Alexandria Engineering Journal (Jul 2023)
Sustainability-based hybridization interventions, the urban fabric of Erbil Citadel - Iraq – As a case study
Abstract
Traditional cities were social, economic, political, cultural and structural units that grew and developed dynamically within specific spatial spaces under the influence of the contemporary architectural currents. These currents which, frequently, accompanied by uncertainty, caused the positive or negative transformations of the architectural character of those cities in order to be immunized from influential intellectual currents, and to understand the state of development and change in traditional cities according to the principles of sustainability, many concepts have emerged to confront the evolving urban problems among which is the concept of Hybridization. Hybridization is used to control and develop the transformation process taking place in cities and to create a state of balance between tradition and modernity in the development of future cities. Hybridization connects people and activities at common points and stems from these points and other connected pathways in other places.The research aims to build a theoretical framework on the types of hybridization and its applications on the texture of the Citadel of Erbil, one of the northern governorates of Iraq, measuring the interventions of the types of hybridization through the shape of the open spaces, the pattern of movement axes, and the functional hybridization resulting from the restoration and rehabilitation operations of the Erbil Citadel. The importance of the set research objective to build a holistic model of the concept of Hybridization becomes clear. A model that covers types, levels and extents in which Hybridization interventions work in historical urban fabric. The research assumes that crossbreeding interventions in urban areas are associated with a set of factors that determine the type of crossbreeding to be consistent with the urban fabric and sustainable with the current time.The research relied on the description and statistical analysis related to the types of sustainable hybridization and its homogeneity with the ancient urban fabric of the Erbil Citadel and direct recording, measuring the rates of change. Through using computer programs to draw the plans of the Citadel of Erbil.
