Building Materials Used in Traditional Residential Architecture in South-western Tunisia’s Nefzaoua Region

By Muhammad Jizrawi, Tunisia

Today, scientific research must be related to community issues and reality in order to help to fulfil knowledge objectives and practical goals. The importance of this trend is confirmed by increasing challenges to our folk heritage in general and local culture in particular with the growing pressure of globalisation and political changes.

In this context, various peoples have returned to study their folk heritage in order to find solutions to current problems and use local material in architecture, which is considered a general rule in construction throughout the world.

The rich raw materials of the Nefzaoua region in southwestern Tunisia have contributed to the diversity of local building materials. One focus of this study is to classify these materials, to identify their components, and to confirm their value, because this study may contribute to the region’s future development and encourage investment. 

We will also adopt the local folk terminology related to traditional architecture in order to preserve it and to emphasise the richness and diversity of the local vocabulary and its adherence to classical Arabic with elements from local and more distant dialects.

The local building materials used in the construction of traditional housing in the villages of the Nafza Oasis can be classified into three basic categories: plant material; hard soil material; and soft soil material.