The Effects of Cultural Values on Traditional Islamic-Arabic Houses in the Middle East
Culture and design determine the space-influenced values; they specifically outline space variations between values within a culture in relation to design space-influenced values. By the vision of an ideal life, one can shape and mold the vision of space by reflecting cultural forces such as religious beliefs. The purpose of this study will determine cultural values and religious beliefs and, in turn, assess the effects on the formation of houses in the Middle East. For this principle, the elements of traditional Islamic-Arabic homes showed effects by determining certain elements such as the bent entrance, the courtyard, the Haramlek and Salamlik (women’s and men’s quarters), and the Mashrabiya (wooden windows). Qualitative analysis was used as the method to analyze the case studies comparing traditional courtyard homes to today’s housing. The results have shown that today’s housing was unsuccessful when trying to imitate the provision of privacy as it was in the houses during the past.
Relationship between Culture and Work Ethics: The Islamic Perspective
This study determines Islamic work ethics in the Nigerian context with the aim to provide a proposed model for the country, since most of the existing literature on work ethics is derived from non-Islamic perspectives.  There has been a paucity of literature, which provides evidence on how work ethics is to be used in our society. In Nigeria, the Islamic work ethics is traced back during the Islamic sharia period of the Sokoto caliphate. However, immediately after the Nigerian independence, the formation of Nigerian constitutions work ethics on Islamic sharia was terminated, and that gave rise to unethical behaviours in all sectors of the country’s development. Therefore, this study is to provide a model that could be useful for work ethics in the Sokoto state as well as other states of Nigeria. Keywords : Islamic Work ethics, Religion, culture JEL Classifications: C610, C623, I23
Persisting vision: plans for a modern Arab capital, Amman, 1955–2002
This article examines the character and role of the main urban design and architectural proposals included in the various plans and masterplans made for the city of Amman, Jordan, in the period 1955–2002, gauges the degree and extent of their implementation and discusses the general factors influencing their implementation. It documents the time lag between the initial date of the proposal and the date of its final implementation which varies from a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 47 years, thus often far exceeding the time horizon of the plan. Nevertheless, the survey has shown that the majority of these proposals have indeed been implemented, notwithstanding their slightly modified form or location, and that a good number of the spectacularly grand projects had been implemented (or are currently underway) since the 1990s, which coincides with formation of a new administrative and planning entity known as the Municipality of Greater Amman. This process of delayed but, eventually, rather assured imple...