Decoding the Spatial Configuration of the Ottoman Palace “Khdewedj El Amia” in Algiers (Algeria) through Space Syntax

• Published in: Prostor Vol. 29; no. 2 (62); pp. 192 - 211
• Main Authors: Benyahia, Lamia, Hamouda, Abida, Moffok, Narimene
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Zagreb Sveuciliste U Zagrebu 24.12.2021; University of Zagreb; Arhitektonski fakultet, Sveučilište u Zagrebu; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Architecture
• Subjects: Analysis; architectural heritage; Castles & palaces; Islamic law; Ottoman palace “Khdewedj El Amia”, Algiers, Algeria; Social aspects; space perception; spatial integration; visibility graph analysis; France; Algeria
• ISSN: 1330-0652; 1333-9117
• DOI: 10.31522/p.29.2(62).4

Palaces of the Ottoman era, the Golden age of Islamic civilization, bear witness to a prestigious know-how, drawing its rules from a way of life governed by the Islamic Sharia, the socio-cultural context of the Berber-Arab population and the climate-physical environment. The palace of Khdewedj El Amia is one of the majestic palaces located at the Casbah of Algiers and constitutes the subject of this article whose objective is to decode its genome in order to understand the social logic of a space inhabited and designed by a princess who lost her sight. Hence the name El Amia, which means blind in Arabic. The decoding of this building used the space syntax approach via a visibility graph analysis (VGA) performed by the Depthmap tool and a quantitative analysis of the graph justified by the Agraph tool. It is about taking into account the way in which vernacular architecture can stimulate the direct perception of space and participate in the construction of the user’s path. It was found that the palace is made up of two entities; one is of public order highlighting the resident/alien interface, and another intended for the private apartments, the harem of the princess, isolated from the outside world.