Qadad

The Amiriya School, built of qadad

Qadad (Qadâd, Kʉðað) is a waterproof plaster surface, made of a lime plaster treated with slaked lime and oils and fats. The technique is well over a millennium old[1] and can be used as a roof covering.[2]

A minaret of the over 1300-year-old Great Mosque of Sana'a in Yemen, which is built with qadad. It is now being restored

Due to the slowness of some of the chemical reactions, qadad mortar can take over a hundred days to prepare, from quarrying of raw materials to the beginning of application to the building. It can also take over a year to set fully.[3]

Close-up of part of the restored Amiriya Complex

In 2004, a documentary film Qudad, Re-inventing a Tradition was made by the filmmaker Caterina Borelli (preview).[4] It documents the restoration of the Amiriya Complex, which was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2007.[5]

See also

References

  1. see Great Mosque of Sana'a
  2. Sutter, Anita (18 December 2006). "Note sur la fabrication du qadâd". Arabian Humanities. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  3. http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue20/reviews/fodde.html
  4. "Qudad, Re-inventing a Tradition". Documentary Educational Resources.
  5. Aga Khan Award website


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