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Tens of thousands lined the streets of capital Dili, waving Vatican-coloured flags and umbrellas while screaming as the 87-year-old was driven through the streets flanked by security
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A house for the clime and time
A 19th century two-storey house that displays a unique architecture and designs of its time has continued to earn admiration from thousands of tourists, most of whom are Chinese and Japanese.
Noura Ahmed Al Naqbi, curator of Bait Al Naboodah, said that visitors are amazed by the art, architecture and the air circulation in the building and it is as popular as Al Nabooda, whose real name is Obaid bin Essa bin Ali bin Nasser Shamsi.
Al Naqbi said that Bait Al Nabooda even now exudes that 1845 aura. “Visitors come from the GCC, Europe, Japan, Americas and China, besides the Emirati families. But, the Chinese comprise 60 per cent of the total foreign visitors to Bait Al Nabooda,” she said.
Bait Al Naboodah’s popularity in the past started with Obaid, the house owner, who had a limp known in Arabic as Naboodah became a direct reference to his house Bait Al Naboodah. The same popularity continues to pervade today at the sight of significant antique things that can still be found in his house.
Interestingly, Al Naboodah has no semblance with the time’s architecture when the majority of the residential buildings have used “barjel” or ventilation in Arabic architectural designs.
Bait Al Naboodah in its uniqueness was the only two-storey house in the area made of coral stones gathered from the sea off Sharjah’s shores. It has no Arabic chimney but it is designed with a different type of window that creates in itself ventilation for the ground and second floor. “The ceiling and the roofing are made of the combination of “arish” from the palm tree and India’s well-known sandalwood.
In the 1970s, the house was left empty and later many Asian families from different countries came to reside in Al Nabooda until the Sharjah government under the direction of the Ruler of Sharjah started renovating it in 1990 up to 1995. On the same year the renovation was completed, Bait Al Nabooda opened as another museum of Sharjah.
Touring around Bait Al Nabooda, visitors can get a glimpse of the old steel safe box, the mortar used to pound wheat and rope-bound mangrove poles or “chandals” added to the structural strength of the walls, one of which is left partly exposed during the restoration to demonstrate this reinforcing feature. Windows made of gypsum in decorative patterns help define the architectural style of this house. The square beam are made of Indian teak wood and around the beams are mangrove poles.
Al Naqbi said that Bait Al Naboodah’s climate control was achieved by several means. The thick coral stone walls are good insulators to keep the heat out of the interior and create airy summer rooms on the ground floor, providing cooler living space for the family, creating natural ventilation.
She said different and multiple designs around Bait Al Nabooda are all based on mathematical principles seen throughout Islamic art. “An old anchor belonging to fellow merchants of Nabooda’s time, who owned many boats at that time, was donated to another museum by Bait Al Nabooda.”
Bait Al Nabooda is not just a 19th century art. Its majlis continues to be the special place for people to meet, bonding through socialising and eating. Students of Sharjah University and other universities and schools come to Bait Al Nabooda to experience the old building art and architecture. Sixty per cent of its programmes are for locals, especially children’s art using the old craft tools of painting and making art models for old furniture and drawing the architectural designs of the windows.
lily@khaleejtimes.com
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