Sustainable Courtyards: Practical Experience Potentials

Abstract

A courtyard is an architectural design element traditionally and commonly applied in UAE vernacular architecture for its environmental and social potentials. This research highlights a real project that won a national award for excellence in Sustainability education, where the project involved Interior Architecture students in creating their own courtyards external outdoor furniture to be a hub for social communication in the College of Fine Arts & Design at the University of Sharjah. The research will explore the social potentials in the courtyards as an architectural element used to recognize the traditional architecture in Arab countries. Where about four courtyards in the College were redesigned with recycled outdoor furniture collaborating with waste management institute Bee’ah in Sharjah, where volunteering students started the project from concepts’ statements that inspired by the UAE nature to be abstracted in two dimensional drawing and developed to create three-dimensional outdoor pieces of furniture. The Sustainable Courtyard Project is a practical application of the theoretical principles of sustainability as one of the UAE visions 2050 to preserve the environment and spread awareness of its importance for future generations. Spreading awareness among students of the value of environmental and social sustainability, where the designs were inspired by the heritage of the UAE in various forms and using recycled materials.