The role and identity of central courtyard: As sustainable element of Persian traditional houses in desert regions

Identity is the simple word with very sophisticated meaning. Every country has the unique identity which derived from culture and historical background in the realm of architecture. Iran also has the particular identity in architecture with the rich traditional and historical heritage. Unfortunately, with the arrival of cultural elements from other countries especially European countries, the architectural identity has been undergone dramatic changes especially in the recent years. As an example, most of the sustainable elements of traditional architecture faded away in our modern construction such as sunken garden, wind catcher, shoadan and etc… which had the great impact on sustainability in which traditional building enjoyed the magnificent features of harmonizing with nature. By consideration to climatic adaption of building, human lived comfortable without any problem of cooling or heating demands. Nowadays, modern technologies create many problems such as environmental pollution and energy crisis. Therefore, this important question comes to mind that why the role and identity of these traditional elements like central courtyard as a particular one have been ignored during the recent decades. This trend gradually leads to create the architectural building without any attention to ecological aspect. This paper focused on the identity of central courtyard in traditional dwelling in desert region. The methodology is based on literature review through the observation. The main purpose of this research is revive and revise consideration of natural elements in traditional houses in order to achieve the forgotten identity of sustainability in contemporary ones.

Keywords:

Identity , Traditional house , Central courtyard , Sustainability , desert region