Courtyard in Traditional Houses in Palestine (original) (raw)
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Recent Research in Science and Technology, 2014
In old traditional residences, the courtyard was the focal point of the house. Most, if not all, rooms of the house had a direct connection with the courtyard. Courtyards served privacy purposes where they maximized interior relationships and openness while keeping the outside separate. Not only were courtyards used as social family gathering spaces, they were also a source of air flow and thermal comfort to the residence. Courtyard Houses have been most popular in residential architecture all over the world and in all climatic regions. Courtyard can be square, rectangular, round or amorphous, generated by placement of rooms or buildings around it. In hot arid climates such houses provide a greater measure of comfort. The courtyards supply light and cool air to the rooms around it. Air circulation within this confined space relies largely on the proportions of the surrounding walls and positioning of window openings in the surrounding rooms. Breeze and shading in the courtyard help ...
Courtyard concept: A sustainable strategy for the future housing buildings in Palestine
Since the British mandate, particularly after the foundation of the Palestinian national authority (PNA) in 1994, Palestine has been witnessing enormous transformation of political, economical, social and cultural nature. As a result, the forms and the concepts of residences are changing from introverted schemes into extraverted ones. In general, the contemporary housing is poorly adjusted to local conditions and also failed to meet the expectations of the dwellers. Moreover, this modern transformation has caused an obvious divorce between the internal spaces and the external ones (balconies, verandas and yards). Herein, the vital connection between these spaces has been lost as opposite to the traditional courtyard houses where these spaces formed an extension of each other. This paper investigates the concept of outdoor spaces in contemporary and traditional housing in term of sustainability. The socio-cultural, economical, functional and environmental dimensions were examined to ...
Abstract ‘Al-Fenaa’: the courtyard has always been playing a reciprocal role in the shaping of the spatial arrangement and space organisation of the traditional courtyard house, on one hand, and the core of socio-cultural context of the society on the other. The courtyard is the kernel of the whole physical urban fabric of the Traditional Mediterranean Medina of Tripoli, as well as its socio-cultural milieu. It has an essential role, as an architectural element, in the formation of both realities. The Medina of Tripoli’s astonishing story begins in the 7th century BC, and continues to the present day. Layer upon layer by meters in thickness of urban forms and spaces filled with artifacts, folktales and traditions that tell about the lives of communities once were there! Medina of Tripoli is not introduced, here, as a city of walls and fortifications nor gates and landmarks. It is more of a holistic urban fabric, which reveals a pattern of streets that is remarkably straight and extends across the city. The pattern inherited from its classic predecessor Oea and has been molded by its inhabitants through time. The pattern is a web of main streets, a thoroughfares that are straight and link districts of the city, the secondary routs that link main streets, and cul-de-sacs, which are dead ends alleys, provide access to a cluster of houses formed around their own courtyards. Networks of linear urban spaces that are hierarchically begin at the gates of the walled Old city and terminate at courtyards of its traditional houses. In the Medina of Tripoli, the architectural journey begins from the courtyard towards the urbanistic trip in the city. The courtyard is a human product developed through creative, intelligent, and trial and error process, which is governed by the socio-cultural practice for centuries. The courtyard house is to be introduced as an example that demonstrates and displays its own indigenous means of environmental and socio-cultural regulatory. It suggests that a dialogue between socio-cultural context and the setting of space arrangement and organisation could advance understanding of the spatial hierarchy of the single courtyard to a nodal cluster of courtyard houses to the pattern of the traditional city urban fabric.
Courtyard housing is an important dwelling type in human history. It was founded in many ancient histories of different countries and climate zones. Many factors influenced certain types and forms of urban courtyard houses in order to create better living environments. This study try to explore some criticize points about basic human needs of courtyards. Which it refers to environmental and social backgrounds during past times, which it selected to analyze two contemporary types of traditional sample work in Baghdad. Drawings and framework used to understand the ideology of courtyards as well as other factors related to territory, society, psychology, culture and environment. Religion and traditions of Baghdad have played a special role. Through time and across cultures, territorial and environmental factors were found to be highly relevant to almost all the courtyard-housing forms. This study might be helpful for architects where they undertake contemporary design works.
Analysis of the Architectural Elements in Traditional Courtyard Houses in Irbid, Jordan
2015
The merchants of old Damascus spread the concept of the courtyard during their travels in the Belad Al-Sham area, where the courtyard was an essential typological element. In Jordan, specifically in Belad Al-Sham, traditional courtyard houses have characteristics that are suitable to the local region, which influence architectural elements. This study aims to discover similarities between the traditional courtyard houses in Jordan and in old Damascus (capital of Belad Al-Sham). Through a survey of the traditional courtyard houses in Jordan, two case studies were elicited through field observation after site visits and photographic documentation. The case studies were analyzed by using content analysis techniques that focus on two architectural styles of traditional courtyard houses in Jordan. Findings suggest similarities between the two styles regardless of their distance from the old city of Damascus. The courtyard is the core of traditional houses in Jordan and is considered to f...
Courtyard Existence between the Past and the Present, Case Study: Central Region, Saudi Arabia
Civil Engineering and Architecture
The courtyard is one of the architectural features used in ancient times for many purposes, such as climate modifiers, as a place for family gatherings, and as a playground for children. Over time, the courtyard gradually disappeared, and it no longer has a special presence in residential buildings. The study deals with exploring courtyards in the old and modern buildings in the central region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was characterized by its strong presence in ancient times. Therefore, the paper holds seven case studies to compare the most important features in commons, middle, and contemporary houses. The research reaches the truth of the extinction of the courtyard and its replacement by other elements that negatively affected the social, ecological, and economic aspects of Saudi residents, and assures the dependence on mechanical treatments that harmfully distressed the building energy likewise affected the social aspects at the level of family and society alike. Courtyards with environmental design basics provided high energy efficiency to building through daylight and ventilation which helps in decreasing electricity and HVAC loads. This paper invites researchers and builders to reuse the courtyard or the Patio concept again as a design tool in contemporary buildings to save future resources and maintain sustainability principles.
A REVIEW OF COURTYARD HOUSE: HISTORY EVOLUTION FORMS, AND FUNCTIONS
The courtyard is one of the traditional architectural forms that contributed in determining climatic environment, physical and psychological in the courtyard house. This paper focus on the history of courtyard and it is privacy measure in variant civilizations. Variants courtyard studies were investigated, beside the courtyard history, evolution, form and elements were recorded in terms of it is physical features and benefits. The result revealed that the courtyard around the world has a similar form, but the attributes are varied depending on the region climatic characteristic. The paper concludes with an outline of means to optimize a courtyard micro climate performance.
2015
A courtyard is an important transitional functional space with unique aesthetic design element used for Islamic social and cultural activities in traditional Iraq’s residential units and contributes to the Islamic identity of Iraq. However,their utilization is currently diminishing in Iraq’s new residential development due to lack of understanding of its Islamic function. There is a need to analyze the manner the existing Iraq’s traditional courtyards function as Islamic spaces and be integrated into the new residential development in Iraq. This study investigates how the traditional courtyards houses in Iraq embraces and enhances the relevant Islamic principles in relation to the overall residential unit layout and their potentials to be applied in the Iraqi new low rise residential units. Physical observations on the physical design characteristics and morphological studies on the form and planning on eight traditional Iraq’s courtyards houses were conducted. Subsequently, photogr...
Courtyard: A Look at the Relevance of Courtyard Space in Contemporary Houses
Civil Engineering and Architecture, 2021
The paper attempts to uncover the key issues concerning the sustainable built form of towns in the aftermath of rapid urbanization and growing population. The objective of this study is to understand the suitability and practicability of the courtyard forms in the urban settlement. Traditional courtyard houses in India are the native types of houses. These typologies of houses have been developed through the time-tested method and reached widespread acceptance. It became apparent that contemporary along with the traditional courtyard design should be studied on various parameters to determine the most suitable courtyard design for an urban context and quantify possible design solutions in various regional contexts. The paper presents a literature review at two levels. The environmental and socio-cultural impact of courtyard typology has been addressed at the first level. And the second level explores the typological implication of courtyard houses at an urban scale with special emphasis on parameters like building bye-laws, Floor area ratio, and density. The study revealed that the courtyard serves as a holistic space within the house, however depending on the regional and climatic context, the attributes may differ. The paper concludes that courtyard typology has the potential to justify the cultural, anthropological, and climatic needs of the occupant therefore could be adopted in urban settings. The study also provides future direction for the research work as a very limited background study is available to establish a direct relationship between courtyard typology and building bye-laws.