The Valley of Mud-brick Architecture

Examining in detail the cities of Shibam and Tarim, Dr Damluji analyses the buildings and planning of the Hadramut region of Yemen. She argues that many new building practices are unsuited to the local environment, lack consideration of climatic needs and are technically inferior to long established construction methods. Moreover, they presuppose 'imported' expertise and raw materials and therefore have implications for economic and cultural autonomy.