SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
A Mansouri, E Edgü & M E Şalgamcıoğlu Historic Persian caravanserais: Climatic effects and syntactic configuration
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053 Historic Persian caravanserais: Climatic effects and syntactic configuration
Abstract
Ancient trading routes such as Silk Road necessitate places for short term accommodation, rest and security for caravans including travellers, traders, merchandise and pack animals. These places, which are strategically located in different regions along the trading routes throughout Asia, are called caravanserais. Caravanserais are basically composed of three different functional sections; among these sections, the common gathering area that is in the form of a courtyard is usually open and located centrally. As the location and shape of this courtyard forms the architectural typology, the other sections are the spaces reserved for guests’ accommodation and service areas, which are both surrounding the common courtyard area.
This paper deals with caravanserais built in different regions of Persia (ancient Iran) during the significant period between 17th and 19th centuries. Within this period, during the first half of the 17th century most of caravanserais, bridges, bazaars and roads were built and restored in order to upgrade the Silk Road to improve the commercial prosperity of the Empire. However, since Persian Empire had a vast amount of land expanded from Caspian Sea to Persian Gulf, it was obvious that caravanserais had to be built according to the constraints of four different climatic zones. Therefore, this paper focuses on the syntactic configuration of the above mentioned spaces and the effects of climatic aspects. The hypothesis of this paper suggests that climate affects the design of public, private and service based spaces and these differences lead to the genotypes of Persian caravanserais. Functional zones of the caravanserais strictly separate the accommodation from the service areas such as storage, cooking, bathrooms, administration and security. However, common spaces may serve both for service functions, social gatherings, trading and even shelter for pack animals. The configuration, position, size and enclosure of these spaces differ according to climate. Therefore, syntactical analyses applied to five caravanserais which are located in four different climate zones in Persia from Safavid to Qajar period, present data of depth levels, integration, circularity and compactness within these spaces.
This study is not only a syntactic discussion regarding varieties of caravanserais in different climatic regions in relation to their configuration, but it also explores syntactic components such as design geometry and perceptive qualities. In this research, by focusing on relations between the three main components of caravanserai space and the climatic parameters we determined that technical development in forms of structural composition and the effects of climate change morphology and spatial quality.
Keywords
Persian caravanserai, spatial configuration, historic building, climate, functional zones.
Ashkan Mansouri Istanbul Technical University [email protected]
Erincik Edgü Duzce University [email protected]
Mehmet Emin Şalgamcıoğlu Istanbul Technical University [email protected]
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1. Introduction and definition of the case study
Before the invention of steamships and development of railroads in late 18th century, international communication in terms of messengers, travelling, pilgrimage and commerce were compelling acts. Journeys of ancient and medieval times were not only difficult but dangerous and slow as well (Hillenbrand, 2004; Önge, 2007). Various goods were being transferred through extremely challenging routes such as Silk Road, on a geography stretching from China to the shores of Mediterranean. Robberies, murders or even enslavement were among the dangers of travelling. Therefore, in order to protect their lives and belongings, travelling in groups was a common solution of avoiding random assaults. These organized groups, which were usually escorted by armed guards, were being called as caravan and they included travellers, traders, merchandise and pack animals, such as horses, camels, and oxen. As the caravans relied solely on to man and animal power, the daily travel distance was limited. The distance a camel could travel in a day without any food or water was set to be the travelling range of the caravan which was approximately 40 km. When the caravan had to stop in the middle of nowhere; i.e. unprotected, unknown area, even travelling in groups would still bear some consequences. Thus, ancient trading routes necessitated places for short-‐term accommodation, rest, store and security for caravans (Edgü et al, 2012). These strategically located places built for accommodation needs in different regions along the trading routes throughout Asia, are called caravanserais; in other words, palaces for caravans.
Therefore, both for cultural and religious reasons of hospitality, caravanserais were being built by the state, ruling class or wealthy for charity reasons and they were free of charge. These establishments served not only to accommodate and support commerce but also to increase security on the commercial routes. Since, safe and convenient trading routes help to promote and enliven trading activity, caravanserais were also helping the development of local and global welfare by means of sharing culture, philosophy, technology, and world views, as well as goods.
This paper deals with caravanserais built in different regions of Persia (ancient Iran) during the significant period between 17th and 19th centuries. The significance of this period depends on the relatively prosperous Safavid and Qajar eras of the region. Located between the Ottoman and Mughal Empires of today’s Turkey and India respectively, Persian Empire with her vast amount of land, which expanded from Caspian Sea to Persian Gulf, was an important link that transfers goods and people on the routes of Silk Road. Within this period, especially, during the first half of the 17th century most of caravanserais, bridges, bazaars and pilgrimage roads were being built and restored in order to upgrade the Silk Road and to improve the commercial prosperity of the Empire. Therefore this was the so-‐called flourishing period of the caravanserais.
As Önge (2007) states, caravanserais had to have spaces to load, unload, or tether animals and accommodate travellers, some of them also had niches or spaces for merchants to open a stall (Figure 1). They had wells or cisterns as water sources, high fortified walls with bastions, and usually a single protected entrance. Caravanserais are basically composed of three different sections; one of them is the common gathering area that is in the form of a courtyard, usually open and located centrally. This courtyard is usually in the shape of square or rectangle and also significant to many Iranian public buildings such as mosques, schools, hospitals, tombs and even traditional houses. The central courtyard usually has niches called iwans. These are covered (from three sides and top) outdoor spaces supported by columns, usually bounded by a wall on one or more sides. In other words, they are semi open welcoming spaces and are significant to architecture of hot dry climates where the shade and breeze is extremely valuable. The other sections are the spaces reserved for guests’ accommodation and service areas, which are both surrounding the common courtyard area.
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Figure 1: Sample of courtyard & Iwan from caravanserai of Mahyar 17th century (Anon., 1994)
However, since Persian Empire had a vast amount of land that houses many topographical characteristics with many climatic zones and subzones, the architectural typology of caravanserais was a question of debate. One of the most essential researches about Persian caravanserais was done by a French archaeologist and architect Maksim Seiro who was the first dean of the Faculty of Architecture in Tehran University. He had separated the Safavid caravanserais into two categories; mountain type and plane type with yard. Later Kleiss and Kiani (1983) added new categories regarding climate zones. Their classification composed of three climatic regions; Persian Gulf region type, mountain and covered type and lastly mid regions with courtyard type. According to Kleiss and Kiani (1983) and also as adopted later by Ghobadian, (2008), Persian Gulf region types were rectangular or square in shape and had no interior courtyards. They had however cross shaped spaces centrally located resembling iwans and the rooms are positioned around this. In order to have a sturdy base, the caravanserais were usually built on rock platforms raising them a few steps higher than the sea level. As this platform serves as an entrance to the rooms with doors, which are open to outside, it also helps to regulate air circulation in order to provide cool breeze in such hot and humid climate. In this type, the rooms could be accessed from outside; but since defence was not a problem during the period, this design also emphasises the security and prosperity of the Safavid era. Mountain type caravanserais on the other hand, were built on roads that are difficult to pass during journeys. These had inner yards covered with vaults, due to the harsh cold winds of winter and night time. The vaults were sometimes supported by pillars or large walls. There were usually heaters embedded in the walls of the rooms. Mid regions type is significant with its use of the inner courtyards. As it was mentioned before inner courtyard architecture was not limited to typology of caravanserais; this is also typical for courtyards with iwans as well. Starting from the Assyrian and Ashkanid palaces of Mesopotamia, use of iwans has become the significance of Iranian architecture. Owing to a general notion of symmetry of the Iranian culture, philosophy and religion, courtyards having especially two-‐iwans and four-‐iwans were the norms of mid area Safavid caravanserais. The significance of iwans is so dominant that some sources (Kiani and Kleis, 1983; Hillenbrand, 2004) also classify caravanserais according to iwan numbers and types with variety of definitions.
The hypothesis of this research suggests that climate affects the design of caravanserais. In this research we are suggesting four main climatic zones (Figure 2) that are affecting the building design typologies. These are:
• Cold and dry mountain zone, • Hot and humid Persian Gulf zone, • Hot and dry, semi-‐arid central zone and • Humid and sub-‐tropical Caspian Sea zone.
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A Mansouri, E Edgü & M E Şalgamcıoğlu Historic Persian caravanserais: Climatic effects and syntactic configuration
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Figure 2: Climatic zones of Iran by Dr. Qanji and the location of selected caravanserais (Soltandoust, 2010)
Therefore this paper focuses on several examples located on the main route of the Silk Road. Examples which are located on regions between the cities are selected from the above mentioned four main climatic zones. Inner city type caravanserais are left out of our scope as Edgü et al. (2012) state that, in towns caravanserais lose their functions to saras, which serve the accommodation, trade and manufacturing purposes for traders. On the other hand, there is a variety in sizes and forms of caravanserais; although the four-‐iwan types are considered to be the most improved and developed versions, they are usually seen in the hot and dry mid regions. For the syntactic discussion of this research, one typical example from each climate zone is selected; however, the cold region is represented by two samples. In this region we see two different types of plans with open and vaulted courtyards. Therefore this difference is taken into account. The selected five examples are set to be on similar scales for architectural and syntactic comparison. Selected examples are Firuzkuh and Saveh caravanserai from cold and dry mountain zone, Bandar Abbas-‐Lar from hot and humid Persian Gulf zone, Qale Sangi-‐Kaj from hot and dry, semi arid central zone and lastly, Rasht-‐Rudbar from humid and subtropical Caspian Sea zone.
2. Methodology of the case study
Space syntax method provides significant data in terms of identifying and defining the structural composition, design geometry, perceptive qualities and variability of caravanserais examined in this
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study. Syntactic configuration of the caravanserais is based on subsections of the plans; design of public, private and service based spaces and their differences lead to the genotypes of Persian caravanserais. Functional zones of the caravanserais strictly separate the accommodation from the service areas such as storage, cooking, bathrooms, administration and security. However, common spaces may serve both for service functions, social gatherings, trading and even shelter for animals. We claim that the configuration, position, size and enclosure of these spaces differ according to climate. Therefore, syntactic data analysing morphological characteristics, depth levels, and visual fields are obtained in the above mentioned five caravanserais which are located in four different climate zones in Iran from Safavid to Qajar period.
Syntax 2D program developed by University of Michigan uses a grid system to analyse the syntactic calculations of visual fields called as isovists (Benedikt, 1979; Batty, 2001; Conroy, 2001). Within the definition of isovist, the walls and other systems obstructing our sight in the space are considered as walls and they affect the determination of the visual field. In order to scrutinize the convex spaces and interspatial relations, the different sized plans are reduced to cellular spaces. Therefore in order to execute the grid system that serves as the base of the analysis, span size is set to be 45 in association with the wall thickness of caravanserai plans.
As it can be seen from Figure 3, there are six points selected from each climatic zone plan type. Point 1 is from the entrance threshold of the caravanserais. In all of the plan types except for Bandar Abbas – Lar, the entrance is either from the south, south east or south west directions. Point 2 is selected from the most typical iwan that is preferably located across the entrance axis. Point 3 is located at the centre of the courtyard, or the central point of the cruciform passage that determines the core in case of Bandar Abbas -‐ Lar. Point 4 is selected from a private room used for accommodation purpose of the travellers. Point 5 is selected from the service room serving either as kitchen and cellar or the maintenance functions which is set to be adjacent to the main entrance. And finally Point 6 is selected from the space where the pack animals and goods are stored and kept, in other words this location is a part of the service zone. All of the points are located either centrally within their spatial boundary or having the greatest visual field. This latter case applies mostly to the surrounding service areas.
Figure 3: The plans from four climatic zones and selected six points to base analyses
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As we can see from the plan types in Figure 3, vaulted sample from cold and dry mountain climate Firuzkuh, shows significant design preferences. Thicker interior walls compared to other types, longer blind walls and linear geometry suggests the emphasis on climatic restrictions. On the other hand, Saveh from the same region follows the typology of a four iwan courtyard type. Even though its interior walls are thinner compared to Firuzkuh, the space partitions are smaller and narrower; thus making it easier to heat the places. We also see the door niches in this type as an extra precaution. Bandar Abbas – Lar shows the hot humid characteristics of the Persian Gulf zone. As this type is raised on a platform, the winds are allowed inside the cruciform passage. The climatic concern in this type is also supported by the opening on the northern wall, which we do not see in any other plan type. In Qale Sangi-‐Kaj, from central hot and dry, semi-‐arid zone, we see a classical four-‐iwan type plan, supported with corner bastions; this type is similar to Saveh with longer narrower rooms and thicker walls with door niches. Rasht-‐Rudbar from humid and subtropical zone, has a neat plan type; iwans are opening to private rooms in a way ventilating these special places. As the indented wall partitions are less, this type can be considered as the simplified version of the classical four iwan type.
3. Comparison of syntactic analyses
The syntactic analyses of five caravanserais in four climatic zones, argue the integration, circularity, mean depth and compactness values as the extent of the configurative case. The syntactic values from the six selected zones such as iwans, entrances, courtyard or mid-‐gathering areas, rooms, service areas and storage zones (see Figure 3) in each case are very critical. They show the depth or shallowness of these various spaces in terms of mean depth or integration. Other than the mentioned calculations, in this research we are dealing with circularity and compactness as well (Figures 4). Batty (2001) defines compactness as the ratio of average to the farthest distance from each vantage point. Compactness value changes between 0 and 1; indicating that long, narrow, stringy shapes have values closer to 0, while round, compact, circular shapes have values closer to 1. Circularity on the other hand, gives us the basic considerations about the shape of the caravanserai’s spaces.
Figures from four to seven show the colour schemes of the mentioned syntactic values of the caravanserais as a whole. The tables on the other hand, present the four syntactic values of the selected six nodes. The darker shaded cell shows the highest value of that group while the lightest shaded cell denotes the lowest value.
As the circularity and compactness values give us information about spaciousness and visibility potential of these caravanserais, compactness value defines the shape of the obstacle within the visual field. The figures on the tables present that the selected plan types have rather low average of compactness values denoting long, narrow, stringy spaces that also create longitudinal obstacles. Even though the determinants of classical four-‐iwan types have relatively higher overall compactness values especially in courtyards, iwans, and guest rooms with values 0,14 in Saveh, 0,17 in Kaj/Qale Sangi and 0,14 in Rasht/Rudbar respectively, Firuzkuh service zone and Bandar Abbas / Lar cruciform passageway have high compactness values compared to their own plan schemes (Figure 4).
The circularity value on the other hand denotes the easy perception of a space at a given instance. Therefore, circle or square like spaces can be observed more quickly than long, narrow or spiky spaces. Comparing the courtyards of the examples, we see that Kaj/Qale Sangi has the highest circularity value of 1,49 x106; this value is also compatible with the other two four-‐iwan types. As for the case of vaulted and cruciform caravanserais, the courtyards are relatively long and narrow, therefore presenting lower levels of mean circularity as shown in Table 1. The lowest mean circularity, in other words more linear scheme in selected examples is the courtyard of Bandar Abbas/Lar Caravanserai indicated as 9,87 x105. This type also has the lowest circularity levels in iwans, guest rooms and service rooms, while having the highest circularity of service zone as well. Bandar Abbas-‐Lar structured in the hot and humid Persian Gulf zone has voids to enable wind flow and it uses walls to cast shade on spaces. Therefore these results support the fact that use of walls as a climatic precaution also decreases the circularity level, where labyrinth like scheme facilitates climatic exposure.
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Figure 4: comparison of compactness values.
Another interesting result in this analysis is that the examples from cold and dry climatic zones Firuzkuh and Saveh have significantly high circularity values compared to others. For example, entrance and guest room values for Saveh are 1,06 x106 and 7,76 x105 while the iwan and service room values for Firuzkuh are 9,08 x105 and 9,02 x105 respectively. In case of Saveh the entrance value is related with the actual circle like form of the space; however, guest room value is also close to that of Firuzkuh (Table 1). This situation is also similar where iwan and service room circularity values of Firuzkuh are immediately followed by of Saveh. This denotes both that a vaulted caravanserai is an earlier version of four-‐iwan courtyard type and that in different climatic zones different forms of spaces are required.
Although mean depth values show differences according to selected zones, one of the two distinctive plan types Firuzkuh has the overall deepest value in entrance, courtyard and iwan nodes. This is an interesting situation, because the most social spaces have become the deepest ones in this case. Also, since Bandar Abbas/Lar has dispersed voids throughout the system, the shallowness of the entrance is also confirmed here. Rooms and service spaces show diversion in different types. However if we assume the private rooms to have more privacy, only the Firuzkuh and Bandar Abbas/Lar examples confirm this assumption (Table 2).
As Kaj/Qale Sangi Caravanserai has a deeper scheme in service room space with the lowest integration value 3,89 x104 compared to others, Table 2 indicates the highest depth value among the service zones of selected examples as 3,38 x104 belonging to Firuzkuh Caravanserai. Here we see again the role of indented walls forming the seclusion of space located on the corner of the building in the case of Kaj/Qale Sangi, Rasht/Rudbar and Saveh caravanserais.
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Figure 5. Comparison of circularity values.
Figure 6: Comparison of mean depth values.
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If we consider the integration value of spaces due to mean scores, the highest integration levels in the selected examples are seen in the courtyards (Figure 7). According to the values presented in Table 1, the most shallow space; i.e. the most integrated one in typologies is the courtyard of the Kaj/Qale Sangi and Saveh Caravanserais. It is interesting to see although the largest plan type Saveh has a cistern in the centre of its courtyard, the syntactic data obtained from the classical four-‐iwan type Kaj/Qale Sangi presents the same value of 1,35 x1010. Rasht/Rudbar Caravanserai on the other hand, follows with a very similar value of 9,86 x109. These results both support the integration-‐wise advantage of symmetrical and compact plan types and also emphasize the long narrow rooms provided by indented wall structure of the former two. As these wall types hinder the view of the surrounding spaces around the courtyard, they help the courtyard to be perceived as more compact and secluded from the rest of the structure, thus leading to a higher level of integration. In the case of cruciform and vaulted courtyard samples on the other hand, we lose the perception of centrality and the integration values are lower compared to other three as the lowest value belongs to Bandar Abbas/Lar Caravanserai as 1,02 x104.
The integration values of iwans (Table 1) present the second higher level of integration in all of the plan types. This actually shows the significance of iwans in Persian architecture and its connection to social gatherings and proximity to central functions. If we compare the integration values of selected rooms, it is interesting to see that Rasht/Rudbar rooms have higher values compared to the rest. This again can be related to the relatively square like rooms with simple smooth walls. As for the entrances and service related spaces, we again see the significance of classical four-‐iwan type plans.
Figure 7: comparison of integration values.
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Entrance Values Average
Compactness Average Circularity
Average Mean Depth
Average Integration
Firuzkuh 0,08 5,61 x105 2,70 x104 9,85 x108
Saveh 0,06 1,06 x106 2,49 x104 1,92 x109
Rasht / Rudbar 0,09 6,93 x105 2,37 x104 2,65 x109 Kaj / Qale Sangi 0,10 6,98 x105 2,27 x104 3,75 x109 Bandar Abbas/ Lar 0,07 9,07 x105 2,04 x103 7,49 x108
Courtyard Values Firuzkuh 0,08 1,05 x106 2,33 x10-‐1 1,63 x109 Saveh 0,14 1,26 x106 2,00 x10-‐1 1,35 x1010 Rasht / Rudbar 0,13 1,21 x106 1,95 x10-‐1 9,86 x109 Kaj / Qale Sangi 0,12 1,49 x106 1,85 x10-‐1 1,35 x1010 Bandar Abbas/ Lar 0,07 9,87 x105 1,99 x10-‐1 1,02 x109
Iwan Values Firuzkuh 0,07 9,08 x105 2,41 x104 1,07 x109 Saveh 0,16 7,92 x105 2,27 x104 1,03 x1010 Rasht / Rudbar 0,16 5,49 x105 2,14 x104 6,74 x109 Kaj / Qale Sangi 0,17 7,45 x105 1,93 x104 1,18 x1010 Bandar Abbas/ Lar 0,08 5,11 x105 2,24 x104 6,29 x108
Table 1: compactness, circularity, depth and integration data of entrance, courtyard and iwan in selected examples showing min. And max. Values.
Service Room Values Average
Compactness Average Circularity
Average Mean Depth
Average Integration
Firuzkuh 0,03 9,02 x105 3,37 x104 1,87 x108 Saveh 0,02 6,33 x105 3,11 x104 1,10 x108 Rasht / Rudbar 0,06 3,46 x105 3,04 x104 4,20 x108 Kaj / Qale Sangi 0,03 2,01 x105 3,89 x104 3,43 x107 Bandar Abbas/ Lar 0,05 4,43 x105 2,74 x104 1,58 x108
Service Zone Values
Firuzkuh 0,10 6,08 x105 3,38 x104 1,08 x109 Saveh 0,09 1,44 x106 2,34 x104 3,24 x109 Rasht / Rudbar 0,08 5,30 x105 3,04 x104 7,08 x108 Kaj / Qale Sangi 0,06 7,45 x105 3,16 x104 5,57 x108 Bandar Abbas/ Lar 0,04 1,77 x106 2,40 x103 4,58 x108
Room Values
Firuzkuh 0,06 6,39 x105 2,52 x103 7,66 x108 Saveh 0,07 7,76 x105 2,65 x103 1,46 x108 Rasht / Rudbar 0,14 5,64 x105 2,10 x104 5,85 x109 Kaj / Qale Sangi 0,09 6,71 x105 2,38 x103 3,02 x109 Bandar Abbas/ Lar 0,05 3,08 x105 3,20 x104 9,87 x107 Table 2: Compactness, Circularity, Depth and Integration data of Service Room, Service Zone and Rooms in Selected Examples showing min. and max. values.
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4. Conclusion
When working on traditional buildings, especially if the structures of the case study have almost disappeared from current uses, researchers often try to figure out the similarities, in order to reach a typology. Whether these similarities result from the functional, technological, cultural or climatic necessities, typologies simplify the conception of architecture. Indeed, initial exploration of Persian caravanserais, may conclude in a judgement that most of them are similar in shape with a large central courtyard surrounded by rooms for accommodation and services. However, in this research, by focusing on relations between the three main components of caravanserai space and the climatic parameters we determined that technical development in forms of structural composition and the effects of climate change morphology and spatial quality.
Technical development of the caravanserai structure presents itself by the improvement of four-‐iwan courtyard types. As this form was the latest technology of the highest architectural era, climatic effects were considered less compared to earlier structures and the plan type was applied to all climatic regions. This situation is seen in the development from Firuzkuh with covered roofed (vaulted) type to a much larger structure Saveh with open courtyard of cold dry mountain regions. However in both plan types, relative to their sizes, courtyards, iwans and guest rooms show similar syntactic values. On the other hand, the level of integration of the courtyard in Saveh that is located in cold dry mountain climate region, is the same as Kaj/Qale Sangi from the hot and dry, semi-‐arid central zone. As other central courtyard types Kaj/Qale Sangi and Rasht/Rudbar also share similar syntactic results in courtyard and guest room values, their iwans and other service areas are completely different. Therefore we may conclude that main social gathering spaces and main guest accommodation areas dominate the architectural composition as well as the syntactic configuration. Indeed, Syntactical values of caravanserais in four different climate zones shows that entrance thresholds, courtyard and iwan are the shallowest spaces in caravanserais which have the lowest value of depth and highest value of integration than rooms and service zones. However although presenting moderately shallow depth values, entrance thresholds present no significant characteristics in syntactic-‐wise compared to their architecturally significant character in all of the plan types.
As the most significant plan type is seen in the hot humid climate zone, high compactness in spaces are seen in relatively moderate climates similar to social gathering spaces of central regions. Use of indented walls of older technology help forming the seclusion of space, thus resulting in deeper syntactic values, whereas smooth simple walls of smaller structures promote circularity and thus a greater visual field. However in harsh climatic conditions circularity values decreases especially in social gathering areas in order to create climatic comfort and spatial quality either by heating the space or ventilating it.
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