Comparative Study on Cliff Dwelling Earth shelter Architecture in Iran Procedia Engineering 165 ( 2016 ) 649 – 657 Available online at www sciencedirect com 1877 7058 © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd[.]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 15th International scientific conference “Underground Urbanisation as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Development” Comparative study on cliff dwelling earth-shelter architecture in Iran Meghedy Khodabakhshian a,* a , Islamic Azad University, Shohadaye Hesarak Blvd, Daneshgah Square, Sattari Expy Tehran, 1477893855, Iran Abstract Climatic diversity in Iran causes a variety of earth shelter type in the country The two cliff dwellings which is alive till today are seen in cold and arid climate of Iran among total climates of this country This survey is used qualitative grounded theory method which for reach to formal comparative typology and to find the differences, similarities and pros and s of these two types of cliff dwelling and its compliances with their climate has been conducted by in field manner The earth- shelter type is subset of earth architecture and cliff dwelling is one of seconds subsets that involve two alive communities in Iran which are continued cliff architecture and separated cliff architecture Kandovan in East Atropatakan province of Iran by cold climate has a historical separated cliff dwelling and Maymand in Kerman province by arid climate has continued cliff dwelling This two types have many differences in special structures, forms and climatically adaptations Recognition of values of this kind of historic dwelling and its conservation is necessary The result of this survey showed that special organization, climatically adaptation and suitable use of earth thermal behavior in Maymand is better than Kandovan instead the natural ventilation and use of day lighting is better in Kandovan because of its separated cliff forms © 2016 2016Published The Authors Published by Elsevier Ltd © by Elsevier Ltd This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 15th International scientific conference “Underground (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Peer-review under scientific committee of the 15th International scientific conference “Underground Urbanisation as a Urbanisation as aresponsibility Prerequisite of forthe Sustainable Development Prerequisite for Sustainable Development Keywords: Comparative study, Cliff dwelling, Earth-shelter, Climate, Spacial organization, Thermal behavior * Corresponding author Tel.: +989155079149 E-mail address: meghedy_design@yahoo.com 1877-7058 © 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 15th International scientific conference “Underground Urbanisation as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Development doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2016.11.762 650 Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 Introduction The subterranean structures are the oldest form of the shelter known to human that could be traced back to the cave ages Except natural underground habitats and rocky architecture still occupied with residents in some parts of Iran, various forms of earth-shelters are to be maintain as heritage [1] It is worth mentioning that with all the advances made in construction technology, these natural structures still prevail in their sense The thermal behavior in such structures is the main focus point with respect to energy crises The variety in these structures are subject to the cold and arid climates where the earth-shelters have more efficiency, various kinds of it were used which had many differences by each other in meeting the climatic necessities Today surveys run on earth-shelters could contribute to revitalizing and improving all components of this structures for contemporary applications The first survey on earth-shelter construction in Iran took place by this author in her Ph.D dissertation (2012) Previously there existed only superficial information on some of these structures which were not professional since they lacked studied on: typology, comparative, spatial organization, climatic response, geological aspects and other relevant issues Since 2012 many articles on this issue have been published through this author in conferences proceeding and scientific journals (note: a relevant book is being written by this author.) The objective of this article is to present the analyses on existing two Maymand and Kandovan cliff dwellings which are still occupied by native dwellers The axial subject consist of spatial organization with all related elements, climatic response and thermal behavior are discussed in this analyses Fig The view of cliff dwelling in Maymand village Methodology The research method in this survey is qualitative, analytic descriptive and deductive grounded theory where the spatial organization, climatic response and thermal behavior of the subject are assessed The analytic description would describe the physical conditions of both the existing earth-sheltered cliff dwellings which would lead to a deductive conclusion that would provide the means for their comparison Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 Fig Maymand “V” shap section Maymand Village, Earth Shelter, Cliff Dwelling This village is located at 36km North-East of Babak city, Kerman province, Iran [2] By latitude 30̊ 16', longitude 55 ̊ 25' and altitude 2240 m All structures here are excavated during centuries and present a series of caves panorama The only access way in and out of these structures is the one passage that serves as light and ventilation channel as well These structures are stable because they make an integrated network covered with natural rocky ceiling, providing residence for natives for centuries [3] (Fig.1) The Italian archeologists, due to the studies and tests conducted and ran on stone carvings found in the region, estimate the age of Maymand civilizations as to 12 millenniums [4] Some researchers are of the opinion that the initial core inhabitants of Maymand must have lived in eras when Iranians followed Mithraism and worshiped mountains as sacred objects The earth sheltered complexes here are arranged in three layers at both sides of the North-South valley which has a “V” shape (Fig.2) These complexes are connected to interior by semi-open spaces named “Kicheh” which are perpendicular to topological layers named “Kashkor” The sequential pattern of reaching the leaving quarters are “Kicheh”, “Veranda” and “Room” The rooms in these quarters contain carved spaces in their walls to hold torch/ lamp and other stuff on them The room height in these complexes varies from 1.9-2.1m [5] The differences of air temperature inside and outside these rooms is ̊ c in average (see Table1.) Table1 The temperature differences in Maymand Date Inside Temp Outside Temp ( ̊c) ( ̊c) Feb 2004 15 10 May 2005 18 24 May.2012 21 Shadow 26 Sunshine 39 The inside temperature is subject to seasonal temperature fluctuations The same holds true as to the annual temperature average with respect to room depth Although the heat loss caused by the infiltration of outside air through seams due to the solid state of the rooms is low, controlling the door seams could be an effective measure in heating and cooling energy consumption 651 652 Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 Fig Kandovan Cliff Dwelling Village Kandovan Village, Earth-Shelter, Cliff Dwelling This village is located at 50km South-West of Tabriz city, East Atrpatakan province, Iran The existence of residential structures among the conic rocky projections with a maximum height of four stories identifies this ancient area The villagers here have built houses, barns and workshops [6] Even though some archeologists believe that this area belongs to pre Islamic era, the initial ancient residents here were from a village named Hileware, 2km west of Kandovan These people had fled the Mongols attacks on Hileware in 7th century A.H to the opposite fields what makes today s Kandvan now During time they gradually excavated the conic rocky projections and established what exists now (Fig.3) This village due to its specific architectural texture is registered in the National Heritage Society, Iran Due to the volcanic reactions of Sahand Mountain this beautiful landscape has evolved in one of the best climatic zones of Iran The rough shaped volcanic mounds have been shaved and shaped through wind, snow rain and climatic factors during thousands of years Fig Kandovan Cliff Dwelling Village The villages removed the rocks and built somewhat small rooms with 2m height [3] One dwelling may be consisting two-three stories These natural features are fit to cold climates since the wall width varies from 2-3m, a good insulation as an energy saving factor Accordingly, very low temperature fluctuation inside the structure, during winter the room temperature is higher than outside temperature and the opposite is true for summer Access to higher floors of these conic structures from outside is provided by staircases carved in the intact body of the structure (Fig.4) They used the ground floor as storage and the next floors for residence habitation In certain occasions the fourth floor has served as the storage house Due to the thickness of the surrounding rocky walls Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 which makes carving hard for windows sunlight entrance providing windows is almost impossible at the lower levels, which does not hold true for upper levels The residential context in conic shape rocky dwellings is subject to high density in height This compactness is appropriate for energy saving because of less external surface The stability of this kind of rock makes possible the expand space which are connected to one another together from out or inside of conical rocky rooms In big conics where the space is less limited, the entrance may be sequential while in small conics the enterance may consist of just one short wall separating the main space The room door height is 1.5 to 1.6 m because of hardness of carving The external windows of the rooms are instaledon the inner surface of the walls to prevent direct rain and snow penetration [7] Comparative Analysis of the Subject Villages The physical form of the cliff dwelling architecture is one of the rare forms for human dwellings There exists a unified interaction between component elements and proportions of spaces carved and or excavated by man Due to hard nature of stone carving it does not exceed what is needed This fact, justifies the minimalistic concept in architecture, a unique feature in human The comparative analysis of two Iranian cliff dwellings, with respect to spatial organization, climatic response and thermal behavior constitute the body of this section 5.1 Spatial organization According to presented typology of earth-shelter construction by this author (2012), cliff architecture types consist of two “Continues” and “Discontinues” sub-categories in Iran, the samples of which constitute the subject of this study In the discontinues type, the residential spaces In the continues type the residential spaces are created in a continues cliff, like Maymand This two cliff dwelling have some similarities and dissimilarities worth assessing As to their genotype these two villages are categorized as earth-shelters with connectivity to earth, and as to their phenotype they vary Due to continues nature of Maymand its spatial organization is linier Due to the discontinued nature of Kandovan its spatial organization is central The spaces in Maymand village are more diversified than that of the Kandovan The sequential pattern of the entrance is observed more So that main entrance of space begins from the access roads named “Kitchen” followed by the Veranda in Maymand, unlike the pattern in Kandovan where the access takes place with no space divisions Fig Mayamnd Cliff Dwelling Village Linier organization According to Fig.5 Maymand surface density is due to its horizontal expansion with respect to the topography of the area According to Fig.6 Kandova height density is due to its conic structure with respect to the topography of the area Utility spaces in Kandovan are usually placed on the ground floor and residential rooms occupy the upper floors, while in Maymand the utility spaces are located on the first stage of sequential access in separate carved caves with separate entrance from the main residential rooms 653 654 Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 Fig Kandovan Cliff Dwelling Village Central organization The room shape in Maymand follows a more geometric pattern than that of the Radovan due to surface density, while the opposite hold true for Kandovan due to its height density (Fig 7,8) 5.2 Climatic response According to the theory indicating that underground spaces follow the annual temperature pattern, the manner of complete underground spaces arrangement does not effect in their climatic conditions What is of concern here is the corelation between an enclosed area and the open condition through the main entrance The depth of earth- shelters despite its arrangement is effective on indoor air temperature index, while more depth refers more differences of temperature compared to outside condition This temperature fluctuation contributes to human comfort in different seasons Maymand with its massive magnitude of earth provide the possibility of linear expansion of earth shelters in cliff side hill with better climatic conditions in both winter and summer than that of Kandovan where the limited cones provide the possibility of having rooms only with restricted thickness of outside walls subject to central arrangement (Fig.9,10) Fig Plan of Maymand carved residential space Cross section of Maymand residential sequential access shows the height changing in access process, where the “Kitcheh” as open space is in lower level then the veranda which is higher by 0.1m as a semi opened space and the main door of the curved rooms which have limited dimensions at low height This arrangement is appropriate for indoor climate control Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 Fig.8 Plan of Kandovan carved residential space 5.3 Earth thermal behavior The earth thermal behavior in Maymand because of being located at hills elevation and having one facade is better than Kandovan with limited dimensions due to its conical shapes The earth thermal behavior is more evident in Maymand due to its linier form The internal temperature of earth-shelter is in direct relation with its depth which is more in Maymand because it is surrounding with many hills The solid form of rooms without any seams prevent energy loos The existing hierarchy sequential access in Maymand and absence of around external windows make air infiltration rooms more controlled through the main door This situation cannot be justified in Kandovan since there the internal walls have many small opening Fig Access of Kandovan carved residential space 655 656 Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 Fig 10 Sequential Access of Maymand carved residential space Conclusion The comparative findings of this article are tabulated (see Table 2) Table Result of Maymand and Kandovan village competition Analyzed items Spatial organization Maymand Kandovan Comment Genotype Earth-shelter cliff dwelling Earth-shelter cliff dwelling - Phenotype continues discontinues Day lighting Only by entrance door By entrance door and sometime small window Kandovan preferred Natural ventilation Only by entrance door By entrance door and sometime small window Kandovan preferred Sequential access Kicheh- veranda-main Ent Some time without sequential access Maymand preferred Spatial pattern Open-semi open - close Open-close Maymand preferred Spatial cohesion Geometrical cohesion Shapeless cohesion Maymand preferred Dimensions Noticeable dimensions in plan- expanded spaces with short height Plan dimension appropriate by height -Dimensions are controlled by climate Density Minimalistic approach Surface density Height density Climate response The best response to climate Suitable response to climate Maimane preferred Using earth thermal behavior The best efficiency because of unlimited mass of earth Suitable efficiency because of noticeable thickness of conical cliffs Maymand preferred The outcome of the comparison here indicates that Maymand cliff dwelling has more preferences in some spatial organization like sequential access, spatial pattern, special cohesion, climate response and use of earth thermal mass behavior As for daylight and natural ventilation Kandovan out performs Maymand Dimensional indexes indicate Meghedy Khodabakhshian / Procedia Engineering 165 (2016) 649 – 657 that Maymand has more extended space than Kandovan and each one has its own unique properties which is fit for local climate This hand carved spaces have followed the minimalistic approach References [1] M Khodabakhshian, S.M Mofidi, Vernacular Underground Architecture in Arid Climate of Iran, Advances in Underground Space Development, Singapore, 2013 [2] Information on http://www.keacheh.blogfa.com (20.6.2012) [3] V Ghobadian, Climatic investigation of Vernacular Structure of Iran 5th ed Tehran university Press, Tehran, 2009 [4] F Izadpanah, The Study of Maymand Rural Architecture Cultural heritage of the country, Meymand research base Kerman, 2003 [5] M Khodabakhshian, Typology of Earth-Shelter Architecture in Iran International Journal of Architecture and Urban Development 2(4) (2013) 5-10 [6] Typology of Earth-shelter Architecture in Iran [7] R Shaterin, Climate & Architecture of Iran, 1st ed Simaye Danesh Press, Tehran, 2009 [8] M Khodabakhshian, Typology of Earth-Shelter Construction In Dry Climate of Iran Ph.D Dessertation, Islamic Azad University Science and Research, Tehran , 2012 657 ... competition Analyzed items Spatial organization Maymand Kandovan Comment Genotype Earth- shelter cliff dwelling Earth- shelter cliff dwelling - Phenotype continues discontinues Day lighting Only by... revitalizing and improving all components of this structures for contemporary applications The first survey on earth- shelter construction in Iran took place by this author in her Ph.D dissertation... constitute the body of this section 5.1 Spatial organization According to presented typology of earth- shelter construction by this author (2012), cliff architecture types consist of two “Continues”