But taken together, these same elements are downright playful. San'a resembles nothing so much as a giant gingerbread city, its warm brown stones and bricks iced with plaster. San'a has inspired passionate campaigns to preserve and record one of the world's most beautiful cities.
Yemeni architecture is unique.
It's something between architecture and sculpture. The Italian-born Livadiotti, who has lived in Yemen for 40 years, renovated his own home and office and has undertaken similar projects for embassies and hotels. Along the way he has earned a reputation as an expert on Yemeni architecture. Over the generations, families added floors in brick to the basic stone structure. The houses grew almost organically, according to no plan, Livadiotti says.