Indigenous Housing and Settlement on the Banks of the Sarbaz River in Baluchestan

Originates from the mountains in the south of Iranshahr, the Sarbaz River is one of the most important rivers in Baluchestan, Iran, which flows in the north-south direction towards the ​​Oman Sea. Numerous settlements have been formed along this river, including Anza, Petan, Pashamag, Firoozabad, Rask etc. Affected by various factors such as culture, environment, climate, economic conditions and the type of livelihood, the settlements of this area has been formed overtime to meet the needs of residents according to the condition and facilities with a variety of available materials. This paper seeks to answer the following questions: what are the factors affecting the formation of indigenous housing in the Sarbaz riverbank? What are the features and capacities of the indigenous housing in this area? The research is based on the hypothesis that the indigenous housing along the Sarbaz River has capacities that can be adopted to improve the quality of housing in this area at present and in the future. In this research, a qualitative method based on field surveys and desk studies has been used. This study aims to investigate and identify the factors affecting the formation of indigenous housing along the Sarbaz River in Baluchestan while exploring the capacities of indigenous housing to improve the quality of housing of this area today and in the future. Different types of housing have some drawbacks as well as various strengths. The housing in the Sarbaz River highlights a number of qualities that are neglected in today’s housing or overlooked by designers. Among them, there are the possibility of choosing a diverse range of materials, responding to different needs, such as environmental and climatic conditions, respecting elderly (elderly care), hierarchy, respecting privacy in housing, greeting the guests, continuous cycle of life and the possibility of living multiple generations in various housing, flexibility to change and develop due to the needs of the family over the time, and the possibility of substituting worn out spaces with new ones.