Secrets of Light in Traditional Houses of Iran

Abstract

In addition to attention to natural light as a renewable, costless and environment-friendly source of energy in the late 20th century, numerous studies have been conducted into the effect of natural light on human being's soul and body and all such studies reiterate the undeniable role of natural lighting on people's behavior, attitudes, and efficiency. However, in spite of the awareness of the effects of natural light on human beings as well as on the environment, source of lighting in most buildings is still limited to artificial lighting and most of the solutions used in the old architecture with regard to the use of natural lighting have been forgotten nowadays. This paper, based upon a holistic approach and a qualitative research method analyses a few traditional houses in Hot and Dry climate of Iran and showed how their builders by using architectural elements as well as different methods of space organization so to better use light to satisfy the physical and psychological needs of the inhabitants,including visual and heat comfort, health, introducing variety and increasing space quality. As we will see, this research describes the methods they tried to create a balance between physical and psychological needs of the inhabitants and to supply the required energy.