The open courtyards in the ancient Islamic, Persian and Byzantine regions are examples of exquisite architecture with interesting architectonic points of reference. These urban and highly aesthetic arquitectural models from a centuries-old tradition are of a particular interest to the contemporary observer. The spiritual space, the layout and use in conjunction with a poetic interpretation of the interior are traditional axioms of habitation and living that are still valid today.
The "residence" is screened from the outside world by a wall and turns lingering in the space into a pleasure. The harmonious integration of the courtyard space into the fabric of the home creates a sense of safety and intimacy. The courtyard is thus transformed into a monastic oasis. Courtyard architecture has always been an inviolable and respectful witness to contemplative seeing, to encounters and hospitality.
The staging of the courtyard as a solitary element of the house with water, vegetation and stone pavement represents a far-reaching digression into a world of fairy tales. Realistic contours in the enclosed rectangle convey a sense of spatial shelter. Detailed divisions and plasticity are evident even in the plan and are part of the inventory of space-defining elements. The ideal courtyard form is pure and graceful. Reduced to a few basic forms, the courtyard is distilled into an autonomous unit. The emphasis of material qualities and heightened artistry enhance its overall effect. In some houses, the courtyard is truly a representative bijou.
World inside the house
The courtyard composition is founded in an ancient proven building form. Classic examples in the Middle and Far East date back for millenia - without losing their fascination. Against the vast background of Islamic history, the unchanging attitude towards the timeless form of the courtyardis infinitely compelling. The artistic details correspond to the signs and symbols of the Islamic spirit. This transforms the built courtyards into unique features.
The courtyard at ground level is the central element of the two-story home. It symbolizes the analogy to the sky in a climate characterized by aridity and heat. The pool centered on the axis of the courtyard, for example, humidifies the air and also signals its cooling effect with the tinkling sound of running water. The vegetation in the courtyard creates a paradisiacal state of innermost tranquility and contentedness.
A path into the interior
A dark, winding path leads to the atrium at the center of the house. This is the path inward: from darkness into light, from the street to the oasis, from noise to silence, from the cave into the open. All the rooms open onto this space.
The courtyard is an invitation to tranquility and seclusion. This delimited and silent peace, this hushed, small white infinity is divided into light and shadow by the sun. The intensity of the light in the courtyard is only fully expressed in contrast to the dark passage of the path.
The sky is no more and no less than the greatest depth of immeasurable light, unfolding as a canopy of blue in front of the human eye. Ultramarine is noble and beautiful - the queen of colours in Islam. The Moorish culture is a "blue" culture, its symbolism and sensibilities are always closely linked to the colour blue. The atrium should be understood as an ethic of designing with nature revealing beaty as perfection.
Courtyard as a paradise
The typical courtyards of the Middle and Far East are based on an integrated solution. They are characterized by encllosure and openness. They create a bright and friendly ambience, and constitute the open core of the enclosed living quarters. Courtyards without vegetation are called "dar" in arabic, while those with gardens are referred to as "ryad". As a design element, nature creates harmony in the courtyard in the form of water and vegetation.
Surrounded by the walls of the house, the sky opens like a translucent valut above the courtyard. The ground and roofline mark the horizontal boundary. The surrounding walls embody the vartical end transform the courtyard into an oasis secluded from the outside world.
More than a mere utilitarian feature, the courtyard is a meeting place and forum for family communication, thereby complementing the internal living spaces. Within this complex, the woman of the house can fully come into her own. The personal sphere comes alive in the courtyard: the array of colours, the purity of the water, the evocatively harmonized visualization. The privacy of the sparselydecorated space acts as a balm. It enchants through clarityand discipline, much like a symbolic distillate of Oriental world architecture. The sublimely bright interior is the place where human relationships and social interactions unfold, a place of moods and feelings. External, hierarchical obstacles recede into the background. The collective unconscious acts upon present and is, at the same time, a part of this cultural environment.
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