Nº 018 Coming
riad رياض
An inward-looking courtyard house built around a four-part garden and fountain.
A traditional Moroccan house with windowless exterior walls and an open central courtyard divided into four planted beds around a cooling basin.
The film, in words
From the street, this house is a blank mud-brick wall. Inside, it hides a lush four-part garden.
It's called a riad, Arabic for garden: a courtyard house with rooms facing inward around a central fountain.
At night, cool air sinks into the open court; by day, trees and evaporating water chill the shaded arcades.
Thick outer walls block street noise and desert dust, while every window opens onto Citrus trees and water.
In Marrakesh and Fez, its four-part plan echoes the classical Persian chahar bagh garden.
Its cousins: the Roman impluvium, the Iranian howz courtyard, and Beijing's siheyuan.
Riad. An inward-looking courtyard house built around a four-part garden and fountain.