Demands and Feasibilities of Open Building in Iranian Urban Context

Traditional Iranian houses, were built of heavy, voluminous building materials resulting in massive bearing wall structures. Such buildings had fixed architectural spaces, with defined boundaries and dimensions. However, the need for adaptability was fulfilled through creating multifunctional spaces, seasonal or even daily movements in the horizontal and vertical directions of house areas, and subdivision or expansion of the primary spaces. Urbanization in Iran is leading to gradual replacement of individual houses by residential complexes and apartments in which, the use of traditional design principles was lost, while solutions to enhance adaptability in the internal layouts have not yet developed. The paper concludes that open building may provide practical tools to enhance spatial variations in the new conditions. However, to take the first step towards this approach in Iran, some major issues such as "legal framework", "changing needs of Iranian families", "Iranian life styles" and "situation of industrial building production in Iran" have to be analyzed. Considering the mentioned factors, some recommendations for architectural design are proposed.