Locke Science Publishing Company, Inc.

CLIMATE, CULTURE, AND RELIGION: ASPECTS OF THE TRADITIONAL COURTYARD HOUSE IN

IRAN
Author(s): Gholamhossein Memarian and Frank Edward Brown
Source: Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Autumn, 2003), pp. 181-
198
Published by: Locke Science Publishing Company, Inc.
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 Journal
ofArchitectural
andPlanning
Research
20:3(Autumn,
2003) 181

CLIMATE, CULTURE, AND RELIGION: ASPECTS OF THE

TRADITIONAL COURTYARD HOUSE IN IRAN

Gholamhossein Memarian
Frank Edward Brown

Thispaper is concernedwiththetraditional housein Iran and withthefactorsthatshaped

courtyard
itsformand development. Througha comparisonof two historiccitiesof centralIran - Yazdand
Shiraz- we examinetheimpactofclimateand of religiousideology(Shi'a Islam) on thespatialand
formalorganizationof the house. Bothcan be seen to have had a significant , thoughthe
influence
studysuggeststhatthe "weight"of thefactorsmaydifferaccordingto local conditions.A limited
comparisonis also made betweenthecourtyard housesof Muslimsand thoseof a religiousminority
in Iran - the Zoroastrians.Despite the asymmetries of power and differencesin belief thereis
evidencethata similarrangeofhouse-types developedamongst bothpeoples.

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 Journal
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2003) 182

INTRODUCTION

The courtyardhouse,in itsvariousforms,has had a longhistory

and a widegeographicaldistribution.
Examplesof thetypeare foundin some of theearliestsettlementsof theMiddleEast,in thedeltaof
the Tigrisand Euphrates,and date back to the Urukperiod(4thmillennium B.C.) (Lampi, 1968).
Excavationsat Olynthosand Delos in Greecehave suggestedthatthehousesof thewealthyin ancient
Greecewerealso characteristically
inward-looking,withroomsarrangedarounda centralopen space,
termedtheatrium(Lavas, 1974).

Withthegrowthof Islam,1however,thecourtyard house,alreadyan establishedpartof thecultureof

theMiddleEast and theMediterranean acquiredan additionalculturallode. Muslimtradi-
periphery,
tionplaces greatemphasison theprincipleof privacy,on thedistinction betweenmale and female
social spheres,and on thedefinitionof domesticand privatespace - principlesthatconditionedthe
arrangement of space withinthedwellingas well as therelationshipbetweenthehouseand thespace
outside.The courtyard itselfwas deeplyimbuedwiththe sense of an earthlyparadise(Leherman,
1980) and was once a retreatand thehub aroundwhichthehouse was organized.And,since Islam
originatedin a regionthatwas predominantly hotand arid,manyof thesetraditional buildingswere
also requiredto providephysicalcomfortunderextremeclimaticconditions.The Islamiccourtyard
house,hence,evolvedin responseto climaticas well as ideologicalneeds.

Traditionalor vernacular housinghas receiveda good deal of attention overthelasttwenty years,and

withinthislargeand growingbodyof work,theIslamiccourtyard house has figuredprominently in
academicdiscussionthrough journalarticlesand conference papers.It has itselfbeen thesubjectof a
numberof conferences.2 Studiesin Hylandand Al-Shahi(1986), amongmanyothers,havepointedto
theinterplay of spatial,social, and climaticconsiderationsin shapingtheIslamichouse.Despitethe
unifying themeof Islamic tradition, a good deal of variationmay be foundin plan, structure, and
three-dimensional form,as well as in buildingmaterials,all of whichmay differfromone country,
region,or settlementto another.This clearlyappliesto Iran,thefocusof thisstudy.If thetraditional
urbanhouse in Iranwas builtaroundone or morecourtyards, thisdid notfollowa singlearchetypal
planbutvariedin subtleand important waysfromplace to place accordingto local characteristicsand
influences.3To makesenseof theIraniancourtyard houseas a physicalartifact, it is neces-
therefore,
saryto considerthelocal and specific,as well as thegeneric,aspectsof thebuildingtype.

THE STUDY

In this paper,the intentionis to attemptto disentanglesome of the influenceson dwelling-form

througha comparativeanalysisof traditional houses in two Iraniancities- Yazd and Shiraz.The
centralconcernof thearticleis withtherelationbetweenMuslimideologyand building-form, butthis
cannotbe treatedin isolation.As we have indicated,other,moremundanefactorssuchas
relationship
topography and climatecan play a significant
role in determininghow a building-typeevolves.4Our
startingpointin sectionone, therefore,is to examinethe spatialorganizationof the house in the
contextof theclimateof theregion.More specifically, we shallconsiderthepositioningand orienta-
tionof roomswithrespectto sun and shade. Sectiontwo will deal specificallywiththe impactof
Islamiccultureon thelayoutof thedwelling.In Shi'ite Iran it is religiousideologythatshapesthe
value system,and certainaspectsof spatialarrangement maybe linkeddirectlyto thedemandsand
of Islam.
proscriptions
As a coda to sectiontwo,thediscussionof religiousideologywillbe extendedto takein thedomestic
architectureof a verysmall but historically
significantminoritygroupin Iran - the Zoroastrians.
Variousauthorshave drawnattention in designbetweenthehousesof theMuslimsand
to differences
theZoroastrians. By referenceto some survivingbuildingsin Yazd, we will suggestthattheremay
havebeena closercorrespondence betweenthearchitectureof thetwogroupsthanis oftenallowed.

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 Journal
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andPlanning
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20:3(Autumn,
2003) 183

One of the main obstaclesin any

studyof traditionalhousingin Iran
is theverylimitedrecordof actual
buildings.Althoughhistorictowns
suchas Yazd, Shiraz,Isfahan,Ker-
man,Bushehr,and Nain stillcon-
tain thousands of houses, until
recently,therewas very littleat-
temptto recordthesebuildingsand
even less to analyze or explain
theirform.5For thepurposeof the
presentresearch,we have drawn
chieflyon the resultsof fieldwork
conductedby one of the authors
(Memarian)in the townsof both
Yazd and Shirazbetween1985 and
1994.6 Yazd is a city of medium
size (figuresfromthe late 1970s
give the population at around
140,000), situatedon the western
edge of thegreatcentraldesert-
the"sand-sea"- of Iran.Bordered
on the northand southby moun-
tains, it has depended on an
elaboratesystemof qanats,or un-
dergroundconduits,for its water
supply. Historically,Yazd was
knownforits deeplyreligiousin-
habitants.It was also remarked
upon for its strikingarchitectural
features - in particular,the
widespread use of chimney-like
roofstacksknown as badgirs, or
wind-catchers,which dominated
the skylinein all directions.Pre-
vious studies, treatingdifferent
FIGURE1. Mapofcentral
Shiraz,
showingtheArgh-i
Karim 1. Argh-iaspectsof thearchitecture
Khani. of Yazd,
Karim 2.Great
Khani, 3.Karim
Bazaar, KhanMosque,4. KhanMadresseh, include Bonine
5.newbuildings. Boyce (1971),
Source: 1977.
Falamaki, (1979), Roaf (1982), and Mazum-
dar and Mazumdar (1997) (see
belowforfurther discussion).

Shirazis an important provincialtown,locatedto thesouthwest of Yazd on thehighergroundof the

Zagros Mountains. It lies in a basin within
theplateauat a heightof some 1,200meters(4,000 feet)
above sea level,at theheartof theancientregionof Iran(Fars),of whichit is thecapital.Shirazhas
grownrapidlyover thelast twentyyearsand now has an overallpopulationexceedingone million,
althoughthehistoriccorecontainsonlyabout75,000people.

HOUSE CHARACTERISTICS AND SAMPLE SELECTION

The generalcharacteristics
of theIraniancourtyardhousehave been well documented (c.f.,Malcolm,
and are denselyclustered,side by side,back to
1905; Boyce, 1971). Houses are mostlysingle-story
back,alongnarrowstreets, whichare flankedby highwalls withfewopenings.Blocks can be deep,
and thereare manyblindalleys,knownas Sabat or Darband, whichusuallybranchat rightanglesto

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 ofArchitectural
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andPlanning
20:3(Autumn,
2003) 184

themainstreetsand give access to enclosed

the buildingmaterial
houses. Traditionally,
was adobe or mud brick,althoughin this
centurythis has been increasinglysup-
plantedby baked bricks.Within,roomsare
arrangedaroundthe sides of the courtyard
and face intothisspace, whichis normally
opento thesky.
In both Shiraz and Yazd, attentionwas
focusedon buildingslyingwithinthe his-
toriccore of the city. Areas were chosen
which had largelyretainedtheiroriginal
form.8 A sample of houses was then
selected which gave a broad coverage
withineach of the areas, the aim being to
arriveat a mix of houses of different
ages
from the pre-Zand to the early Pahlavi
period(1750-1925). The samplingwas not
systematicallyrandom, however, and in
practice only a minorityof the selected
housescouldbe recorded.

Access to the interiorof the house is a FIGURE 2. Shiraz:TheQavam-al-Molk (andZinatal-Molk)

House. A.Private
area,B. receptionarea.
major problemas far as recordingis con- Source:
Memarian, 1998.
cerned.In manycases, in both Shiraz and
Yazd, theownersstilllive in thehouseand,forreasonsof privacy(as we shall see, a crucialissuefor
theIslamichousehold),theyare oftenunwillingto admitstrangers. Whereaccess was permitted, the
ownermightrequiretheworkto be completedquicklyand access maybe restricted to certainpartsof
the house. Whereaccess was denied,the surveyor(Memarian)eitherchose a substitute or sought
access to another,comparablehouse in theneighborhood withthehelp and advice of local people.
One of theinherent limitationsof buildingup a recordin thisway is thatwe could notbe surethat
thesubstituteswerean appropriate to infertheformand layoutof
match.This is becauseit is difficult
thehousefromtheoutside,evenfroman aerialview.Since thereare connections betweencourtyards,
even the generalhouse-typemay be uncertain.What appearsat firstsightto be a spacious multi-
courtyard house withmultiplesuitesof roomsmayturnout to be a seriesof single-courtyard dwell-
ings,and vice versa.Thus, while the surveysyieldeda mix of house-typesand sizes, the samples
cannotclaimto give a fullyrepresentative of thehousingstockof each area.
cross-section

The finalsampleforYazd consistedof 44 houses,25 of whichwererecordedby Memarian(1993,

1998). A further10 weretakenfromtheAlphabetofHouses in Yazd (Ghezelbashand Abuzia,1984),
and theremaining ninefromTavassoli (1982). For Shiraza totalsampleof 45 houseswas compiled,
comprising 37 from the detailedfieldrecordby Memarianand a further eightexamplesfromthe
archivesof theFars CulturalHeritageCenter.Houses whichhad been subjectto extensivealteration
wereexcludedfrombothsamples.All are historichousesin thesensethat,in their
or reconstruction
originalform,theypre-datethePahlaviperiod(1925-1979),a timeof majorurbanredevelopment and
changinglifestylesin Iran.Some housesare clearlyvery old, althoughexact datesare availableonly
in thoseexceptionalcases wherethereis surviving documentary evidence.The Saadi House (Figure
3) belongedto the second stage of urbandevelopment in Shiraz duringthe thirteenthcentury. The
Argh-iKarim Khani (Figure 1) was constructed duringthe Zand period (1750-1795), while the
Qavam-al-Molk (Figure2) was builtarounda century later.

Fromour samplesof Iranianhouses in Yazd and Shiraz,it appearsthatdomesticcourtyards could

varywidelyin size - by an orderof magnitude (overtwo-thirds
or greater.Whilethemajority in the
couldbe over 1,000
case of theShirazsample)lay in therange0-200 m (2,150 ft2),a smallminority

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 ofArchitectural
Journal andPlanning
Research
20:3(Autumn,
2003) 185

m2 (10,750 ft2) in area. Moreover,it was

possible, as noted above, for an Iranian
houseto have two or morecourtyards, with
accommodationsaroundeach. The Argh-i
KarimKhani and theQavam-al-Molk house
are bothearlyexamplesof multi-courtyard
planning.The former is exceptionally
large,
an indicationof the wealthof the owner
(theArghwas thehomeof theIranianruler,
Karim Khan Zand, who foundedthe Zand
dynastyand made Shiraz the capital òf
Iran).The singlesurviving courtyardof the
Arghfortress alone is morethan100 times
the size of the open space in the Saadi
house,one of the smallestdwellingsin the
Shirazsample.

The Argh, liketheQavam-al-Molk , original-

ly had two courtyards,which were
separatedfromeach otherby an intervening
road. Directaccess betweenthe two court-
yardswas possibleonlyby meansof an un-
derground passage. None of thelatermulti-
FIGURE 3. Shiraz:
SaadiHouse, plan.A.Private
sketch areaand courtyardhouses were divided up in this
winter B. winter
area, areaandsummer
C. public
area, area.
1.Entrance 3.sash-windowed
2.courtyard,
corridor, room, way: the general practicewas clearly to
4. two-doorroom,5.three-door
room, orpastoo,
6. store, makesuccessivecourtyards adjacentand in-
7.corridors,
8.five-door
room, orpastoo
9. storeroom, , 10.toilet. terconnected.Although figuresmaynot
the
Source:
Memarian, 1998. be a reliable guide for the reasons given
above, 24 (60%) of the Yazdi samplewere
single-courtyard houses and 33 (73%) of the Shirazhouses also had one courtyard only.The floor
area also seems to have rangedwidely.The surveypointsto a clusteringof houses in the ranges
200-500m2(2,150-5,400ft2)and 1,000-3,000m2(10,750-32,300ft2).9

CLIMATE AND BUILDING FORM

Most of theearlystudiesof traditional housingin Iranfocusedon theenvironmental performance of

the house. Olgyay's bio-climaticapproach(1963) was, and continuesto be, extremely influential.
Withinthisframework, as theprimary
climateis treatedimplicitly determinant of vernacularhouse-
form,and continents are sub-dividedintoregions,each of whichcan be associatedwitha distinct
building-type.Thus,a largeswatheof Iranis classed as a hot-aridregion,wherethecourtyard house
is "typical"because of its beneficialcooling and shadingeffects.One of the limitationsof such a
is thatit has tendedto produceover-simplified
classification typologiesthatneglecttheconsiderable
variationsof climateand buildingformthatcan occurwithina designatedregion.The approachhas
been pursuedwithvaryingdegreesof refinement by Tavassoli (1982/1974),Golany(1980), and Kas-
maii (1993). WhereKoppen,in his pioneeringstudyof climatology(1931), dividedIran intofour
climaticzones,Kasmaiifindseight.Afshar'sstudyof Yazd (1974) appliesa similarapproachat the
level of thecity.But even withtheseadvances,thesystemsof classification are generallytoo coarse
to capturethenuancesof spatiallayoutand climaticresponsethatare to be foundamongthecitiesof
centralIran.At thesame time,as we shallsee below,it does notfollowthatall variationsin building
formcan be adequatelyexplainedwithinthebio-climatic paradigm.

In spatialterms,climaticinfluenceis perhapsmostevidentin the way the accommodation of the

aroundthecourtyard.
house is distributed of thesummersun and thesome-
Because of theintensity
timesextremetemperature differences, do notoccupyall
bothseasonal and diurnal,the inhabitants

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 Journal
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20:3(Autumn,
2003) 186

partsof the house at any one time.For the summermonthsand the warmerpartsof springand
autumn,it is advantageousto have themainlivingquarterson thesouthside of thecourtyard, where
theywill be in shade. Open vaultedroomsassist in ventilation.Conversely,the northside of the
courtyard is mostsuitableforthewintermonths,sinceit is warmedby thelow wintersun.Enclosed
roomsassistinsulation.Thus,a broadpatternof movementis set up fromone side of thecourtyard
(south) in summerto the oppositeside (north)in winter.Secondarymovementscan be observed
duringthecourseof theday in each season. In summer(fromtheend of May) the southern rooms
will be used untillate morning,
afterwhichtheinhabitants maymove fora shortwhileto thebase-
ment.In thelateafternoon, thepreferenceis to moveintothecourtyard or back to thewell-ventilated
southrooms.At nighttheoccupantscontinueto use thecourtyard or migrateto theroof.In winter,
themaindiurnalmovement takesplace withinthenorthernwinterquarters.Duringtheeveningand at
night,thesmall,cornerrooms,whichhave fewopenings,are normally thewarmestand therefore the
mostcomfortable.10

This north-south divisionof accommodation has led some to arguethattheorientation of thecourt-

yardderivesprincipally, if notsolely,fromtheneed to maximizeseasonalusage. The alignment and
layout of thehouse are thus a directresponse to climateand climatic It is
gradients. certainly truethat
in Yazd, housesare alignedpredominantly on a northeast/southwest axis, an arrangement thatis well
adaptedto the divisionof the house into summerand winterquarters.But thisorientation is not
strictlyadheredto in thecitiesof centralIran.In Shirazsome courtyards have a northeast/southwest
axis like thosein Yazd, but othersare alignednorthwest/southeast. Tehran'sstreetsare laid out in
cardinaldirections.As Bonine(1979) has pointedout,whatis significant abouthouse orientation is
thatit matchestheorientation of theadjoiningstreets:wheretheprincipalstreetschangedirection, so,
too,do thehouses.It wouldseem,then,thattheresidential patterns are determined by thelineof the
streets,not vice versa.If thisis the case, it is difficult
to sustainthe argument thatclimateis the
primemover,sinceit cannothave been criticalin determining thegeometry of thestreetpatterns. In
Bonine's view,thebasic morphology of theIraniancitywas created,notby climaticinfluence, butby
local topographicfeatures- the pre-urban boundariesof fieldsand orchards.These lines in turn
drewtheirorientation fromtheslope of thelandand thedirection of waterchannels.11

Whatevertheexact interplay betweenthe alignment of streetsand house plots,thebasic patternof

accommodation withinthe house appearsto have been broadlysimilaracross the cities of central
Iran.In bothYazd and Shiraz,thebuildersclearlyworkedwitha repertoire of standardroom-types,
whichhad commonnamesand physicalcharacteristics. Rooms,or otagh, wereusuallynamedfrom
thenumberof door-windows, a kindof openingthatservedas a windowbutcon-
or dar-panjereh,
sistedof double-doors,whichopenedontothecourtyard. The mostfrequent roomsin bothcitiesare
theotaghse-dari, or three-door
room,theotaghpang-dari,or five-doorroom,and theotaghorsi, or
sash-window room.These could occuron each side of thecourtyard and werenormallyentered,not
directlyfromthecourtyard, butby way of a shortcirculationspace at one or bothends of theroom.
All theseroomsmightbe raisedseveralfeetabove groundlevel.

Modularand repetitive, roomstraditionally

had littlefurniture easilychangetheir
and could therefore
functionto suit the shifting
patternsof movementassociatedwiththe seasons or the timeof day.
Wherea roomwas used forsleeping,themattresses and beddingwould at othertimesbe rolledup
and stored.Three-doorroomshad a storeroom, or pastoo, at theback specificallydesignedforthis
purpose;otherroomsmighthave alcoves builtintothewalls to holdbedding,clothing, kitchenuten-
sils, and otherhouseholdpossessions.The three-door roomcommonlyfunctioned as a bedroom,a
winterand autumnsittingroom,and, especiallyin the evening,as a guestroom (Ghezelbashand
Abuzia, 1984). The five-doorroomcould be a receptionroom,a familymeetingroom,or a dining
room(Pirnia,1991).

Three-door roomswerethemostcommonof all in our survey:40 of thehouses(89%) in Shirazhad

at least one, and therecould be as manyas ten in a singledwelling.None were placed centrally
withinthe plan. The three-door roomwas typicallylocatedto one side of thecenter,adjacentto a
five-dooror sash-windowroom,and wheretherewere severalon any one side of thecourtyard -

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20:3(Autumn,
2003) 187

these mightbe symmetrically dis-

posed about the centralaxis. The
five-doorroom was less frequent,
but still occurredin the majority
(60%) of theShirazhouses.

There are otherrooms,however,

whose functionis much more
specificand can be relateddirectly
to the demands of the local
climate.Chiefamongtheseare the
talar and the ivan. Both are semi-
open spaces. The talar is a large,
open-fronted room,square or rec-
tangularin plan, and in Yazd is
normallyto be foundon the south
side of the courtyard(on the
central axis) facing the winter
roomsopposite.It is usuallyraised
aboutthreefeet(one meter)above
groundlevel and has a basement
beneath (the zir-zamin ), which
receiveslightand air fromgrilles
in thelowerwalls. On hotsummer
afternoons, familieswould retreat
to thiscool underground basement,
as notedabove. The talarsof Yazd
were characteristically associated
withbadgirs, thetallroofstacks for
which the city was famous (see
note 7). Badgirs helped further to
control the indoor climate by
catchingthe prevailingwinds and
channelingthesethroughshaftsto
thespaces below. This could result
in an internal air temperature
FIGURE 4. Yazd:Planandsections a multi-courtyard
through house several degreescooler thanexter-
House),
(Navab-i-Razavi showingbadgir. nal shade air temperature (Roaf,
Source: 1991.
Pirnia,
1982). The ivan is verysimilarto
thetalarin formbutis usuallyplaced in frontof anotherroom- a three-door or five-door room-
whichconnectsitto otherspaces in thecomplex.It is notnecessarilyfurnishedwithbadgirs.

AlthoughYazd is clearlynottheonlycityto have semi-openspaces,basements, and badgirs, theyare

farmoreprominent herethanin Shirazand manyothercitiesin centralIran.Fromthesampleof 40
houses,thetalar wouldappearto be themostcommonspatialelementin theplan: it occurredin 23
of the24 single-courtyard houses.In theShirazsample,only11 houseshad an ivanand fewerstill-
five- had a talar.The Shirazhouseswereorganized,notarounda north-facing summerspace,but
arounda large sash-windowroom(otaghorsi), knownas the centralroom,whichwas muchmore
flexiblein its locationaroundthecourtyard.Centralroomsare alwayson thecentralaxis,butunlike
the talars of Yazd, are foundmostlyon the northside of the courtyard.However,examplesoccur
also on theeast,west,and southsides,suggesting a roomforwinterrather
thatwhileit was primarily
thansummeruse,thecentralroomcouldbe used duringthesummermonthsas well.

Overall,then,the traditional
courtyardhouses of Yazd and Shiraz deploya similarvocabularyof
basic spatialelementsbut do so withdifferentdegreesof freedom.As always,thereis no simple

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 Journal
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20:3(Autumn,
2003) 188

determinism: domesticarrangements mightchange accordingto developmentsin lifestyleand

fashion,to changesin ownership,or (especiallyin recenttimes)to the pressuresand demandsof
multipleoccupancy.The picturewill also be influencedin some measureby thepeculiarities of our
sample.But thereseems littledoubtthatthedifferences we have notedbetweenthehousesof Yazd
and Shirazstemchieflyfromtherigorsof theclimate.Yazd, on therimof thecentraldesert-plateau,
experiencessome of themostextremeconditionsin Iran,witha fiercesummersun,sand-storms (the
bane of Yazd: Boyce, 1971:138) and daytimetemperatures thatcan exceed 50° C (120° F). The
spatiallayout,thestrictdispositionand orientation
repetitive of rooms,thefixedpositionof thetalar,
and thewidespreaduse of basementsis a clear reflection of theseharshlivingconditions.In Shiraz
thereis greatervariationin planningand a flexibility
in thechoice and locationof roomsthatcan be
to theequableclimateof thishighplateauregion.Shirazmaylie nominally
attributed withinthesame
"hotarid"zone as Yazd, butit enjoysconditionsthatare relativelytemperate,and seasonalmovement
appearsto havebeenmuchless of an imperative in thedomesticlifeof Shirazthanin Yazd.

ISLAM AND BUILDING FORM

Withits inward-facing rooms,thecourtyard house lentitselfto a highlevel of domesticprivacy.In

thetraditional
cultureof Iran,thiswas of particular
importance becauseof thedemandsand proscrip-
tionsof thedominantreligion- Islam. The majorityof theIranianpopulationbelongsto theIthna
Asharibranchof Shi'a Islam.

Fundamental to Islamicreligioustradition betweenthesexes. Only

is thecontrolof social interaction
menand womenwho are mahramto each other(i.e., betweenwhommarriageis forbidden by reason
of kinship)are allowedto mixfreelyand on informal terms.Thereis to be minimalcontactbetween
na-mahram persons(thosewho are unrelated to each other,eitherby marriageor kinship),as thiscan
UnderIslamicLaw, sexual and emotional
arousesexual desireand lead to illegalsexual intercourse.
activitiesshouldbe centeredon thefamilynucleusto consolidatefamilylifeand reducesocial stress.
A manmustnot,therefore, look on a na-mahram womanto enjoyherbeautyor body,whilea woman
is expectedto avoid theattentions of menby coveringherbodyexceptforherface and hands.Until
recently,thewearingof theveil,or chador, was stillconsideredobligatory by manyMoslemwomen
and girls(Khatib-Chahidi,1993:115).

As Mazumdarand Mazumdar(1997:185) have noted,theseIslamicprinciplesservedto createa sharp

betweentheman's worldand thewoman'sworld,thepublicworldand theprivateworld,
distinction
thestreetand thehome.The husbandwas thehead of thehousehold,and thelifeof thewoman,upon
marriage,was centeredon thefamilyhome.Withpermission, thewomenof thehouseholdcould go
to otherhomesto visitfemalefriendsand mightsimilarly femaleguestsin theirown home.
entertain
But movement to ensuretheminimum
outsideof thehousewas alwaysrestricted of contactbetween
womenand na-mahram males(Khatib-Chahidi,
1993).

Withthe greatemphasison privacyin the home and the concernto keep femalemembersof the
householdoutof sight,we wouldexpectstrictcontrolsto be exercisedoveraccess and viewfromthe
outside.Iranianhouseswereveryconsistent in thisrespect.Thoughthebuildingswereseldommore
thana single-story,
thesurrounding walls werehighand the streetface was normallyblank,except
fortheone heavydoor indicatingthehabitationwithin.Openings,wherenecessary,were smalland
placedabove eye level to preventpassers-byfromlookingin.13

A numberof Qur'anicversesteachthevirtuesof privacyand stresstheimportance

of knockingat the
doorbeforeenteringa house:
O you who believe! Do not enter houses other than your houses, untilyou have asked
permission , foryoumaybe mindful.
and salutedtheirinmates;thisis better
(Qur'an,24:27)

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2003) 189

But if you do notfind anyone

therein,thendo not enteruntil
permissionis givento you; and
if it is said to you: Go back,
thengo back; this is purerfor
you; and Allah is Cognizantof
whatyoudo.
(Qur'an,24:28)

It appearsto have been a common

practicetraditionally to furnishthe
main door with two knockers,
placed side by side: one a kindof
metalring,the othera largemetal
hammer.The former, thequieterof
the two,would be used by female
visitors;the latter,whichwas both
louderand of a different tone,was
used by men. If the visitorwere
male, the womenwould withdraw
or adjusttheirveils; if female,then
the men would move out of sight.
This practiceis now obsolescent,
and most older houses have
replacedthetraditional with
fittings
modernbells. Exampleshave been
recorded, however, in Kerman
(Khatib-Chahidi,1993:134, n. 6),
Abianeh, Shiraz (Memarian and
Brown, 1996:78, 1998:319), and
Yazd (Mazumdarand Mazumdar,
1997:188).

To reinforcefurthertheprivacyof
FIGURE 5. Shiraz: vestibule
Rectangular oftheSalehiHouse(top),
octagonaltheinhabitants,greatattention was
vestibuleoftheMansoori
House(bottom). also to the of
Source:
Memarian,1998. given arrangement
the entrance.Whateverthe plan
layoutor thespecificarchitecturalfeatures, theentranceshouldnot,underanycircumstances, allow a
directview of theprivatequartersof thehouse.Its position,therefore,was preciselycalculated,and,
in some cases, it was locatedaway fromthecourtyard The passagewayfromtheentrance
altogether.
mightbe a straight line,an "L-shape,"or taketheformof a chicane,buttheintention was alwaysto
preventdirectsightof theinterior. Wherea linearformof passagewaywas adopted,thisusuallyled
intoa cornerof thecourtyard thatwas notused forhouseholdactivities.

The vestibule,or hashti, was also an important partof the entrysequence (Figure 5). This was
designedas a stoppingpointand could be used as a temporary receptionroomforthosepersonswho
did not need to enterthe guest room. In plan, the hashtiappears to have been most commonly
octagonal,butit could also be square,rectangular,
or of variousotherpolygonalshapes.It normally
containedthemainentranceand gave access to theroofand to thecorridorleadingto thecourtyard.
In double-courtyardhouses,it wouldgive access to bothcourtyards.Therewereusuallytwo or three
niches,whichprovideda place forpeopleto sit.

As discussedelsewhere(Memarianand Brown,1996), hospitality

is a deep-rooted
aspectof Iranian
culture,and one thatis underpinned
by Islamicteaching:

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 Journal
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20:3(Autumn,
2003) 190

Believers are surely brothers.So

restore friendship among your
brothers.Have fear ofAllah so that
youmayattainmercy.
(Qur'an,49:10)

Visiting one anotherat home is a

meansof consolidating therelationship
between the members of Islamic
societyand is seen as a sacredworkof
Allah.Not onlyshouldthe(male) guest
be welcomed warmly,but he should
also be offeredthebestpartof a room
or house,althoughhe may,forreasons
of humility,declineto sitthere.Hence,
the entry patternof the traditional
house has to serve a dual functionin FIGURE 6. Ghazorghah House.
Ghanad
Quarter: A small
Muslimhouse
with
courtyard.
preservingthe privacy of the inner Source: 1993.
Memarian,
household,while at the same timeof-
feringwarmthand hospitality to thevisitor.In thelargerhousesof Yazd and Shiraz,thesetwoneeds
werereconciledby theprovisionof a specialreceptionroom,close to theentrance. In somecases,the
entrancepassagewaywould open directlyonto the courtyardand the receptionroom would be
closeby;in othercases, the passage led directlyto the receptionroom,whichwas enteredbefore
reachingthecourtyard.

These spatialintricaciesmightalso be coupledwitha broaddivisionof thehouse intotwo distinct

quarters,termedthebirunand theanderun , a phenomenon discussedby Mazumdarand Mazumdar
(1997) and Khatib-Chahidi (1993), among others. Birun , which to
literallymeans"outside,"referred
thosequartersthatweresituatedclose to themainentrance.This was traditionally a male area,where
na-mahrammale visitorswould be entertained by the men of the household.The receptionrooms
were to be foundwithinthis area. Anderun , literally"inside,"denotedthe familyquarters,which
wouldbe predominantly female.Whilefemalevisitorsmighton occasionbe entertained in therecep-
tionroomswithinthebirun, theyweremorelikelyto be takento theanderun.In largehouses,there
mightbe separateretinuesof servantsforthetwo areas - femalefortheanderunand male forthe
birun.

In theirfully-fledgedform,thesedomesticarrangements were,as Khatib-Chahidi (1993) notes,akin

to theharemsof theIslamicEmpire.Only wealthyhouseholders could affordsuch a house,since it
impliedbuildingtwo separatecourtyards - one fortheprivatequarters,theotherforthereception
area. Multi-courtyard housesare recordedfroman earlydate in bothShirazand Yazd. Theyalso
appearin some numbersin our sample(see above). In the case of the vastArgh-iKarimKhani in
Shiraz(Figure 1), onlya singlecourtyard survives,but documentary
(the fortress) evidence(Afsar,
1973) enablesus to concludethatthedesignwas originally based arounda separationof privateand
receptionareas.The fortresswas itselftheprivatearea,whilethereceptionarea lay on theotherside
of theArgh.This receptionarea, or "Court,"was partiallydamaged
of the street,to the northeast
duringthePahlaviperiod(1925-1979).Withinthefortress was another,smallercourtto thenorthof
thevestibule,whichwas used by KarimKhan's guards.The otherearlyexamplecitedabove - the
Qavam-al-Molk - was clearlybuiltarounda similarseparationof "outside"and "inside"(Figure2).

But whilesexual segregationwas an establishedfeatureof lifein Iranpriorto thetwentiethcentury,

it seems unlikelythatthe birun-anderundivisionwas even thenas widespreadas the Mazumdars
(1997) imply.15As we have seen,thegreatmajorityof housesin boththeShirazand Yazd samples
had theiraccommodation arrangedarounda singlecourtyard, it would
and, in thesecircumstances,
nothave been possibleto maintainthesharpseparationof male and femalequartersexemplified by
largerand moreaffluent households.The entertainingareas would stillbe placed at thefrontof the

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 Journal
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20:3(Autumn,
2003) 191

house,close to theentrance,butwould
probably be used by both men and
women. Elsewhere,rooms were very
uniform and interchangeable,
as already
discussed:therewas no attemptto ar-
ticulatemen's and women'sroomsspa-
tiallywithinthecomplex.Figure3 sug-
geststhepossiblepatternof occupancy
in a small single-courtyardhouse, the
Saadi House. The receptionarea is next
to the entrancepassageway,wherethe
large, five-doorroom could accom-
modatethe guests.The privatearea of
thehousewouldprobablyhave beenon
the west and northsides. Thereare no
barriersor screens here, and all oc-
cupantswould have been veryvisible,
of course,as theycrossedthecourtyard
- thefocalpointof thehouse.

One of the notable featuresof the

Iranianhouse is thatit did notset aside
a specialroomforprayeror theperfor-
manceof religiousrituals.Islam places
emphasis on collectiveprayerat the
FIGURE 7. Yazd:A small
Zoroastrian
home. 2.soff
1.Courtyard, es, mosque.Fridayprayerand dailyprayer
3.rooms,
4. tanabi
, orsummer 5.toilets,
rooms, 6.entrance
corridors,are
7. main
entrance. public activities,in whichmen are
Source:
TheYazdMaster
Plan,1975. expectedto participate:16
O you who believe! Whenthecall is
madeforprayeron Friday,thenhastento theremembrance ofAllahand leave offtrading;that
is better
foryou, ifyouknow.
(Qur'an,49:10)

Whenpraying, Muslimsmustface theHoly Cityof Mecca, and theniche,or mihrab , of themosque

is alignedto indicatethissacreddirection,
termedtheqibla (see Bonine;1979; Hakim,1986; Mazum-
dar and Mazumdar,1997). The qibla was to be as exact as possible,and overthecenturiesIslamic
scientistswereable to establishthisdirectionwithincreasinggeometrical precision.As a result,the
mosquesand majorreligiousstructures of one periodmaybe foundto differslightlyin orientation
fromthoseof another(Figure1). The urbangridclearlydid not,and could not,followthesacredaxis
as rigorously,thoughsome have arguedthatin Irana consciouseffort was made at orienting streets
and houses towardsthe southwest,which approximatesto the qibla (Mazumdarand Mazumdar,
1997). This wouldenabletheoccupantsto establishtheproperdirection to facewhenprayingprivate-
ly withinthehome.But as notedin relationto theclimatictheory, thealignment of streetsand houses
in different
citieswas too variedto makea convincingcase. The northeast/southwest urbanpattern of
Yazd is well-attuned bothto the needs of theclimateand thereligiousrequirements of theIslamic
faith;thenorthwest/southeast orientation
thatwe findin partsof Shirazis ratherless so. As a general
rule,it seemsthatas long as thehousesand traditional linearstreetsfolloweda roughlynorth-south
line,thiswas consideredto meettheprescriptions of Islam.

Finally,while Islam is overwhelmingly

the dominantreligionin Iran,it is appropriate
to notethat
variationson the courtyardhouse were also used by anothersocial and religiousgroup- the
Zoroastrians.Boyce (1971) remindsus thatIran was Zoroastrianbeforeit was Muslim,and that
Zoroastrian
significant communities
survivedthroughouttheIslamicperiodin Yazd and neighboring
settlements.Today, however,the Zoroastriansrepresentonly about 2% of the total population
(Mazumdarand Mazumdar,1997:201).

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 Journal
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2003) 192

Zoroastrianbeliefsare verydifferentfrom
those of Islam. A major preceptwas the
reverencefornatureand its elements:fire,
air, earth,and water. Fire was the most
sacred of all; it was rituallypure and,
whether in thehome(thehearth-fire)or in a
temple(a fire-place),it was the focus of
veneration(Boyce, 1989/1977,chapter4).
In some Fire Places, or Atash kadeh, the
holyfirewouldbe keptpermanently alight;
somefiresburnedforhundreds of years.

The domesticarchitectureof theZoroastrian

community is describedin some detail by
Boyce (1971) and Mazumdarand Mazum-
dar (1997). While the Zoroastrianhouse
was in essenceinward-looking and,like the
Muslim house, built aroundone or more FIGURE 8. Yazd:Mosala House.
Lariha
Quarter, A Muslim
house
it appears to have been more without In
badgir. this
type,the and
basement its
courtyard the
are
courtyards, mainsummerspaces.
cramped, and the courtyardswere far Source: 1993.
Memarian,
smallerthantheirIslamic equivalents.The
17
open space could be tinyin relationto the totalfloorarea. Moreover,manyof the roomswere
designedto house specificactivitiesratherthanto respondto theshifting functionalpatternswe have
observedin theIslamichouse.For theact of worship,an area was set aside called thepesgam-i-mas.
Thus,thereligionof theZoroastrians gave theirhousesa distinctive
cast.

In theirpaperin JAPR (1997), however,Mazumdarand Mazumdarhave drawnattention to another

factorinfluencing theformof theZoroastrianhouse: thepoliticaland culturaldominanceof Islam.
WheretheIslamiccommunity could shape theirhousespredominantly in accordancewiththeircul-
tureand beliefs,theZoroastrians had to submitto theideas, policies,and regulationsof theIslamic
majority.The Mazumdarsgive a numberof examples of the formthat this took in practice:
Zoroastrians had to keep theirbuildingslow in orderthattheywould neverbe in a positionwhere
theycould look down on theirMuslim neighbors;theywere forbiddento use double lange (leaf)
doors;and,up to thebeginningof thetwentieth century,theyweredeniedtheuse of badgirs(wind-
catchers).It has been arguedfurtherthatthesmallsize of thecourtyard in Zoroastrianhouseswas a
to
response persecution and attacksby "roughs" and robbers.Boyce (1971) observesthat some oc-
cupantsdevelopedtheultimatedefenseof coveringtheircourtyard entirelywitha dome,eventhough
thisdeprivedthemof lightand air.

Unfortunately,thesurviving evidence,bothphysicaland documentary, is so sparsethatit is difficult

to testtheseclaims properly.In Yazd the ancientZoroastriandistricthas now largelydisappeared.
Examplesof Zoroastrian houses survivein some numbers, however,in thesouthern quartersoutside
thecitywalls,and thepublishedrecord,limitedthoughit is, includessomebuildingswithquitelarge
a Zoroastrianhouse thathas threecourtyards,
plans. Tavassoli (1982/1974)illustrates two of which
are verylargeby thestandards indicatedby Boyce and others(one is 20 x 20 m - 65 x 65 ft.- the
other17 x 10 m - 55 x 33 ft.).This house is also on two floors,givingit an overallheightcom-
parablewitha typicallargeMuslimhouse. Equally,one findsamongtherecordof Muslimhouses
some buildingsof verysmall dimensionsindeed.The house recordedby Memarianand shownin
Figure6 is roughlyequal on planto threeroomsof thesmallZoroastrian housefromtheYazd Master
Plan (Figure7).

Returningonce again to our sample of Yazdi houses, only threeof the 44 houses recordedby
Memarianwere identified as Zoroastrian, thattwo of thesehad badgirs.These
but it is interesting
werebothcourtyard houses,similarin patternto thetraditionalIslamichouse. A farmoreextensive
would
survey be needed to draw any conclusionsabout numbers and butit seemsthatthe
distribution,

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use of badgirs mighthave become quite

widespread among the Zoroastriancom-
munity,even if thiswas not originallythe
case. Otherexampleshave been recorded,
such as thehouse of RustamAmanatin the
Posht Khane Ali, whichhas large badgirs
and courtyards.18

The resultsare also suggestivewithrespect

to theMuslimhousesof Yazd. Of the41 in
the sample, 27 (about two-thirds)had
badgirs.So, badgirswere verycommonin
Muslimhouses,buttheywerenotuniversal.
Even quite large houses could be without
any kindof wind-catcher (Figure8). In the
Lariha House, it seemsthatthesunkengar-
den furnished the necessaryretreatforthe
summermonths:badgirs were not needed
eitherforcomfort or forstatus.For themost
part,however, it was thepoorerhouseholds
thathad to do withoutbadgirs.It is these
smallerhouses thathave been largelyover-
lookedin thehistorical record.19

The thirdZoroastrian housein thesampleis

of cruciformplan, with a small central
courtyard - a pattern thatmightbe seen as
distinctivelyZoroastrian (see Boyce, note
17). But if we look elsewherewe findthat,
underthe name of Ciar Soffe(fourhalls),
thiskindof housewas in factwidespreadin
the Muslimtownsof centralIran.Figure9
shows a house of this sort recordedby
Memarian in Zavareh. The four vaulted
halls were used for everydayactivitiesin
winter,spring,autumn,and on summer
evenings.The "courtyard," formedby the
intersectionof the halls, was typically
coveredwitha smalldome,raisedto admit
FIGURE CiarSoffe
9. Zavareh: houseplanandsection.1.Main lightand air: it servedas a gardenin the
2.passageway,
entrance, 3.reception
room,4. soffe
, orvaulted heatof thesummer.The same basic house-
5.courtyard.
room,
Source: 1993.
Memarian, form was therefore used by both
Zoroastriansand Muslims,thoughit seems
to have been muchless commonin theMuslimquartersof Yazd thanin manyothercities.In certain
extremecases, housesmighthave thecourtyard almostcompletelycovered,as pointedoutby Boyce
(1971) and Mazumdar and Mazumdar (1997), but this practicewas also not confinedto the
Zoroastrians.Figure10 shows a small Muslimhouse in theGhazorghahQuarterof Yazd, whichis
treatedin exactlythisway.

In summarythen,extantbuildingsand drawingsconfirmthata certainproportion of houses were

withoutwind-catchers, could at timesbe very
thathouses variedwidelyin size, and thatcourtyards
small in relationto house-sizeand mighteven be completelycovered.These architecturalfeatures,
however,are notnecessarilyto be seen as a markof subordination to thedominantreligiousgroup.
The same featurescan be foundamongMuslim as well as Zoroastrianhouses and reflectthe af-

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2003) 194

fluenceof the householdsconcerned.

This suggeststhat differenceswithin
religiousgroupscould be as significant
as the differencesbetween groups
stressedby Mazumdarand Mazumdar.

CONCLUSION

In this study,we have discussed the

principalcharacteristics of traditional
courtyard housingin Yazd and Shiraz
and have triedto clarifytheroleplayed
by variousfactorsin shapingthesefea-
tures.In a countrywithsometimesex-
tremeclimaticconditions,it would be
surprisingif no link were foundbe- FIGURE 10. GhazorghahQuarter:FazelHouse.
Thecourtyard ofthis
tween climate and building form. Muslimhouse isvaulted.
1.Covered 2.
courtyard, 3.
kitchen, rooms,
4.entrance.
Equally, the social obligations and Source:Memarian,1993.
restrictionsimposed by Shi'ite Islam
are so strongand all-embracing thatwe shouldexpecttheseto have had a significant influenceat the
level of domesticspace organization.In fact,of course,the Iranianhouse,in its variousforms,has
evolvedin such a way as to satisfybothsets of requirements. The north-south orientation thatwas
observed, albeit veryloosely, in traditional
housinglayout was well adapted to the seasonal and
diurnalmovement of theinhabitantsof thehouse,whileat thesame timeoffering, fortheMuslim,an
acceptableguideto qibla (thedirectionof Mecca). It is noteasy to separatetheinfluences, even less
to quantifytheirrelationship.The comparisonof housesin Shirazand Yazd, however,has pointedto
differencesin the "weight"of thefactorsaccordingto thelocality.The harshdesertclimateof Yazd
in implicitrulesof alignment
is reflected and roomposition,whichare farless variablethanthoseof
Shiraz,a citywitha relatively temperate climate.At thesame time,thenortheast/southwest orienta-
tionof buildingsand courtyards thatpredominates in Yazd represents a farcloserapproximation to
qibla thantheshifting of Shiraz.
streetpattern

It has been notedthattherulesand practiceof Islam impactedin a verydirectway thedistribution of

accommodation withinthehouse and thepatternof entry.Althoughhospitality was also an intrinsic
partof theIslamictradition,thishad to be reconciledwiththeneed to protecttheinhabitants, above
all thewomenof thehousehold,frombeingseen by outsiders.This was achievedby a complexand
sometimesveryintricatearrangement of spaces involvingchicanesand vestibules.Internally, the
house mightalso be dividedinto two separatequarters:the birun(the male quarters,close to the
outside)and theanderun(thefemalequarters, on theinsideand outof sight;Figure4). However,this
divisioncould onlybe realizedfullyin a housewithseveralcourtyards. This studyhas indicatedthat
multi-courtyard houses were in the minorityin bothShiraz and Yazd. Most houses - probablyat
leastthree-quarters- had onlyone courtyard, aroundwhichall thehouseholdand guestshad to be
accommodated. This suggeststhatthespatialsegregation of menand womenmighthavebeen strong-
ly implemented only in the most affluenthouseholds. In the averagehousehold,wherethe birun-
anderundivisionwas weaker,womenmayhavebeenless confined.

Finally,we have consideredbrieflytherelationship betweentheMuslimsand theZoroastrians, and

theimpactthatthismayhave had on house-form. The Zoroastrians wereformuchof theirhistorya
small minoritywithmarkedlydifferent beliefsfromthe majorityMuslim population.It has been
of whathave
suggestedthatthe privilegedpositionof the Islamic populationled to the institution
been termed"sumptuary laws and codes,"i.e., regulations
and policiesgoverningbuildingpracticein
the minoritygroup (Mazumdar and Mazumdar, 1997:193). As a result of these controls,the
Zoroastrianhousebecamea distinctiveartifact - one of restricted
height,withoutbadgirs, and some-
timeseven witha coveredcourtyard. Our limited analysis,however,has shownthatsuch features

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 Journal
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2003) 195

were not peculiarto the Zoroastrianhouse; theycould apply equally well to Muslimhouses,par-
thosebuiltforpoorerhouseholds.Architecturally
ticularly speaking,theMuslimsandZoroastrians are
perhapsmore accuratelyseen as intersecting, ratherthandiscrete,groups.But to understand the
relationship
properly, we need a morethoroughstudyof the small Muslimhouse. This remainsa
neglectedaspectof researchin Iran.
architectural

NOTES
1.Thefaith inA.D.610with
ofIslambegan therevelations
toMohammed. Within
a relatively
short an
Islam"attained
time,
cultural
unsurpassed inNorth
supremacy" Africa East(Gazzard,
andtheMiddle 1986).
2. AnInternational
Symposium onIslamicArchitecture
andUrbanism washeldatKingFaisalUniversity
atDammam, Saudi
ArabiainJanuary1980.InIraqa conferenceentitled
International
SymposiumonArabArchitectural
Heritage andOurCon-
temporaryArchitecture
washeldinSeptember 1980.A Colloquiumwasorganized
byCARDOattheUniversity ofNewcastle-
upon-Tyne,March 1984,underthetitle
TheArabHouse(Hyland 1986,seerefs.).
andAl-Shahi, Manyothers followed.
Since
thisarticle
wassubmitted forpublication,
a further
international
conference,
Courtyard
Housing inArabCities
, hasbeenhosted
byAl-Baath UniversityatHorns,Syria(November 2000).It remains whether
debatable theterms"Arab and
Architecture"
"Arab House"arevalid;Hakim{JAPRinref.note31)argues that ismore
"Arab-Islamic" appropriate.
3.Thetraditional ofIranalsoemployed
peoples many forms
housing without Theseincluded
courtyards. compact on
buildings
several as intheregion
floors, ofAbianeh,small, houses
single-cell inthemountainous ofKhuzistan
regions andIlam,the
cruciform
widespread orCiarSoffe,
"four-hall," house,andmany different
kindsoftents,
suchas theAlacix
andtheDawar
usedbytheTurkomanandothernomadic Thesenon-courtyard
peoples. inMemarian
arediscussed
types (1991).
4. Amos inhisinfluential
Rapoport, bookHouseForm
andCulture identified
(1969), these
asmodifying
factors 4
(seechapters
and5).
5. Professor considered
Pirnia, bymanytobe thefather
ofvernacular inIran,undertook
studies many detailed
studies
of
traditional overa period
building ofmore
thanfifty butunfortunately
years published little
comparatively Inhis
(seerefs.).
oftheearly1970s,
publications MahmoodTavassoli
wasoneofthefirst
Iranian
scholars anextensive
tooffer ofthe
analysis
traditional stock.
housing Aerial
views
andmapsofcentral
Shiraz
maybefound
inFalamaki(1977).
6. Seetheauthor's
Ph.D.dissertation
forsurvey anddataonindividual
details (Memarian,
dwellings 1998).
7. John intherecord
Fryer, ofhistravels
inthelateseventeenth
century,commentedonthegraceful ofthebadgi
appearance rs
when seenfroma distance,
making "theTownappear delightful
enough toBeholders, atoncea pleasing
giving to
Spectacle
andkind
Strangers, Refreshmenttotheinhabitants" cit.inRoaf,1982).Lockhart
II,159ff,
(Fryer observed
(1939:64) that
these
ventilator
towers
rise"likesmall
factory
chimneys,abovetheroofsofthebuildings."
8. InthecaseofShiraz,
theseincluded
theJamiMosquearea,theareasouthoftheNuoMosque, theMoshir the
Centre,
Nasir-al
MolkCentre,
theQavam area,theKhanMadresseh
area,andtheareanorth Onlythelastofthese
ofZandStreet. have
beensignificantly
affected
byrecent schemes.
road-building Forlocationmaps, Ph.D.dissertation
seetheauthor's (Memarian,
1998).
9. Scaledrawings
ofalltheShiraz
houses
andexamples
from
theYazdsample invol.2 oftheauthor's
maybefound Ph.D.
dissertation
(Memarian,
1998).
10.Thepractice
ofseasonal
anddiurnal
movement fromonepart ofthehousetoanother
is notpeculiar
toIran. in
Itisfound
manyother oftheMiddle
regions Iraq.FethiandRoaf,intheir
East,including oftheoldhouses
study have
ofBaghdad,
characterized
thetraditional
Baghdadias "a sedentary
nomad," whopassescomfortably
thehottest
timesofthedayandthe
notbymigrating
year, overlongdistances
butby"agentle andhorizontal)
(vertical around
migration thehouse"
(1986:41).
11.SpiroKostof
(1991)draws
onBonine'sworkonfield inhisdiscussion
andlanddivision
patterns ofurban in
topography
Iran.
Theinfluence
ofpre-urban onthealignment
landpatterns ofthemain
streets
inIraniantownsisillustrated to
byreference
thesettlement
ofNowdushan,nearYazd(p.59ff).
12.Itis notnecessary
here toenter
intotheideological ofthedifferent
complexities branches sinceweareconcerned
ofIslam,
onlywiththemainaspects ofIslamic
Lawas theseimpact theform anduseofdomestic Someofthespecific
buildings.
features
ofShi'ismaresetoutbyKhatib-Chahidi
(1981).Themaindifferences Shi'a andSunni
between in
Islamarediscussed
Hollister
(1953).
13.Similar
devices
toprotect
thefemale
members
ofthehousehold
from seenarefound
being intheArab-Islamic
countries,
seeHakim(1986:33ff.).
14.Itis known
that
bothsingle-
andmulti-courtyard
houses
werecommon priortotheZandperiod There
(1750-1795). area
number ofwritten andother
sources that
evidence confirmtheuseofmulti-courtyard
housesintheIslamic from
period the
fourteenth author
Jafari,
century. ofTheHistory
ofYazd(1963)claimsthatinhistime,several
houses and
hadAnderooni
A number
Birooni. ofextant houses
multi-courtyard datefromtheSafavid
period (1491-1722).

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 Journal
ofArchitectural
andPlanning
Research
20:3(Autumn,
2003) 196

15.Khatib-Chahidi
refers
totextual
evidence, details
giving inthenineteenth
ofthiskindofhousehold n.
(1993:120,
century
4).
16.Women
couldalsoattend atthemosque
prayers butwere tooccupy
expected a separate
space, from
screened view.
Atthe
Jami inYazd,thewomen's
mosque areaisreached
bywayofa separate ofstairs
flight sideofthecourtyard.
onthesouth
17.Mary Boyce(1971),
through fieldwork,
original identified
twomain typesofhouses,
thedo-pesgami andthecor-pesgami.
Thelatter,
whichwasofcruciformplan,wasthelargerofthetwo,butthelivingspacecouldstillbequitesmall(theword
pesgam means
literally talar
, orportico,
butthisis misleading). planscanbefound
Illustrative intheessaybyBoyceandthe
byMazumdar
paper andMazumdar.
18.A fulldescription ofthishouse
ofthebadgir wasgivenbyMr.D. Mehrshahi Theauthors
communication).
(private would
liketoexpress
their
thanks toMr.Fazilefrom
tohim, theYazdSchool andtoMr.Safinia.
ofArchitecture,
19.AsBoyce(1971)notes,
theEnglish
missionary, wholeft
Malcolm,
Napier anotherwise
detailed ofYazdihouses
description
ofthelastcentury,
atthebeginning about
saysnothing thehouses
ofthepoor.

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Additionalinformation
IranUniversity
chitecture, Narmak,KhavarStreet,Tehran16836,Iran.
of Scienceand Technology,

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES
Gholamhossein
Memarian hisprofessional
received inarchitecture
education inIranandItalyandholdsthedegreeofDottore
di Architettura
fromtheUniversity ofGenoa.He hasconductedextensive inIranandpublished
fieldwork ninebooks(in
andseveral
Persian) papers onthetraditional
Islamic ofthat
architecture Hewasawarded
country. thedegreeofPh.D.bythe
ofManchester
University (U.K.)in 1998andis currently inArchitecture
a Lecturer ofScience
attheIranUniversity and
Technology.
FrankEdwardBrown is a qualified anacademic,
architect, andis currently
andresearcher, Senior inArchitecture
Lecturer at
theUniversity
ofManchester.Hereceived hisprofessional
DiplomainArchitecturefromtheCanterbury
School(KentInstitute
ofArtandDesign),
anM.Sc.(Distinction)from University London
College (TheBartlett anda Ph.D.from
School), TheOpen
Hismain
University. research areinthefield
interests andurban
ofarchitectural andhehasa particular
morphology, in
interest
thespatial
andformalorganizationoftraditional onwhich
a subject
buildings, hesupervises
doctoral attheUniversity
research
ofManchester.
revisions
Manuscript 26July
completed 2002.

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