KHARTOUMThe name Khartoum comes from theArabic word “ Res-el-hartum,” or “ endof the elephant trunk,” which the city’soutline resembles on the map.Christian Norborg-Schultz, in GeniusLoci, describes Khartoum “as a citywith a strong quality of space,burning sun and immense sky, allthese elements helped to create apowerful environment.”It was founded in 1821 as an Egyptianmilitary post for captured territory inthe Sudan. It is the chief administra-tive city and the center of transporta-tion. It is divided by the great life-givingNile River into three towns, Khartoumcity, Omdurman city and KhartoumNorth city, where three different worldsmeet. Khartoum-the colonial widestreet city, the labyrinthine world ofArabic Omdurman and the world of apresent day industrial city, KhartoumNorth.Geographically, Khartoum is in thecenter of the Sudan, it is flat andsurrounded by infinite expanses ofscarcely populated deserts andsavannah. The only prominent struc-ture is the Nile which cuts through thecountry from the South to the North.In Khartoum the pure abstract absolu-tion of Islam meets the magic world ofAfrica, so it is located at the center ofseveral worlds, the eternal order of theNile valley to the North, the world ofblack Africa to the South, the infinitedesert to the West, and the harshmountains of Ethiopia to the East.The colonial town is characterized byits horizontal development which is theexistential dimension of the desert.Arabs in fact, have always preferredlow, horizontally extended buildings,and the only vertical element was theminarets of the mosques.

KHARTOUM NORTH

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The character of Khartoum is deter-mined by the appearance of concrete,and sand which is the most prominentelement that represents the desert thatsurrounds the city. Sand is presentednot only as material, but as color andtexture.The architecture of Khartoum representsan interesting combination of Arabic andAfrican character, where the enclosureof the private domain is in accordancewith the social structure of the Arabs.However the plastic modeling and thesoft details that are found in the use ofsmall windows that could have a circularshape, the use of mud or sun-driedbrick, and also the burned brick isAfrican more that Arabic. As Norburg-Schultz mentioned in his Genius Loci,that “ the Arabic architecture of NorthAfrica in fact gives more emphasis tothe regularity and geometrization. ”The architecture is more to do withobeying “the low” of the natural environ-ment, which is expressed by color andmaterials.The vernacular architecture in the threetowns depends mainly on the usage oflocal materials as mud, or sun-driedbrick and burned bricks. The housesconsist mainly, as any Muslim house, ofthe perimeter wall, which is usually builtbefore the dwelling, it is continuous andan enclosing element.The wall encloses a courtyard that issurrounded by “several or one room”,Genius Loci, which is free standing, orattached to the perimeter internally; thewall prevents the feel of desert entering.The courtyard will create a pleasantenvironment by having green areas andthe shadows of the rooms which willreplace the burning sun and the sandcolor of the exterior world. This arrange-ment is commonly used in Omdurman .In the colonial Khartoum, houses aremore open to the environment and theenclosing wall is substituted by atransparent fence.

Library of Khartoum University

The Burlman building

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Two basic types of urban structures arefound in Khartoum city, the labyrinthineworld of the desert settlement, whichrepresents the original vernacularsolution (Tuti Island), and the geometricpattern of “ Baroque”, which symbolize ageneral ideological system.Geometrically, Khartoum is a geometri-cal network, with which land marks andnodes are distributed according to theirfunctional and symbolic role. KhartoumNorth is less distinct. The three townsare united by the blue-green belt of theNile.

The density is less and the streets aremore defined and wider. At the level ofbuildings and houses, columns, archesand architraves substitute the wall. Thecolumns take different shapes, forexample, Ionic prefabricated of concrete.Currently Khartoum city is expressed bythe interaction of the Arabic, African andEuropean styles and colors, but maintainthe same Arabic social structure in moredeveloped sequence.Khartoum city, in the beginning did notfollow the Islamic city porticoes asmuch, because it was planned by theBritish Lord Kitchener in the shape of theUnion Jack.

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