Maryam Talaee - Department of Architecture, Shahinshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahinshahr, Iran

Northern Iran’s villages are different from other Iran’s villages because of their different and special climate. These villages are the simple adaptation of the nature and geography of Iran’s northern part and also they respond to all the demands of locals. The Local people which their economic, culture and daily life are completely different from the residents of other parts of Iran. In fact, there is too much humidity in the Caspian Sea coast and also a huge amount of wood’s resources in forest zones which these two important items led to build the certain types of vernacular houses in this region. This region is mostly flat and there is also a small mountainous area. The vernacular settlements of this area are adapted to the very different factors and meet diverse needs of inhabitants. This paper aims to illustrate not only the construction pattern of flat villages of Iran’s north, but also tries to describe the impact of climate, living activities and demands on this type of vernacular architecture. Finally practical guidelines will be proposed for more optimal design in new vernacular buildings and other similar climates. The data have been collected from human resources, field study of the vernacular houses in selected villages and researches that have been done in this area. The paper is a review study that covers the topic of ‘Language and tectonics of Contemporary Vernacular’.

Vernacular houses - Northern Iran’s villages - Construction pattern