From the traditional Ottoman house to the apartment building in the Kasbah of Algiers: Adaptations and typological mutations

Abstract

During the French occupation, the historic urban fabric of Algiers, the Kasbah, went through many interventions, fragmentations and destruction. A field study conducted within the boundary of the historic core shows the existence of dwellings built or modified during the colonial period. The PPSMVSS study named these dwellings “traditional houses”, “remodelled traditional houses”, or “colonial houses built over Ottoman remains”, but no information is given about the remodelling work or the type of the Ottoman remains. This article traces the evolution of the housing typology in the Kasbah from the traditional Ottoman family house to the apartment building. The aim is to identify the evolution, adaptation and transformation process of traditional housing typologies. A sample of 180 houses located in the historic core was selected. This study investigates, identifies and compares the different housing typologies. It reviews and compares the housing morphological characteristics of both the Ottoman and the colonial periods. The results confirm the existence of two types of colonial houses with different spatial organizations and different construction techniques, materials and ornamentation. The first type, the rental shared house, reproduces the Ottoman housing typology and marks the first stage in the transformation of the traditional family house. The second type, the apartment building, preserves an organization around a central space, but it introduces many changes within the characteristics of the “traditional house”. It appears from this study, that the interaction between the two cultures has generated an indigenous form, a hybrid architecture, mixing traditional Ottoman architecture and colonial architecture.