Typology of Rural Housing, Eastern Area of Gilan Plain[*]
Puya Miryusefi; M.A. in Architecture
Foreword
Though deeply influenced by local cultures, bestowing upon it a unique topical character, rural architecture shows many common traits between various cultures.
Including among them, climate impact, use of vernacular materials, keeping
harmony with nature and the living environment, impacts of economy and various methods of earning livelihood on building methods in addition to observing human standards in measures and dimensions might be listed.
Rural architecture, in general, and rural house in particular, reflect vernacular customs alongside with local living patterns. Architecture (houses), through its tangible anatomic presence, reflect intangible cultural elements. House and the human need felt for it, is so fundamental that human beings in their first encounters with nature and shaping a better idea of themselves set to build them; and as a symbol of their "self", it got such a sacredness in the course of centuries that it is considered a microcosm built on the macro model of the universe, shaping and ordering this microcosm with his ideas and his personal and collective skills.
House, as a living place, reflects human thoughts and dreams together with their functional needs, not merely serving as a machine for living in. The primordial man saw his house as a symbol of the universe, putting himself at its center. Gradually man shaped his house as his own image setting an ancient relationship between himself, his house and the universe. Unfortunately contemporary man has missed this ancient relationship.
Is there a possibility of understanding a house without the cultural weight of the data, and the various phenomena involved in shaping it?
Is it possible to consider the direction of the house as following the four cardinal points to best receive sun shine and climatic elements, ignoring privity and neighbour's direct look?
It goes without saying that in selecting suitable building materials mere technical and constructional characteristics are not taken into consideration, leaving cultural and spiritual bearings, together with mass and area proportions, and the relations of the building materials with their environment, in utter disregard.
Aside from the anatomical space of the house, other forces, themselves obeying time and place factors, govern it. These are the forces that shape the anatomical space, giving meaning to it.
Though this project aims at understanding architecture, this is achieved by bearing in mind that architecture, as a tangible form of culture, and its produce, takes us to the cultural roots shaping it.
Where is Gilan?
Gilan is a green belt in the north Iran, lying between Mt. Alborz chain and southern coast of Caspian Sea. Covering an area of more than 14.000 sq. Km., it enjoys a unique diversity of cultures, despite its relatively small area (Fig. 1). Various people of different races and ethnicities, with their diverse methods of settlement and living patterns are seen side by side. This, together with different natural and geographical conditions has turned this area into a unique example. This beautiful land, which shows millennia of human settlement, is naturally divided by the Sepidrud river into two western and eastern parts, "Bieh Pas" and "Bieh Pish", giving rise to various settlement patterns on the two sides. In addition to this division Gilan's extremely diverse topology helped shaping different settlement patterns, on the Mt. Alborz chain, on foothills, on plateau, and finally on Caspian Sea coastal regions.
Thus in addition to environmental diversity in this region, architectural diversity, caused by different climatic conditions and different livelihoods are encountered. These various types of architecture show meaningful differences in arrangement of spaces and building forms, building techniques, materials, decorations, functions and ancillary buildings. Based on topographical and geographical differences, Gilan is divided into nine regions: three plain regions, two coastal, tow foothill and two mountainous.
Construction material diversity: for roofing, pan tile in foothills and urban areas, board (lat) in mountainous areas, Gali (a swamp plant) and kolush (rice stem) in plain regions prevail.
Wall construction too, show a great diversity: of pise (clay), mud brick, and combinations of pise with mud brick, timber (Zagmeh), with mud and Kolush, twigs (zagal) with kolush, mud and stone alongside with other combinations of these. However the prevailing construction materials in Gilan are wood and clay. No doubt diverse building materials give rise to different building techniques.
Arrangement of spaces too, is very diverse and follows economic and climatic conditions and various methods of earning livelihood. Though time and space would not permit detailed discussion of these here, but worth mentioning is, from coastal regions, to mountainous areas, the prevailing element in all arrangement of spaces are being "talar" and "ivan".
Also extremely simple and rudimentary examples of construction are encountered: "kuma"(fishing hut) of Caspian coastal regions and "puri" (cattle shed in Talesh heights (Figs. 2, 3). Alongside changes in earning livelihood, from farming to animal husbandry, changes in house spaces take place, only to be continued in the adjacent area, and ancillary buildings undergo constructional and functional changes.
Construction techniques vary greatly. Even in a single geographical-cultural region this diversity is visible from one house to another, which can be attributed to influences of vernacular and non-local craftsmen, like Khalkhalies ( people from the nearby city of Khalkhal), on house building in Gilan.
In brief, all nine geographical areas, each subdivided on micro cultural bases, deserve separate monographs. What comes in the following sections limits itself to the housing typology on the plain east of Sepidrud, the geographical area, lying between Astaneh and Lahigan.
House Types on Eastern Sepidrud Plain
Analysis of houses in this region is undertaken relying on tangible anatomical elements.
a. Buildings' Frames and Construction Techniques:
All-wood frame is the prevailing characteristic of each and every building in this region. Wooden structure starts from the foundations, to be extended in floors and walls, ending in the wooden structure of the pitched roof. This structure is totally plant made both in the main elements and joints. The wooden frame, particularly in foundations and the main supporting beams, and in the walls too, is joined with minimal nails or other typical joints of wood working. Of greater interest is that various cuts of wood are used in their original form, without any trimming (Figs. 4, 5, 6).
Method of building the frame in this region is unique, the complex technique employed in distributing load and shape of joints make these structures earthquake resistant in spite of the fact that their average height reaches 20 meters.
1- Foundation:
The wooden foundation, locally called "shakily" prevails only on eastern Sepidrud plain. Their number is in complete relation to house dimensions. Always in even number, the minimum is four, and maximum 12. The wooden pieces of the foundation, from the smallest to the largest are simply superimposed, without any joints, usually common in woodworks. Foundations lie on a estrade of well beaten clay, rising between 40-60 Cm. above the ground level. Before constructing the foundations and after determining their place on the platform (pakeh), the point is trenched one meter deep; then alternately 5 Cm. layers of clay, charcoal, and wood ash are laid in the trenches to be thoroughly beaten afterwards. This will go on until reaching the desired height of the estrade. After preparing this base, they begin laying the foundation pieces. The first tier of this comprises of circular pieces of mulberry wood, called "rit", in the region. Their size and number depends on foundation size and the building weight, varying from 4 to 8. The second tier, locally named "zi" is laid vertical to the first. The wood used here is "Azad" (Siberian Maple), or "li", with an average cross section of 40 Cm. Normally 3 or 4 of them are used. The third tier of azad wood, with a trapezoid cross section is named "katal." They number 2 or 3 in every foundation. At the end comes "fiyak", the greatest part in the foundation with a trapezoid cross section, and a height between 25- 45 Cm (Fig. 7).
The stability of the foundation has several reasons:
1- Shape of the pieces: the pieces of the first tier are semi cylindrical, partly inserted in the ground. This tier provides a good base for other parts of the foundation. The trapezoid shape of pieces like katal and fiyak and the overall shape of the foundation which brings pyramid to mind, enhances the foundation stability.
2- Type of arrangement: pieces are arranged from small to large. This form of arrangement absorbs vibrations.
3- Type of material: woods used in the foundation are of heavy, high density type well resistant to termite attack.
4- Placement: position of foundations under load bearing walls, their number and distance from each other, greatly help load transfer from the four main supporting beams to the ground. In all examined buildings foundation placement follows a single system; that is to say always there is a row of foundation under all load bearing walls. The distance between these foundations create an organized and modulated network (plan 1).
5- Cross section: cross section area is very large, ca. 2*1.5 m. in dimension. Number of woods used in foundation cross section area is more than any other tier.
6- Superimposition of heavy pieces in the foundation, without any joints, makes movement possible in case of earthquakes, turning the building resistant to lateral forces.
2-Load Bearing Systems, Supporting Walls and Bars:
The whole load of the structure is distributed on the on the foundation through a network of supporting beams. The first level of this network which is placed on the foundation consists of four main beams, placed in pairs in a tier on the foundation. This supporting beam is called "baneh dar." In all houses studied, they were four in number, executed either as an all over piece, or, as several pieces in one direction. On the baneh dars, and perpendicular to them are laid the supporting beams, called "kamar kesh," varying in number in relation to the dimension of the building. These are laid with a distance of 70 to 120 Cm. from each other. Baneh dar and kamar kesh beams are prepared from Azad trees. They are laid in their natural state, without being trimmed (Fig.8). After this, supporting walls are executed. Two types of walls prevail in this region: zagme wall and zegall wall. Usually zagme walls are more common in two floored houses, or those of more affluent people (Figs. 9, 10). Zagme walls comprise of logs alternatively laid over each other in a vertical pattern, without any use of prevailing joints. Zegall walls are made of twigs that fill the wooden frame of the wall in a cross or diagonal pattern. Both of these two types are exactly placed on the foundations. Thus, from the earliest stage of foundation placement, the craftsman has a clear picture of the room's number and size. Exactly because of this general principle, dimension of rooms and ivans of the houses on the eastern plain, follow a single modular pattern.
Rooms are executed in a symmetrical way in the center of the plan, acting as a cruciform central core. This central core, aided by supporting beams, with one end framed into the walls, is joined to the beam and post system all around the house, and this complex, comprising of a rigid central core, together with posts and beams, acts as a solid structure, bearing the load of rooms, ivan of the second floor and the pitched roof. A system of supporting walls, beams and posts distribute the load from the room to the foundation. The pitched roof structure enjoys a complex system capable of bearing the live load, dead load and bending forces. To bear live load, dead load and bending forces a truss like system is executed under the roof structure, which comprises of vertical, horizontal and diagonal elements, acting as a single unit[1] (Figs 11, 12, 13).
b. Arrangement of Spaces
Diversity in arrangement of spaces in accordance with social standing of the owners and methods of earning their livelihood puts houses of the eastern plain under the following subdivisions. Included among the identified types are: houses with 1 room on one floor, 2 rooms on one floor and 3 rooms on one floor (extremely rare); 2 rooms on two floors, 3 rooms on two floors, 4 rooms on two floors and 6 rooms on two floors (extremely rare). In all of these houses rooms are built in the central core of the plan, encircled all around by talar ivan (Figs. 14, 15, 16. 17, 18).
Rooms in old houses do not have windows; the cause will be discussed in detail in the section, Relation of Architecture with Climate. Position of the rooms in the house, together with their size, follows loading system and house structure, in addition to their functions. Their average dimensions are 3.5-4*3.5-3 m.
In Gilani house spaces are extremely versatile functionally and would change depending on the season, and changes in method of earning livelihood. This characteristic makes the architecture thrifty and yet very functional. So much so that, no extra space or any one without proper description might be found.
Basically, in rural houses' space, functions are shaped round two separate axes, with completely different concepts: down-up axis and front- rear axis. In addition to these axes, spaces are generally used on summer-winter living basis, and their functions experience change accordingly.
1- Horizontal Layers:
The lowest level of the house is the vacant space between foundation and the first floor, usually between 1.5 to 2 m. in height. This space is used as storing place for agricultural implements, winter firewood, and poultry den.
The main room of the first floor in all houses is doud-khaneh or kohnh-darin. Functionally speaking, it is the most important space in the rural household. Being the private space for family life, particularly in winter, it functions in several diverse ways, like cooking, sitting room, sleeping space, entertaining immediate relatives, drying and smoking rice, fish, onion, etc.,. Even silkworm larva, are kept here in the first few weeks of growth. Kohnh-darin is a simple room measuring 3.3 to 3.8m., with an open clay oven, locally called "kaleh," being used for cooking, heating and smoking rice. Here hooks, named "kharak" are provided for hanging rice ears (Fig. 19). It is a plain room, without any decoration. There is no window in this room, the only opening being a wooden two-leaf door. Generally they have some niches or racks for keeping items of household daily use.
When families are doing well, sometimes a separate clay fireplace is provided for keeping the room warm in winter. In houses with only one room, this is the sole place for private and public living of the peasant household. In 2 room houses there is another room, "tazeh-darin" by name, close to Kohnh-darin ( in one floor houses), or on the second floor. As part of public space, it is used for receiving guests.
Of course, compared with houses in the central plateau of Iran, in Gilan, public and private spaces of houses have a complete description, and basically, privity does not play a significant role in shaping to architectural spaces. Although spaces like tazeh-darin are considered public, and are provided for receiving guests, access to both private and public spaces takes place through a common corridor, which serve as the sole separating element in access order. That is to say access from this joint corridor is first to guest room and thereafter to Kohnh-darin.
Generally, Kohnh-darin is located on the southern side and tazeh-darin on the northern side of the building. By and large, guest rooms have plenty of clay decorations, with more furniture in them. When adjacent, a small door joins these two rooms. In tazeh-darin too, a clay fireplace is provided to warm keep the place. By and large, guestrooms and second floor rooms are used by men of the family, and whenever the household children marry, they would be accommodated there. Also, second floor rooms are used as boys' bedrooms, when they grow older. Nonetheless, in some headmen houses, or those belonging to master's foremen, the second floor rooms were counted as offices. Thus the down-up axis might be seen as private to public one, female to male, a simple space leading to one, rich in decorations. When the population of the family decreased, and grown up children started their independent lives, second floor rooms were used as granary rooms, or were rented.
2- Horizontal Levels
Ivan is the first level of Gilan plain buildings. In regard to function and climate, ivan is a very important space. Though serving as a corridor reaching to rooms, the sides and rear of the building, in summer time,it serves as family living space.
This space is used for cooking, weaving bed cloth, looking after children, sleeping, etc. Ivan is an integral part of architecture on eastern plain regions of Gilan, planned on all four sides of each and every house. The front-rear axis is one of clean spaces to dirty ones. Generally in the back ivan, not so clean spaces like bathroom, toilet, places for storing charcoal, potato and onion, a place for keeping the calf, etc., are provided. This part of house is not seen from outside, so is suitable for this type of activities. Talar (second floor ivan) too, is an ideal place for summer sleep, because of amiable air current and cool breeze.
Generally, guests of marriage ceremonies and large visitor audiences were received and served on the second floor of the rural houses.
3- Ancillary Buildings
These are as important as the rural house itself. Their placement simply follows the location of the house, functioning differently, as family's economical status and patterns of earning their livelihood change. One of the most important ancillary buildings in Gilan plain is rice granary, known as "kandooj" on eastern plain. Its size is in direct proportion with family's economic condition, and it is placed right against the house, in full direct sight thereof. Its structure comprises of for wooden posts, based on a shapely foundation. The rice granary reservoir rests on these posts under a pitched roof. In all its simplicity, it has a very sophisticated structure, wherein, like houses on eastern Gilan plain, the building elements rest on each other simply by mass of their weight, without any joint being used (Fig. 20).
The second important ancillary building in the houses of this region is "talambar". Under its pitched roof silkworm culture is undertaken. It might be used as implement store too. Generally it is located on the building flanks, ca 25 to 30 m. away. Every household with "talambar" has a mulberry groove close to it, to feed the worms with the leaves (Fig 20).
Yet another ancillary building in Gilan residential units is the stable, which on plains are generally so built to shelter 2 to 3 heads of cows. It has a very simple structure, generally built behind the house.
Water well, water closet, a flower bed, a small pond for docks and geese, together with a poultry den are among other accessories found in rural houses of eastern Gilan plain, all being found in the yards. In rural houses of Gilan yard is inseparable from the residential space of the family members. In fact residence and life in the house and its yard proceed in such a pattern that it is impossible to clearly distinguish these two spaces. Outside and inside are so entangled in the rural houses that house gets its dynamism from temporal and seasonal changes taking place in the yard. Even yards in this extrovert architecture is not confined in walls, and the hedges, generally of twigs and reeds, are to show the borders, not to limit the sight. In front of the yard the farm expanse is extended to enable the owner in convenient control of his farm. Although yards form part of the residential area of the households, it does not have a sheer private function, sometime a house yard serving as an access to another, or, several houses of a larger family are clustered therein. In the yards too, the front-rear axis is respected and elements of clean activities, like kandooj, talambar and activities like cooking trimming the bed flower, mat-weaving, threshing rice, etc., are left for the front yard; while not so clean activities of stable, bath and water closet are transferred to the back yard, not in direct sight. The summer life of the villagers mostly takes place in the yard, making it as indispensible as the house itself. Its area varies from 500 to 5000Sqm.
c. Decorations:
Despite simplicity and functionality of rural architecture, even in the houses of most impoverished villagers traces of longing for beauty and original decorations are visible. Most decorations in rural houses examined, comprise of clay relief with simple lobed and castellated patterns, wooden ornaments on beams and post heads, relief work on doors, along with paintings at different places (Fig.21). The house exteriors would be finished, using yellow clay, giving a yellow ochre appearance to the building, or whitened by using chalk. Later they were whitewashed with lime. Railings, doors and windows were painted with natural pigments like lapis lazuli, and indigo.
Because of warm and amiable character of clay and its plasticity, the simple abstract forms created by taste and imagination of the villagers, have their own beauty and originality, well reflective of rural aesthetics. These clay decorations are executed in the form of friezes running round the rooms or niches, showing birds together with vegetal and geometric patterns. Relief works are purely vernacular and in spite of appearing slightly awkward and disproportionate at the first glance, are in fact very beautiful, free handed and original, well reflecting owner's nature, taste and imagination (Fig.?).
The most masterly decorations of this region are wooden ornaments. Much of exteriors' beauty comes from their railings, found in very diverse forms, from the simplest cross patterns to most sophisticated wood working and turned ornaments. In Gilan, railings enjoy a great diversity of forms; their filled and empty spaces of their parts bestowing a unique diversity on buildings; while the repeated similar motifs help creating a specific rhythm (Figs. 22, 23 and 24). The capitals of the main facade are finely worked, priding themselves of great diversity of abstract forms and patterns, while their shafts show simple decorations. Furthermore, talar capitals too, exhibit beautiful decorations, found in simple and complex forms at different houses.
Supplementary decorations, like Geranium –pots on the talars, or embroidered mantelpiece cloths, hanging from the niches, despite lacking great architectural interest, exhibit environmental patterns, well attesting to their aesthetic sense and their understanding of nature, which in all their frugality and simplicity, bestow a specific integrity to their living place by making it more beautiful. They well understand that their house is not simply a kind of residential machine, but a microcosm that human beings create in imitation of the world Creator.
d. Aesthetic of the Building
Architecture shows human reason which has created geometry, which interacts with nature or stands in contrast with it. This geometry is in interaction with Gilani houses. It is not merely Euclidean, simply following mathematical principles, but creates a proportion of its own by putting form, surface, volume and texture side by side. Though this not so homogeneous human creation does not conveniently fall in classic categories of beauty, and it must not be so; and while we are not trying here to indiscriminatingly ascribe beauty to all arts, whether eastern, western, primordial or modern, but our intuitive sense, upon seeing this particular architecture is imbued with pleasure mixed with wonder; hence are denominating it as art.
This sense of beauty originates in nature, not a tamed or idealized one, but nature in its virgin and primordial state, and the more one examines its produce, which lives in its own direct and intrinsic allure, reducing it to simple and explainable formulae gets more difficult. The concept that art is symmetry, and the latter being achieved by observing proportions reduces art to the level of a mere follower of geometric principles and pure order, whereas true beauty is not so organized; perhaps an intuitive sense of beauty leads the creator of rural houses to use logs in their natural, untrimmed state, or, in creating capitals, rooms, etc., not so much adhere to principles of symmetry or geometry. Like humans and similar to nature itself, the created ambience is not monotonously homogenous, its sheer diversity bestowing upon it such a degree of beauty and dynamism that has remained as its overwhelming spirit up to now, while up keeping its liveliness in a wonderful way.
Rhythm is visible on all facades; repeated motifs in railings and rows of columns create rhythm. In their verticality, columns play a symbolic role, drawing the eyes upward, while relation of height to width of the building emphasizes its verticality. The house is vertical, rather than horizontal; this perpendicular movement ending up in the summit of the pitched roof, and somewhere in the sky, volume gives way to a point. This verticality of structure is broken by horizontal movements of railings in ivan and talar, which powerfully announce their presence, imparting visual diversity on the facade.
Though it is true that in some buildings, symmetry is observed in composition of spaces, but it is not the dominant element in planning. Actually, symmetry is the simplest and the most tangible composition for human beings.
e. Symbolism:
Peoples' house is a symbol of their beings. In the same way as conscious and unconscious realms, point to the main divisions in spiritual spaces, house too comprises of enclosed inner spaces and open outer ones. So houses have two most important and yet different elements: the interior space and the exterior form, thus reflecting one's perception of his or her self by means of private spaces of the interior, and the public spaces of the exterior. Furniture and the way in which they are arranged, pictures we hang on the walls, plants we buy and cultivate, all reflect symbols of the picture we have of ourselves; signals about ourselves that we wish to communicate with our own selves, and the intimates that we invite to our house.
Long before being tool maker, man has been a symbol maker animal, and before attending to the material aspects of culture reached to high levels of skill in singing, dancing, religious rites, religion and myths. This tendency to symbolism shows itself in building houses, rural and urban settlements, temples, etc. Primordial man conceived his settlement as a symbol of the world, with himself as god in its center. The contemporary man however, though apparently still considering his house a symbol of himself, has lost his relationship to this primordial world, the relationship between house, self and world.
In rural architecture of Gilan, and more generally in regional and vernacular architecture, wherein man has not lost his relationship with world of nature and universe yet, these symbols have a particular place in his life. Any detailed examination of symbolism in Gilan architecture has its own complexity, and in absence of written references, any discussion of man and his symbols would mostly rely on oral searches, field studies and personal interpretations.
The hierarchical order of the spatial structure is not so much planned on symbolism and metaphysical principles.
Basically, multipurpose nature of spaces and merger of public and private spaces, and lack of emphasis on entrance as threshold of entering into interior space, has helped fading out hierarchy in planning. Of course the type and form of entrance has a symbolic meaning in this culture, revealing form of communication of the family members with other members of the rural community. Yards, with their extended view to the street, are semi public spaces and the entrance threshold of the houses well indicate Gilanis' openness, and their hospitality to strangers; being in sharp contrast with central Iran architecture, wherein the entrance is conceived separately, revealing separation of private quarters of the household, particularly women, from strangers.
Though the direction of houses, in compliance with climatic conditions faces east, the builder's excuse for this, is his intention to face his building towards Imam Riza Shrine in Meshed, thus giving it a symbolic and religious quality. Basically, in this culture the cardinal points have a cosmic and terrestrial quality, not merely indicating the four geographical conditions.
In this part of Gilan houses are vertical, their proportions and perpendicular elements (like columns that steadily continue on two floors, together with their pointed pitched roofs) enhance this verticality. Emphasis on vertical lines and elements is practically used for enhancing the awe inspiring and authoritative quality, the house being a symbol of the surrounding trees, rooted in the earth and towering in the sky. Another symbol, mostly encountered in Gilan houses, is an abstract motif of tree, commonly known as tree of life. This tree is symbol of creation and fertility and blesses houses (Fig..?). Wells too, have several symbolic connotations, in addition to their practical use, and on various occasions, including in marriage ceremonies, many symbolic actions take place round them.
Forms of the railings in these houses are in fact simple and abstract shapes of trees, animals and plants that villagers face in their daily routines.
f. Village Texture
House finds exact meaning in three fields: constructional, applied and social. The qualitative and quantitative considerations of residential houses, beyond anatomical and functional requirements follow other factors and forces that influence it, whether directly, or indirectly.
Although in Gilan villages have a dispersed texture due to climatic conditions and requirements of livelihood, but, without any doubt even placement of a single room does not simply take into consideration matters like recieving sun shine and climatic condition and casting in disregard critical questions like, limits, view and direct look, neighbourhood and adjacency. Every building placement takes place in implicit agreement with neighbours. Even placement of ancillaries on the house site is done in such a way to avoid any possible nuisance to the neighbours.
The house-garden, or, house-farm pattern, prevails all over Gilan, particularly in plain regions. Observing this pattern, in which, the farmer's house stands amidst a several hectare farm, facilitates convenient protection and safeguard of the farm, reducing the distance between the two- rice cultivation is a difficult job, needing round the clock care- while ending up in a dispersed village texture. In these villages, the parish center serves as the congregation place for the villagers, with a small bazaar, tea-house and rice threshing meal. While at the same time, this dispersed texture of villages facilitates enjoying wind currents, and better house ventilation.
g. Geographic and Climatic Factors and Their Impact on Architecture
Like many other regional and vernacular architecture, rural architecture in Gilan is influenced by climatic and environmental conditions. One might dare say that the most influential factor in formation of this architecture, has been climatic conditions, along with natural and environmental opportunities and limitations. This type of architecture, in its texture and structure, thoroughly mixes with nature and interacts with it. So close is the connection of exterior-interior spaces that it is difficult to determine clear limits between them. Selecting this transparent layer for the outer shell in a climate like Gilan is best choice in providing physical convenience for the house residents.
Rural houses of Gilan, in the eastern plain region are described in two layers: the first being the transparent layer of ivan and talar, which are built on all four sides, and the second, the central core of the house, i.e. the rooms.
This transparent layer optimizes use of air currents in summer, to the extent that in this season these two spaces are used as sleeping and residential places for the household. In contrast to these, stand the closed layer of rooms, with heavy walls of wood and clay, ca 30 to 40 cm. thicknesses, without any opening, creating a closed space for household winter use, with good heat insulation, kept warm throughout winter with a single charcoal oven. Air may easily move all around the building, and even under the floors, because buildings in this region lay on foundations above the ground level, so that the house floor is ca 180+ to 200+ cm above the ground, providing ample vacant space for free air movement. Yet another advantage of these platforms standing on an estrade of beaten clay, ca. 50 cm. in average height, is lack of moisture penetration, off keeping surface water from foundations and floors; thus these houses are totally water resistant.
The rectangular plan of the building, with a slight extension in north-south direction, and placing the main facade eastward, helps better use of air currents, particularly favourable summer breezes, blowing from north and north east. Yet on the western side, where adverse winter winds blow, by extending the roof to the level of the first floor, wind and rain inroads are prevented. In planning the house, placement and execution of ressaults are the first priorities in taking benefit from weather currents and sunshine.
The main facade (eastern) makes the best of sunshine in the early hours of the day, but talar ressault and the pitched roof acting as a shade, prevent the sunshine from reaching interior spaces of talar and ivan. Also in winters, windowless rooms do not need sunshine.
The pitched roof has a thatch cover, not getting hot in the summer and leaving the hollow space under the roof several degrees cooler than outside, like an umbrella sheltering the house against hot summer sunshine. The light color of thatch, aided by the light color of the walls, prevents the heat by reflecting the light. This vegetal cover, which in winters quickly warms up by oven smoke, speeds up melting roof snow, and the acute angled roof (180º) blocks water from penetrating in, or snow remaining on the roof. The hollow space between the roof and talar which runs all around the building facilitates weather circulation on the second floor. Also in winter warm air of rooms is trapped under this umbrella wise roof, helping the rooms get warm more easily.
Among other provisions which increment convenience in these buildings, is their considerable height, helping the free movement of the air round the house, because it is enclosed by not so dense places like farm and flowerbeds.
h. Materials
Materials used in building rural houses are procured from their natural surroundings. Being cheap and plentiful, they satisfactorily respond to the natural requirements of the climatic and environmental conditions; while their maintenance and replacement in the long run is convenient. Wood is the most prevailing material in eastern Gilan plain architecture.
As a structural element wood is mostly used in building frames; foundations, floors, walls, and roofs are made from wood, procured from various native trees. The main species used in structures are heavy solid woods of trees like Azad, Oujda (elm), oak, walnut and Acacia. Also various species of Tuska (Alnus), White Poplar, Poplar and Maple are among trees used in housing, mostly as non-structural elements; mulberry wood being used in wet places close to earth, because this species shows great resistance close to earth. Their method in choosing tree species, cutting season, method of drying and smoking and..., well indicate their knowledge of wood and its properties. Only second to wood, earth is the most prevailing building material. Admixture of clay with stubble is used as filler, adhesive and revetment. A mixture of "fall" (rice hull) with clay is used for the first coat and levelling of wall faces and floors, while admixture of clay with "soub" (rice bran) is used as final coat and finish of surfaces. Also houses were based on estrades of beaten clay coated with a mixture of clay, stubble, rice hull (fall) and clay. Burnt clay (clay residuum remaining in charcoal producing ovens) with goat hair, were used in making open ovens (kaleh) used both for heating and cooking. Earth had decorative aspects too. Earth taken from different regions gave different colours in combination with various natural metal oxides, from white to ochre, red, violet, dark blue, etc., all being used in painting and decorating house facades.
Thatch is used for covering roofs. With proper execution, this durable plant lasts for many years, with no need to restoration and replacement. Also stubble is used in joints. Among other building material used on eastern Gilan plain houses are coal and charcoal, mostly in building foundations, to prevent earth moisture from reaching the wooden foundations.
i. Conclusions
In Gilan architecture emphasis is on man relationship with nature. Though rooted in deep, yet unwritten knowledge which answers to human needs, it is obsolete even among the villagers who are the true heirs to this knowledge and is on the brink of being lost forever. Nowadays, living in these traditional houses is considered poorly and ugly; only isolated remnant examples being are encountered in renovated village textures. These beautiful houses of wood plants and clay have given way to hoses of brick and tin built in utter tastelessness. Letting the rare extant examples to fall into oblivion, without proper documentation and inventorying them, would prove putting the closing seal to the life of this type of architecture and losing it forever, in the same way as many other cultural manifestations have been lost forever. The present article is but a little preliminary step in accumulation and documentation of this vernacular knowledge; for notification, for bearing in minds, and to safeguard against eternal oblivion. Accumulation and documentation of this vernacular architecture knowledge would add it to the body of human knowledge, enabling it to, at least live in minds and memories.
Particular Characteristics of Eastern Plain Architecture:
1- Wooden structures from foundation to roof
2- Concord with nature, through devises like east-west direction of the building, rectangular plan extended in north-south direction, closing the western side in prevention of wind and water penetration, thick walls good at preserving heat, separation of winter summer spaces, presence of talar and ivan to facilitate better air circulation all around the building, erecting the building in a convenient height from the ground surface to allow wind passage under the structure, and avoid moisture, using colours suitable for the local climate and...
3- Use of vernacular building materials
4- Functional flexibility harmonious with changes in livelihood, climate and household members
5- Earthquake resistant structure
6- Aesthetic awareness, and presence of reach decorations
7- Respecting nature and man, alongside their mutual interdependence
8- Answering to material and spiritual needs of the owner.
تاریخ ترجمه به انگلیسی توسط مهرداد وحدتی:
سه شنبه بیست و هشتم آبان یکهزار و سیصد و هشتاد و هفت
