al Saif is among the people that lived in the confines of the Al Qatif Castle n this period for over forty years. When I asked him about the castle and what he remembers in the architecture of the house, the first thing to mention was the great high fence. The castle had a great high fence for the security of the people considering that its initial function was to serve as palace and military houses. Saeed also remembered the sea near the castle and the tides of water. Additionally, he also mentioned the four gates of the castle fence that opened in the morning and closed at night, not granting any person entrance after their closure. Further, Saeed mentioned that the walls of the castle building were special stone, collected from the gulf sea, which contributed to its outstanding aesthetic value. Additionally, this stone has some adaptation to temperature, reducing the temperatures inside the house during the day. Thus, as historical architecture suggests, the people selected building material that fit the physical environment constraints such as temperature as they established their houses. When I asked Saeed about the interior aspect of the castle building, he exhibited an enthusiastic face, lightened in happiness as he began to describe the house design. The houses within the castle consisted of enclosed houses, with an entry leading to each of the occupants’ houses. The dimension of the house he lived in is about 90 square meters. The house consisted of two levels, with several specifications including eight rooms, two toilets, a bathroom, and a female’s room. In the house, Saeed said they lived 16 people, five of them males and 11 females. While entering the house, on one side there are the toilets, bathroom and female room and the opposite side is the stairs, kitchen, and dining room. In the front side of the kitchen, there is a room from where they got water. However, Saeed mentioned that later, after several years the government connected the castle to water supply, thus, they buried the well. The decorations of the house were by use of wood and fronds. There were cloth cabinets carved in the walls of the rooms, but the door of the cabinets was of wood. The house did not have carpet, thus, they all sat on the floor. This architectural design shows the ancient aspect of the house. According to Saeed, it contained such beauty and space for them to live comfortably. The description of the historical Al Qatif Castle from 1960-1975 From the 1960’s, government paid the people who lived in the Al Qatif Castle enough money for them to leave the building. The government then destroyed the Castle, while the people moved to a new suburb in the town. I interviewed Nasser Tanabb who happened to live in the house of the grandfather, in this period. In his description, he mentioned that the house consisted of two levels, with 19 rooms. The area of the house is about 600 square meters. It also contained 10 bathrooms and 5 kitchens. In the house, they lived 21 people, nine of them being male and 10 female, with the addition of the driver and house cleaner. The construction of the house was by using cement and iron. Additionally, the house also has a window and air conditioner in all the rooms. The walls if the house is in white painting. From this description, the people again note the essence of considering the environmental conditions in the architecture of their buildings Describing the house, Nasser said that the house has four doors, with the main entrance in the right, and next to that main entrance is the door for visitors. The third door of the house was for the driver, taking him to the bathroom and his bedroom and the fourth door was the extra entrance to the house. Further, Nasser said that the grandfather built the house with facilities, with the first floor comprising of two facilities. The first facility was for hosting public meetings. For instance, the neighbors would meet on a weekly basis in the room. This facility as he described it consisted of a kitchen, bathroom, and a hall. The hall is where the meeting took place. The furniture in the hall consisted of Arabic Floor Pillows and Iranian Carpet. The second facility of the first floor consisted of seven bedrooms, kitchen, three bathrooms, and a living room. This facility housed the people living in the house. The furnishings of the space consisted of a green carpet, white curtains, and green floral couch additionally, within this facility; the occupants included the grandfather, three females, and her brother. Thus, the first family lived on the first floor in the second facility. The second floor of the house consisted of four facilities. Each of the facilities housed the uncles of Nasser. Additionally, in each of the facilities, there is a kitchen, three bedrooms and bathrooms. According to Nasser, the people in the house lived together as a family, and they ate together in the floor they occupied. It was traditional for the people to share meals. Moreover, the children could sleep in any of the facilities in the house, as they were family. Thus, in view of this design, the house architecture included aspects of nuclear family. It had space to accommodate the entire family with additional furbishes such as carpets, curtains and painted house walls. The description of the historical Al Qatif Castle from 1985-2000 The interview for a people living in the modern house of 1985 to 200 model featured Zahra Ali. Zahra said that they live in 400 square meters house and they are six people, two males, and four females, in addition to the driver and housemaid. The making of the house is of cement and iron with white bricks to reduce the temperatures during summer. The house has three levels, with all walls painted white and floor covered with ceramic. It also has two entries and a garage. The bedroom and bathroom for driver are above the garage. The entry to the left is for visitors and links to a large hall with two bathrooms and a pool. The neighbors host meeting in this hall every month, as well as, the family members from the mother’s side meet here every Wednesday for dinner. The second entry leads to the living room. The living has beautiful decorations with paintings by the young sister of Zahra. There is brown set of couch and a Sony TV, 50-inch plasma. The house has a split-unit air conditioning system. There are white cabinets in the house and the space is functional. The second floor hosts a library, living room, four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. The furniture in this floor is all from Ikea-home ware. The third floor is not visible from outside and it has few windows facing to the yard, with two bedrooms, bathrooms and an arts and play hall. The reason of hiding the third floor is that the municipal laws do not allow house of more than two levels. The interviews provide a limited understanding to the aims of the interview, as they do not represent a detailed and accurate description. The design choices seem to incline towards necessities over appearance in 1935-1955. Saeed describes the Castle as heritage. Zahra pays attention to additions such as TV and paintings. Moreover, the people provide information according to their feelings about the houses. Saeed has some memory loss due to age Nasser’s description is vague, as he leaves out information such as drivers’ room among others. In conclusion, the interviews are helpful in presenting rich information and details about historical interior designs. Nonetheless, the vague descriptions emanate from the memory and personal feelings of the interviews. Read More