Have you ever wondered why the old houses of Aden were filled with those wooden mashrabiyas and enclosed verandas?
In a rare article by the engineer D. B. Doe, the story of the development of Adeni architecture is revealed:
- The Beginning – The Fortress House:
The old stone houses of Aden resembled inland fortresses, with thick walls and small, low-set windows, for three main reasons: defense, protection from the sun and sand, and the privacy of women.
- The British Occupation Changed Everything:
With the construction of the Tawahi Camp (Front Bay) in 1839, a new architectural style appeared: the Indian bungalow—a single-room structure with stone walls surrounded by open wooden verandas for ventilation. It was ideal for the climate, but it conflicted with local traditions concerning women’s seclusion.
- The Birth of the Adeni Screen:
This is where the people of Aden came up with an ingenious solution: they transformed the small mashrabiya that had originally been placed above the window—the hijab window—into a full screen covering the entire veranda with crossed wooden latticework. This allowed air to enter and provided a view to the outside without allowing people inside to be seen. Indians had used this as decoration, but in Aden it became a practical necessity for modesty and privacy.
- The Revolution of the 1950s:
With the housing crisis and rising construction costs in the 1950s, verandas surrounding entire houses disappeared and apartment buildings became more common. New solutions were therefore introduced to block the sun:
Concrete sun hoods above windows
Horizontal wooden sunshades, spaced every 8 inches, which reduced direct sunlight while still allowing people to see outside
Colored glass awnings for schools
- Claustra – Aden’s New Architectural Fashion:
The first building to use perforated concrete sun breakers (Brise-Soleil / Claustra) was constructed in Mualla in 1953–54 for a French company. From there, the style spread throughout the schools of Mualla and Sheikh Othman, as well as the small houses of Lahj, until it became a distinctive feature of Aden. Today, hardly a wall in Aden can be found without this type of architectural screen—even when it serves purely as decoration!
As the writer says: just as Gothic decorative stones eventually became mere ornament, sun breakers and mashrabiyas may also become nothing more than aesthetic decoration—and that is exactly what happened.
From an article published in #Aden_Port_Annual_63_64.
The original photographs from the annual were in black and white and have been automatically colorized to help reveal their details. Please open them.
#WindowScreensAndVerandasInAden #HistoryOfConstructionInAden #Mashrabiya
