Traditional Architecture and Local Materials for Sustainable Housing in the Middle East and North Africa: Between Energy Efficiency Opportunities and Socio-Economic Challenges

The objective of this international conference is to explore the potential of traditional architecture and local materials for sustainable housing in the Middle East and North Africa, using Algeria, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as comparative case studies. Indeed, vernacular architecture in Arab countries, shaped by centuries of adaptation to coastal and desert climates, offers valuable bioclimatic strategies – such as passive cooling, natural ventilation, and thermal massing – that contribute to energy efficiency and climate-responsive design. These principles resonate with contemporary approaches in other contexts, such as Germany’s passive house concept, a building concept that is energy efficient, comfortable and affordable at the same time. 

The conference aims to combine architectural design analysis with an assessment of energy efficiency to evaluate the sustainability potential of traditional building forms and materials. Rather than treating these practices as purely historical, the conference underscores their relevance for contemporary construction in climate-adapted, resource-efficient housing. Through a review of architectural characteristics, combined with targeted interviews with local inhabitants and decision-makers in Arab countries, the contributors should investigate both energy efficiency benefits and socio-economic challenges.

The conference concludes with a comparative perspective emphasising the local specificities of traditional housing, as well as the role of civil society and public and private stakeholders in the conservation process. A policy forum as part of the conference, will involve international experts, including Arab and German researchers, as well as local stakeholders with the aim of jointly identifying socially viable pathways for embedding traditional, climate-adapted architecture into urban development and regulatory frameworks.

Contributors may focus on one or several of the following themes (non-exclusive list): 

1. Traditional Housing, Climate Adaptation and Energy Efficiency

• Architectural design analysis
• Assessment of energy efficiency
• Climate-adapted, resource-efficient housing 

2. Socio-spatial Analysis of Traditional Residential Spaces

• Assessment of community acceptance or rejection of traditional architecture
• Sustainability potential of traditional building forms and materials
• Design quality and processes of development for future generations

3. Old Residential Design and Contemporary Urban Governance

• Vernacular architecture and its relevance for contemporary construction structures
• Traditional and energy-efficient building approaches in current governance systems
• Housing practice policies, formal building codes and urban development strategies
   

Abstracts are welcome from any academic discipline and shall not comprise more than 250 words. Interested contributors should send their proposal in English together with their contact details and a short bio of not more than 100 words to the organisers Prof. Lilia Makhloufi, Ecole Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (EPAU) in Algiers, and Dr. Dawud Al Ansari, Shaheen Institute for Strategy and Development in Muscat, Oman; Berlin Institute of Technology, Germany, at l.makhloufi[at]epau-alger.edu.dz until 20 July 2026.

This project is funded by the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA). There will be no conference charges for accepted authors.

The scientific committee will evaluate all incoming proposals based on criteria of academic rigorousness, innovation of research and overall suitability within the conference scope. Notifications of acceptance and rejection will be sent out by 30 September 2026.
 

27 – 28 October 2026 (tbc)
Muscat, Oman 
Hybrid Conference

Important Dates: 
20 July 2026: Submission of abstracts (max. 250 words)
31 July 2026: Notification of accepted abstracts
10 September 2026: Submission of articles (max. 6000 words)
30 September 2026: Notification of accepted participants 
27-28 October 2026 (tbc): International conference in Muscat, Oman

Call for Papers “Traditional Architecture and Local Materials for Sustainable Housing in the Middle East and North Africa: Between Energy Efficiency Opportunities and Socio-Economic Challenges”

Co-chairs of the Scientific Committee

• Prof. Lilia Makhloufi, Ecole Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (EPAU), Algiers, Algeria (AGYA Alumna)
• Prof. Dawud Al Ansari, Shaheen Institute for Strategy and Development, Muscat, Oman; Berlin Institute of Technology, Germany (AGYA Member)

Members of the Scientific Committee

• Prof. Daniela Esposito, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy
• Prof. Assia Lamzah, Ecole Nationale d’Architecture (ENA), Rabat, Morocco
• Prof. Manuel Moritz, AGYA Member, Hochschule Flensburg, Germany
• Prof. Ahmad Sakhrieh, AGYA Alumnus, American University of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
• Dr. Raed Salim Ahmed Al-Numman, University of Mosul, Iraq
• Dr. Carmen Antuña Rozado, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
• Dr. Ferdaws Belcadhi, Ecole Nationale d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (ENAU), Tunis, Tunisia
• Dr. Hassan El Mouelhi, Habitat Unit, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
• Dr. Nesma Fadda, German International University, Cairo, Egypt
• Dr. Anke Hagemann, Habitat Unit, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
• Dr. Husam R. Husain, German University in Cairo, Egypt
• Dr. Zakaria Qudah, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Muscat, Oman
• Dr. Maiss Razem, Al Hussein Technical University in Amman, Jordan