Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

Vernacular architecture is the product of the interaction between local residents and the nature in geographical area which results in unique achievements in providing physical, mental and intellectual needs of human. Vernacular architecture of Bushehr has provided considerable strategies in accordance with the micro ecosystem in its multilayers cultural link. Understanding these strategies can provide ideas for applying in architectural design. One of the ideas was formed intimation  in the hot and humid climate of this city. This principle was very important in some architectural places like Girls› schools. Having contact to the outdoor area, especially for the girl students, who have a low contact because of living in apartment, is very effective in terms of physical, mental and intellectual growth. Therefore, intimation, through increasing the feeling of belonging to the environment, can improve the satisfaction level of girl students to the school which finally improve their creativity. Intimation of schools is considered as providing conditions through architecture and regulations, so that girl students can study in open, semi-open, semi-closed and closed areas of the school more freely and in accordance to the Islamic dress code. This has been considered in the document of fundamental transformation of education and here it has been emphasized on the observance of intimation sentences in the considered area. The purpose of this study is to show the manner of intimating in the schools of Bushehr regarding to the four psychological, cultural, religious, and educational needs. So this study, with emphasizing on intimation in vernacular architecture of Bushehr, and achieving cultural strategies of intimation in climatic architecture of Bushehr, proposes this question: How intimation is manifested in the vernacular architecture of the city of Bushehr? The main strategy for answering this question is a qualitative investigation which has been used for developing the framework of the research; for collecting data it has been used from literature studies, scientific databases and observation methods, and, qualitative analysis has been used for analyzing the data.
Findings of this study shows that intimation in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr has been provided in three scales of micro, middle and macro scales. Intimation in micro-scale refers to the single elements of the building in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr which has been manifested either in the internal aspect (internal space) or in the external aspect (space); these elements in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr include «Shanashir», «Tarmeh», «roof and pre-roof», «sashes and openings», «Parasol», «shelter balcony» and «windows». Each of these elements, in addition to their main function, has been applied in design, components, and connections so that they help for making intimation of internal spaces. Intimation in the middle scale refers to the plan typology and combining of the mass and the space; this study shows that, based on the combination of mass and space (the building and the yard) in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr, and regarding to the position of the building to the historic walls of the city, and also regarding to the introvert and extrovert aspects, two main kinds of floor plan arrangements can be identified: the first kind is the buildings enclosing courtyard: introvert-extrovert (within the historical walls of the city); the second one is building without courtyard including row building(s) inside the yard: extrovert (outside the historical walls of the city). In the macro-scale, forming intimation in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr was affected by the location of the building which has considered the opportunities, threats, strength and weakness points of the building regarding creating intimation; this factor has been considered in terms of adjacency. In another words, based on the neighborhood, it has been determined that at the first stage which plan arrangements including extrovert-introvert and extrovert types, and also which plan types including courtyard, or row buildings, or combination of them, should be applied, and in the second stage, the manner of combining the mass and the space has been determined.
Furthermore, the methods of applying the strategies of intimation in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr have been provided in three scales of micro, middle and macro. It seems that updating the historical patterns, which has been considered and proposed in text and image through this study, can be a proper and referable model for planners and architects of schools, especially of city of Bushehr. Therefore, it is suggested that planners of education spaces on the one hand, and architects on the other hand, through studying considered patterns in this study, to create multi-functions and flexible spaces in accordance with climate desirability to provide refreshing and productive spaces for the education of the next generation of the country in accordance with the Islamic-Iranian patterns, in addition to rehabilitate and to continue historical patterns. Achievements obtained through this study can be a good ground for the next researches with the purpose of extracting intimation patterns of schools in other areas, especially with similar climate to Bushehr. It is hoped that a comprehensive guide for creating intimate schools will be provided.