CIPA 2003 XIX 11 ' International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey 
Fig. 1: A satellite image showing A1 Bastakia area, 2002. 
Image courtesy of DigitalGlobe, www.digitaIglobe.com 
2.1 Historical Background 
The Bastakia is the largest historic area in Dubai that exhibits 
vernacular architecture. The houses located in this area were 
built by master builders and masons who learned the skills from 
their fathers. Settlers from Persian introduced the wind towers 
to the coastal towns of the UAE. In fact, in the Bastakia, every 
house had at least one wind tower, while in other quarters of 
Dubai such as Deira and Shindagha, wind towers were 
introduced by those who could afford the building of more 
elaborate homes. (Heard-Bey, F, 1996:246) 
Wind towers in Bastakia rise to about fifteen meters above 
ground level. “The upper part consists of four concave inner 
walls with pillars, arches and often intricate plasterwork to 
continue the square shape of the tower.” The tower catches 
wind, which is channelled though a chimney down to a 
common room where the inhabitants appreciate the breeze. 
(Heard-Bey, F., 1996:246) Geographical and climatic 
considerations and cultural requirements, have contributed to 
the emerging of responsive vernacular architecture that can be 
found in the Bastakia. 
2.2 Urban and Architectural Landmarks 
Bastakia settlers after they chose a parcel, started by building a 
high fence to protect the family from views of intruders and 
passers-by as well as from robbers. The families initially lived 
in tents or shelters made of lightweight materials. Later a more 
durable shelter was built. As the family grew, more rooms were 
added to the compound, by locating them around a central 
courtyard. A first floor was added when there was no room on 
the ground floor. Wind towers and wind catchers were added to 
catch cool winds and thus improve the thermal comfort inside 
the house. 
The Bastakia houses contain features of Arab-Islamic 
architecture, namely the use of a central courtyard, with many 
rooms organised around it and accessible from a gallery. The 
gallery is also present on the first floor. Roofs have high 
parapets to protect the female inhabitants from views of 
strangers. 
Blind windows with modest decorations adorned outdoor 
facades, whereas indoor facades had many large openings 
(doors and windows) displaying rich decorations. 
An urban analysis can reveal that Bastakia houses were laid out 
to enable direct access to the creek, by producing streets or axes 
perpendicular to the creek. Streets width varies between two 
and four meters. This was dictated by the neighbourhood’s 
vocation at the time it was built. This being its dependence on 
trade coming from and leaving to the sea. Therefore axes of 
movement for transportation of goods had to link the creek to 
the inland. These axes were in fact the generators of the built 
form of Bastakia. It is claimed that the first houses were built on 
the edge of the creek and later more houses were added 
following the axes, as more land was made available for 
construction. Smaller and less important streets parallel to the 
creek link the main streets. The intersection of these streets 
sometimes results in the creation of small squares. These 
squares did not have an urban function but rather the result of 
unplanned growth, or to allow the continuity of a main street 
when its linearity is broken. (Fig. 3) 
Fig. 2: Views of houses and wind towers in A1 Bastakia area. 
Fig. 3: Views of pathways in A1 Bastakia area. 
2.3 Aerial Surveys of Dubai 
In 1996, Dubai Municipality contacted Hansa Luftbild - 
German Air Surveys - in order to carry out a comprehensive 
survey of Dubai using colour aerial photography. The objective 
of the contract was “to provide image data of high resolution 
and adequate accuracy that shall be suitable for the generation 
and updating of vector maps of a general Geographic 
Information System (GIS) for Dubai Municipality”. 
(Mahlbreuer, A. et al., 1998:367) 
As part of the product, the German firm also produced a Digital 
Terrain Model with regular 20m-grid spacing using MGE 
Terrain Modeller. Building heights were identified using stereo 
photogrammetric restitution. Digital ortho-rectification of 
scanned images was carried out using “Base Rectifier”, a 
module of Intergraph’s software. (Mahlbreuer, A. et al., 1998)