Decline of the Mashrabiya
In the early 20 century, Mashrabiyas started to decline in use due to many factors. For example, the result of cursory modernization, the growth of globalization, and the abandonment of vernacular traditions. Concurrent with this was a changing economic structure, which was born of the industrial revolution that made small craft-based manufacturing redundant. Therefore the reasons behind the decline in use of the Mashrabiya are twofold: due to both cultural and practical influences (Akbar, 1994) (Figure 2.47).
Figure 2.47: The reasons for the decline in use of the Mashrabiya (Alothman, 2016)
Cultural
“.. with the rapid growth of Europe and America in the 19th and 20th Centuries it became important for the slow developing economies of the Middle East to adopt the modern appearance of western values and, as such, architecture.
”
Therefore architectural elements such as the Mashrabiya came to be considered as antiquated, too decorative, too expensive, and hampering the growth of the Arab economy at that time. Additionally the increase in globalization led to decline of Mashrabiyas, because the new technologies and styles of globalization, were encouraging simplicity and the avoidance of complex façades or decoration, both of which conflicted with the design and construction of Mashrabiyas (Figure 2.48).
““It was symbolic because the image of villas and apartments was modern and thus, if the [Mashrabiya] was fixed on a villa or apartment, the modern image which people were keen to express would be distorted.”
”
Figure 2.48: Egypt in the early 20 century (https://soundslikewish.com/tag/egypt/page/4/)
Practical
The industrial revolution of the 19th century led to major economic changes which made traditional architecture financially unviable, so the Mashrabiya was considered labor-intensive, incredibly time-consuming and expensive. Consequently, architects were forced to avoid using the Mashrabiya due to its high costs. Air conditioners were used to replace them, but were unable to operate with the same efficiency as the Mashrabiya, especially in the hot, desert climate.
As a result of the Mashrabiya achieving widespread popularity around the old world for many decades, its construction flourished, especially in Egypt due to the arabesque design and woodwork being so popular in ancient times. Mashrabiya did not provide only a decorative and aesthetic element, but also it was designed to perform many environmental functions like adjustment of lighting, humidity and air flow control, reducing the heat, and playing an essential role in securing privacy. The next chapter will study all these functions and parameters of design, in addition it will expound the importance of commitment to the proper criteria of Mashrabiya, in order to fully exploit its functions.
