Liwan

Liwan ( _ar. لوان) is a word used since ancient times into the presentcite book|title="The Town Planning Review"|author=Sir Patrick Abercrombie|publisher=Liverpool University Press|year=1910|page=266] to refer to a long narrow-fronted hall or vaulted portal found in Levantine homes that is often open to the outside.cite book|title="Northern Cyprus: A Traveler's Guide"|author=Eileen Davey|year=1993|publisher=I.B.Tauris|page=29|isbn=1850437475]

In its simplest form, the history of the liwan dates back more than 2,000 years, when the liwan house was essentially a covered terrace, supported by retaining walls, with a courtyard in front.cite web|title=Lebanese Domestic Vernacular|author=Victor A. Khoueiry|date=6 March 2002|accessdate=2007-12-14|url=http://www.architectureweek.com/2002/0306/culture_1-2.html ]

In its more complex forms, the liwan house is composed of a large ceremonial entrance hall (liwan) at the front of the complex, divided into three sections, and flanked by two smaller liwans. The back of the house opens onto a columned peristyle courtyard from which the main room and the private apartments opposite can be accessed, with symmetry on either side of the central axis.

Mats and carpets are typically spread along the length of the floor of the liwan, and the mattresses and cushions along the length of the walls make up the "diwan" or divan seating area.cite book|title="The Churches and Monastaries of Egypt and Some Neighbouring Countries|author=Abu Salih the Armenian, B T A Evetts, Alfred Joshua Butler, Ahmad ibn Alī Magrīzī|year=2002|page=32|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|isbn=0971598673]

Types of liwan houses

Three-arched house or Central Hall House

One type of liwan house is the three-arched house or "Central Hall House", as coined by Friedrich Ragette in 1974.cite web|title=Research Group on the Architecture of the Levant|author=Groupe de recherche sur l'architecture au Levant (GRAL)|publisher=European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES)|date=1998-199|accessdate=2007-12-14|url=http://www.smi.uib.no/eurames/gral.html] It is also known as the "traditional house" or "Late-Ottoman Arab House" in Haifa or the "Beiruti House" in Mersin.

The 19th century Levantine model of the three-arched house with many regional variations is found in the coastal regions of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine/Israel and Turkey. A representative example of the liwan house commonly found in towns throughout the West Bank and Gaza is the Al Imam house in Hebron.cite web|title=Establishing, Adoption, and Implementation of Energy Codes for Building: Architectural Styles Survey in Palestinian Territories|author=Mouhannad Hadid, Architect|date=August 2002|accessdate=2007-12-14|url=http://www.molg.gov.ps/ecb/studies/architecture/arch.pdf]

References