Courtyard houses Courtyard houses are common in hot and dry climates and remain in many historical cities

in the Middle East (Al-Azzawi, 1994). Environmental and cultural differences inform the diverse characteristics of courtyard houses because they are used by a variety of cultural groups in a large number of cities. For example, courtyards may be used as an inner garden or they may function as the focal point in the house. Thousands of years of inhabitation can explain the variations in courtyard house organization. Courtyard houses, which are common in regions with hot and dry climates, demonstrate strict territoriality and attempts to create private space for introversion. Such isolated lifestyles are not only the result of an attempt to conform to the climate, but are also a reflection of culture. The privacy measures that influence the design of the houses are representative of particular cultural norms. The space design and the climatic usage of the houses were examined to determine how climate influences courtyard structure. Then, the effects of the privacy measures in house design were examined. The form and organization of a house is shaped according to the cultural environment, which reflects socio-cultural factors, such as religion. The structure of the family and society are also important components of culture that affect buildings and artificial environments (Rapoport, 1969). The physical environment is a reflection of these socio cultural connections and attempts to create the private world of family life.

Even minor adaptations showing the effects of individual preferences are consistent with traditions and traditional life spaces. The measures that are taken to separate the public space from private space are the extensions of the same behaviour. Houses were designed to create physically separate spaces for males and females, as well as to prevent visual contact between the sexes. In this context, there were some measures taken to design the positions of openings and the height of living spaces to avoid visual contacts. The courtyard houses were surrounded by high walls (the average thickness of the walls is 50 cm) within the compact urban texture and were built to protect the inhabitants from both the extreme heat in summer and any disturbances caused by outsiders. A centre courtyard exists, providing air and light for the other spaces surrounding it. In other words, the windows of all rooms on the ground floor have a view of the courtyard, and they do not have a direct connection to the outer part of the building. Planning in this way is suitable for hot climates; the space is designed for users in a way that blocks sunlight in summer and allows sunlight in the winter. Consequently, the spaces around the courtyard are designed appropriately for seasonal usage. In the summer, the spaces in the south part of the courtyard are used. These spaces are cooler because they face north and are not exposed to direct sunlight.

PSYCHO-SOCIAL BENEFITS The primary benefit of the courtyard is a result of its inward form, which provides a sense of enclosure and privacy to the residents of the house. The court is the heart of the house, where different functions can take place during different parts of the day. This outdoor room can be used as an extension of the kitchen during mornings or as an extension of the living room during evenings to entertain guests. The courtyard can provide a safe place for the children in the family to play under the visual supervision of elders. The court acts also as a space for interaction for all family members. Generally, all the rooms face the courtyard, creating a direct relationship between the inside and outside. This arrangement encourages family members to use the courtyard as a group. Privacy is the main concern of courtyard type dwellings. Therefore, in most of the courtyard houses the court is visually secluded by screened or walled entrances. In places where the climate is conducive to outdoor activity, the parapet walls on the roofs are high enough to provide a private sleeping area during the night. The inherent private quality of these houses provides privacy from the neighbors or the outside world while bringing in the elements of nature like sun and wind. Besides the visual privacy provided by the courtyard form, it also provides acoustical privacy. The courtyard house absorbs the noise of the house within itself. Also the surrounding rooms provide a noise barrier between the inner heart of the house and the street outside. This prevents the residents from being disturbed by the outside humdrum and provides a quieter and private outdoor space to enjoy.

CULTURAL BENEFITS - Often we find the use of more than one courtyard in both occidental and oriental cultures. This is usually to segregate the public and private spaces within the house. The public domain is mainly for the guests and is mostly used by the male members of the family. The inner court is more restricted to the family and is usually an outdoor space enjoyed by the female members of the house. CLIMATIC BENEFITS Courtyards have been generally referred to as a microclimate modifier in the house due to their ability to mitigate high temperatures, channel breezes and adjust the degree of humidity. The properties of self-shading and thermal lag may be used to reduce heat gain in courtyard houses by using the right proportions and building materials. The right courtyard proportions may block higher summer sun angles while allowing lower winter sun angles. The courtyard floor and surrounding walls are usually a good radiator of heat depending on the material used. Thus, the courtyard acts like a cool air reservoir especially in hot-arid climates where clear sky conditions favor the heat radiation property of surface materials. This helps in maintaining lower temperatures in the court and especially ground floor rooms. However night sky radiation, depending on the amount of heat dissipated from any surface via long wave radiation, increases and decreases by the number of exposed surfaces. Use of low albedo, light-colored highly reflective surface materials in courts help to bring more sunlight into surrounding rooms in cold climates. Wide, open courts, allowing maximum exposure to solar radiation is also beneficial to cold climate housing types. Again, using plants and water elements in courtyards helps to add moisture to the air and enhance comfort conditions in hot-dry climates. Natural ventilation in the courts may be increased by either adding wind-traps or by using shaded and open-to-sky courts alternately.

The freedom in orientation and control over the solar sky helps in modifying the amount of daylight entering the courtyard house. As mentioned earlier, highly reflective surface materials may allow greater light penetration in rooms; similarly use of proper shading devices and massing of the building may help in filtering the daylight which enters into spaces. The envelope mass of the court house helps in both acoustically isolating the court from outside noisy streets, while amplifying the sound of nature within the enclosed environment for example that of birds, water falling from fountains. ACCESSIBILITY AND CIRCULATION BENEFITS Courtyards generally function as loci in the house, connecting the different areas and functions within the house, assuming the primary role in building circulation . The compact nature of the form reduces circulation space within house so that corridors may be eliminated by accessing different rooms directly from the court. This emphasis on the use of the ground plane minimizes the requirements for stairs, which helps in making the different parts of the house easily accessible by even those with limited mobility. SYMBOLICAL RELIGIOUS BENEFITS The courtyard is both symbolically and religiously significant. This open-to-sky yet enclosed space within the surrounding walls of a house has been considered as a spatial symbol of inwardness and femininity in the house. The courtyard may symbolize many things: an oasis in the desert; a fragment of nature inside the house; the central focus of interest in the house; a concentration of light, wind, sound and water; a private, safe and life-sustaining refuge. The courtyard may also symbolize the life-cycle of nature and humans with respect to the social values of the times.

The use of courtyards offers an intentional contrast between the stark, bright heat of the outside and the intimate confinement, shade, and coolness of the court inside which provides relief like an oasis in the desert. The courtyard houses in the Hindu regions of the world follow the cosmic square of Hindu theology. Hindu courtyards are used for daily religious rituals. Most Hindu courtyards are distinguished by the placement of a Tulasi (basil) plant which is watered and worshipped every morning by the ladies of the house. The most universal religious application of the open courtyard is perhaps congregation, whether as prayer halls in Christian or Buddhist monasteries, or as areas for religious festivals in Hindu houses and temples, or for offering namaz in Muslim mosques or houses. ECONOMICAL BENEFITS Some financial benefits are closely associated with the courtyard form and construction. Courtyard house designs show efficiency in land use. Especially when adjoining courtyard houses share walls, the cost of both construction and maintenance is significantly reduced. With an interior open space, the setbacks usually required for front and sides around buildings may be nullified, thus allowing usage of more floor area. The minimization of walls also leads to fewer surfaces for either heat gain or heat loss, which may help in economizing the air-conditioning load inside the house.

INDIAN COURTYARD TYPES: India has some splendid design examples of courtyard houses, called by various regional names like the haveli(s) of Gujrat of northern India, wada(s) of Maharashtra, deori(s) of Hyderabad, rajbari(s) of Bengal and nalukettu(s) in Kerala.