Zahra Khademi Khoobani - Master’s student in Architectural Science at Tarbiat Modares University,
Mohammad Reza Bemanian - Professor of Architecture Department, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University,

This paper investigates the historical evolution of the Yazd courtyard house, a significant architectural type in Iranian history that consists of a walled boundary enclosing various open, semi-enclosed, and enclosed spaces. The paper challenges the existing interpretations of the courtyard planning of these houses, which are based on a set of untested assumptions about (a) the number of courtyards and rooms, (b) the stability of the courtyard planning over time, and (c) the topological relationship between the courtyard and the rest of the house. These interpretations attribute the courtyard planning to either socio-cultural values or climatic conditions. The paper adopts an analysis method derived from previous researches in this case to examine the spatial topology of several plans of Yazd's most exemplary courtyard houses, which are classified by the Yazd Cultural Heritage Organization and date from the ۱۱th to the ۲۰th CE centuries. The paper proposes hypotheses based on the existing literature on the distinctive planning of the Yazd courtyard house and tests them using quantitative indicators.

Central courtyard, Indigenous architecture, Yazd city, Spatial configuration, Geometric proportion, Hot-arid climate