azad uni qom, Department of Architecture, Qo.C., Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran
Abstract: (36 Views)
Vernacular architecture is the outcome of accumulated knowledge, experience, and strategies developed through interaction with context, social needs, and ways of life, and manifested in the spatial organization of buildings. Historic houses in Qom, as part of the heritage of vernacular architecture, embody spatial organization patterns reflected in the relationships among open, semi-open, and enclosed spaces, the arrangement of building masses, spatial access hierarchies, visual control, and the formation of privacy. Despite numerous studies on the physical characteristics of historic houses, the relationships among these components and their role in forming an integrated spatial system have received less attention. This study aims to identify spatial organization patterns and explain the physical-spatial relationships contributing to the formation of vernacular architectural knowledge and technology in historic houses of the old fabric of Qom. The research adopts a qualitative approach and a multiple-case study method, examining six historic houses: Salmati, Tavakoli, Shakeri, Haeri, Hallajzadeh, and Sadegh Rouhani. Data were collected through documentary studies, examination of architectural records, and plan analysis, and were interpreted through a comparative-interpretive approach. The analysis focused on spatial organization, the relationships among open, semi-open, and enclosed spaces, access hierarchy, visual relationships, and movement patterns. Visual graph analysis was also employed as a complementary tool to reveal certain spatial relationships in the reading of the plans. The findings indicate that vernacular architectural knowledge and technology in these houses is not a collection of isolated elements, but rather a system of relationships among spaces, access routes, and visual fields. In most cases, the courtyard functions as the organizing core, while semi-open spaces act as transitional elements that establish continuity between open and enclosed domains and enable the gradual regulation of access and visibility. Inward orientation is achieved not through the elimination of connections, but through their regulation within a spatial hierarchy and the preservation of privacy. Overall, the spatial organization of these historic houses is based on the interrelationship of controlled continuity, access hierarchy, visual regulation, and the gradual differentiation of spatial domains. This logic provides a basis for reinterpreting and continuing the principles of vernacular architecture in contemporary design.
Article number: 4
Keywords: Vernacular Architecture, Historic House, Spatial Organization, Privacy, Spatial Hierarchy, Open and Semi-Open Space, Qom.
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