The Change in the Functional Concept of the Courtyard from the Past to the Present; Case Study: Religious People of Qom

The concept of residential open space in Iranian architecture has fundamentally changed in recent decades due to changes made by the massing system in cities and the appearance of a new concept, i.e. semi-private courtyard, in apartment housing. In the present study, it is attempted to examine the changes in the uses and activities of the courtyard by reviewing the existing literature. Then, the status of past concepts in the minds of contemporary people is analyzed with the emphasis on everyday life activities by field study. The literature review of this research is historical and interpretative and the ethnography is performed both quantitatively and qualitatively. First, the attitude of the religious people selected in Qom is enquired qualitatively, and then, open-ended interviews are used for qualitative research to provide a more reliable ethnographic interpretation. For qualitative research, six religious families of middle income, who are living in a courtyard house or apartment in Qom, are selected (for each model of housing= 3 samples) considering a given period, and the information used in this study are extracted from long-term semi-structured interviews. According to the literature review on the courtyard in Iranian architecture in the Islamic period of Iran, housing has basic concepts of privacy, female space, the concentration of domestic activities, and the sacred space from a religious and social perspective. Case studies of this study show that although the conceptual reality of the courtyard has been removed from everyday life, middle-aged generations have still a mental image of the courtyard as a center for activity and space connected with nature and the sky (as a sacred element). The image is undeniable. However, the modern concepts of domesticity (family life) and the insignificance of housework make the later religious generations reluctant to use the courtyard with its basic uses.