Moroccan riad Moroccan riad A riad () is a type of traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or courtyard. The word riad originates from the Arabian term for garden, , ryad. The ancient Roman city of Volubilis provided a reference for the beginnings of riad architecture during the Idrisid Dynasty. When the Almoravids conquered Spain in the 11th century they sent Muslim, Christian and Jewish artisans from Spain to Morocco to work on monuments. The Riad is the Moroccan traditional house, normally with two or more stories around an Andalusian-style courtyard that contained a fountain. Riads were the stately
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