Your search
Results 6 resources
-
Once abandoned for more than three decades, vernacular settlements in Oman are now being progressively reinvested in to foster the country’s heritage tourism sector. The present research focuses on the emerging phenomenon of community-led initiatives for vernacular heritage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse in Oman. Through an examination of three case studies, its aim is to describe this process and its modes of action and discuss its effects on vernacular settlement transformations. A mixed research methodology was designed to include (A) analyses of relevant primary and secondary data, (B) documented onsite observations, (C) interviews with local community representatives and key players in the operations of rehabilitation, and (D) extractions and analyses of quantitative data from a hotel booking website. The research sheds light on unsuspected interrelations within and between the projects being implemented in these settlements and their operating modes. It reveals the focal role of a local community in a kind of ‘bottom-up’ management of its built heritage, coupled with a ‘horizontal cooperation’ between the three initiatives studied in this research. Moreover, it shows that a heavily centralised and top-down policy for the field of heritage conservation and management is among the main obstacles that hinder such initiatives. Furthermore, community-led operations of vernacular heritage rehabilitation are being undertaken under insufficient regulations in terms of land use, building restoration and adaptive reuse. In this context, the paper discusses some of the serious threats and concerns faced by such initiatives and proposes actionable solutions to mitigate these hindrances.
-
Despite its richness, the research corpus published about Islamic architecture presents some discontinuities in the knowledge of the architecture in the lands ruled by Muslims. Similarly, the dynamics of influence that might have operated between the "monumental" architecture in these lands and their popular architectures are insufficiently addressed. Moreover, the material culture related to the Islamic civilization is almost exclusively studied as a product that has stopped evolving. The architecture produced during Al-Ya'ariba (Al- Ya'rubi) Imamate (1624-1749) is an instance of these understudied topics in the history of Islamic architecture. This research argues that Al-Ya'rubi Imamate is not only an important chapter in the history of Oman, the Arabian Peninsula, Indian Ocean, and Eastern Africa, but also the architecture of this period has created the identity of Omani architecture as we know it today. Nonetheless, there is no architectural production in this era both in the major references and scientific publications of Islamic architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries. Through field research, comparative analysis, and literature review of the history of Omani architecture, especially in the 17th -18th centuries, this research examines the military architecture in Oman during Al-Ya'ariba Imamate including its reference, and its influence on other architectures. It is a contribution to the scientific endeavour to address this specific architectural typology from the perspective of its mechanism of (trans) formation and its continuity of forms until the contemporary architecture of Oman.
-
Oman’s built heritage needs a modern, repeatable way to document complex sites and make conservation decisions based on evidence rather than intuition. This pioneering study demonstrates a complete, end-to-end Heritage Building Information Modeling (HBIM) workflow on the Bibi Maryam Mausoleum (Qalhat) and shows how the same method can scale nationally. The research integrates four strands: (1) literature synthesis on documentation in hot- arid contexts; (2) stakeholder engagement through surveys and expert interviews; (3) multi-sensor field capture— terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), UAV photogrammetry, close-range imaging, and selective manual measurements; and (4) a semantic, parametric HBIM at roughly LoD 300, encoding geometry, construction systems, materials (including lime–sarooj plasters and stucco layers), chronology, and pathologies within a single, queryable model. Implemented in a Revit-based environment, the workflow privileges interoperability (IFC/CSV) and living records over one-off drawings, enabling multi-party updates without model corruption. Results show that compared with mesh-only outputs, HBIM delivers greater adaptability, semantic depth, and life-cycle updatability. It supports diagnosis, risk mapping, and option evaluation (from minimal intervention to compatible repair) while reducing duplication of effort across agencies. The pipeline translates directly into policy actions: defining national HBIM standards (LoD/ LOI/metadata and QA/QC), assigning custodianship, and training teams to extend the method to forts, harāt, and urban ensembles. Crucially, the model accommodates intangible heritage, oral testimonies and craft knowledge, anchoring conservation in the memory of making. In short, this case proves HBIM is feasible and scalable under Omani conditions, offering a template to standardize workflows, de-risk conservation spending, and build a national digital heritage backbone.
Explore
Topic
Resource type
- Book Section (1)
- Journal Article (3)
- Presentation (2)