Secular Architecture: Domestic

Byzantine domestic housing of the fourth–fifteenth centuries is preserved predominantly in the Balkans and Asia Minor. Peristyle houses dominate in the Early Byzantine period and continue later: their construction and decoration, subdivision, and disappearance in the sixth century have been studied. The Middle Byzantine courtyard house was a typically urban form, centrally located in towns with Classical predecessors; it provided privacy for the residents who may have been merchants dealing in agricultural or industrial products. Most people in the Byzantine period, however, probably lived in variations of the “longhouse,” in agriculturally based small towns and villages, where they shared living quarters with livestock. Houses in Late Byzantine/Frankish centers such as Mystras were large and elaborate longhouses in an urban setting.

The Spatial Structure of Yazd Courtyard Houses: A Space Syntax Analysis of the Topological Characteristics of the Courtyard

An important “architectural type” in Iranian history is the Yazd courtyard house. This historic building type features a walled boundary that contains a complex pattern of open (to the sky), semi-enclosed and enclosed spaces. The planning of the courtyard in these houses has typically been interpreted as either a response to changing socio-cultural values or to local climatic conditions. Such theories about the planning of these houses are based on a series of assumptions about (i) the numbers of courtyards and rooms they contain, (ii) their unchanging nature over time and (iii) a topological pattern existing in the relationship between the courtyard and the rest of the plan. Yet, these assumptions, all of which have an impact on the socio-cultural or climatic interpretation of this famous architectural type, have never been tested. In response, this paper uses a computational and mathematical method drawn from Space Syntax to measure the spatial topology of 37 plans of Yazd’s most significant courtyard houses. These houses, which are classified by the Yazd Cultural Heritage Organization, were constructed between the 11th and 20th CE centuries and are all exemplars of this type. This paper develops three hypotheses around the assumptions found in past research about the characteristic planning of the Yazd courtyard house. Then, using quantitative measures derived from plan graph analysis, the paper develops a series of longitudinal trends to test the hypotheses and explore changes that have occurred in this architectural type over time.

A COURTYARD HOUSE – SIHEYUAN 四合院 AS THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE TRADITIONAL CHINESE FAMILY

A Chinese courtyard house, called in Chinese siheyuan, equipped with a single entrance and with one or more open courtyards encompassed by one-storey buildings, represents traditional house dwelling in China. Throughout Chinese history, courtyard dwelling was the basic architectural pattern used for building governmental (palaces and offices) and family residences, and religious compounds (temples and monasteries). In this short contribution, the author depicts a standard traditional Beijing court house from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) which would normally host an extended family of three and four generations. The physical construction and spatial structure of the traditional Chinese courtyard house were deeply rooted in ancient Chinese philosophical thought. The Chinese used fengshui (wind and water) principles to harmonize themselves with their environment in order to secure prosperity, longevity, and family blessings. From the viewpoint of fengshui, a basic courtyard house compound was not only a dwelling place, but also a structured and complicated vision of the cosmos that should function as an ideal container of qi (life energy). The fundamental north-south axis which rhythmically and continuously guarantee the vital flow of qi and the square shape of a courtyard house which means near to the earth, should promise health, prosperity, and the growth of the family. The fengshui system (nowadays mostly associated with Daoism) in the context of a Chinese courtyard house was intimately combined with China’s strict social and family system (Confucianism). The structure of the Chinese traditional family – and the author calls it “Confucian familism” – i.e., the Confucian conviction of family as a model for the whole state. This rigid and hierarchically structured family system, which had been the basis of Chinese society in imperial China for over two thousand years, has been reflected in courtyard house compounds. At the end of this contribution, the author mentions the efforts of present-day architects to find a way to revive traditional courtyard housing for modern times.

TRADITIONAL VALUES VERSUS MODEM CONVENIENCES: AN ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL COURTYARD AND CONTEMPORARY HOUSE DESIGN TRENDS IN LAHORE

Courtyard house, as one of oldest forms of housing tradition, is a remarkable form of residential architecture due to its attributes of naturally climate controlled spaces, spaces of peace and seclusion and as a central nucleus (a social space) around which domestic life revolves. In Lahore, visible transformation of housing trends has continued after independence (1947) with several emerging issues of growing population, rapid densification and exponentially rising land value. By 1960s and 70s, bungalow style of housing with a flavor of modernism inspired middle and upper middle income people to adopt modern life style. All these facts impelled courtyard style of housing into complete disuse. Researchers and designers are certainly aware of the need to cope with local climatic and energy crisis problems in residential architecture to enhance physical comfort of inhabitants which needs to analyze design and performance patterns of traditional courtyard houses, in comparison to modern detached houses. This research paper, through analysis of two local case studies in Lahore, explores how a courtyard house can be revived with minimal interventions to achieve climatically responsive houses that would be address adequately the climatic concerns. Findings on evolution and aspects of housing typologies (courtyard house, detached and semidetached houses), followed by comparative case studies analysis, and field investigation through questionnaire and interviews supplement research methodology for this paper.

Houses with a Central Courtyard. House Concepts in the Late Ninevite 5 Period at Tell Arbid

Houses with central courtyards, examples of which were uncovered at Tell Arbid, show that standardization in house plans and spatial organization characteristic for EJZ 3 domestic architecture, can be traced back to the late Ninevite 5 period. Houses of this type were built at plots of lands and had a regular internal layout. Also in terms of socio-economic organization houses with central courtyards of late Ninevite 5 date can be regarded as a reference to the EJZ 3 period.