Significant features in rural architecture accentuating identity in the native buildings of cold and

Significant features in rural architecture accentuating identity in the native buildings of cold and mountainous climate

Fatemeh Davoudabadi Farahani1 Marjan Baharinezhad2

1 Continuing undergraduate student, Department of Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Imam Khomeini Memorial Unit, Rey.

2 lecturer, Department of Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Imam Khomeini Memorial Unit, Rey.

Contact no.: +989203989909

Email: Fatemehdavoudabadifarahani@gmail.com

Contact no.: 09122851293

Email: marjanbaharinezhad@ymail.com

Abstract:

Architecture carries significant meanings persistently explored by designers. Identity is one of these meanings associated with the human and the building and is an essential factor in satisfying people and an important component of encouraging people to linger in the environment. Due to various factors, rural houses have specific features such as coordination with nature and climate, functionality, the use of native materials and knowledge, and simplicity which play an important psychological role besides providing shelter. Rural architecture does not merely seek to build and provide shelter to rural settlers but seeks a more glorious purpose. The use of small porches and openings, thick walls, the establishment of the building and its form, and the direction of pathways play a significant part in fostering the sense of satisfaction which is consistent with sustainable architecture principles and is in line with the aforementioned goals.

Keywords: identity, rural architecture, habitat

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Introduction

Rural fabric is constituted of the elements that make up a village, especially the residential units, public places, and the relations between them (Sirossabri: 2012:107). As the most essential component of rural fabrics, housing's spatial organization, establishment, and construction demonstrates the quality of using the environment and the influence of the economy, traditions, and norms governing the rural community (Sartipipour, 2005:44).

Rural life is a sort of life accompanied by production and based on native structures in which most settlers cover their needs from the village itself, among which the need for a shelter and place of settlement is one of the most important of these needs. Rural buildings used to be a symbol of identity and the social, economic, and cultural, structures and a portrayal of the climatic conditions of the region, especially in the past. However, the uniformity of construction techniques, the similarity of the materials, and the general living condition in rural settlements have undergone significant changes in the contemporary era, so the current rural houses are no longer conforming to the climatic and biological conditions and rural lifestyle of villages. In other words, we are currently faced with a change in the rural concepts over the past two decades and some alterations in re understanding it as well as negligence toward the new demands of the rural community.

The high level of cooperation between the architect and landowner is striking in rural architecture. In traditional architectural design, the designer and operator used to use similar that they were at times assumed to be the same person, which helped create memorable and appropriate works of architecture due to the social stance of the architects and their closeness and consultation with the owner (Yusef Zamani, 2010:110). Aside from architectural values such as simplicity, the physical fabric of Iranian villages enjoys aesthetic and visual patterns, conformity with the natural environment, coordination with biological functions and livelihood, and the use of native materials and knowledge (JamKasra: 2010:61) which is evident in the native architecture. The design and execution of buildings in native architecture are not imitated, and every element is formed based on the needs of the habitants using natural facilities (Alpagonulu et al., 25:1386), which characterizes Iranian native architecture and gives it an identity.

Identity is a set of properties and features that sets one individual or object aside from others and gives them "personality" or, in better words, "character." To put it more simply, one could suggest that identity is a set of theoretical action properties that sets “one” aside from “the others” and makes them “understandably” distinct from each other (Pakzad, 2006). John Lang believes that "Designers must pay attention to the needs and wants of people to be able to respond to their identity needs. New arguments will be needed whenever the conditions change" (Lang, 2011:272). He also considers the built environment to be a cultural mystery shaped by the consumption of social institutions and argues that the physical form of the environment transforms as humans' perception of it changes (Ibid, 202). He considers the goal behind designing to be responding to human needs and enriching human experiences (Ibid, 227). Thus, he believes that any creative work of design that truly serves society can grow by sympathizing with people, understanding the capabilities of the environment, and becoming aware of cultural differences (Ibid, 279). He also considers enhancing human experience compared to the past through creative thinking as one of the main tasks of designers (Ibid, 282).

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Many scholars have conducted studies on rural architecture in cold and mountainous climates in the form of books and articles, some of which are as follows:

Razaii and Vasiq (2014) published a book entitled "Analysis of sustainable architecture in native rural housing in cold and mountainous climates" and introduced and explored the components of rural architecture in villages in cold and mountainous areas and investigated sustainable architecture, inferring that the native architecture in this climate was consistent with sustainable architecture.

A book entitled "an introduction to rural architecture" dedicated a chapter to definitions of rural and native architecture and explored the rural architecture of various regions of the country. The book was compiled by Haj Ebrahim Zargar in 1997.

In another article, Soltanzadeh and Qaseminia categorized the native housing units in Golestan province into three categories of units situated in plains, foothills, and mountainous areas based on the socio cultural, demographic, and climatic properties of these settlements in 2011.

Another article entitled “Architecture with a view to the sky” was published in 2008 by Molanaii and Hashemnezhad, and explored the structure, formation, and establishment of villages in Kermanshah and Kurdistan provinces.

Rezaii et al. (2014) published an article entitled “a study of the position of sustainable architecture patterns in the native architecture of Helsem Village”, inferring that the buildings and fabrics of this village were formed based on the climate.

The cold and mountainous climate

The western mountains including the western slopes of the Central Iranian Mountain Range are considered among the cold regions given that their average temperature is just above 10˚C and their average minimum temperature reaches below 3˚C. The western mountain range prevents the humid Mediterranean air to enter the central plateau of Iran and maintains the humidity on its slopes (Kasmaii, 2008:83). The climatic features of this region are as follows:

Extreme heat on plains in summer and mild weather in winter

Intense sunlight in summer and extremely poor sunlight in winter

Winters are cold, long, and toilsome, the land is covered in snow for several months. Winters are extremely cold from the regions of Azerbaijan to Fars. The cold season starts in early December and lasts until late April.

Most peaks are persistently covered in snow and it is always snowing in altitudes over 3,000m.

Overall, this region experiences a short spring that sets summer and winter apart.

Urmia, Tabriz, Sanandaj, and Hamadan are situated in this region (Kasamai, 2008:84 83).

Air humidity is low in the region (Qobadian, 2018:98).

Properties of rural buildings in a cold and mountainous climate

Regions with a cold and mountainous climate experience mild winters and extremely cold winters. The differences between day and night temperatures are extremely high in such regions (Morteza Sediq, 2021: 231). Due to the extreme cold during most of the year, the urban and rural fabrics in this climate are dense and compact to minimize heat exchange between interior and exterior environments. The kitchen is typically placed in the center of the house in these regions to make the most out of its heat and minimize

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heat loss (Qobadian, 2006: 99). This region of the country experiences difficult, long, and extremely cold winters and the land is covered in snow for several months every year. The cold season starts in early December and lasts until late April. Precipitation is low in summer and high in winter and is mostly in the form of snow. Springs are generally short in this region (Kasmaii, 2003:83). Hence, the porches designed in the architecture of this region are smaller compared to those in warm and arid climates, and their only function is to protect windows and entrances from the accumulation of snow.

The rural buildings in these regions are completely authentic and have been designed based on the environmental conditions and features (Ziari, 2010:81), and perform well against adverse climatic conditions since they take climatic criteria and principles into account. Thus, native buildings in these regions have managed to naturally protect the habitants from both hot and cold weather (Espanani, 2004: 84).

Stone extroverted villages are observed in the mountainous areas contrary to the desert areas where most villages and introverted and made out of mud (Pirnia, 2003:31), which is the result of different climates (Atashinbar, 2009: 32). The ceiling and walls are extremely thick to keep the cold away since the thickness of the walls prevents heat exchange between the internal and external environments of the building. Thus, construction materials have been used in this climate to increase the thickness of the walls so that they can store the heat inside them. Thick walls store the heat of the day during the night and help adjust the interior temperature. Native architecture in these regions seeks to warm up the building as far as possible naturally or using heaters and the heat caused by the presence of people and animals as well as cooking (Pourmohammadi & Nasrollahzadeh, 2013).

Large rooms and interior spaces must be refrained from in cold and snowy regions since increasing the contact level between interior and exterior environments make them harder to heat (Rezaii & Vasiq, 2013:5). The ceilings in native rural houses in this climate are designed to be lower than ceilings in similar rooms in other climates to reduce the volume of the rooms and minimize the ratio of external surface to building mass (Rezaii & Vasiq, 2013:171).

Definition of the village from various views

Table 1: definition of village

Definition Reference

Kousheshgaran, 2007

A village is a phenomenon looked upon from human sciences viewpoint. A village is a construction specifically belonging to the era of tradition, a biological set of constructions, beliefs, and behaviors of a small human community that emerged in response to their needs for comfort and through the interactions made for their comfort as well as equal and mutual rural interaction with the land after its capabilities are discovered.

A village is a unit phenomenon whose cultural, social, economic, economic, and other components and factors cannot be separated.

A village is a form of social continuity ad is made up of geographical and natural units and biological activities in direct relationship with housing and

Zargar, 2009:31

Sartipipour, 2009: 4

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settlements and the most capable unit in providing its annual needs within itself.

The village is equivalent to "Rustak" in the Pahlavi language according to Moein Dictionary, and its Arabic forms include Rustaq, Rustaq, Nasdaq, or Razdaq which means "village" and "settlement."

A village is considered a biological and residential complex and emerges in various parts of the world due to the instinct of social life in different forms depending on the level of culture and technical knowledge.

Rural communities have traditionally been defined based on land ownership zones.

Definition of identity

Moein, 2006

Saiidi, 2010: 3

M. Frutos, 1999:195

Persian dictionaries have mentioned various definitions for the word identity. Dehkhoda dictionary defines identity as “identification,” and this definition is the most popular among theologians and scholars. Identity sometimes refers to an external existence which is defined as a partial truth (Sufi term). Identity refers to the nature of a discussion and comes from the order of unity and theology. Identity (Hoviat in Persian) is derived from the term "Ho" which refers to the unknown and, when speaking of the Lord Almighty, points to his essence by his attributes and names (Dehkhoda, 1998:349).

Moein dictionary has used the word identity in the four concepts of the divine essence, existence, what identifies an individual, and partial truth (Moein, 1996:1246).

Aryanpour dictionary has translated this word into the two concepts of 1unity, sameness, and homogeneity and identity, name, and mark (Aryanpour, 2010:697).

Oxford dictionary defines identity as 1. Individuality and nature, 2. Features, beliefs, or emotions that set individuals apart, and 3. Features that create similarities between individuals (Oxford, 2005:643). The American Heritage dictionary refers to four concepts when defining identity, 1. Features that make something distinct, 2. A set of personality features and behaviors that characterize someone as a member of a specific group, 3. A quality of condition through which something is considered the equivalent of something else, and 4. Personal characteristics (American Heritage, 1975).

According to Kevin Lynch, an object should first be recognizable from other objects and perceived independently from them so a favorable mental image of it can be formed. This can be called identify recognition, not only in the sense of conforming something to something else but more in the sense of distinction and individuality. The identity of space must be recognizable in every hierarchy such as a house, street, neighborhood, or city (Pakzad, 2006), but identity is just as much about distinction as it is about similarity. Catherine Woodward believes that identity is examined through similarity, similarity to people like us, and difference from those who are different from us (Mirmoqtadaii, 2004). Hence, the word identity requires the understanding of two contradictory concepts situated opposed to one another but complementary to a single concept called identity. These two concepts include similarity and distinction, but in a more general definition, identity is a social, political, cultural, physical, and manmade phenomenon studied by scholars from various scientific fields as well as political and social reformers. A work of architecture can manifest a collective (religious, territorial, or racial) identity or merely express the identity and character of its designer regardless of collective norms. What makes a work of architecture authentic or void of identity in the public eye is its belonging or lack of belonging to the

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collective identity. This perspective indicates that an “authentic” work is one whose identity conforms to the collective identity, such as a historical building in a historical fabric, whereas an “unauthentic” work is one whose identity contradicts collective identity, such as a modern building in a historical fabric (Hojjat, 2005).

Table 2: the concept of identity in architecture

Scholar Definition Reference

Chris Abel Chris Abel considers cultural mixture as a natural phenomenon involved in the formation of architectural identity and suggests that creative cultural interaction processes are the most appropriate definition of identity.

Charles Correa

Charles Correa considers identity as a process and believes that the shape of the identity process forms and develops over time and is based on overcoming real problems. On the other hand, he believes that this phenomenon is not self conscious and is rather in need of an external understanding in the view of the audience.

Kevin lynch Kevin lynch defines identity in its simplest form as the "meaning behind a place" which gives it a unique and distinct personality and relates closely to personal identity. He considers compatibility, transparency, and readability to be among the components of meaning that express the relationship between non spatial values and shape.

Kristian Schultz Kristian Schultz considers identity as a unified and coherent concept that affects the audience as an atmosphere known as the spirit of place and remains persistent over time. He believes that "Original architecture is the architecture of preservation, and preservation in architecture necessarily entails cooperation."

Pakzad

The concept of identity from the viewpoints of architects and urban planners is generally discussed as two complementary components, first the creation of memory and imagination in the individual and second, distinction and independence. Hence, identity recognition is a comparative process between a present object and the mental data associated with it.

Abel: 2008:294

Correa, 1983:10

Lynch, 2011:172

Schultz, 2008:71

Pakzad, 2006

Stardust

The discussion of identity in architecture and urban planning can be considered in the recognition of architecture and urban planning elements, maintaining the buildings and spaces remaining from the past, and regeneration of various elements based on the evolving human needs.

Features of buildings in rural architecture

Stardust, 2005

Architecture is the result of human thought and spirit and reflects the spiritual and intellectual contents of a builder and designer. One designs and builds rural architecture with awareness of the social, natural, and cultural environments and with awareness of nature and existence. A designer is a manufacturer, activist, and artist in essence. Arts is not their job, but they are rather an artist in nature which means they think artistically, builds their tools (production), and constructs their house as an artist. Housing is the most essential constituent of rural fabrics, and its spatial arrangement, establishment, and construction

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indicate the quality of the environment and the effect of traditions, norms, and economy governing the rural community. The design, technology, and construction techniques of rural housing and its dimensions, scale, proportions, and conformity with the conditions inside and outside the residential unit indicate the impact of human relationships with the environmental facilities, natural conditions, and requirements that have evolved through time as principles, criteria, and quantities in housing spatial structure. The strengthening or weakening of these characteristics can alter the dynamics or cause disorder in the functions of the rural physical spatial system due to the interference of their production and value roles (Sartipipour, 2005:44).

1. Coordination with natural conditions of the rural environment

Harmony in components and with nature and environment is considered among the secrets of rural architecture. Whether in a desert, forest, or mountains, a village is always compatible with its environment. There is no chance that a village builds something that goes against the environment or contradicts the nature of its position and place. The harmony in rural architecture comes from the internal harmony of nature (Nasr, 2006: 154).

According to Alpagonolo, native architecture was spontaneous. In this sense, spontaneous means natural rather than random (Alpagonolo et al., 2007: 25). Rural architecture style is the result of human thought and spirit and manifests the spiritual and intellectual contents of the designer and builder. Rural settler designs and builds works of architecture with awareness of the social, cultural, and natural environments while being aware of nature and existence (Rezaii et al., 2014:66). Villages in the country are typically natural homes to plains, forests, mountains, deserts, beaches, and rivers, and their overall texture and the architecture of every single building is wisely and beautifully harmonized with the natural components of the environment (Sabri & Sartipipour, 2002).

2. Functionality

The spatial organization of the village that reflects its social, physical, and economic values is formed under the influence of functionality. Most of the spatial elements in the rural space have functions complementing each other aside from their individual and specific function so that their identity is defined through their relationship with the overall function of the complex they are a part of. The aforementioned is so prominent that some consider rural architecture functional architecture. The prominence and significance of the role of housing in villages become more visible when its dominant role among the components of rural fabric is observed, while every spatial element in the urban context has an individual function specific to itself (Italian Cultural Association, 1986).

3. Beauty1

Rural architecture is pleasant and beautiful since its creator thinks beautifully. The beauty of rural architecture does not lie in its façade since the creator has not meant for it to be beautiful in pretense, but is rather a result of the creator's knowledge of the existence since everything he builds is a continuation of the creations before it and becomes more beautiful in proportion to his understanding of

1 Beauty is proof of the sublime. It is the essence of art and divine quality. Among all the divine attributes manifested in this world, beauty is the most reminiscent of absolute existence (Burkhart, 2002:16). The beauty of nature indicates the beautiful existence around. Nature is beautiful since its creator is beautiful and loves beauty. Therefore, the most beautiful things are also found in nature. Beauty prevails over ugliness in pristine nature, and at its highest level is a manifestation of divine beauty and an echo from the heavens (Nasr, 2000:203).

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the world and existence. Thus, the secret of rural architecture's beauty lies in the rural knowledge of existence, which unavoidably raises the appraisal of anyone who comes across rural architecture from any point of view. One could claim that a sort of holiness emerges in the native rural architecture, but not all viewers comprehend this beauty. This beauty stems from the rural love for life and existence and its freedom of all worldly and material objects (Akrami, 2010).

4. Simplicity

Simplicity is another secret to rural architecture. Rural architecture begins and ends at the scale of a house. The architecture of a rural house is simple and extremely peaceful but is quite complex despite its simplicity as well. The complexity of rural architecture is not pretentious, the thing it manifests is rather peace and simplicity. The simplicity found in monotonous clay figures is void of contrast but still a sight for the sore eyes. The simplicity of rural architecture is visual, whereas its complexity is insightful (Akrami 2010:27). Rural architectural style easily adapts to specific environmental conditions (Roknaldin Eftekhari et al., 2012:87). Rural buildings appear basic and simple at the first glance, but are made by people who have made the most out of their intelligence and capacity and taken advantage of all the relationships between them to construct these buildings (Taqvaii et al., 2009: 106). The aim behind the simplicity of rural architecture is for them to revive the sense of God's presence in the architectural space and the hearts of rural settlers (Akrami, 2010:42). Rural life and the attitude of villagers to the world and nature as well as their facilities and knowledge of production and construction and operation techniques leads the components of the environment to form with utmost efficiency despite their simplicity and the logical and complementary relationship s established between them(Italian Cultural Association, 1986).

5. The use of native materials

Iranian architects have long sought to acquire the materials they needed from the closest regions so that the buildings would be self sufficient and independent from materials from other areas (Pirnia, 2003:31). Rural buildings in various regions of the country have typically emerged through the settlers' wise use of the available materials and their effort to make the most out of them to meet their construction needs.

Villagers have always been investing their efforts in reducing construction costs, avoiding unnecessary transportation, using native materials on the one hand, and increasing the durability and capabilities of native materials on the other hand (Zargar, 2007:163). Native or traditional materials have long been prepared from the environment around the village and used in housing construction. Although the public opinion is that native materials lack the strength and resistance for the construction of durable buildings and national construction codes do not recommend them for construction, they include resistant and durable materials in pleasant and diverse colors that can create beauty, durability, and diversity when used alone or together with new materials (Sartipipour, 2009:16). Through wise use of natural resource and materials according to their livelihood and occupational conditions, villagers have sought to cover their functional and residential needs in terms of building houses (Farahnezhad, 2002:318).

The buildings require for the settlement of households and the spaces required for poultry and livestock and crop and production input storage used to be constructed using native materials. Materials such as stone, wood, soil, local plants, reed, and thorn bushes found in the rural environment were each a construction material considered carefully and used correctly. Native materials thus played a significant part in the creation of desirable and required spaces in the village (Zargar, 2007:163).

6. Identity

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Understanding the rural space is the key to understanding rural housing, through which a favorable and desirable space for rural life is created (Sartipipour, 2011:13). Housing is a constituent of rural identity and is simultaneously a grand manifestation of the functional integration of elements and their multifunctional roles (Behzadnasab, 1994:27). Housing is also the most significant part of the rural fabric which plays an essential role in the formation of physical spatial structures and architectural identity in villages. Although native rural houses have been formed based on traditional culture and customs, their arrangement is not random and is rather significantly influenced by rural settlers' spatial image while responding to their needs (Behzadnasab, 1994:27). In terms of functional nature and responding to the human needs, public activities, production elements, and environment, Iranian rural architecture forms a unified complex with a specific physical identity manifesting the relations, functions, and the multifunctional roles of spaces (Sartipipour, 2005:44). Charles Correa considers contemporary architecture to be entailed to consider principles and conforming them to materials, habits, climate, and tradition. He considers the concept of climate an essential factor playing a significant part in the formation of buildings, culture, and traditions of a nation (Ibid: 10). Correa introduces pluralism as another feature of identity, meaning that identity has many manifestations and cannot be confined to a specific term. He also considers change and dynamicity as other properties of identity (Ibid: 98).

Conclusion

Traditional architects have managed to take a large step toward increasing villagers' quality of life while providing them with climatic comfort by relying on native technologies and experiences complying with the climate since they knew that a good life could not be ensured without high quality housing. The use of native materials has long been one of the strategies of native knowledge in villages to take advantage of local facilities which reduced the costs while increasing material durability and enhancing the stability of native buildings. Harmonizing the building with nature in terms of both appearance and function was another goal pursued by native architects. Simplicity is another secret of native architects’ success which is more prominent in rural architecture compared to urban architecture and contributes significantly to the beauty of these buildings. All the aforementioned alongside providing a shelter for rural settlers form the identity of rural houses. Rural houses in the cold and mountainous climate of the country are no exception to this rule and have been formed without any imitation. These buildings have managed to provide their inhabitants with comfort and reduce fossil fuel consumption and the respective costs by relying on experience and taking advantage of Iranian architectural principles.

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