Definition and Evolution
A courtyard house is a large house with private open spaces, where the main part of the building is arranged around a central courtyard. Courtyard houses are prevalent in residential architecture across the world and throughout history. The early courtyard houses of China date back to 3000 BC. Prior to courtyards, the central part of homes usually had a fireplace with a small hole in the ceiling to let smoke out. Over time, these small openings became larger and evolved into what we call courtyards today.
Courtyard houses are prevalent in temperate climates where the weather is warm; they were conceived as a building feature to allow more lighting and ventilation. However, they can be found across many cultures and varying climatic regions of the world.
Key Features of Courtyard Houses
Courtyard houses typically had a central open-air space, with all the main rooms of the house opening into it. The majority of windows faced the courtyard, while external walls had fewer or no openings.
Chinese Courtyard Houses
The traditional Chinese courtyard houses are called SIHEYUAN,” which means a courtyard surrounded by four houses. The siheyuan or courtyard composition forms the basic pattern or template for residential architecture in China. This extends to their palaces, temples, monasteries, and other buildings as well. A spacious siheyuan was usually occupied by a single large family, with the size of the courtyard indicating the owner’s social stature. Taxes were even collected accordingly and controlled by city planning.
Layout of a Siheyuan
A typical siheyuan layout consists of four main buildings positioned along the north-south and east-west axis. The main house faces south and is located to the north, while the north, eastern, and western buildings are connected by pathways. During the day, the courtyard provides shelter from the sun and cools down at night to create a pleasant atmosphere for enjoying it. The north side represents water as an element that prevents fire.
The building that faces north is known as the opposite house.
Behind the north building, there is a separate backside building. This is the only place where two-story buildings were allowed to be constructed.
The entrance gate is usually located in the southeastern corner, also known as the wind corner, according to Chinese beliefs. A screen wall is typically built inside the gate for privacy and to ward off evil spirits.
Windows:
The rooms around the courtyard had larger windows facing the courtyard and smaller or no windows facing the street outside.
Number of Courtyards:
The number of courtyards an enclosure had was seen as a sign of prosperity or social status. Some larger houses had two or more courtyards.
Concepts:
The main composition of Chinese courtyard homes were the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Additionally, they conceptualized houses based on the eight diagrams,” each with three broken or unbroken lines representing yin and yang lines (also known as trigrams). The eight trigrams are represented by heaven, wind, water, mountain, earth, thunder, fire and lake.
Lighting: The buildings are designed in such a way that the northern main building receives maximum sunlight, which usually serves as the living and bedroom for the family head. The eastern and western parts of the buildings are moderately lit and used by children and other members of the family. The southern side receives the least sunlight and serves as servant quarters. The family gathers to relax on the backside building, while unmarried daughters mostly stay in the low-lit backside house to keep them away from public view.
Climatic design: In most parts of China, heavy winds blow across the north during winter. As a result, the northwestern walls are higher than other walls to protect the inside of buildings from damage. Raised northwestern walls provide protection from storms and dust. The roofs have eaves that curve downward, allowing rainwater to flow across instead of downward. The rooftops are ridged to provide shade in summer and more warmth during winter.
In North West China, buildings have a longer span across the North West axis. In northeast China where the weather is cold, larger courtyards are built to allow more sunlight to warm the house.
There are various types of courtyard houses, such as the Yuan Tianjing Siheyuan and the Tianjingyuan (also known as the sky-well courtyard house). Other examples include the Yikeyin (seal-like courtyard house), Shikumen (courtyard house with a stone gate), and Beijing courtyard Yuan-Ming-Qing.
Roman Courtyard Houses
Roman dwelling types fall under four broad classifications: Domus, Insulae, Villa, and Palatium.
Roman courtyard houses are typically built around an atrium” and were known as Domus, meaning domestic. The atriums are expansive spaces, lavishly furnished and usually house an altar for their gods and ancestral spirits, as well as a safe to store their valuables.
Domus
The Domus was typically owned by the wealthy middle class of ancient Rome and were built in urban settings. The Domus belonging to the elite class had elaborate decorative and inlay works made of marble, along with paintings on the walls. Sometimes entire walls were painted. In addition to owning a Domus within the city, most of them also had a villa” outside.
Layout
The layout of a Domus consisted of multiple rooms, indoor courtyards, and gardens. The atrium typically served as the focal point of a domus. An entrance hallway or vestibulum led to the atrium, with rooms branching off from it. Many urban houses featured shops facing the street on their façade. Some houses, particularly those belonging to the wealthy class, had two separate buildings connected by a passageway. The family’s main rooms, smaller rooms, study and dining or triclinium were situated around the atrium.
Architectural Elements
In many houses, a vestibulum, entrance hallway, or porch leads to the main structure.
The atrium is the central part of the house, similar to a lounge where guests are entertained. It has a high ceiling with an open section called compluvium that allows natural light and air to enter. The central roof opening is usually square or rectangular, and the roof slopes inward to drain rainwater.
Impluvium: In the center of the atrium floor is a shallow rectangular drain pool designed to collect rainwater and drain it away. These pools are lined with marble.
Fauces are passageways that run across the length of the rooms, connecting the atrium and other areas.
The triclinium, also known as the dining hall, is a spacious room that leads from the atrium into the building. Inside, there are three couches where guests can relax after enjoying a sumptuous meal provided by the host.
Peristylums are small open-air features found throughout various areas or segments of a house.
The kitchen, also known as Culina, is typically a small and poorly lit area where the servants work.
Exterior features include a sloping roof, a columned porch or peristyle, an exedra (a domed semicircular recess), an ostium (an office space), and taberna (shops in urban settings).
The back of the house featured a small garden surrounded by a columned passage. The bathrooms, kitchens, and summer dining rooms were located around this area.
Examples:
- House of the Vettii
- House of the Faun
- House of the Tragic Poet
All located in Pompeii, dating back to the 1st century BCE.
Villas
Roman villas are elaborate versions of homes built for the upper class. They consist of a series of courtyards, often adorned with intricate frescos and mosaics. Villas typically have summer and winter wings and are situated in picturesque countryside or rural settings.
Examples of ancient villas include Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, which was built in the 2nd century, and Villa del Casale in Piazza Armerina, Sicily, which dates back to the 4th century. Another notable villa is Palatium.
Palatium
Palatium is the official residence of the emperor, located on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is also known as Domus Augustana, Domus Flavia, Domus Aurea or Domus Severana depending on the family who resided there. The Palatine Hill became exclusively reserved for the emperor at the end of the 1st century.
Insulae
Insulae were Roman apartment buildings constructed in urban areas, typically owned by the poor and lower middle classes. They were mostly rental spaces let out by the affluent and consisted of tightly placed repeating apartment units with inadequate lighting and ventilation.
