How to build a 14th century city: rules for compact urbanism

Ibn al-Rami al-Banna, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim. Kitab al-I'lan bi-Ahkam al-Bunyan.

€ 15.000,00

A North African manuscript by a Tunisian master mason, and one of the most comprehensive treatises on building rules from the Muslim world. Written by Muhammad ibn al-Rami (d. 1334) in the 14th century, the work draws on various sources, showcasing the author's wide knowledge of available scholarship, but also includes fascinating examples drawn from his own hands-on experience over the course of a long career. Often summoned by judges to settle disputes on-site, at least one of Ibn al-Rami's case studies describes an issue in the city of Tunis, his hometown, and others describe the many other locations (largely around the Mediterranean) to which he travelled.

The overarching issue Ibn al-Rami addresses in this fascinatingly detailed manuscript is that of urban living in the Muslim world. He is particularly aware of the way architecture affects the lives of citizens: the majority of the cases he describes involve disputes between neighbours who share a wall. In the 14th century, Muslim North Africa was in many areas an urban world, often more so than to its Christian contemporaries to the north. As towns and cities grew (and were constantly renovated), demand grew for specialists able to dictate the rules of property ownership, and what protections should be awarded to owners of buildings themselves. In this work, Ibn al-Rami strove to prevent disputes before they could occur: to this end, he set out intricate rules to be followed first by architects and builders, and then by the owners of buildings themselves. It provides a fascinating snapshot of urban life in 13th century North Africa, and was copied in an elegant maghribi hand by a scribe from the same region.