In Stockholm today, there is a shortage in housing and one way to supply the market with new housing is through densification. This degree project investigates the possibility to improve an existing courtyard and surrounding through densification. By visiting six different courtyards a greater understanding of what factors that makes up a good courtyard was obtained. The doctoral thesis Uncommon ground written by Eva Minoura set the base for the deeper understanding of the structure of courtyards and what creates ownership within them. Based on the research a specification of requirements was developed describing how to carry out a socially sustainable densification. By locating areas with low ownership and build there, territorial boundaries can be changed. Densification with minimal effect economically and ethically on the neighborhood enables the current qualities and living to be kept and the densification is positive for the area. The importance of clear territorial ownership and respectful densification led the way for this suggestion of building densification. The purpose with the project is to highlight a densification which reshapes an existing territorial misuse. Thereby increasing the value, not only for the separate home, but the value of the area. The question is what values to follow and how to implement a densification according to them. The result is illustrated through drawings of a densification in Bärkinge, an area in the Stockholm suburb Tensta. The proposal is attached to the rapport. The proposal is a townhouse with four separate homes each 208 !". Its placement, corner to corner with existing development changes the territorial misuse by enclosing the previously open courtyard. The proposal is changeable homes, adaptable over the years. The entry level is flexible in the sense that it can be altered without large affection to the house. Each home stretches over three floors where the upper floors two and three are constructed in a typical Swedish family home layout with bedrooms on top and living and kitchen underneath. The project presents four alternative plans, one for the large family, one for multiple living, one with extra accessibility and the last with space for home office. The project is a suggestion of a building in a Swedish million dwelling area using ground territorial misused ground and making a new attractive area using studied preconditions for densification.

A historical study of the urban texture of Gamla Stan shows how public space has been appropriated for private needs. Streets were built over, closed off or turned into private courtyards, some of which have started to disappear, being completely internalized. This process of space appropriation was one-directional until the early 1900s, when the fear of losing structures across town made authorities create a precedent and revert the process by removing specific houses from the urban texture. This approach is based on a set of rules which I changed when making my project: the re-examination of all the hidden, internal, private spaces and their re-introduction to public life.    My set of criteria is rooted in a research of the elements that constitute the borderline in Gamla Stan's public vs private realm: doors, passages and courtyards. Based on that I  limited my  intervention techniques to the removal of three elements: fences, structures, and doors. The last one has two sub-categories "the removed wall" (turned into a new door) and "the removed lock" (opening an existing door). By establishing the parameters of my work, I tested this speculation in a specific case scenario - a cluster of four blocks on the west side of Gamla Stan. Using the rule I that a door must be the beginning of a corridor path that leads to an open court, and having the historical knowledge of the  location of past public spaces, I surgically removed later additions of lesser architectural or historical quality. The result of this is a new interconnected, accessible network. Until now one was restricted to walking along the streets and alleys, and around buildings in Gamla Stan. With this intervention people can walk through the buildings and into the reclaimed spaces, thus shifting one’s perception of the urban texture. The new alternative, total system of navigation turns solid into permeable/perforated. Alley City has become Corridor City.

Stockholm stads kommunstyrelse har under de senaste 5 - 10 åren gradvis infört nya riktlinjer för förvaltningen av bostäder och hur dess dotterbolag ska arbeta för att uppnå en hållbar utveckling. Denna studie har av den anledningen syftat till att klargöra några av frågorna om hur de offentliga bostadsbolagen i Stockholms stad arbetar för att uppnå en hållbar utveckling och uppnå stadens uppsatta mål, samtidigt som de förbättrar gårdsmiljöer och byggnadernas omedelbara omgivning. Studien har bestått av flera intervjuer med representanter för Stockholms kommunala bostadsföretag. Information har samlats in från företagens webbplatser, tidigare rapporter och från offentliga institutioner som publicerar ekonomiska och finansiella rapporter. Studien drar slutsatsen att de offentliga bostadsföretagen som ingår i studien har genomfört stora förändringar i sina arbetsmetoder det senaste årtiondet. Med större fokus på ekologiska och sociala ståndpunkter, där ändringarna tillämpas hela vägen från planeringsstadiet till implementeringen av nya förvaltningsstrategier. Genom att involvera hyresgäster i investeringsprocessen har några av företaget lyckats maximera fördelarna med avslutade projekt och nå högre nivåer av nöjdhet hos kunderna. Vissa bolag har fått ökade investeringsanslag som i förlängningen kan innebära ökade investeringsmöjligheter på gårdsmiljön. Men utvecklingen av framtida projekt kan istället försvåras av interna åtstramningar som försvårar anställning av kompetent personal och riskerar att försämra kommunikationslänkarna i organisationen, särskilt mellan företagens planeringssektioner och förvaltningsavdelningar / The council in the city of Stockholm has for the last 5 – 10 years gradually been implementing new guidelines regarding public housing management and how its subsidiaries should work to achieve a sustainable development. This study therefore aims to clear some of the questions regarding how named companies work towards sustainable development and city goals while improving courtyards and the immediate surroundings of the buildings.T he study has consisted of several interviews with representatives of Stockholm’s main public housing companies. Furthermore, has information been gathered from the company’s websites, previous reports and public housing institutions containing economic and financial reports. The report concludes that the public housing companies that are part of the study have changed their working methods considerably. With more focus on ecological and social standpoints, these changes are been applied all the way from the planification stage to the implementation of new investment strategies. By involving tenants in the investment process some of the companies have managed to maximize the benefits from concluded projects and reach higher levels of customer satisfaction. Furthermore, some of the companies have received larger investment budgets making it possible to increase their inversion capabilities. However, the companies are also insecure about how future projects will be managed if additional internal budget restrictions are applied, especially because it might aggravate their possibilities to hire competent staff. This supposes a risk of worsening the communication abilities in the organizations between the planning departments and the management divisions of the companies.

Au cours des 50 dernières années, la Palestine, a été le lieu d’une transformation importante tant du point de vue politique qu’économique, social, urbain, etc. Tout au long de cette transformation, le concept architectural des habitats traditionnels à cour (introvertis) a été abandonné en faveur de nouveaux concepts résidentiels (extravertis). Ces derniers sont quasiment identiques sur l’ensemble de la Palestine malgré ses différentes zones climatiques. Contrairement au concept traditionnel, les concepts contemporains n’ont malheureusement pas respecté les valeurs environnementales, énergétiques, fonctionnelles et socioculturelles tant sur le plan du coût que de la taille, de l’emplacement et de l’esthétique. En outre, les architectes se sont plutôt intéressés à l’environnement intérieur qu’à celui extérieur dans l’habitat contemporain. Pour toutes ces raisons, ce nouveau type d’habitat extraverti est en train d’être remis en cause ce qui justifie notre étude. Pour notre recherche doctorale, nous nous penchons sur le rôle que peut jouer par rapport à cette problématique l’espace extérieur (privé) et ses caractéristiques spatiales, environnementales et humaines. En quoi l’existence de la cour est-elle une stratégie efficace pour un habitat durable en Palestine ? Pour répondre à telles questions, nous avons dans une première phase commencé ce travail en présentant un état de l’art des différents repères et facteurs intervenants dans la conception de l’habitat, la transformation qu’a subie cette conception au cours du temps et la qualité des ambiances (hygrothermiques et lumineuses) dans ces espaces. Une attention particulière est apportée à la cour, forme traditionnelle de l’espace extérieur dans l’architecture vernaculaire ainsi qu’à ses fonctions. Pour l’habitat contemporain cet espace prend majoritairement la forme d’un balcon ou d’une loggia. Dans une deuxième phase, nous abordons l’interrelation entre l’espace extérieur et la question de la qualité des ambiances dans l’habitat palestinien (traditionnel et contemporain) à travers deux approches : qualitative et quantitative. Dans la première, nous effectuons une étude analytique et bioclimatique de l’habitat traditionnel dans deux villes climatiquement différentes. Nous investiguons ensuite les caractéristiques et la dimension socio-environnementale de l’habitat contemporain par le biais d’une enquête. Pour la seconde approche, nous réalisons des campagnes de mesures in-situ dans des exemples de différente typologie d’habitat en vue de valider les résultats obtenus par la première approche. Enfin, en termes de conclusion, nous proposons un ensemble de recommandations et principes conceptuels susceptibles d’améliorer la qualité des ambiances dans le futur habitat palestinien. / Palestine has been witnessing enormous political, economical, social, cultural, urban…. transformation over the past 50 years resulted in changing the architectural residential designs from introverted into extraverted schemes. The latter are almost identical to all Palestine despite different climatic zones. Unlike traditional designs, contemporary architecture have, unfortunately, focused on issues such as cost, size, form and aesthetics rather than environmental, energetic, functional and socio-cultural values. Moreover, in contemporary housing, architects are more interested in interior environment than exterior. For all of these reasons, this new type of habitat extrovert is being questioned that justifying our study. This research focuses on the role of private outdoor space (traditional and modern) regarding spatial, environmental and human characteristics, How a courtyard is vital for sustainable housing in Palestine?To answer such questions, a state of the art of different benchmarks and factors involved in the housing design was presented in the first phase, the transformation it has been witnessing over time the hygrothermal quality and luminous environments. Particular attention was paid to the courtyard, a traditional form of outdoor space in the vernacular architecture and its functions. For contemporary dwelling this space takes mostly the form of a balcony or a loggia.In the second phase, the interrelationship between outdoor space and environmental quality of the Palestinian residences (traditional and contemporary) was discussed following two approaches: qualitative and quantitative. In the first one, an analytical and bioclimatic study of traditional dwellings in two cities (Jericho and Nablus) of two different climatic zones of Palestine was carried out. Then, the characteristics and the socio-environmental dimension in the contemporary housing design were investigated by conducting a questionnaire survey. For the second approach, in-situ measurements were carried out in a number of different habitat types to validate the outcomes of the first approach. Finally, in terms of conclusion, a set of design principles and recommendations were suggested that may improve the environmental quality in any future Palestinian residences.

The colonial era brought about Western civilisation, industrialisation, urbanisation and technology that led to the negation of the validity of the traditional wall decorations and the meaning behind what is understood as merely decorative shapes and parttens. To research as to whether this is true, the aim of this study is to establish whether the symbols applied on the traditional African murals have any linguistic significance. The research investigated the pictography embedded in the traditional murals of three linguistic groups, namely the Balobedu, Vatsonga and Vhavenda in Limpopo Province. The researcher gathered and recorded from the surviving elders the vital codes which unlock the meaning of signs, symbols, colours and geometric shapes before the knowledge is lost forever when they die. Data was collected mainly from Vatsonga female elders in their homes by using unstructured interviews. Traditional huts are decorated with symbols, signs, shapes, lines, and colours on the maguva (walls around the courtyard), mavala ya nghotsa (design and patterns, mainly in repeated half circles (figures 26 to 35)), mabilomu/swiluva/ swiphaswana (calabash/gourd flowers), ku sindza hi makholo (patterned cow dung floor) and ku tsema (coloured bands around the hut), depicted in figures 12 to 15. According to the respondents, the maphapha (calabashes/gourds) is a symbol for the plant that feeds the people. The plant from which maphapha are made, has heart-shaped green leaves and yellow flowers that develop into a calabash/gourd, which are consumed as food (figures 10–11). In this sense, it represents a woman and her responsibilities as carer and life giver. The results affirm that the pictography is not merely a reproduction of common decorative patterns, but is instead the source of an ancient visual expressive language carried down from generation to generation through oratory and visual narratives in the form of symbols, and signs. The study recommends the preservation of the linguistic significance of the traditional South African murals that have long been marginalised, possibly encouraging the younger generations to review their own history. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil.(African Languages)

This thesis analyses local forms of civil society practised in contemporary Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and provides a common thread on which to base a Central Asian understanding of civil society. I look to find out factors and constituents, which on the surface might be different from a classical liberal concept of civil society. The thesis applies a wider anthropological framework, which sees civil society as a broad network of social relationships, including traditional forms of associational life that can be relatively independent of the state. The study draws upon a multi-locale ethnography in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan including in-depth and focus group interviews, participant observations, case studies, and archival research. I have investigated associations whose activities are concerned with reciprocal relations within society based on community solidarity, self-help, and mutual trust. These include professional associations, trade unions, ethno-cultural associations, religious organisations, courtyard clubs, the traditional Uzbek neighbourhood institution of mahalla, and informal practices of gap and khashar. While arguing that the meaning of civil society depends on context, the study has found that traditional elements of the preserved social fabric in Central Asian societies are reflected in today's networks of individuals. The thesis has generated knowledge on how local forms of associational life define the civil sphere by shaping social organisation, solidarity and mobilisation. Through empirical understanding of the public space, formal and informal networks that bond people together, we can locate wider ethnographic differences between not only the original and Central Asian concepts of civil society but also between two local cultures of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Notre recherche de doctorant aborde l’architecture royale en Mésopotamie à la fin du bronze ancien et au bronze moyen (de l’époque de la IIIème dynastie d’Ur : 2112- 2004 av. J.-C. à l’époque paléo-babylonienne : 2004-1595 av. J.-C.). C’est durant cette partie de l’âge du Bronze que les activités de construction de grands bâtiments publics ont été les plus importantes et qu’elles sont les mieux documentées par les fouilles archéologiques La thèse comporte deux volumes (texte et figures). Le volume du texte se compose de trois parties : la première et la deuxième concernent l’analyse architecturale des palais de la Mésopotamie du Sud et du Nord. Dans la dernière partie, on a proposé une étude comparative entre les palais mésopotamiens construits de la période d’Ur III à l’époque paléo-babylonienne. Des comparaisons sont aussi faites entre ces derniers palais et ceux appartenant à la même région de l’âge du bronze. On a aussi proposé d’autres études comparatives entre les palais mésopotamiens et ceux relevant des civilisations voisines, ainsi qu’entre ces palais et les grandes maisons de la même région. / Our doctoral research discusses royal architecture in Mesopotamia from the end of the Early Bronze Age through the Middle Bronze Age (from the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur: 2112-2004 BC through the Old Babylonian period: 2004-1595 BC). Activities surrounding the construction of large public buildings reached their height during this part of the Bronze Age and the most complete records from archeological excavations date from this period.The thesis consists of two volumes (text and figures). The text volume is divided into three sections: the first and second sections give an architectural analysis of the palaces of North and South Mesopotamia. In the last section, we offer a comparative study of Mesopotamian palaces built at the time of Ur III and those built during the Old Babylonian period. We also compare these Old Babylonian palaces to those of the same region during other periods of the Bronze Age. Finally, we compare Mesopotamian palaces to those of neighboring civilizations and to the large houses of the same region.