MAIS
TAHA
AEE’s Western Europe Region Energy Innovator 2022
Vernacular architecture in the modern era:
The Intelligent Simplicity of Oman
Who knows me knows my attachment to eco-design as a principle, not a trend or a style. Unlike our modern flat in Amman, my grandparents' houses in Jerusalem and Ramallah had natural cooling and heat reservation systems. The walls were thick enough to set on the windows when exterior and to have nice niches within the internal walls. The arrangement of rooms greatly adapted to the social aspects moving from private to semi-private to public. Levantine houses were not the only examples of the magnificence of vernacular structures. You can find this deep understanding and connections with nature in Saudi Arabia's bedouin tents and the ancient site architecture of Iraq.
Oman represents the “Smart vernacular city”. Their urban fabric remains a response to the cultural and social needs, while digital twin technologies got integrated into the infrastructures.
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On the southeast of the Arabian peninsula, there is a country called Oman. Oman is the most sophisticated and civilized country of the 21st and 22nd centuries. Oman, unlike the rest of the world, dumped the vernacular architecture and urban planning to join the global commercial trends. They got engaged with modernization with the elite’s mindset. Oman represents the “Smart vernacular city”. Their urban fabric remains a response to the cultural and social needs, while digital twin technologies got integrated into the infrastructures.
The image explains the concept, most of the buildings in the ancient city of Muscat would pass the opening facade ratios in the modern certificate for sustainability EDGE. This applies to different cities and buildings around the world. Yet, Oman nailed it! They represent the modern sophistication with the heritage classy taste, this is SMART and worth sharing.
About the Omani Smart Cities champion Mrs Laila AL Hadhrami The main applications of smart cities in Oman are:
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Simulate different scenarios: Test the impact of new policies, infrastructure projects, or even weather events before they happen.
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Optimize operations: Identify inefficiencies and bottlenecks in city systems, leading to smoother traffic flow, reduced energy consumption, and improved resource allocation.
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Predict and prevent problems: Anticipate maintenance needs, identify potential disruptions, and take proactive measures to maintain smooth city operations.
The world has several interesting examples of smart and interactive cities using digital twin technologies. Thus, my final note is:
My journey in twin transitions started as a treehugger teenager, and then as an architect obsessed with interactive design. This lifelong journey taught me that technology develops at a very rapid speed, a speed that both humans and cities cannot cope with and maybe do not need.
Thus, planners and decision-makers should make informed decisions with well-established digital design frameworks to secure human wellbeing in modern cities. In good scenarios, this framework is a certified sustainable framework coping with international standards like iPX | XEROWASTE. This framework represents MTiPX automated consultancy. Yet, the best scenarios will always be vernacular architecture with digital Twins infrastructure. Oman nailed it!
