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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.56.08.25
How to Cite:
Abdullah, A.A., & Abdullah, W.S. (2022). Impact of contemporary rebuilding process on changing architectural
genotype. Amazonia Investiga, 11(56), 250-263. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/2022.56.08.25
Impact of contemporary rebuilding process on changing architectural
genotype
Received: July 3, 2022 Accepted: October 15, 2022
Written by:
Ameera Ahmed Abdullah106
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0610-5535
Wrya Sabir Abdullah107
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5254-8148
Abstract
The rapid economical, socio-cultural changes in
Sulaymaniyah city, Iraq in the last three decades
promoted radical changes on both urban and
architectural level. Several traditional houses in
the historical center of the city have been
demolished and replaced with rebuilt modern
houses leaving negative impacts on the old fabric
at both formal and spatial level. This paper aims
to investigate the role of the contemporary
rebuilding process achieved by landowners
within the traditional neighborhoods of the city
on changing the underlying genotype constants
of housing spatial configuration through
examining the morphological characteristics of
the architectural layouts of both original and
rebuilt type. To achieve this aim five traditional
-1960) were
selected to compare with five modern rebuilt
houses (1990-2022) within the same
neighborhoods, their spatial arrangements have
been compared following analytical quantitative
methodology using (A-graph software) as one of
space syntax techniques also known as (Gamma
analysis) to determine the characteristics of
houses layouts in terms of
(Symmetry/Assymmetry) and
(Distributness/Non Distributness) of the whole
system. Results suggest existence of different
structuring modes based on genotype distinction
despite similarities in some organizational
principles.
Keywords: Architectural Genotype, Justified
graph map, Space syntax, Sulaymaniyah city,
Traditional Houses Layouts.
A-Graph
106
MSc. student Department of Architectural Engineering, university of Sulaimani, Iraq.
107
PhD. In Architecture Engineering Sulaimani University, Iraq.
Abdullah, A.A., Abdullah, W.S. / Volume 11 - Issue 56: 250-263 / August, 2022
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Introduction
(Murphy, 2015). Every house has a
story to tell, it is evidence of how earlier
generations thought about and designed spaces to
reflect their daily beliefs and needs. Architecture
as a practice of the non-verbal system of symbols
mirrors the cultural values, images, and beliefs
that can be transmitted and shared through
society ,it can express and embody the collective
cultural codes like no other artefact (Abdullah &
Shari, 2019). Houses are believed to be the most
complex buildings considering their functions
and meanings, their spatial configurations
describe the cultural ideological aspects of the
inhabitants (Hanson, 2003).
According to the researchers the abstract rules
behind houses organization in a specific culture
are translations of socio-cultural codes of that
society for this reason they show consistency in
their spatial patterning, this consistency is called
conceived of as an archaeology of the space
(Hillier & Hanson, 1989) (Hanson, 2003, p. 32).
It is an intermediary of form and function in
architecture, as well as an illustration of how that
space received the information from society in its
pristine form (Elizondo, 2021).
Traditional historical houses in Sulaymaniyah
city compromise an important part of local
architecture heritage, these houses were built by
vernacular builders based on physical and non-
physical needs of their inhabitants using
construction methods inherited and passed from
generation to the next. Despite showing several
architectural typologies, their spatial
arrangements shared common characteristics
when local socio-cultural impacts shaped houses
layouts, however the contemporary rebuilding
practices achieved by land owners generated
drastic changes due to imitating modern
westernized styles and produced distorted
architectural styles (Abdullah & Shari, 2019).
As a result, the spatial arrangements of
traditional houses layouts have been replaced
with new setting that shows different
morphological attributes. From this perspective
this study investigates an issue related to the
change and loss of inherited spatial patterns
(genotypes) of these houses through answering
the following questions:
1. What are the interior spatial genotypical
constants behind housing arrangement in
traditional districts of Sulaymaniyah city?
2. Do the spatial configurations of
contemporary rebuilt houses within the
historical districts differ from the spatial
settings of traditional ones? if yes in which
ways?
3. How the concept of genotype transition
could be invested in future design and
rebuilding processes within the historical
context of the city for more sustainable
rebuilding practices?
To achieve this aim, this study investigates the
morphological attributes of traditional houses
particularly in seven neighborhoods first, then
explores the nature of change in these patterns
throughout the time, therefore the architectural
layouts of both traditional (courtyard) houses and
modern rebuilt ones are compared in terms of
syntactical characters using A-Graph software
also known as (gamma analysis) to convert these
plans into graphs and numerical data then to
reveal their spatial genotypical constants.
The basic hypothesis in the present study is that
given the importance of preserving the original
architectural genotypes of traditional houses,
consideration the inherited spatial genotypes that
may influence modern spatial arrangements and
domestic setting, to answer the research
questions the researcher suggests space syntax
for being socio-spatial applicable methodology.
After comparing similarities and differences
between the selected spatial patterns in terms of
(Symmetry/Asymmetry) and (Distributness/non
Distributness), the spatial system of each type
could be determined and compared through
obtaining the syntactical indicators of each house
including mean depth (MD), integration (RRA),
Base difference factor (H*), space link ratio
(SLR), types of spaces (spaceness).
phenotype or observable physical attributes of
these houses (shape, length, envelope) or (social,
behavioral, phycological) aspects of the
inhabitants, it also excludes the period of (1960-
1990) for being transitional period with
transformational effects in housing industry in
the city. Study results may influence future
design and rebuilding processes in the way that
original underlying codes behind spatial
genotypes could be invested in various formal
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styles (phenotypes) so that the original
architectural genotypes could be retained with
preserving local architecture identity.
Literature Review on Architectural Genotype
Genotype in biology when translated into
architecture identifies the Architectural
Genotype (Rahmane & Abbaoui, 2021). The
term was first introduced into architecture in
space syntax literature by Hillier and Leaman
(Bill Hillier & Leaman, 1974) to differentiate
between the actual built environment and the
spatial logic that governs how the building must
be built. (Hillier & Hanson, 1984) define the
genotypes within the architectural context as
abstract rules underlying spatial shapes which
can be revealed using space syntax techniques,
they are abstract spatial designs transmitted
culturally, for a type of building or settlements
(Steadman, 2008, p. 78).
Genotypes in architecture have been discussed
on both urban and architectural level , housing
genotypes have been investigated previously
using space syntax techniques from several
perspectives , including analyzing vernacular
living spaces in Normandy to prove how cultural
ideas are presented equally in both artifacts and
design strategies, such as looking for a
genotypical pattern in early residential plans in
Germany designed by Mies Van Der Rohe
(Bafna, 1999), suburban houses in London
(Hanson, 2003) , gender inequality in traditional
courtyard house genotype in Baghdad City
(Edwards et al., 2004), Evolution of apartment
plans in Ankara city in terms of the relation
between spatial genotypes and functionality
(Guney, 2005), an investigation about the
relationship between spatiality and functionality
in both traditional and modern house layouts in
Erbil City , Iraq (Mustafa et al., 2010),stability
and change in apartments spatial genotypes in
Brzail from 1930-2000 (Cunha, 2012) finding
housing genotypes and transformation of
housing codes in Korean apartments (Seo, 2017),
an analysis of the consistency of the social and
spatial structure in rural domestic type (Ostwald
& Dawes, 2018), an analysis of continuity in
spatial arrangement of Iranian traditional houses
(Raith & Estaji, 2020) and more recently
inhabitant modifications on standardized social
housing genotypes based on social factors
(Elizondo, 2021).
From the literature one can conclude that through
identifying similarities and differences in the
internal configuration of several buildings it is
possible to identify spatial architectural
genotypes (Hanson, 1998, p. 215-241), thereby
housing genotype is a stable pattern of spatial
structure that underlies the phenotypical formal
expressions (Cunha, 2012) or patterns replicated
by people for their sense of owing specific
characteristics from antiquity into the present-
day, they can be transmitted only by means of
cultural and socialization, these stable patterns
are shaped by internal rules of spatial
aracter,
i.e., complex relational schemes, non-discursive
aspects of design that architects cannot talk about
knowledge (Hillier, 2007) , this recurrence of
certain morphological features is considered as
the genotype index (Bustard, 1999, pp. 219-240).
According to the researchers these patterns are
exposed to transformation and change due to the
change of socio-cultural codes of the builders
over time. For the purpose of translation of these
codes into mathematical graphical patterns the
researchers suggest space syntax techniques as a
reliable scientific technique for analyzing the
nature of change in these patterns (Al-Sayed et
al., 2014).
In conclusion the previous literature and all study
cases are related to foreign or regional areas with
different domestic specifications in different
climates and cultural contexts, no specific study
has discussed either the morphological
Sulaymaniyah city or patterns of change in their
spatial configuration over time, thus a necessity
to reveal the abstract rules behind traditional
courtyard houses in the city with patterns of
change in their spatial setting .
From these points this study finds out a
knowledge gap which forms the study problem
about types and levels of change in genotypical
constants which form morphological attributes of
spatial patterns of Sulaymaniyah traditional
courtyard houses due to contemporary rebuilding
original houses and rebuilding them from
scratch.
Architectural Genotype Defined
from the discovery of the same potentials in
space to solve a certain kind of architectural
problem for instance in religious buildings (how
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to combine the need for the sacred to be separated
from the everyday life) therefore the epicenter of
these buildings is in the deepest space, with
existence of a single direct line of sight linking
the innermost sacred space to the most public
space of the entrance (Bill Hillier, 2007, p. 174).
The reason behind the repetition of these themes
by people was their sense of functionality,
therefore they have been transmitted by means of
cultural and socialization (Roesler, 2012), they
formed a framework of resilience, where changes
can occur in function, technology and aesthetics
(three Vitruvius principles) with preserving the
same genotype, the repetition in these patterns
supports finding an identity of that architecture,
an identity data can be reused for another modern
design in the future for sustainable development.
(Sari et al., 2020). The identification of most
common recurred elements, organizational
qualities that persist across time will lead to
discover the genotype of that architecture
(Ledent, 2017). Likewise , the residential spatial
genotype could be defined as a spatial pattern
that commonly appears in some cases (Byun &
Choi, 2016), According to specialists every
house shows at least one spatial-functional
genotype presented as relational and
configurational consistency. In some
architectural layouts the dominant genotype is
easily identified when all the spatial-functional
relations are observed, in other layouts they are
less likely to be detected when some of the spatial
themes are absent (Hillier et al., 1987).
spatial arrangements can be divided into four
sectors (zones) where the sector is defined as a
set of spaces with common functional and social
requirements , the sector acts as a mega-structure
to determine the related spaces organization,
boundaries, and their transformation (Amorim,
2001). This classification is essential in terms on
comparison between two spatial settings.
According to Amorim pre-modern houses sectors
can be divided to four sectors as bellow:
− The visitors sector: mutual spaces between
family and strangers such as vestibule,
entrance hall, visitors room (reception),
formal dining, library.
− The family sector: family private spaces
such as living spaces, family dining room,
bedrooms, bathroom.
− The service sector: such as kitchen,
laundry, garage, front yard and backyard,
servant room
− The mediator sector connects two different
sectors with each other such as corridors and
transitional spaces.
The above classification of housing spaces into
groups is the most related classification within
this studys scope and the first practical one
which relied on space syntax techniques.
Traditional Houses in Sulaymaniyah city
The word traditional architecture refers to
procedures, materials and elements that have
been accepted gradually as a norm or tradition in
a society, they transmitted orally, or less
frequently by records that contain orally
transmitted data, guidelines, and procedures, this
does not imply that traditional processes and
artifacts do not change with time, they do change,
but their change is often slow, and their
provenance is clearly seen (Noble, 2009, p. 9).
Before 1960 the typical traditional house in
Sulaymaniyah city despite showing different
typologies (phenotypes) they were influenced by
vernacular architecture of local architecture
identity in response to climate, religion, socio-
cultural factors (Qaradaghi, 2020) however they
shared almost similar spatial distribution around
the internal courtyard therefore the courtyard
house genotype was the dominant type in the
city.
Applying sectors classification mentioned above
to traditional houses of Sulaymaniyah city one
can conclude that each house is consisting of
interior open courtyard worked as a mediator
between other sectors and functioned as the main
distribution core to all other spaces in the house
(Fig. 1), In a typical Kurdish traditional house,
the house consists of two parts the upper level
called (Sar khan) and the lower level (Zher khan)
usually occupied by several families particularly
after the extension of family members. The
(Iwan) was an important semi-open space for
family gathering, the closed spaces (rooms) were
multifunctional for eating, studying, sleeping.
Service sectors like bath and toilets mostly were
separated from the rooms and located near the
main entrance of the house far away from house
rooms (Fig. 2).
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Fig. 1. the relationship between (open-closed) spaces in different spatial patterns of Sulaymaniyah
Courtyard houses (Researcher)
Fig. 2. Service sectors (Kitchen, store, bath and toilets) were separated from houses rooms and linked
with the inner courtyard (Researcher)
Contemporary Rebuilding practices within
the traditional context
Traditional houses in the city have been
deteriorated either by natural forces or
demolished by landowners due to a lack of
conservation policies, therefore this dominant
traditional pattern with inner courtyard has been
replaced with different spatial setting. The new
rebuilt houses are imitations of western style of
housing organization with no connection with
local architecture identity or socio-cultural
values. The contemporary rebuilding tends to the
demolition of the historic houses and replacing
them with commercial buildings or modern
houses with new spatial and formal setting
(Fig. 3) and (Fig. 4).
Fig. 3. Typical traditional houses in Sulaymaniyah city, Iraq (Researcher)
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Fig. 4. Contemporary Rebuilt houses on the remains of demolished traditional ones. (Researcher)
Method and Measures:
In this research a comparative analytical
methodology will be followed to address the
similarity and differences between the spatial
genotypes of five traditional houses built form
(1900-1960) and five contemporary houses built
from (1990-2022) in the same traditional
neighborhoods, to measure the nature and degree
of change in their spatial settings. For this
purpose space syntax was first proposed by
Hillier and Hanson (Hillier & Hanson, 1984) as
a set of techniques that aims for revealing the
underlying spatial genotypes of specific layouts
to uncover cultural codes behind spatial
arrangement of any built environment, it is an
applicable methodology on both urban and
architectural level, where Alpha -analysis is
utilized for analyzing urban settlements and
Gamma-analysis is designed for analyzing
building spaces (Hillier et al., 1987) .The main
purpose behind this methodology is quantifying
the qualities of built environment to uncover the
ambiguous relationship between the human
factor and the built environment in the form of
numerical data. These relations reveal the
morphological characteristics of the plans after
converting the plans into abstract graphs called
Fig. 5 shows that the graph consists of nodes
represent the connection between these spaces,
each space is given a depth value from a selected
space called the carrier (usually the entrance of
the house).
Fig. 5. Example of justified graph map: (a) Architectural layout with six rooms, annotated AF, with the
exterior (X) as carrier; (b) diagram shows the connections between the spaces; (c) justified graph of the
plan. (Ostwald & Dawes, 2018, p. 55-56)
After the graphs are constructed, syntactical
measurements of the plans with their calculations
are obtained from mathematical formula
explained bellow.
1. The mean Depth (MD)
This measure explains how integrated or
separated the spaces are from each other or in
other words the number of steps one should take
to pass from the original space (the root) to
another space, it also reveals how deep or
shallow the spatial system is .Fig.6 shows that
we obtain the less depth when the spaces are
connected directly to the root (symmetric
system) and the most depth when all the spaces
are organized in a liner sequence from the root
(Asymmetric system). Mean depth is calculated
according to:
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Fig. 6. Left: Symmetric system. Right: Asymmetric system (Researcher depending on Hillier and Hanson)
(Hillier & Hanson, 1984, p. 94)
2. Relative Asymmetry (RA) and
Integration (i)
This indicator refers to the relative isolation of a
specific node, and its inverse is (i), which is the
level of integration of a node. Simplistically
more integrated spaces are more public and
accessible, less integrated spaces are more
private and less accessible. RA is utilized to
compare measures derived from similar size
graphs or plans with equal number of spaces by
normalizing MD to a range between 0.0 and 1.
These two values are calculated according to:
3. Real Relative Asymmetry (RRA) and
Integration (i) of (RRA)
This indicator is used instead of RA because
architectural plans differ in number of spaces.
RRA normalizes the RA values in relative to an
ideal diamond-graph D, for K number of spaces
according to a specific table (Hillier & Hanson,
1984, p. 112)(Peponis, 1985).RRA also known
as integration degree, it indicates how permeable
a specific space is, low RRA values mean more
integrated space, heigh RRA values mean less
integrated space (high segregation) .Depth and
integration are first key syntactic measurements
when analyzing spatial patterns.
4. Control value (CV)
This measure indicates the influence of one space
on other spaces in the system in other words it
determines to what degree one space controls the
access to the neighbours (Klarqvist, 1993,p11). It
may refer to a space with more attraction than
other spaces. High cv means more connections
with other rooms.
5. Base difference Factor (H) and
Relativized Difference Factor (H *)
This indicator measures the degree of
differentiation between the integration values of
all the spaces in the house .BDF value ranges
from 0-1 , the closer the value to zero the more
integrated system (Symmetric system)and the
closer value to 1 the more segregated
system(Asymmetric) (Hanson, 2003, p. 84).If
there was consistency in orders of these values
this can refer to cultural pattern in the spatial
system , therefore it is an important entropy-
based measurement in determining the
morphological characteristics of houses layouts
because it reveals whether there is a consistency
in spatial patterning ,a property which is called
(Hillier, 2007, p. 207)
• Space link Ratio (SLR): indicates the
degree of distributedness or non-
distributedness of the layouts or the
ringiness degree of the spatial system. If
there is only one no-intersecting route from
one space to another it is called non-
any rings. If there is more than one non-
intersecting route for any two spaces in the
system, it is called a distributed system
(Guney & Wineman,
2008).
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• The degree of spaceness (space type):
According to Hillier there are four
topological types of the spatial system
(a-type, b-type, c-type and d-type) (Hillier,
2007). Where a-type space has one
connection to other spaces, b-type space
more than one connection and lies on a tree
, c-type space has more than one connection
and lies on a ring , d-type space has more
than two connections and lies on at least two
rings, in other words a and b type spaces
belong to tree like graphs , c and d type
spaces belong to ringy graphs (Hanson,
2003, p. 27)(Hillier, 2007, p. 250) (Guney,
2005)
For the purpose of analysis first, data were
collected from researchers field investigation,
the selected houses are documented then
converted into cad models using AutoCAD
software, later architectural plans are converted
into graph-based representations or justified plan
graph (JPG) using A-graph software in which the
exterior of the house, space number (00) is
selected as the root, and the other spaces are
aligned above (Table 1), (Table 2). The graph
consists of nodes (functional spaces) and lines
(connections between spaces).
Table 1.
Traditional houses (HT)with their graphic justification diagrams (Researcher)
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Table 2.
Contemporary houses (HC) and graphic justification diagrams (Researcher)
Results and Discussion
This research followed a compartive
methodology to invistagate the nature of change
in spatial genotypes of trditional houses plans in
the historical center of Sulaimaneyah city after
rebuilding them with new contemporary spatial
setting using one of space syntax measurements
techniques to obtain numeriacl data from
mathmatical equations then interpreting the
results based on space syntax metholdogy, results
of the main benchmarks are presented in Table 3
and Table 4:
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Table 3.
Mean syntactic values for Traditional Courtyard houses
House Number
MD
Integration (RRA)
SLR
BDF
HT01
3.11
1.09
1.10
0.78
HT02
2.72
1.54
1.00
0.76
HT03
3.08
1.12
1.10
0.76
HT04
3.81
1.37
1.10
0.85
HT05
3.06
1.03
1.15
0.76
Mean Value
3.15
1.23
1.09
0.78
Table 4.
Mean syntactic values for Contemporary Rebuilt Houses
House Number
MD
Integration (RRA)
SLR
BDF
HC01
3.60
1.53
1.00
0.84
HC02
2.93
1.19
1.00
0.72
HC03
3.40
1.41
1.00
0.72
HC04
3.45
1.51
1.00
0.81
HC05
3.55
1.14
1.10
0.70
Mean Value
3.38
1.36
1.02
0.76
1. Mean Depth MD
The mean depth for traditional (courtyard) house
layouts, is (3.15); for modern houses layouts, it is
(3.38). This indicates that the overall modern
house layouts appear in asymmetric order (more
linear organization), which refers to spaces
organized away from the original space (root
space) or the entrance of the house. In contrast,
the overall traditional house layouts appear in
symmetric order and spaces in these layouts are
arranged near from and connected to the root,
additionally in the traditional samples the inner
courtyard and service sector (kitchen, store, bath,
toilet) show the least depth and the bedrooms
show the highest depth (private sector) while in
the modern samples the hall (living area) and the
stairs that connect the ground floor with the first
floor have the least depth followed by the
bedrooms being directly connected with the hall
which means these closed spaces act like
distributer spaces (public spaces) instead of the
courtyard while the bathroom and toilet in the
modren houses are the most remote spaces, this
decreased the level of privacy and comfort of the
bedrooms being connected to and opened to the
hall.
2. Integration value RRA
Low RRA indicates more integrated system
(accessible), the calculations show lower RRA
value of the traditional samples with an average
of 1.23 compared with the modren samples 1.36
which means the tradtional spatial system was
more accessible (pearmable).
The syntatic values shows that the inner
courtyard of the traditional house has the highest
integration value (lower RRA)which means this
space was essential and controled the access to
activities took place, while in contemporary
houses the hall has the highest integration value
and works as the distributer space to other rooms
.This is a valueable indiactor as it shows how the
distributor space changed from being an external
open space to internal closed space and the house
layout from introverted to extroverted ,in other
words changing the ratio of open-closed spaces,
this can be explained as imitating one of the
western styles of rooms organization around
closed circulation.
3. Space Link Ratio SLR
This property describes the (Distributeness-non
Distributness) of the spatial system. The
contemporary samples show the reacurance of
the value (1.00) with an avergage value (1.02) of
all five houses which means number of
connections between the rooms is equal to house
spaces (less connectivity) and (non -distributed)
or tree like spatial system with one linear path
from the carrier (extrior)to other spaces in the
house , while the traditional samples show
reaccurance of (1.10) with an average of (1.09)
which means more alternative routes between
a room to others this indicates more (Distributed)
or ringy-like spatial arrangemnet with more than
one route from the carrier (exterior) to other
rooms, usullay the rings are seen between the
bedrooms as a reflection of socio- cultural values
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and lifestyle of the inhabitants .The reaccurance
of SLR in each group is a sign of the existence of
two differnt spatial underlying genotpes.
4. Base difference factor H*
In terms of the difference factor both the
traditional group and modern one shows
convergent low average values with (0.78),
(0.76) respectively, H* values close to (0)
indicates low differentiation between the spaces
thus more functional efficiency and values close
to (1) indicate strong differentiation between
spaces thus low functional effeciency.
The resulst of this indicator show almost equal
functional effieciency for both spatial setting.An
important conclusion here is H* value ranges
from (0.76 0.85) for the five traditional
samples while this value comprise from (0.70 to
0,84) in the modren samples. This consistency in
spatial patterning of tradional samples is called
of the cultural genotype.
5. Type of Spaces (Topological Types)
This indicator explains the connectivity bewteen
spaces, the a-type spaces are the most parivate
spaces they are suitable for bedrooms or spaces
specified for women as they cannot be entered
from other spaces while the d type is the space
with highest connections with other spaces. From
the graphs and (Table. 5), (Table. 6) in the
traditional samples the courtyard and the
vestibule (skifa) are b or c type spaces with two
or more than two connetions with other spaces
while in the modren samples the entrance and the
hall have the most connections with other spaces
with direct access to the bedrooms.
The a and b type spaces have higher rates in the
modren houses than the traditional ones , a type
spaces indicate no through circulation spaces
such as the bedrooms and b type spaces mean
transitional spaces with lower rates of c and d
type of spaces in other words less rings in the
spatial system and non distribued ssytem , while
the traditional samples have more spaces from c
and d type which indicated more rings in their
spatial configuration to pass from one space to
another through more than one path thus more
distributed spatial arrangemnet.
Table 5.
Degree of space-ness (topological types) of Traditional samples
House Number
a-ness
b-ness
c-ness
d-ness
HT01
0.53
0.11
0.41
0.00
HT02
0.50
0.62
0.00
0.00
HT03
0.50
0.18
0.38
0.00
HT04
0.44
0.27
0.27
0.55
HT05
0.47
0.29
0.17
0.17
Mean
0.48
0.29
0.24
0.14
Table 6.
Degree of space-ness (topological types) of contemporary samples
House Number
a-ness
b-ness
c-ness
d-ness
HC01
0.57
0.50
0.00
0.00
HC02
0.61
0.46
0.00
0.00
HC03
0.50
0.57
0.00
0.00
HC04
0.53
0.53
0.00
0.00
HC05
0.53
0.20
0.66
0.06
Mean
0.54
0.45
0.13
0.01
Houses Genotypes
Genotypes exist when there is consistency in the
rank order of ingeration values of houses spaces
which means the presence of socio-cultural
patterns in housing layoust (Hillier & Hanson,
1984) .(Table.7) shows abbrivations of houses
spaces to faciliate the processs of oredering
integration values of all spaces so that spatial
genotypes could be determined, (Table. 8) and
(Table. 9) respectively show relative assymetry
values of both traditional and contemporary
samples, from lowest RA value (most integrated)
to heighst RA value (less integrated).
Table.8 shows recurrence of the ranking order of
traditional samples that four of the five samples
are structured around the courtyard except of
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house HT02 which is structured around
transitional space this repeated pattern in spatial
organization is an evidence of underlying
genotype in this group , while (Table 9) shows
that contemporary samples HC01, HC03, HC04
are structured around the corridor which is closed
transitional space and HC02 and HC05 are
structured around the guest room and staircase
respectively ,this proves the absence of strong
specific cultural genotype in the selected samples
thus fundemental diffrences between first and
second group in terms of spatial organization.
Table 7.
Abbrviations for houses spaces
space
code
space
code
1
Courtyard
crt
12
skifa
skif
2
Bedroom
br
13
House main entrance
Ext.
3
Exterior staircase
Str1
14
kitchen
kit
4
Interior stiarcase
Str2
15
Bath
bth
5
Guest room
gst
16
Toilet
wc
6
Living room
Liv
17
Store
sto
7
Iwan
Iw
18
corridor
corr
8
Balconey
Bl
19
Laundry
Lr
9
Roof
Rf
20
Entrance(foyer)
Ent.
10
Open
Op.
21
penthouse
ph
11
Garage
Gr
22
Hall
hall
Table 8.
Genotypes for Traditional samples
House
Number
Mean RA
Order of Integration (Exterior Included)
HT01
0.26
Crt=0.13<str1=0.14<corr=0.17<hall1=0.20<hall2=0.22<ext,
kit=wc=0.25<br1=0.27<gst1=br2=0.28<hall3=gst2=Iw=0.29<br3=gst=0.3
2<br4=0.33<Str2=0.39
HT02
0.49
Ent=0.25<Crt=0.28<Liv=0.35<skif=0.46<gst=0.50<kit=bth&wc=0.53<ext
=0.71<br=0.78
HT03
0.27
Crt=0.13<Str1=0.15<Str2=0.19<gst1=0.20<corr1=0.22<skif=0.24<kit=bth
=wc=0.25<corr2=0.29<gst2=Liv2=0.30<liv=br1=0.35<ext=0.36<br2=0.4
1<br3=0.42
HT04
0.31
Crt=0.18<Str2=0.19<Liv=0.20<corr=0.21<hall1=0.27<hall2=gst1=gst2=g
st3=0.28<kit=0.29<ext=skif=0.30<br1=0.32<gst4=0.34<br2=0.38<
bth=wc=0.39<Sto=0.40<gst5=Bl=0.44
HT05
0.24
Crt=0.10<Str1=0.13<Ent=Liv1=0.18<skif=Liv2=0.20<Sto=kit=bth=wc=0
.21<Liv3=0.27<gst1=br1=0.28<gst2=br2=0.30<Ext=br3=0.31<br4=0.37
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Table 9.
Genotypes for Contemporary samples
House
Number
Mean RA
Order of Integration (Exterior Included)
HC01
0.40
Corr1=0.24<Str1=0.25<hall1=0.27<corr2=0.28<hall2=0.34<Ext=0.38<Lr1=0.39<
br1=kit1=op=0.41<Lr2=0.46<br2=kit20.48<wc=0.53<Bth=0.60
HC02
0.32
Gst=hall=0.15<Str2=Lr=0.25<op1=0.28<kit=br1=br2=op=0.30<ph=0.38<bth=wc
=0.41<Ext=0.43<Rf=0.53
HC03
0.37
Corr=0.19<kit=0.20<hall=0.24<pt=0.29<br=0.31<br2=Ent=Bth=0.34<kit=0.36<R
f=Sto=0.43<op1=op2=0.46<op3=0.50<Ext=0.60
HC04
0.40
Corr1=Str1=0.24<corr2=0.26<hall1=0.29<bth=wc=0.37<Ent=ext=
0.39<br=hall2=bth=wc=0.44<Ph=0.50<kit=0.55<Rf=0.65
HC05
0.24
Str2=0.12<hall1=0.13<hall2=0.14<kit=gst=0.19<Lr1=bth1=0.20<Lr2=0.21<op1=
op2=br1=br2=br3=Ph=0.22<br4=0.23<Ent=0.26<wc= 0.29<wc2=bth2=Bl=0.30<Rf=0.31<Gr=0.34<EXT=0.43
Conclusions
The present research was conducted to compare
between genotypes of the spatial configuration of
a sample of traditional and modern houses in the
historical center of Sulaymaniyah city, Iraq.
Changes in the spatial genotypes due to
demolition of original traditional houses and
rebuilding new ones are revealed to show the
impact of contemporary rebuilding practices
achieved by landowners on generating different
spatial configuration and morphological
characteristics, the selected houses represent the
dominant typology for the two models.
The study aimed to detect genotypical constants
and organizational rules behind their
architectural layouts. To fulfill this aim, the
researcher followed a quantitative approach for
data analysis included syntax techniques
designed to uncover the relationship between
houses spaces for both traditional and modern
samples. For this purpose, syntactic indicators
were calculated and compared in terms of
(hierarchical structure, accessibility, structuring
modes and spatial morphology). The study
revealed to:
1. The importance of space syntax tools in
revealing the impact of socio-cultural
beliefs of the builders and inhabitants in
depending on a specific spatial structure
2. Genotype patterns of traditional houses
layouts differ from modern rebuilt layouts
in term of the relationship between open-
closed spaces, hierarchy of the rooms,
levels of privacy and social interactions.
The open courtyard and semi-closed Iwan
in the traditional setting constituted an
important part of housing organization in
the traditional setting while in rebuilt
houses these spaces transformed into the
closed hall and small balcony respectively
which both function as a transitional area.
3. In terms of the relationship with the street,
the numerical syntactic values prove that
traditional samples are introverted houses
facing the inner courtyard separated with
solid walls from outside and show weak
relationship with the street while the
modern rebuilt samples are extroverted
with more spaces facing the street.
4. Traditional houses in the city although
they were not built by architects with no
formalistic standards , there is a unique
common organizational system rooted in
their spatial configurations, despite their
different observable forms (phenotypes)
,this spatial genotype was influenced by
local cultural values until the beginning of
the 60s later these patterns evolved
dramatically over the course of time in
response to changes in people beliefs,
values and behavioral patterns particularly
under the absence of conservation polices
and legislations.
5. In order to fulfill contemporary demands
and preserving local architecture identity,
designers need to derive modern models
from the inherited spatial genotypes as
these solutions proved to be more adapted
with the local context and influenced by
traditions.
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