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THE CASE OF
AL-FINA'
IN CAIRO
199
from the plants in the street when all the rooms were turned
inward toward the courtyard. In addition, the location of windows
in the ground floor had to be higher than a persons height, while
the gate was used in the entrance of the quarter to create a safe
community and define the edges of their domain.
2. By the common social norms
(•urf).
These were used by people
to regulate the different behaviours in the street through
decisions that defined the boundaries and domains of the quarter.
When the architectural solution failed to meet the needs of the
individuals and the community, the social norms helped to fill
this gap.
The term
shame
( 'ib) was applied to any way of
thinking or acting that violated privacy of people and was
condemned by the community.
Because the local tradition
('urf)
was known and respected
by the community in general, each member was able to participate
in the decision making process on issues of his/her street
environment and its meanings. Hence, the common tradition
( 'urf)
could easily be used to determine how the streets should be
designed, and used. In this way, the harm could be easily
identified. The use of the
'urf
by the the local community
encouraged participation of people in the decision-making.
The participation in the decision making had a hierarchical
order:
(a) The neighbors who were directly involved in a case.
(b) The local community of the market or the neighborhood.
In the residential areas, organizing the relationships and
regulating the space of
al-fina'
were done by the users
themselves by using the social organization of the quarter
(ha' rah)
263
•
In cases which required negotiation between the
neighbors, the
shaikh al-ha'rah
who represented the head of the
263
Staffa, Suzan Jane,
Conquest and Fusion.
pp. 264-271.