VERNACULAR VERSUS SOCIAL HOUSING IN THE ALGERIAN SAHARA; WOMEN’S QUEST FOR COMFORT

This study originates from the social, spatial and environmental failure of the social housing erected in Algeria over the last four decades. The contextual background of the urban evolution in Algeria is briefly covered in the context of this study i.e. the Algerian desert called Sahara. Vernacular habitats are eloquent examples of man’s symbiosis with his natural environment, where social, cultural and spatial practices were synchronized with the geo-climatic dimension of the local environment. Sudden and radically different housing models emerged in the last four decades, as a response to a tremendous demand. The consequences of this rupture in the housing sector are multiple and of different nature. This paper examines the effect of this brutal change on the women’s daily home activities in the social housing of the city of Biskra, a major oasis in the Sahara desert. First, the daily women’s activities and their spatial manifestations are identified in the traditional desert dwellings. Second, the inhabitants‟ adaptation dilemma in the public housing is then investigated through a field study carried through observations and interviews. The results of this preliminary study attempt to appraise the occupants‟ efforts in general and the women are in particular, to adopt and adapt this new type of housing while underlining the new forms of socio-spatial practices.