Moroccan architecture for building standards which directly affected the architecture at that time, as follows: The building regulations maintained the country's preexisting architectural features and balanced the rapid urbanization. The Riad also known as Dar is the Moroccan traditional house, which normally has two or more storeys around a courtyard. Villas are larger stand-alone housing in the urbanized area which do not need to follow traditional architectural style. Arches, most often the horseshoe arch are used in almost every aspect of Moroccan housing whether it is doors, entrances, windows or niches. Domes are often integrated with altars or commemorative monuments as well
Courtyard housing the publication of the book "Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles" by Roger Sherwood, James Tice and Stefanos Polyzoides as well as to suit a contemporary need for a housing typology with a density level between that of a single or double family house and that of a traditional higher-density apartment building. In 2007, the City of Portland Planning Bureau held a design competition for new designs based on the courtyard housing model for new infill housing in existing neighborhoods. While courtyards have been a part of buildings for millennia, courtyard housing in this sense does not refer merely to any