Typological process of the historical courtyard houses in Yazd, Iran

The transition from the Sasanian Empire (224-651) to the Islamic era determined diachronic changes in the residential typology. The courtyard house was in use in this area from ancient times, but in the transition to Islam some variants developed hence a different social organisation. This research is based on the comparative analysis of the historical courtyard houses of Yazd and the pre-Islamic courtyard houses in Iran, in order to identify their typological process. Upon a selection of courtyard houses, from the same cultural area, the research outlines the analogies and differences. These courtyard houses represent their historical periods. This research examines 24 courtyard houses from four historical periods, pre-Islamic period (before 633), Islamic period (1158-1350), Qajar period (1785-1925), and Pahlavi period (1925- 1979). After identifying courtyard houses and finding their basic information such as history, documents, photos. In the first phase, the research determines the location and the orientation of courtyard houses. In the second phase, the research places them in the matrix to examine and compare their characteristics. This research considers two scales, building scale and streetscale, as a typological frame. The research compares courtyard houses with the courtyard houses of the same and different historical period, synchronic variant and diachronic variant. The main question of this paper is that, can we find and understand the origin of historical courtyard houses of Yazd using comparative analysis? The research method of the study is comparative and written sources are used to collect data.