Recent Advances in Energy, Environment and Development

Sustainable Architecture Analyses of Stepped Village, Case study:

Masouleh, Iran

1
MARYAM IMANI EMADI, 2MARYAM GHASEMI, 3SINA OSIVAND, 4 FARSHID ROUDI
Department of Architecture
Eastern Mediterranean University
Famagusta, North Cyprus via Mersin10, Turkey
1
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
4
[email protected]

Abstract: -Traditional buildings of rural areas in Iran have been designed in total coordination with the
surrounding climate so that they normally remain warm in winters and cool in summers; and provide their
dwellers with comfort without any environmental impact. Contentment and avoiding work in vain as a part of
Iranian architectural principles is an interpretation of avant-garde traditional architecture that equals sustainable
architecture at present, and could be a lesson to create new sustainable environments.
Masouleh stepped village, located in temperate and humid region of Iran on southern part of Caspian Sea,
shows the creative architectural patterns of Iranian urbanism utilizing the local materials and sunshine, the open
form of the buildings with large windows for natural ventilation, triple function of the roofs: roof, yard, and
public access route; with climate steep passages. Thus, it is considered an everlasting successful sample of
aspects of urbanism and socio-cultural architecture, which will be discussed in details.

Key-Words: - traditional architecture, sustainability, Masouleh, pattern, construction

1 Introduction 2.1 Sustainability Characteristics

Masouleh Village is located in a mountainous Regarding architecture and Village Building
and wild area of Guilan province on the southern in Masouleh Stepped Village
part of Caspian Sea. Masouleh is located in a steep
mountain range. In addition to the south-north 2.1.1 Morphology and the Rural Texture
slopes, two grooves (east-west slopes) are set. The The texture of Masouleh village is step-like; thus, it
height is 1050 meters of open waters, and the height possesses the best architectural morphology with the
distinction of the highest and the lowest part of the extrovert form in coordination with humid-
village is 100 meters. There are 700 houses in the temperate climate to provide comfort and natural
village and they almost date 9 centuries. Masouleh ventilation. Therefore, the buildings are built open
people are mostly engaged in trade and livestock. in two or four directions, and as high as possible
above the ground. The form of the building in
Masouleh is influenced by the very high rate of rain
2 Masouleh Climate and humidity, and is set to deal with these two
Masouleh is influenced by two climates: 1-humid & elements [1].
temperate and 2-cold and dry climates; with very
cold winters and temperate summers.

Fig.1: Arial photo and topography Fig.2: Step-like view of Masouleh Village Iran

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 Recent Advances in Energy, Environment and Development

Masouleh village texture – as a garden village- has and are in concordance with the humid-and-
made a sort of coexistence between the natural temperate climate; together with outer balconies and
landscape and the architecture of the human-made large windows which cause the combination of
environment which is one the important principles outer and inner space of the building.
of environmental architecture. Masouleh texture
does not perch in the lower part of the valley due to
two reasons: 1. Heavy cold at night and its
domination in the lower part of the valley. 2. The
danger of the flood.
Furthermore, the northern part of the mountain is
very cold since it is located in the shade and hence, Fig.6: Balconies & Neighbourhoods in Masouleh houses
it causes the dwellers face lack of comfort. Besides,
due to strong winds and lack of barrier control; top 2.2.4 Architectural Spaces Characteristics
of the mountain is an inappropriate place for the in Masouleh
village. As a result, the middle of the foothill has Masouleh consists of 350 houses, and their key
been chosen to establish Masouleh since it is in feature is their sustainable neighborhoods. This
consistent with the natural slopes, and is likely to adjacency is predicted in a way that all the houses
receive optimal solar radiation [2]. are connected like a chain along with the
topography line.

Fig.4: Density increase in harmony with slope

Fig.5: Wind intensity and solar altitude angle diagram

Fig.7: A sample facade and plan of a two-floored-
Building
2.2.2 Accesses:
The passage ways of Masouleh are designed with Each house has between one to 4 floors, and more
proper slope and step-like in two ways: First one is than 70% are built two-floored. The ground floor is
longitudinal and parallel routes with few steps; normally non-residential and is used either as a
second one is transverse routes with rather large warehouse or a barn. The entrance is also in this
number of steps which provides circulation between floor, and the upper floors include are residential.
upper part and also down part of this village. One of This architecture includes uniform inner spaces as:
the most important characteristics of Masouleh is 1) main room, 2) winter room: a room in the back of
that the roofs of the houses are used as access the house whose only source of light was an orifice
routes. It is like each building is a yard for its upper called "Ivan", 3) summer part or counter, 4)
building, and these yards have their social uses like entrance, 5) staircase, 6) warehouse, and 7)
walking and holding ceremonies, but the houses are restroom; which is in coordination with the climatic,
usually two-floored-buildings [3]. topographic, and social conditions. Sunshine, instant
leading of rain water flow, appropriate and accurate
2.2.3 Form of the buildings adjacency with the sides, and way of
Building forms are designed extrovert and extended communication were among the most important
high from the ground in order to prevent moisture, criteria for house design.

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2.2.5 Materials Masouleh houses have doors with different sizes.

The materials used in different parts of the building The width of one-leg doors is normally between 0.7
are varied and combination of stone, adobe, and to 1.7 and the height of 1.7 meters. The larger two-
wood; which are all local. The building is static on a leg doors are used for cattle.
solid piece of rock. Local architects never break
solid rocks into pieces, because of their moisture
problems. Hence, they use them to construct two or
three floored-buildings on the natural slope to both
show the architecture integration with natural
topography of the environment, and create a
magnificent view [4]. They also use a type of gray
soil as an insulation material against the heat and
moisture which walking improves its insulator Fig.11: Orsi window in Masouleh village
feature; and inhabitants' use of the roofs as the
traffic route helps the houses with insulating.

Fig.12: Arched doors in Masouleh Village

Fig.8: Roof function as a public passageway

3 Spaces
3.1 Residential Spaces
As discussed, shortage of constructible land in
Masouleh cause the houses to be built in the
minimum area but extended in the floors, so most of
the houses are two-floored and a few are triple-
floored. Masouleh has four main neighborhoods.
Aside from the main neighborhoods, there are six
Fig.9: Use of local materials (stone, adobe, wood) in other neighborhoods in the village. House
building the houses construction parts are extrovert. Not only are these
parts considered as one of the rustic structure
2.2.6 Openings element, but as a route to the other parts. The natural
In order to have a better relationship with the nature, environment of the village causes the houses to have
the windows in Masouleh are categorized as "single- their entrances in different spots; sometimes a house
parted", "bi-parted", and "tri-parted". There is could have three entrances [5].
usually a smaller window on the top of each
window called "top-part", on which you can see 3.1.1 Residential Houses Components in
beautiful handcrafts like: simple geometric designs. Masouleh
Some beautiful windows called "Orsi" are a) Main entrance of the house: Those houses in
sometimes used. a complex are usually in the main route; but those
on the by-way, have their entrances on the side. In
some cases, for the houses in the center, there exist
towers to connect with the upper alley. There is a
room named "Borjkeh" next to the tower, and it is
just a connector space.
b) Corridor: Corridor is a space to interrelate the
rooms. In two or three floored-buildings, the
Fig.10: "top-part" view on the top of the window corridor will be on the ground floor; there are spaces
like barn, warehouse, restroom, and staircase next to

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the corridor. There may also be some rooms to This space is normally on the south part of the
inhabit near the corridor. Staircase is either along house.
the corridor or perpendicular to it. There is a
window to prevent the cold weather to enter the first
floor in winters.
c) Staircase: The staircase is made out of wood,
and is steep. It sometimes leads to the room, but
mostly to a space called "Chogham".
d) Chogham: It is the space to interrelate
different spaces. If the entrance opens in the first
floor, the first space is called "Chogham" which has
various types: it is sometimes extended like a
corridor; and sometimes, it is a small or spacious
room. Regarding the functions, "Chogham" could
locate in different spots, and it is normally in
connection with a space called "someh".
e) Someh: Someh is room for winters. It is usually
built behind the rooms or the saloon. This space
possesses 4meters by 2 meters dimension. This Fig.14: Elevation (top), Section (bottom)
room is restricted by other rooms, so the only source
of light is the skylight window.

4 Constructing Systems
The structure of the walls is with the rubble stones
up to the first floor, then with the bricks of 8*30*30
centimeters, and the attic is again with rubble stone.
Meanwhile, there are put woods in every one meter
in order to spread the pressure force from the roof to
the bottom [6].

Fig.13 (left): Ground floor plan: 1) Corridor, 2) Store

Fig.17 (right): First floor plan: 3) Chogham, 4) Someh,
5)Toilet, 6)Rookeke 7)Talara 8)Talarpish

f) Room: In some houses all the chores to be done

in Someh, Chogham, and warehouse are done here.
In some houses, there are different spaces according
to the functions, but what is of utmost attention in
typology of Masouleh buildings is their division into
two parts: "Berie keh" (Buildings which only have
windows as their façade) and "Talarakeh"
(Buildings which have Saloon and front saloon as
their façade)
Fig.15: Different materials in Masouleh buildings
g) Saloon: Saloon is the living room for ordinary
houses which has a semi-open space in front. This After being done with the walls which are
semi-open space which is the signature of Masouleh perpendicular to the route, the main and Load
extrovert houses is usually used for temporary bearing beams-parallel to the route are set. The main
gatherings and knitting in the temperate summers. pillars with the thickness of 40 centimeter will not
This space is usually open to two or three directions, be placed in the façade due to high number of the
and there are pillars on the front which sometimes openings because the wall is not strong enough. The
possesses a part or sometimes the whole façade. other load-bearing beams are used in a parallel form

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near the wall to help with the pressure distribution. and is connected with "Pilekeh" through a small
In the cases which the width of the room becomes window. The interesting point here is the use of the
larger, two load-bearing beams with 20-30 empty space between the steep roof and the empty
centimeters gap will be set, and finally the furring space above the room as a warehouse. In its total
will be done [7]. extension, the only room of the ground floor turned
out to be a hall in which you can find the restroom.
You will find the big room (Pilekeh) as you enter.
On the back of this room, there are a number of
niches, two doors and a window, and a small Someh
in 2.40*2.50 meters. A fire inside the wall, niche,
and all the necessary equipments used in the winter
are put. This house does not have a Chogham.

Fig.16: Perspective &Schematic design of terrace

skeleton

Fig.19 Ground floor plan (left), First floor plan (right)

Fig.20: Elevation (left), Section (right)

Fig.17: The use of wooden beams (left), Fig.23: How to 6.2 Talavati House (Kardan)
hank categorization in the walls (right) This building is approximately 138 square meters,
two-floored, without any interrelation, and with
The total environment is based on these people's separate entrances in two levels.
culture and beliefs, so it is the reason why religious
parts come to the sight more than the other parts.
Bazaar is in multi floors without roof, and it helps
access to the different neighborhoods of the village.

Fig.18: Masouleh Bazaar Fig.21: Ground floor plan (left), First floor plan (right)
Except the balcony's walls which are white, the
other walls of the façade are yellow as soil. The
6 Case Studies ground floor has just one room, and the second floor
6.1 Pedram House has four rooms and a corridor. The rooms are
Pedram House has an entrance door on west, and is connected, and two of them have access to the
along with the corridor which is also the warehouse. balcony. All the rooms possess niches, and the doors
The corridor leads to the Chogham, restroom, and windows are made out of wood. The unique
"Pilekeh", and "Talarakeh". Usually in "Pilekeh" feature of the building, which exclusively exists in
things like sleeping, eating, winter gatherings, and
cooking, are done. "Talarakeh" is the summer room,

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this building, is its balcony which is in the shape of c) The step-like structure, high density and
a triangle. extension of the houses in heights according to the
natural slopes.
d) Establishing northern & southern
communication routes according to the natural.
Topography, and the use of local materials, like:
woods, adobe, and natural stones, in the
construction of the village.
e) Winter and summer living design for different
seasons.
Fig.22: Section (left), Elevation (right)
f) There is no air, sound, and other destructive
6.3 Golabtin Kamran House (Habib Maleki) environmental pollution.
This building is approximately 240 square meters in g) Use of natural resources like natural wells in
two floors which are both the same regarding the order to provide the villagers with their need of
size. Since the ground floor consists of two separate water.
and independent parts, two entrance doors are seen. h) Designing the roofs with gentle slopes to
The access to the first floor is possible through the prevent rain water flow and its moisture.
sole internal staircase of each part. Unlike the i) Having heating insulators for cold seasons, and
ground floor, all the rooms have niches and they are humidity insulator to prevent the rain influence.
all connected. Except two staircases space, there are j) Use of natural mountainous grooves as swage
seven rooms on the first floor. channels.
Though Iranian ancient architecture had been
always relied on creativity and sustainable
characteristics, it is far away from its origin with
being influenced by western modern industrial
world. According to numerous discussable
examples, Iranian ancient architecture had been
always loyal to sustainable principles. Therefore,
this village with its stable characteristics could be a
Fig.23: Ground floor plan (left), first floor plan (right) lesson for future extension of this village and other
similar villages involving the needs of today's life.

References:
[1] Givoni, B., Man Climate and Architecture,
Applied Science Publisher Ltd, Second Edition,
Amsterdam, 1976.
[2] Memarian, G., Introduction to Iranian
Fig.24: Section (left) & Elevation (right)
Architecture, Iran University of Science and
Technology Publications, 2001.
[3] Zomorshidi, H., Iran Architecture-
Understanding of Iranian Masonry
7 Conclusion Construction Materials, Azadeh Publications,
According to the following reasons, Masouleh 2006.
village holds Stable Rustic Structure Architectural [4] Tavassoli, M, Architecture in the Hot Arid
Design: Zone, Tehran University Publication, , 1974.
a) Establishment of the rustic structure in the [5] Memarian, Fathy, H., Natural Energy and
middle of the foothill, and in coordination with the Vernacular Architecture, The university of
climatic condition of the area. Chicago Press , Chicago, 1986.
b) This village is toward the south and south-east [6] Givoni, B., Man Climate and Architecture,
in coordination with the natural slope to receive as Applied Science Publisher Ltd, Second Edition,
much sunshine as possible in the cold and snowy Amsterdam, 1976.
winters of Masouleh.
[7] Memarian, Gh, Iranian Residential
Architecture, The University Publication, 1992.

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