Visual Identity and Architectural Character of Residential Architecture in Jeddah

(Continuity, Transformation, and Contemporary Adaptation)

Abstract

Historic Jeddah represents a distinctive architectural and urban environment in which visual identity developed through the interaction of environmental conditions, cultural practices, social requirements, and traditional construction techniques. This study examines the visual character of residential architecture in Historic Jeddah, focusing on the relationship between traditional architectural principles and contemporary transformation. A qualitative visual and documentary analysis is used to examine the traditional urban fabric, residential building forms, façade elements, materials, and environmental responses, together with documented contemporary examples. Particular attention is given to features such as compact and vertically organized buildings, narrow and irregular passages, roshan, mashrabiya, takaleel, roof spaces, and locally adapted materials. The analysis indicates that traditional visual identity was not based primarily on ornamentation but emerged from the integration of environmental adaptation, privacy, spatial organization, construction, and cultural practices. Contemporary development has altered this relationship through rapid urbanization, technological change, modern construction materials, standardized planning, changing lifestyles, and globalization. The study further identifies contemporary examples in which traditional principles are reinterpreted rather than literally replicated. It concludes that maintaining Jeddah’s architectural identity requires contextual adaptation of environmental, spatial, cultural, and visual principles while accommodating contemporary residential needs and technologies.