Research Article

A solution for future designs using techniques from vernacular architecture in southern Iran

¹ Sustainable Design of the Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering & IT, British University in Dubai, Dubai, UAE
² Architectural Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

^* e-mail: hasimaltan@gmail.com
^** e-mail: fatima.mirahmadi@gmail.com

Received: 1 April 2016
Accepted: 31 July 2017

Abstract

Nowadays in modern life, every technology and technique for comfortable life is available. People with low income, in other words, with low levels of economic power, can also have those facilities to stay warm in winter and stay cool in summer. Many years back when there were no advanced systems for human needs, passive strategies played a big role in peoples' lives. This paper concentrates on a small city in Iran that had used special strategies to solve peoples' environmental issues. The city is called Evaz, which is located in the Fars region of Iran with distance around 20 km from Gerash city and 370 km from south east of Shiraz. Evaz receives minimum rainfall, which is the reason why water is limited in this area and therefore, cisterns (water storage) had been used for many years that is studied in more detail in this paper. In summers, the climate is hot and dry, sometimes the external temperatures reaching around 46 °C during the day. Although the winters are typically cold and likewise dry, moderate climate is available in Evaz during autumn and spring. This study identifies some of the past strategies and describes them in detail with analysis for transformation and connections with the modern and traditional fundamentals. Furthermore, the study develops some solutions utilizing a combination of both modern and traditional techniques in design to suggest better and more effective ways to save energy, and at the same time to remain sustainable for the future.