Proportions and Human Scale in Damascene-libre

8/11/2019 Proportions and Human Scale in Damascene-libre

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PROPORTIONS ND HUM N SC LE IN D M SCENE

COURTY RD HOUSES

M. Salim Ferwati & M. Alaa Mandour

Arc hnet-IJAR, Internatio nal Journal of Arc hitec tural Re sea rc h

Co pyright 2007 Arc hnet-IJAR, Volume 2 - Issue 1 - March 2008 - (00-00)

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AbstractInte rio r de signe rs, arc hite c ts, landsc ape arc hite c ts,

and e ve n urba n de signe rs, agre e that e nvironme nt,

as a form o f non-ve rba l c o mmunic ation me ans, has a

symbo lic dime nsio n to it. As fo r its ae sthe tic dime nsio n,

it se e ms that be auty is re late d to a c e rtain pro po rtio n,

partially and as a who le . Suitab le proportio n le ave s

a go od impre ssion upo n the be holde rs, e spe c ially

whe n it matc he s human p ro po rtio n. That in fac t was

the unde rlining b e lie f o f Le Co rbusie r, ac c o rding to

whic h he de ve lo pe d his Mo dular c onc e pt.

The study searc he s fo r a mo dular, or pro po rtio n,

syste m that go ve rns the de sign o f Damasce ne

trad itio nal ho use . By g e o me tric al and mathe matic al

e xaminations o f 28 traditio nal ho uses, it wa s found

that a c e rtain pro po rtio nal re latio nship e xiste d;

howe ve r, these propo rtional re latio nships we re not

fixe d o ne s. The study re lie d o n analyzing the Iwa n

e le vation a s we ll as the inne r c o urtyard pro po rtio n inre latio n to the building area. C harts, diagrams and

tab le s were pro duc e d to summarize the re sults.

KeywordsPro po rtio n; human sc a le , traditio nal arc hitec ture ;

Dama sc us; c o urtyard ho use s.

Introduction

All o ve r the wo rld, there are ple nty o f evide nc es

o f ada pting c o mmon syste ms to produc e

differe nt traditio nal buildings that arc hitec turally

signify vario us func tio ns in re spo nse to users

nee ds and c ultural bac kgro und. As a human

fine p ro duc t, buildings can no t only be loo ke d

at as plac es that fulfill c e rtain func tio ns o rge nuinely de signed to hormo nio usly fill a spatial

gap within the urban fabric , but it is also a form,

ge ome tric a lly spe aking, that visually ple ase s

the beholde r and psyc o lo g ic a lly e ffe c ts his/

her me ntal and e mo tio nal status. Arc hitec ture

serves multi-purposes. The c o nc ern in this

study, howe ver, is the prese nc e , mo re o r le ss,

o f huma nistic aspe c ts in arc hitec ture . Built

enviro nme nt in Muslim areas is the subje c t o fthe study.

The questio n fo rwa rde d in this re searc h is

whether the re are ge o me tric a l aspe c ts that

play a ro le in c o mpo sing arc hite c utre in the

Islamic wo rld. A c ase study is take n in re latio n

to the Dama sc e ne ho use to show that there

are systems of pro po rtio n that g o vern the

c o mpo stio n o f arc hite c utra l c ompo nents.


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Arc hnet-IJAR, International Journal of Arc hitec tural Resea rc h - Volume 2 - Issue 1 - March 2008

Pro po rtio ns and Huma n Sc ale in Damasce ne Co urtyard Ho uses

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Ste ps fo llo we d to reac h the g oal o f the studyare as fo llo ws: a literature re view re lated

to the top ic wa s do ne first; the n 28 plans o ftraditio nal ho uses were examined to analyzethe pro po rtio nal re latio ns amo ng the ir differentspac e s, e spe c ially the inner c o urtyard, Iawne le vatio n, and the house built are a. Theanalysis c o nc erns the e xaminatio n of the partswith re gard to eac h o ther. Thirdly, with similarnumbe r o f house c ase s, anothe r searc h forpro po rtio n was do ne o n are a me asureme nt o fthe inner c o urtyard and the ho use as a who le .The result was a se t of pro po rtio ns that wasrespo nsible for the building appearanc e (e ntireand c o mple te bo dy), wherein ea c h membe ragree s with the o the rs.

Theories of Proportions

The study o f pro prtio n (g eo me tric , arithme tic ,and ha rmo nic ) is as o ld perhap s as arc hitec ture .

In fac t, a ll o f these studie s form a n atte mptto d e fine b e auty in arc hite c ture , or to sea rc hfor aspe c ts re spo nsib le o f differe nt fee lingswithin differe nt built e nviro nme nts. Amo ngthe Cisterc ians, Go thic , Re naissanc e , Egyptian,Semitic , Babylo nian, Arab , Gre ek and Roma ntraditio ns, the harmo nic pro po rtio ns, humanpro po rtio ns, c o smo lo g ic a l/ astro nomic alpro po rtio ns and o rie ntatio ns, and vario us

aspe c ts o f sac re d ge o metry (the ve sic a pisc is),pentagram, golden ratio, and small whole-numbe r ratio s) we re a ll applie d as part of theprac tic e o f arc hite c tural desig n.1

In 2000, Nad er Ardalan and Laleh Bakhtiaro ffere d in the ir new e ditio n of The Sense o fUnity the ge o me tric shape s in nature showinglaws o f similitude , symme try, and geo me try

(p .21). As a re sult, they argued that re sting

o n an ob je c tive founda tio n, inde pe nde nto f man and his subjec tive tastes, a b eauty is

atta ined that whic h is ge neral, unive rsal, ande ternal. Order and p ro po rtio n are vie we d a sc o smic laws who se pro c e sse s man unde rtake sto c o mpre hend through arithmetic , geo me try,and harmo ny (Ardalan and Bakhtiar, 2000,p. 21). The arithme tic a l pro po rtio ns o f Ro ma nArc hitec tural distinc tio nly pre sente d inAndre a Palladio s bo o k The Fo ur Bo oks o fArc hitec ture (The bo o k is writen in 1400-latesteditio n 2002). In mo re de tails Wittko we r sbo ok Arc hitec tural Princ iple s in the ageo f Humanism (3rd re v.e d.1998) is a go o dre ferenc e . On an inte rnatio nal sc a le , Flitcher sbo ok The Histo ry of Arc hitec ture (20th editio n,1998) disc usse d, with the a id o f a numbe r o fdrawings, the d o minating p ro po rtio nal typesthat go vern the de sign o f buildings. Altho ugh,sc ie ntific a lly pre se nted in a traditio nal wa y, itunarguab ly underlines the diffe re nc e amo ng

traditional buildings all aro und the wo rld. Thefollo wing are so me o f the mo st known the o rie sthat form the base for arc hitec tural pro po rtio nin differe nt re g io ns.

The Golden Section:It is known a s the propo rtio nbetween two portions of a line being dividedac c o rding to the formula (a / b = b/ a+b = 1.618)o r (3/ 5 = 5/ 8 = 8/13). When similar formula is

applie d o n bo th lengths o f re c tangular sides(ab and bc ), it is c alle d Go lde n Rec tangle .Also, The Go lden Se c tio n is de fined a s the va lueo f e ac h numbe r as a re sult o f the p ro c ee dingtwo numbe rs, that is (1,2,3,5,8,13,etc .), fo rminga serie s that is similar to the Fibo nac c i Se rie sin Mathe ma tic s. The initiatio n o f the Go ldenSec tio n re fers to the Anc ie nt Gre ek. At thattime , Pythag o ras de velo pe d his c onc e pt,

whic h state d the re latio n be twe en so me


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harmo nic numb e rs and the unive rse . Gre ekbelieved that human body and temples were

re lated to Higher Unive rsal Orde r. They notic edthe a c c o rda nce o f the Go lde n Sec tio n Systemwith the pro po rtio n o f human b ody. As a re sult,the ir buildings were designed o n the bases o fThe Go lde n Se c tio n. Similarly, Go thic Arc hitec tsfo llo we d the ir foo tstep s. (Figure 1).

The Orders:The term o rde rs re fers to the Gre ekand Ro ma n Co lumns that appe ars in the ir

temple s and buildings. The unit of me asureme ntwa s the radius o f c o lumn sec tio n. It was the irMod ule where 12 units fo rme d the height ofthe Tusc any co lumn and the Doric , and 18 unitsforme d the height of the Io nic , Co rinthian andCo mpo site c o lumn in the Ro ma n style . Fro mthat Mo dule , all arc hitec tural de tails we rec alc ulated, as the c o mple te struc ture c o ntainsthe Entablature , Shaft, and Pe de stal.

Renaissance Theories: De signers duringthe Re naissanc e e ra re lie d o n Pythag o raspro po rtio n theo ry. He c onside re d the five -head-star as a spiritual and ho ly symb o l. Startingfro m a p entago n, he e xte nde d a ll side s to me e tforming a five -head-star. When drawing a linebe tween eve ry two c lo se c o nse c utive hea ds, abigg e r pe ntag o n was pro duc ed. Re pe ating theexte nsio n of the star s side s and the c o nnec ting

lines, a serie s o f stars and p entag ons we repro duc e d. Fithho lrs found that the pro po rtio no f ea c h star s side s and the pe ntag o n side swa s similar to that of the Go lde n Se c tio n. Also ,the pro po rtio n o f all numbers re spe c tive ly withthe se rie s of star and pe ntag o n is similar to thato f the Go lde n Sec tio n Se rie s. (Figure 2)

The Modular: Le Co rbusie r, a we ll-kno wn

arc hite c t o f the twe ntie th c e ntury, had twoatte mpts to se arc h for a mo dule that helpsac hie ve b o th the b e auty and func tio nalaspe c ts o f arc hitec ture . He did his first atte mptby taking the average height o f 175 Frenc hman as a b ase . He app lie d the Go lde n Sec tio ndivisio n o n this he ight. He obtained the number108 cm, whic h re ac hes the human be lly. Thisheig ht reminds o f the be lly height of the ide alman who wa s drawn by Le o nardo De vinc i. LeFig ure 1: The Go lde n Se c tio n (So urc e : D. K. Ching, 1996).


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Co rbusie r divided the number 108 to sma lle runits in ac c o rdanc e with The Go lden Se c tio n

divisio n. Be ing unc o nvinc ed by the resultingnumbe rs, be side his fea ring o f the pro duc tio n o fsma ll ro o ms, lo w c e iling he ights, and unsuitab ledo o r way height, he c arrie d o ut a sec o ndattempt by using the he ight o f a 180 c m EnglishPo lic e ma n. Re peating similar c a lc ulatio ns,he ended up with two final se rie s o f numbe rsthat g ave a varie ty o f optio ns. In an illustrativedrawing, he shows the visio n o f the app lic atio no f these numbe rs starting fro m the fe e t, toc arrying o ut different functio ns, suc h as tab le ,de sk, c hair, c o unte r, and doo rway. (Figure 3).

The Ken: It is the Japanese me asure me ntunit used for o rganizing interio r and e xte rio rarc hitec tural e leme nts.1 Fo r example , theplac eme nt o f co lumns de te rmines the size o fthe pane ls that fo rm the ir interio r and e xte rio rlight pa rtitio ns. The usual he ight of c o lumns is

1 Ke n, while the distanc e be twee n c o lumns ise qual to 3 or 3 ke n. This distanc e is dividedto ac c o mmod ate four pa nels (fusuma )2, thede sirable pro po rtio n in Japan. Ano ther examplethat usually de termines the struc tural mo dularand wa ll panels as we ll is the ma t. It is c a lle dTatami. It is 2 1/ 8 inc he s in thic kne ss, 6 fee t inlength, and 3 fe e t in width. The numb er o fmats c o vering Jap anese spa c e de te rmines the

dimensio ns o f ro o ms. In fac t, o ne c an d e sc ribethe ro o m by the mats patte rn. Mats arearrange d in differe nt patte rns c o rre spondingto the de sired func tio ns o f the ro o m. Ge nerallythe size is based o n 4 , 6, 8, 12, 15 and 18 matc omb inatio ns. (Fig ure 4)

So , there is a numbe r o f theo rie s applied indifferent parts o f the wo rld and at differenttime s. All pro ve the impo rtanc e o f pro po rtio n

spiritually and physic a lly, be side the need toc reate pleasant and beautiful arc hite c ture .

What abo ut Islamic Arc hitec ture?

Franc e sc o Giorg i,

1525. Illustration

show s se rie so f pro po rtio n

ac c ording to

Pythag o ras The o ry

in Co mparison

with Gre e k Music

Pro po rtio n.

Fig ure 2: Re naissanc e Theo rie s(So urc e : D. K. Ching, 1996).




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In his artic le : Omar Khayyam and theArtesian, Ozdural (1995) pro ve s the existe nc eo f Co nve rzaioni, whe re the willingness o f MuslimMathema tic ians to c o o perate with artisansto solves problems regarding geometry andarc hitec ture . This artic le did no t sho w if suc h

c o llabo ratio n had pro lo nge d to the building

plans. But wo rking o n the arc hitec turaldime nsio n whe ther in e le vatio ns o r plans isdemo nstrated in other re ferenc e s suc h asDod ds (1992) a nd Rasmussen (1964) whoillustrate seve ral e xample s whe re building plansare pro po rtio nally tho ught-out. Like wise, in

pa ges 126 and 127 o f their bo o k G e o metric

Figure 3: The Mod ular: Le Co rusie r s co nc ept. (So urc e : D. K.Ching , 1996).

Fig ure 4: The Ken as a me asureme nt unit used in a typic alJap ane se ho use . (So urc e : D. K. Ching , 1996).




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Co nc e pts in Islamic Art,Issam El-Said and AyseParma n (1988) illustrate six Islamic mo nume nts

plans (suc h as Al-Mshatta and Qasr Al-Kharnah)where their arc hitec tural design c o nc eptsfollo we d geo me tric pa tte rns that helpe dto d eve lo p the a nalysis o f the sec tio n TheSquare Co urtyard b e lo w. The follo wing is ane mpiric a l study to find o ut abo ut the existe nc eo f dime nsio nal and geo me tric a l propo rtio ns intypic a l re side nc es of traditio nal ne ighbo rhoodsinside the Walle d City of Dama sc us.

Description of Damascene House

The Traditio nal Dama sc ene built e nviro nme ntc onsists o f organic a lly c o nnec ted buildings,share wa lls, or c o ntig uous indepe nde nt wa llsbound together by a system of private andpublic ro utes that limits interferenc e withhouse hold privac y and maximize s so c ia linte rac tio n. This traditio nal house is de ve lo ped

with respe c t to time and soc ia l rule s. It c o nsistso f two flo o rs, the ground floo r is use d for dayac tivitie s as it c o nta ins the guest ro o m, theliving ro o m, the kitchen, the Ka a (a princ ipleguest ro o m), a nd the inner c o urtyard. The innerc ourtyard has se veral c ompo nents, these a re :fountain, tre es, plants, and sky. The Iwa n isa c o vere d p art o f the c o urtyard lo c ated atits northen side . The c o urtyard symb o lic a lly

represe nts the Ga rde n of Eden de sc ribed inthe Quran (The Muslim sc ripture boo k). Bo ththe c o urtyard and the Iwa n a re use d a s o neo pe n-living are a during the summe r. They arefound a s a re sult of three dire c tio nal fac tors:the so c io -re lig io us fac to r (de te rmined in ma n-wo ma n inte rac tion with strange rs), e xpo sureto sun (four wa lls o f the c o urtyard fac adesare e xpo sed to sun), and the sc e nery (inward

o pe nings onto inner c o urtyard). These are the

esse ntia l feature s in the traditio nal house. Thestudy will c o nc entrate o n the ir pro po rtio nal

qualitie s. The follo wing two se c tio ns analyze thema in inte rio r fac ade o f the c o urtyard that is theIwa ne levatio n and then explain ge o me tric a llythe pro portional re latio nship be twe e n thec o urtyard a rea and the house .

In orde r to se le c t the sample s for thege ome tric a l analyses, so me c o nditio ns are putforwa rd. These are :

1- The house should be o rig inal, has no c hang eo r additio nal spac e (s).2- There should be anIwa n.3- The shap e o f the inner c o urtyard should besquare o r re c tangular.

An additio nal c o nditio n was c o nside re d in thelast se c tio n, that is the existenc e o f a singleinner c o urtyard o nly. The e xc lusio n o f housesc o ntaining o the r forms of inner c o urtyardand has mo re than one c o urtyard d o es notme an they lac k orig inality. Ho we ver, wo rkingo n simple and mo st c o mmo n fo rms helpssimplify the ma tte r and g ive a c ase for a futurestudy o f more c o mplic ated house de signsthat assumingly d id no t take the ir shape sc o inc identally.

Dimensional Analysis of the IwansFacades

Searc hing for the prese ntatio n o f pro po rtio ns inhisto ric a l buildings is do ne typica lly by applyingge ome tric a l o r mathema tic al app ro ac heso n a single building, mo stly one that carrie ssignific ant func tio n, suc h as a mo nument,palac e o r temp le . Co nse quently, the re sults are

c o nfined to the c ase study. In this re searc h the

P i d H S l i D C d H




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attempt is different. The study se arc hes fo r thec ommo n pro po rtio n prese nte d in a numbe r o f

different house size s. There fore , 28 ho uses arepresente d to study theIwa ne le vatio n (ope ning,

type , and pro portion). AllIwa n s dime nsions aremeasured and a table below summarizes the

c alc ulatio ns. (Figure 5 and Table 1 and 2).

Figure 5: Six examp les o f the 28 ho uses be ing analysed: 1-Nezam House , 2-Alko watly Ho use , 3-Alswaid (a ljazaari house),4 Farahi Almo alem House, 5-Aljazari Ho use(1) , and 6-Alkazi Ho use. (Sourc e : Authors).





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Table 1: Mathemtaica l mea urme nts o f Iwa ns' e leme nts for 28 traditional houses. (Sourc e : Authors).

Findings

Finding 1:

Co nside ring the o pe ning in the northe rnfa ade , me asure me nts were as follo ws: theheight of the opening was measured from the

arc h pinnac le do wn to the flo o r le ve l, and itswidth fro m wall to wa ll. The nume ric a l finding isshown in table 1 with two c harts that summarizethe results of e ac h Iwa n. The first cha rtshows the ac tual me asure me nts. It g ives anunde rstand ing o f the differenc e s in size s o fIwa n





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o pe nings. Fo r mo re a me aningful c o mparativeloo k, the p e rc entage o f the he ight (H) and o fthe width (W) fo r eac h case are c a lc ulate d.The results are re pre sente d in the se c o nd c hart.It is notic eable that the c o mmo n pro po rtio n ofthe o pe ning o f the fa ade s width and he ight is40 and 60 respe c tive ly. This propo rtio n is similarto the pro po rtio n o f 2 to 3, whic h is presente din the literature revie ws in the Go lde n Sec tio nserie s.

Finding 2:

As sho wn in table 2, there are 25 c ase s thathave po inte d arc hes, 3 o f them have theirc ente rs lo c ated ab ove the arc h ba se . Besidethe 25 case s, there are o ther thre e c ases thathave se mi-c irc le arc hes. In o rde r to analyzethe pro po rtio n of ea c h c ase a nd c o mpa re itwith the o thers, two re gular forms are ado pted,the pe ntago n-based a rc h and the semi-c irc learc h. Ac c o rding to Pythag o ras c o ncept,

as mentio ned in the literature revie w, thepe ntag o n forms an important pro po rtio nale le me nt that has spiritual and physic a l symbo lsand b eauty (fo r Euro pe ans).

To c onstruc t a regular po inted arc h, whic hrequires two c enters, a p entagon should b eplac ed o n one o f its sides vertic ally, (le t s say Aand B), giving the shap e o f an arrowhead po intedupward. From bo th ends o f the p entag on ba seside (A and B), two arc hes can b e c o nstructedstarting from p o int A with a radius of AD or itsequivalenc e AC, and a nother arc h from thepo int B with a radius of BD or its equivalenc eBE. Whateve r the size o f the pentagon, thec alc ulated proportion o f the height to the widthis a lwa ys 0.69. Similarly, the c a lc ulation of theheight and width o f a semi-c irc ular arc h givesthe proportion of 0.5. (Figure 6).

To find o ut how c lo se o r far eac h c ase is fro mthe re gular po inted arc h o r semi-c irc le arc h,few c a lc ulatio ns are nee de d to d e te rminethe he ig ht and width of e ac h arc h of the 28c ases. The re sults are summarized in Table 2 withthree attac hed c harts. Pre senting the ac tualme asureme nt, the first c hart shows the varie tyo f arc h size s o f all c ases. The re sult of c a lc ulating

the p e rc entage s o f the width (W) and he ight(H) o f ea c h arc h is pre sente d in the se c o ndc hart. The signific ant finding o f c hart 2 is that 24c ase s have the p ro po rtio n of H/ W equals to 60to 40, a re sult whic h re c a lls the Go lde n Sec tio npro po rtio n o f 3 to 2.

Finding 3:

The re sults o f dividing the he ight ove r the widthfor ea c h c ase help c ompa re e ac h ca se o na leane r sc ale to se e how c lo se o r far e ac hc ase is to the p entag o n-ba se d arc h or these mi-c irc le arc h (see Figure 7). It is no tic eablethat the pro po rtio nal values are distribute dlinearly, no c le ar c lustering is de termined; thus,the re is no a gree able pro portion of all c ases.Ho we ver, the dominating propo rtio n o f H/ W isranging between 55 and 65. On one hand,four c ases are similar to the pentago n-ba se d

Fig ure 6: The c onstruc tio n o f re gular po inted arc h. (So urc e :Autho rs).

Pro po rtio ns and Huma n Sc ale in Damasce ne Co urtyard Ho uses10




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arc h pro po rtio n; on the o ther hand , there areno ac tual semi-c irc le arc hes, eve n thoug hthree arc he s are ma rked as se mi-c irc ular. This

is pro bably due to the lo c ation o f the ir c ente rsabo ve o r be lo w their base line, o r as a re sult ofthe lac k o f ac c urac y during c onstruc tio n.

Table 2: Mathemtaic a l me aurme nts of Iwa ns' a rc hes fo r 28 traditio nal houses. (Sourc e : Authors).



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Geometrical Analysis

The a im o f this ana lysis is to study the area o fthe house and its co urtyard in o rde r to se arc hfor pro po rtio ns that do minate the ir dime nsio ns.

First, the p ro po rtio ns o f square c o urtyards will bee xamined, then those o f re c tangular c o urtyards.Two questio ns are forwa rde d: 1- How c an thesize o f the squa re / re c tangular c o urtyard b ede termined? 2- Is there a pro po rtio nal re latio nbe tween the c o urtyard and the ho use are a?To answe r bo th que stio ns, seve ral e xample s arege o me tric a lly ana lyzed, starting with the searc ho f the size o f the c o urtyard. After go ing thro ugh

many attempts to find o ut a me aningfulge o me tric a l re latio n be twe e n the innerc ourtyard and the house patte rn, the follo wingme thod s are reac hed leading to thre e type so f the squa re c ourtyard a nd five types o f therec tangular o ne. (Figure 8 and 9)

The Square Courtyard

To c arry out the g eo me tric a l analysis o na traditio nal house with a square c o urtyard,

firstly, the square c e nter is de fined. Sec o ndly,o ne draws a c irc le fro m that c ente r witha radius re ac hing the furthermo st po int o f theho use . Thirdly, one c o nfine s this c irc le with twosquares, their sides tangib le to the c irc le , witha 45-de gre e -angle difference be twee n themforming a n oc tag o n. Fro m the inte rse c tions thato c c urre d b e tween eac h square s diame terand the o ther square s side s, one obtains fivesquares hie rarc hic a lly re duc ed in size towardthe c ente r with a c e rtain pro portio n. In thisc ase, o ne c an d e te rmine the side s o f thec ourtyard. Its lo c atio n has thre e possib ilitie s,e ithe r o n the first square o r the se c o nd o r

the third, c ounting fro m the c e nter. The innerc ourtyard c an not be sma lle r o r b igg er thanthe se thre e squares (Fig ure 8).

Figure 7: Frequenc y o f propo rtio ns o f H/ W for a ll c ases. (Sourc e : Authors).


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13

TYPE I

TYPE II

Figure s 9 -10: Rec tang ular c ourtyard house types I and II. (So urc e : Authors).



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DOUR Thre e o ther types (III, IV, and V) re sult fro m a

ma nipulatio n in the inte rsec tio ns amo ng the 30-and 60-de gree -angle lines. The re sults are threerec tang le s with different pro po rtio ns; these are :1.6, 1.3, a nd 1.2. The first pro po rtio n re c a lls TheGo lde n Rec tangle , whose pro po rtion is eq ualto 1.618.

Conclusion

Unlike o ther c ulture s, there is not a fixedpro po rtio n go verning the traditio nal Dama sc e ne

arc hite c tural e le me nts pa rtia lly (the c ase o f

the Iwa n) and as a whole (the c ase o f innerc ourtyard a nd ho use size ). In othe r wo rds, thereare no pro po rtio nal c o nstra ints in the housede sign. It is fle xible as differe nt c ases ma y re quiredifferent pro po rtio ns, or a range o f pro po rtio ns.That do e s not mean the resulte d arc hite c tureis fallen within a c ase o f uncertainty, but ratherit is a re spo nse to d iffere nt pe rc e ptio n thatpe ople usually have and to diffe re nt standa rdsof beauty that vary among peoples within thesame soc ie ty. The result is an inter-subje c tiveo ne ; it is summe d up in Table 3.

In applying the re sults, one c an de sign a newhouse with re ferenc e to the ge o metric a lre latio nships disc o vere d in the Dama sc e ne

house without c o pying it. Regarding the housepart ele me nts, suc h as windo ws or do o rs,o ne c an find a use o ut o f the ma thema tic a lc onside ratio ns that we re found in the Iwa no pe nings and arc hes, ke eping in mind that thepo inte d a rc h was the mo st pre ferre d type .

If we agree that pro po rtio n is not only spatia llyc onc e ived, we will exte nd the study to find o utthe pro po rtio nal e xistenc e o f so lid and vo id,

e mpty and full, e arth and heaven, symbo lic a llypo o r and ric h, inside and o utside , c limate/ sun / enviro nme nt e tc ., whic h is imp o rtant

to unde rstand the e sthe tic a l and spiritualvalues of the whole.[i] Additionally, the study o fpro po rtio n may c onside r the psyc holo g ic al sideo f the use rs (Abas, S. Jan 2004) o r the harmo nicsce nerie s of the traditio nal c itie s, as Hall puts it:There was a time in our past when one c o uldwalk down any street and be surrounded byharmo nio us buildings. Suc h a stree t wasn tpe rfec t..., but it was alive . The o ld buildingssmiled, while our new b uildings are fac e le ss.

* IWAN Square Courtyard/ Square

Boundary

Rectangular Courtyard

Opening Arch Square 1 Square 2 Square 3 Type I Type I Type I Type I Type I

W H W H 1/ 4 1/ 2.7 1/ 2 ** 1/ 5 1/ 5 1/ 7 1/ 6 1/ 6

40 60 40 60 *** 1.6 1.4 1.3 1.2 2

* The figures here are re lative and not abso lute** The pro po rtio n o f the co urtyard area to the bo unda ry square*** The prop ortio n o f the lo ng side and short side o f the c ourtyard

Table 3: Propo rtio ns go verning traditional Dama sce ne houses. (Sourc e : Authors).



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DOUR The o ld buildings sang , while the b uildings o f

o ur age have no music in the m . (HALE 1994, 1;c ited in Langhein 2005).

References

Abas, S. (1004) (dig itized 2004). Islamic Ge o me tric alPatte rns for the Te ac hing o f Mathe ma tic s o fSymme try, Symme try: Culture and Sc ie nc e , Vo l.12 (1-

2), pp. 53 65.

Arda lan, N., and Bakhtiar, L. (2000). The Se nse o fUnity, New Editio n, ABC Internatio na l Gro up, Inc .

Ching, F.D.K. (1996). Pro po rtio n and Scale ,

Arc hitec ture : Spac e , Fo rm, a nd Orde r, John & So ns,To ro nto , Ca nad a , pp . 278 319.

Dodds, J.D. (1992). (e d .) Al-Anda lus: The Art of Islamic

Spa in. The Metro po litan Muse um o f Art. Ne w York,USA.

El-Said, I., and Parma n, A. (1988). Ge o me tricCo nc e pts in Islamic Art. Re print, Sc o rpio n Pub lishing .

Fle tc he r, S.B. (1996). The Histo ry o f Arc hitec ture , TheRo ya l Institute o f British Arc hite c ts and the University

o f Lo ndo n, UK, 20th Editio n.

Hale , J. (1994). The Old Way o f Se e ing: Ho w

Arc hitec ture Lo st Its Mag ic (And Ho w to Ge t It Bac k),Ho ughto n Mifflin Co mpany, Bo sto n, Massac huse tts,

USA.

Langhe in, J. (2005). Pro po rtio n and Traditio nalArc hitec ture , INTBAU Essay, The Princ e s Fo undatio n

/ INTBAU, Lo ndo n, UK, Online http :/ / www.intbau.o rg /e ssay10.htm .

Meiss, P.V. (2005). Ele me nts o f Arc hitec ture : Fro mFo rm to Plac e . E & FN Spo n, Lo ndo n, UK.

Ozdura l, A. (1995). Oma r Khayyam, Mathe ma tic iansand Co nve rsatio n with Artisans, JSAH, Vo l. 54 (1), p p.54 71.

Palladio , A. (2002). The Fo ur Bo o ks o n Arc hitec ture ,Transla ted by Ro be rt Tave rnor and Ric hard Sc hofie ld ,

MITPre ss, Bo sto n, Massac husetts, USA.

Rasmussen, S.E. (1964). Sc a le and Pro po rtio n,

in Expe rie nc ing Arc hitec ture , MITPre ss, Bo sto n,Massac husetts, USA, pp. 104 126.

Rudo lf, W. (1998). Arc hitec tural Princ iple s in the Ag e

o f Huma nism, John Wile y & So ns, 3rdre v. ed .

Useful websites

http:/ / e n.wikipe dia.o rg / wiki/ Fibo nac c i_numbe rhttp:/ / e n.wikipe dia.o rg / wiki/ Le _Co rbusie r

http:/ / www.emis.de / jo urnals/NNJ/Dida c tic s-RHF.html

http:/ / www.me tmuse um.org / e xplo re / pub lic atio ns/pd fs/ islamic _ge o me tric / Islamic _Art_and_Ge o me tric _Design.pdfhttp:/ / milan.milanovic .org / math/ e nglish/g o lde n/

go lde n4.html

Notes1http:/ / e n.wikipe dia.o rg / wiki/ Pro po rtion_(archite c ture )

1 Ken is a me asureme nt unit that is e qual to ten shaku, whichme asure 11.93 inc hes. Shaku itse lf c o nstitutes of 10 sun, the

basic me asureme nt unit.

2 Fusuma: Interio r pa rtition, whic h c an be c omple telyremo ved to c o nvert the ma ny roo ms into one op en spac e .Fusuma is c overed with hea vy, o pa que p ap er on bo thsides. The ir o ther form o f the p ane l is called shoji. It c o nsists ofthin woo de n grid with a pro tec ting p late at the ba se . On the

o ute r fac e , transluc ent pap er is pasted.

-----------------------------------------

M.Salim FerwatiM. Salim Fe rwa ti o btaine d in 1982 a Bac he lo r de gre e

in Arc hite c tural Engine e ring from the Arc hite c turalFac ulty a t the Unive rsity o f Dama scus, Syria. In 1988,He ob taine d a Maste r s De gre e with Hono rs in Urban

De sign fro m the Unive rsity o f Kansas, Lawre nc e ,Kansas, USA; and he re c e ive d in 1993 a Ph.D. de gre ein Cultural /Be havio ral Ge ography a t the Unive rsity

o f We ste rn Ontario , Lo ndo n, Ontario , Ca nada .Be twe e n 1996 and 1999 he wa s ac tive in thre e are as:

tea c hing, arc hitec tural do c umentatio n (me asure ddrawings) o f 80 historic al buildings, and running his



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DOUR o wn a rc hite c tural firm. In 1999, he mo ve d to Saudi

Arabia, to wo rk at the Arc hite c ture De partme nt,Co lle ge o f Arc hite c ture and Planning at King Faisal

Unive rsity as a le c ture r. In Aug ust 2005, he jo ine d thede partme nt of C ivil and Arc hite c tural Enginee ring at

Sultan Q abo o s Unive rsity as an assistant profe sso r tote ac h and he lp in e stab lishing the ne w a rc hite c tural

e ngine e ring pro gram the re . He c an b e re ac he d by

e ma il at sfe rwa [email protected] du.o m

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M. Alaa MandourM Alaa Mando ur is Asso c iate Pro fe sso r o f Arc hite c ture

at He lwa n Unive rsity studie d a t MITwith Pro f. Re ihardGo thert at the de pa rtme nt of Planning and Urban

De sign. He is c urre ntly wo rking at Sultan Qaboo s

Unive rsity. His fie ld o f re se arc h is in virtual urbane nvironme nts a nd physic al inte rac tions and also o nthe no tio n of de c onstruc tion o f history and re shap e

o f time intro duc ing a ne w ide a for ana lyzing historyand e xtrac t pre c e de nts for a ne w language to ad apt

future . He had a wide g lo bal pro fe ssio nal e xpe rie nc ebe ing MENA te c hnic al manag e r o f Elle rbe Be c ke tand as MENA Managing Dire c to r fo r SHELADIA

Assoc iate s. USA.He c an be re ac he d by e ma il at:alaa _mandour2004@ya hoo .c o m

Proportions and Human Scale in Damascene-libre

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