A design research towards developing an appropriate domestic architecture in Iran: A case study of Kerman

Until the beginning of the twentieth century domestic architecture and the design of Iranian houses was sympathetic to the social, cultural and religious values of traditional Iranian society. A wave of Westernisation, which started in the early 20th century, greatly impacted on domestic architectural style and design in Iran. Due to a continuous process of disconnection from traditional and vernacular design principles, cons residents’ needs and values. Domestic architecture spaces are largely designed in an attempt to merely mimic some aspects of Iranian traditional houses while failing to function properly, hence new spaces do not relate to the sociocultural and religious practices and lifestyles of people. In this context, this research focusing on middle-income people, investigates ways in which contemporary housing solutions can cater better to the constantly changing lifestyles of residents while retaining various cultural and symbolic connotations that are embedded in various spaces in a house. The research focuses on Kerman, a historical city in Iran. Adopting a qualitative methodology, this research employs narrative workshops, photo elicitation and in-depth semi-structured interviewing methods for data collection. The research adopted diverse techniques during the interviews, such as drawings, models and films, to capture the rich narratives of participants’ experiential understanding and perceptions of their houses. These rich and complex narratives were analysed to examine the relationship between various spatial arrangements and residents’ sociocultural and religious practices. The research findings show the complex relationship between residents, the places in which they live and the organisation of their home and suggests key architectural design propositions that relate to social interaction, inside-outside connectedness, privacy and re-inventing the past, which play a prominent role in developing an appropriate domestic architecture in contemporary Iran.