A Survey on Sustainability of Central Courtyards of Iran Traditional Architecture

Abstract

Iran is a vast country with different climatic zones (1). Iranian architecture has been based on climate, geography, available materials and cultural beliefs. Therefore, traditional Iranian masons and builders have presented several logical climatic solutions in order to enhance human comfort by architectural sustainability and they had to do so in the absence of modern technologies. Enclosed and central courtyards are common architectural patterns throughout many periods of history in this region. They are often referred to in the scientific literature as microclimate modifiers, which may improve thermal comfort conditions in the enclosed as well as the attached built volume.This paper at first provides an overview of Iranian traditional architecture, base on it and the important role of courtyards of houses in achieving the goals of this architecture. Then have concentrated on function of courtyards in various climates to enhance human comfort in the term of sustainability by describing and classifying different climates and geographical locations of Iran. Finally, it has compared the character and function of courtyards at different climatic zones of this country with some examples. The aim of this research is to demonstrate the role of courtyards in sustainability of traditional architecture of different climatic zones of Iran. The result of this paper shows that traditional architecture can give ideas to enrich modern architecture and sustainable environment. (Ebadi H, Lamit H,Yeganeh Sh, Kermaji R, Ebadi. A Survey Study on CentralCourtyards Design and of Iran Traditional Courtyards and Sustainability Urban.