Housing and Rural Environment
Year:2017 | Volume:36 | Issue:159 |Papers Count:10

Windmills of Sistan is known as the oldest type of windmills in Persia as well as the World, that has been built facing the 120-day winds of Sistan plains, usually seen singularly or plurally in suburbs of the Zabol city. This article would focus on physical analysis of singular windmills in Sistan. A literature review in history of windmills shows lack of laboratory simulation studies on the way these windmills used to function as well they may in the future. According to historical resources, this particular structure passes a physical evolution in utilizing wind energy in a sustainable manner. Evolution through of time and constructional trials and errors, has deployed architectural components and structural details in an integrated design. This article aims to survey the impact of windmill's superstructure and wind receiving facade affecting the efficiency of utilizing wind energy. The research method includes lab experiments in wind tunnel and computer simulation as well as source materials and documentary evidence. In order to achieve the goal, a physical model was built in a small scale based on existing windmills of Sistan, (windmill 2: Machi). Initial and secondary experiments scrutinized reasons for the displacement of blade space (Par-Khaneh) and axis space (Ath-Khaneh) in Sistan windmills. Whereas the wind-catching face in these windmills have three parts: 1-main wind entrance port, 2-small wind entrance port, 3-Guiding fins, therefore in second, third and fourth experiments with extra equipment in physical structure, the rotational value in different speeds were calculated. Then, the simulation of windmills in COMSOL Multi-physics software was conducted to confirm the experimental results. The findings show that the main factor in displacement of the blade space (Par-Khaneh) and the single-axis space millstone (Ath-Khaneh) in old Sistan windmills utilizes wind energy more efficiently. For this purpose, Persian architects, while making windmills in uphill, transferred the blade space to the upper floor. This improves functional properties and prevents possible disorders in windmills operation arising from accumulation of sand and shavings or animals kenneling in blade space. It also facilitates the construction process and preventing structural damages arising from millstone vibrations. Testing models 2, 3 and 4 in wind tunnel and their simulations indicated that in model 2 with one wind entrance port and without guiding fins, wind power on the blades compared to models 3 and 4 is at the lowest state. Additionally, the upgraded model 2 as a result of adding guiding fins of wind, has reduced the number of whirlwinds. Similarly, wind convergence and flow rate of entrance port and on blades increases compared to speed of free wind stream. As a result, the power of windmill is improved as well as its efficiency in the windmill function. In model 4, with two entrance-wind port and guiding fins of wind, concentration in wind speed flow lines shows an improved structural function of windmill. The results of this experiment suggest profound traditional understanding of Persian architects of climatic conditions and architectural efficiency. This is particularly evident in the implementation of a peripheral small wind port entrance next to main one in Sistan windmills, which improves the windmills efficiency, in addition to ensuring its optimal performance in the fluctuations of the famous adverse 120-day winds.

Wind towers have always been an elemental component of Iranian vernacular architecture in hot and humid areas of the country, which has had effective role by utilizing the wind flow on better climatic comfort in the buildings. They also played an important role in the historical urban fabric silhouette of hot-arid urban and rural human habitats in Iran as vertical pathfinders next to mosque minarets. Therefore, the study of wind towers in Loft port city in the south of Iran country is necessary for conservation and revitalization of these architectural components. Although the Badgir has always had an important role in public life both indoors and outdoors with and aesthetic significance in the image of the city, but they have lost their real function and ended up into symbolic and useless architectural elements now. Unfortunately, due to lack studies on their functional characteristics and utility from one side and inattention to their upkeep in the rich silhouette of Loft port from the other side, this integral element of the urban fabric skyline is diminishing. In addition to the aforementioned fact, new urban developments of the Loft city are lacking the emblematic element that, greatly threatens urban identity of Loft. This study is equally significant for both architects and urban designers and other administrators as well as the public to appreciate the perceptual qualities and consider it as cultural demand in future urban developments. This study would search through available historical documents and library inquiries as well as field surveys such as interview, observation and visual documents to acknowledge physical, functional and esthetic characteristics of the wind tower. Then a typology of these Badgir based on their Faç ade ornaments is proposed. An interview with a traditional architects and master builders of Badgir has been done and the structural and architectural features of the wind tower are closely examined and elucidated. In this study faç ade of 45 wind towers are closely analyzed and categorized and their construction method as well as materials are described. Ultimately, it has been concluded that the decorative patterns and ornaments applied in Badgirs were mainly affected both by local architect’ s individual crafting style and by collective culture, beliefs, and vernacular knowledge as well as social and financial status of the owner. Some of these decorations come from intangible culture and beliefs of Loft people like "Mah-o-Setareh” decorative patterns. The ornaments in these wind towers are mainly in three locations: on top of main part called wind tower roof, on top of each span and in their base. Furthermore, their final finishing was done by plaster and some still preserved their ventilation function in leading cool wind and fresh air to the inside of buildings. The two-sided wind towers of Loft port are usually simple and without ornaments or decorative finishing. The four-sided single-span wind towers have few ornaments and adornments while the four-sided multiple span wind towers possess the most elaborated ornaments and adornments. Studying wind towers facade and their ornaments as a vernacular architecture asset provides an effective ground for conservation and revitalization of this valuable architectural heritage in Loft port.

Examining and recognizing rural areas and analyzing their capabilities and their planning bottlenecks in the process of rural development are very important. The villages of the country have not been functioning with their full capacity for several years due to various reasons. Rural housing as a symbol of the efficient interaction of people with the natural environment around himself, according to the time-space conditions, accommodated various adaptive transformations with according to the correspondent livelihood and the architectural practices. From this perspective, rural housing can be viewed as a display of how environmental and functional changes have influenced the livelihoods of villages, through which they have altered the residential architecture. The new housing type in the historical village of Riab, as compared to the traditional and native dwellings exhibits strong disparity. The grassroots of such changes leads to the top-down regional planning and development projections according to the theories discussed in modern geography. The present research, via explaining the causes and factors influencing rural life, attempts to explain the nature of rural life influences on the structure of rural housing architecture, to examine the changes of rural housing from traditional-native housing to new housing in a the selected case study. This is achieved through combined descriptive-analytical approach, while studying library resources and field observations, and analyzed the changes in the structure of rural housing architecture. In order to study the changes in the architecture of rural houses as well as comparing two types of native historical and new architectural structures, the statistical population of the study is selected from the two housing typology. This is done by considering entire residential area of the historical village of Riab from the two constructional patterns mentioned in the classified disproportionate sampling method. The dual classification has been made based on two types of native-traditional and new construction according to observation and field surveys. Then an analysis of case studies of the by Cochran volume determination method and simple random sampling method, from the total of existing building blocks in the village is conducted. According to the findings of the research, rural life can be considered effective from four dimensions: socio-cultural, economic, environmental and institutional (human). Certain socio-cultural and economic dimensions have an indispensable role in such transformations, and the environmental and institutional dimensions provide the building blocks of rural housing architecture. In general, according to the analysis of the changes in the structure of rural housing architecture in Riab, main changes could be indicated in three categories: changes in the spatial organization, physical elements, and functional role of housing. The changes in the functional dimension of rural housing include removal of certain native historical spaces and the addition of new ones as well as transition and substitution of existent spaces. In the physical dimension, it is found that material and structural changes, ornamental simplification have been noticeable. In spatial organization dimension, the changes in spatial integration and spatial configuration were among evident findings.

In rural areas, housing is formed according to environmental, social and economic circumstances of rural communities. One of the criteria to classify rural housing architecture is based on climatic conditions in which the rural areas are located. However, the pattern of the activities in housing is also affected by the climate of its own. Thus, different climates would set off different activities, which occurred in the form of different types of space. Rural architecture, especially in colder regions is seasonal and affected by the activities occurring in physical attributes of the house in a way contributing further interaction with the architecture. In the rural settlements, residential spaces have been formed over the years, based on old traditions and traditional modes of spatial behavior. Each of the spaces has been emerged within rural housing conditions actively and passively by the inhabitants during a long history of gradual change and continuity to achieve a delicate homogeneity. However, today's new constructions have created great heterogeneity in rural areas due to the use of inappropriate materials and unconventional visions. This inconsistency in style and form has led to the deformity in villages and created anonymous, unreasonable, inconsistent rural settings. Therefore, understanding factors affecting the formation of rural housing and anticipating the way spaces are used is the most important issue that must be considered by any designer. This issue might be simple at first sight, but the acquisition of such knowledge requires meticulous study of activities and behavioral patterns of rural life over the years. In this paper the rural settlements are investigated architecturally and the climatic conditions of the city of Urmia is evaluated. Then the relationship between mass and space in rural settlements is further discussed. At first, some of the villages in the city of Urmia, in West Azerbaijan Province as one of the cold regions in the country are studied as prototypical models. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current activity patterns in the rural dwellings and achieving a suitable pattern for modern housing design, which fits the needs of the rural population and climatic requirements of the area. The results indicate that there is a triangular pattern and interrelationships among different seasons, housing and ongoing activities. Understanding this relationship requires a rural housing planning layout. The amount of activity in each season indicates the need for the space, which has led to the creation of spaces in a traditional manner and over the years in rural housing. According to the study, in the development of rural housing, activities patterns are tied with the temporal events suited to rural needs. Furthermore, the rural houses must be designed with a comprehensive, targeted action plan to suit the climate, culture and activities of the users. The research method is based on reviewing and the content analysis of literature and interviews with rural residents.

Certain theorists of architecture and cultural-studies scholars have pointed out the mutual interrelationship of physical characteristics of dwelling in each region with the lifestyle of its indigenous residents. Therefore, a better understanding of the physical characteristics of residences would clarify how cultural and environmental circumstances affected settlement practices of local residents. As a primary abode, the very first experiences and memories of the human beings are framed via dwelling has important role in forming their worldview. Therefore, understanding the forming factors and their impact mechanism on form and spatial structure of vernacular dwelling would play an important role in understanding the Quality of residential life. Today shortage of designerly attention to lifestyle and the attractive nuances of vernacular architecture are at the grassroots of identity crisis and lack of quality space in residential architecture. Thus in this research, existential reasons of these elements in Boshrouyeh houses is investigated. Boshrouyeh is a city in southern Khorasan province, which seventy percent of its historical residences have still sustained and considered as one of the intact valuable urban fabric in the whole province. Historical residences and valuable urban fabric they have formed have been greatly endangered by the unconscionable contemporary interventions. The shortage of current available resources calls for a further analysis of the constructional and spatial elements of these houses particularly in this specific region. While modern housing practices have totally chosen a different language, still there is much to learn from vernacular housing in sense their behavioral suitability, privacy, multiplicity of spatial functioning and climatic logic. The main objective of this research is to identify residential spatial typology and the formation of each type’ s characteristics in the study area. The research has employed a combined strategy of descriptive, interpretive and historical methods. The data has been collected via field surveys and questioners and interviews were conducted with the residents. This study benefits from two inquiry methods in order to target spatial organization and dwelling properties that are as the following: 1. Ethnography; to study the living style and behavioral and activity systems 2. Typology of space and dwelling patterns.

The rural guide plan is considered as the most significant development plan, implemented during the past two decades in Iran in order to provide necessary services and facilities of living in rural settlement of the country. Considering the constant process of preparation and implementation of the plan, analyzing and studying the strengths and weaknesses of the plan would affect the level of success. The dominant emphasis of the plan is on the improvement of the quality of physical structures, the social-economic structure of the rural fabric to set the grounds for the rural development. In these respect, the aim of this study is to determine the economic, social and environmental consequences of rural guide plan implementation. The method of the research in the present study is descriptive-analytical and data is gathered based on a field and library studies, using the surveys and questionnaires. The population of the study consisted of inhabitants of 10 villages in the central part of Chehel Chay Rural District. Random sampling method was utilized such that five villages where the rural guide plan was implemented and five villages where the plan was not implemented. There is a relative similarity in terms of population and location. By using Cochrane method 246 households were determined as the sample size from total 3559 households under the study and they were randomly classified and selected, proportional to the number of households in each village. For the analysis of the data, first the average indices of the research were specified and rated for the villages where the plan was conducted. In the next step, using one sample t-test, the level of difference in the different economic, social, environmental and physical dimensions among villages with and without the rural guide plan has been evaluated and finally all indices under the study were analyzed comparatively in the two groups using Mann-Whitney Test. The highest impact of implementation of guide plans in the scope of the study was related to the structural and physical dimensions that altogether led to reorganization and modification of the fabric in the rural settlements under the study as well as retrofitting of rural housing. Furthermore, the aforementioned developments transform the communication networks and as well as the quality of the rural pathways which have considerable effect on improving the access of rural inhabitants to other areas and enhance their economic and social conditions. The environmental and social developmental properties are in the second and third ranks. The Improvement of the sewage system of disposal and the waste disposal and development of green space are among the positive environmental effects in target villages. In relation with social dimension, the increased level of the villagers’ participation and the improved level of health could be highlighted. In general, these factors and some others set the ground for increasing the willingness of rural residents to keep on residing within the village influencing the level of migration from the village. The lowest impact of rural guide plan implementation was found within the economic dimension resulting to the increase in the price of land and housing.

In the course of history, movement of rural homes was a common phenomenon. This phenomenon had several reasons such as natural disasters, provision of better natural resources, war, development projects, etc. Allocation of the new habitat was a vital decision and a critical step in the process of relocation due to its long term affects the lifestyle and livelihood of the inhabitants. Former experiences showed that inappropriate human settlement planning and provision has led to the failure of several relocation plans in the national scale. However, there are guidelines for relocation planners and officials to consider crucial factors and planning criteria. Among them the reduction of vulnerability, proximity to facilities and infrastructures, accessibility as well as favorable topography for construction and ecological capacity are noteworthy. This also includes operational factors for relocating rural settlements such as distance from natural resources, land provision, geographical orientation, percentage of slope, etc. Eslamieh and Andisheh as suburban villages of Sirvan and Eiyvan Cities had several physical and hygiene issues. They were also faced with topographical limitation for expansion due to nearby dam construction and as a result have been relocated into new locations within Ilam province. The purpose of this descriptive-analytical study is to evaluate the rural relocation plans based on the environmental, ecological, spatial, and performance criteria through Model of McHarg. The main criteria include climate, landform, geology, water resources, and infrastructures. The findings revealed that considering several criteria, the villages are in appropriate and semi-appropriate conditions. However, the results also showed that Eslamieh could be assessed inappropriate from the perspective of slope percentage and Andisheh from the perspective of fertile agricultural lands. In total, since residential fabric relatively has most of the criteria passed, it can be concluded that the relocation plans of these villages could be considered successful. Finally, some practical suggestions were proposed for promoting living conditions in these villages regarding the discussed criteria.

Security and safety have always been fundamental concerns for human beings. Therefore the They have always been in search of ways to mitigate risks which leaves them vulnerable to threats. Vulnerability in principal is the damages caused by actual and potential destructive factors and phenomena. For this reason, humankind has always searched ways for putting up defense against these damaging circumstances. Since Iran has always been historically the subject to military attack either as the target or on the way of invasion of neighboring nations and tribes, one of the innovative ways to sustain settlements was using passive defense methods and strategies to reduce vulnerability of communities. Security and defense strategy and corresponding measures have had deep influences on shaping the settlements and transformation of their fabrics. A defensive consideration in architecture was an indispensable aspect of historical urban and rural fabrics. The risks of enemy attack as well as natural hazards (such as strong desert winds) have greatly affected the form and function of traditional settlements. Designing fortifications and citadels in high places to scout, building towers, ditches, moats, fences and gates on roads and tracks for traffic control etc. are among architectural elements of such passive defense. Some of these elements can be found in Mohammadieh, which is located in the center of Iran next to the ancient path of Isfahan to Khorasan provinces. There are two kinds of citadels in Mohammadieh. The first one is mountain citadel, which is located in the highest place for temporary settlement of the villagers at the time of adversary attacks and invasions. The second one is castle called “ Rig Castle” in Sheikh Zeinodin district, which has been for living of laborers and livestock of the local property owner. “ Hakim Dolat” gate in Pa-Derakht district and “ Meidan Bala” gate are the other defense elements of Mohammadieh village. Mohammadieh village is part of Isfahan province and the Nain County and has valuable historic rural fabrics. Like many in the hot and dry areas, influenced by the regional hot arid climatic conditions, this village possesses a compact fabric. This compact form is closely surrounded by gardens and farms. In addition to its livelihood role of providing agricultural production supplies, this green belt has a fundamental role as a protection layer for the central fabric of the village in against adverse environmental circumstances such as desert winds, dust storms and dry airflows. Together with the compact residential fabric and their narrow and winding alleys, they helped to strengthen the defense system of the city and slowing down the assailants. This study focuses on variety of passive defense tactics in Mohammadieh village and understanding how defense strategy affected architecture and its physical settings. In doing so analytical and descriptive methods based on field studies and visual evidences, using library resources as well as interviews with local residents. The results showed that in Mohammadieh village, apart from the citadel fortifications and gates that are explicit elements of the defense system, compact and complex rural fabric with organic indirect network of alleys are implicit elements of passive defense.

The first and most original social institution in human culture is family and the house as an action and reactions container in relation to one’ s own family and others has a major and great significance. According to the integral role of family and dwelling unit in Iranian culture, particular characteristics of house has been also emphasized in Islam among which are inner calm and serenity. Family needs peace in order to function efficiently. The importance of individual aspects of such inner calm as a psychological need is obvious and expected for everyone who lives in the house. Therefore, houses should have a correspondent quality to basic needs of residents in both individual and social scale. An indigenous order in the relationship among human, nature and architecture is the main determining factors in achieving such inner calm. The ability to generate the aforementioned relationship in the framework of built environment depends on architectural affordance as one of the qualities of space. This quality as one of the innate Iranian-Islamic architectural traditions could be traced historically while it seems to be less considered in modern architecture. This study, on ‘ Shekam Darideh’ room types as common space in most upper-class residences exhibits such spatial affordance. The functional flexibility and diverse perceptual qualities of Shekam Darideh makes it as an outstanding contribution of Iranian architecture within the Islamic architecture heritage. In this study, the architectural qualities of Shekam Darideh room and the way it affects the temporal mood of space would be discussed. As a hypothesis, it will be proposed that the form of plan (cross or rood) acts as a moderator element in regulating man-man, man– nature relationships and consequently creates numerous combination of mass and space as well as forming its decorative patterns and spatial flexibility. This study applies a descriptive and analytical research method. According to the knowledge obtained from literature reviews and visual resources. The review includes several architectural theorists namely Jon Lang, Robert Venturi, Herman Herzberger, Ian Bentley, Peter et al, Amos Rapoport, Schneider, Tatjana, Gerard Maccreanor, Jorg Kurt Grutter, John Habraken, Edward T Hall. Ultimately, the theoretical approach by Alireza Einifar on ‘ spatial transition’ with respect to changes in circumstances was taken as an analytical model. The model was then employed in environmental surveys to figure out its constructive elements and specifics of space.

Among all the challenges of sustainable development, two obstacles seem to be the most wide-ranging: poverty and environmental degradation. These two obstacles, in addition to their negative impact on sustainable development, have a complex relationship. It should be noted that environmental degradation is a complex issue per-se, and other influencing factors that may have an impact on it include history, geography, culture and traditions, new technologies, national programs and strategies. Therefore, the existence of a systematic thinking that encompasses all aspects of this issue seems necessary, especially since environmental degradation and global poverty, have been generally studied as separate matters. The aim of this study is to design a model to explain the patterns of rural poverty and environmental instability. The research relies on structural equation modeling to illustrate the environmental instability and poverty in rural areas. The sample consists of heads of households in rural areas of the Charmahal Bakhtiari province. Based on Cochran formula, a sample of 383 individuals was selected through stratified random sampling. The sample members were then interviewed by questionnaires. The findings of this study indicate the severe impact of economic, social, and political factors on rural poverty. On the other hand, the instability of the rural environment is manifest in the features that include the water resources, soil quality, the resilience of pastures and plants. Furthermore, the results of this study reveals a direct correlation between rural poverty and environmental instability; The poor rural population are more prone to excessive use of natural resources and would henceforth create more environmental instability, which in turn has a negative impact on their livelihood.