Mashrabiya or Jali: Windows without panes that allow air to flow through a building, ensure bearable temperatures even in the summer heat, and are a decorative element in the facade

Climate-friendly building will be a major topic in the coming years. Natural stone can play a special role here, for example, because it is a good conductor of heat: this means that white marble feels cold to the touch and has therefore always been a popular building material in hot regions. We know the marble-lined courtyards around the Mediterranean, which are shaded and where trees and usually also a fountain provide pleasant evaporative cooling. These temperature cells also store the cold of the night for the day.

This time we want to look at another tradition from the hot countries, known in Arab culture as Mashrabiya or in India as Jali: these are perforated inserts in windows. They allow a draft of air across the house while keeping sunlight out of homes. In some cultures, privacy is also important: residents can follow what’s going on in the street but can’t be seen themselves.

Architects and artists have given these windows without panes decorative, often geometric designs.

With the availability of glass and air conditioning, however, they went out of fashion. Admittedly, neither Mashrabiyas nor Jalis can stop the noise of the street or the stench from it.

With waterjet technology, stone slabs can now also be cost-effectively designed as mashrabiyas. We show examples from all over the world.

Professor Giuseppe Fallacara from the Polytechnic University of Bari: A „Lithic Fabric” in ivy keeps heat out but lets light in.Professor Giuseppe Fallacara from the Polytechnic University of Bari: A „Lithic Fabric” in ivy keeps heat out but lets light in.Professor Giuseppe Fallacara from the Polytechnic University of Bari: A „Lithic Fabric” in ivy keeps heat out but lets light in.
https://www.stone-ideas.com/77583/lithic-fabric-keeps-heat-out-but-lets-light-in/
 

Object of Turkish Kocasaban company at Marble Izmir fair 2009.Object of Turkish Kocasaban company at Marble Izmir fair 2009.
http://www.kocasaban.com/
 

Italian designer Paolo Ulian in cooperation with F65 company: Perforated stone as a variable room divider Italian designer Paolo Ulian in cooperation with F65 company: Perforated stone as a variable room divider.
https://www.stone-ideas.com/44436/perforated-stone-as-a-variable-room-divider/
 

Craglia Marmi, Italy, at Marmomacc 2006.Craglia Marmi, Italy at Marmomacc 2006.
https://www.cragliamarmigroup.it/
 

Faoro Marmi, Italy, at Marmomacc 2006.Faoro Marmi, Italy at Marmomacc 2006.
http://www.faoromarmi.it/
 


 

Marmoarredo, Italy, at Marmomacc 2006.Marmoarredo, Italy, at Marmomacc 2006.
http://www.marmoarredo.com
 

Marmoarredo, Italy, at Marmomacc 2006.Marmoarredo Italien, auf der Marmomacc 2006.
http://www.marmoarredo.com
 

Architecture from Palestine by Elias and Yousef Anastas: „Stonesourcing Space“ at the Nativity Square in Bethlehem.Architecture from Palestine by Elias and Yousef Anastas: „Stonesourcing Space“ at the Nativity Square in Bethlehem.
https://www.stone-ideas.com/41174/architecture-from-palestine-heritage-in-solid-construction/
 

Architect Jean Nouvel: A giant multi-layered lattice dome-shaped Mashrabiya spans across the Louvre Abu Dhabi.Architekt Jean Nouvel: Eine riesige Mashrabiya als Kuppel über dem Louvre Abu Dhabi.
https://www.stone-ideas.com/64824/natural-stone-in-the-louvre-abu-dhabi/
 

Jean Nouvel has taken the idea of mashrabiyas to the extreme at the Institut du Monde Arabe on the banks of the Seine in Paris: behind the glass facade, there are 240 shutters from top to bottom, like those in a camera, which open or close depending on the amount of sunlight.
https://www.imarabe.org/en/architecture

(23.05.2022, USA: 05.23.2022)