Courtyards

Courtyards date back to as early as 3000 BC in China and Iran. In ancient Rome they called their courtyards atriums, but now atrium has a different meaning.  As we learned before Islamic cultures had structures called courtyard houses. The book describes them as “continuous ‘mats’ of introverted flat-roofed buildings, with narrow streets framed by blank walls for access.”(34). China also used courtyard houses. The book said that courthouses were very abundant in cities, one of them including Beijing. These courtyard houses were usually a group of houses of a family and its extended family members. Courtyard houses were also used for the wealthy in China in the aspect in they had a series of courtyards that increase in privacy. 

Islamic courtyard house:

In 1945 courtyard forms came back into style. In in 1945 people were becoming more fascinated with ancient and distant cultures so they brought back the courtyard. Many buildings were built with a courtyard like old civilizations. An example of this is the French practices of Candilis, Josic, and Woods that used the Islamic “mat plan”.

Candilis, Josic and Woods courtyard at Berlin Free University:

 The courtyard had been re-born as a more special area. “…the courtyard found extended theoretical advocacy as a model for housing in 1964” (34). The idea behind these courtyards was to provide privacy with family members and to offer “contact with the restorative powers of nature” as the book states it. This was meant to counterbalance the busy fast paced life of modern cities.