Human Needs Impact on Place Identity Through Time (Al Diriyah–Al Riyadh—Saudi Arabia)

The important issue of vernacular architecture is the conformity between environment and buildings, through which people achieve their needs with the available local materials. In addition, it respects the people culture, the place identity, the climatic factors, construction materials, and morphology. In the past, Saudis people built Al Diriyah according to their possibilities, available materials, topography, culture and needs, its main goal was defense. This paper discusses the differences between vernacular and contemporary human needs of Al Diriyah at the architecture and urban scale. The research methodology adopts explanatory qualitative analysis and comparative synthesis methods for both the old and the new simulation buildings of Al Diriyah and considers many parameters such as human needs, building materials, sustainability, and the effect of sociocultural values on the place identity. The outcomes of this research allow understanding how the Al Diriyah must respect the old place identity built by Najd architecture on the other hand achieving sustainability principles.