Journal of Research in Ecology ISSN No: Print: 2319 –1546; Online: 2319– 1554

An International Scientific Research Journal Mini Review

Tribal housing structures analysis in Balochistan of Iran

Authors: ABSTRACT: Kiana Maleki Shoja and Indigenous houses in accordance with ancient patterns, especially Mojgan Aminravan Balochistan tribal houses, considering their history, forming and changing through hundreds of years, have maximum compatibility with the environmental conditions Institution: and ecological area. The mentioned patterns have been orally transferred till now and Master of Architecture, are in danger of extinction and oblivion versing the period of development of Gilan University, contemporary architecture. Therefore, this review article is designed to examine a Rasht, Iran variety of Balochistan houses to introduce the addressed indigenous housing, and

study their structural types and provide constructional analysis, to achieve a deeper understanding of these ancient structures.

Corresponding author: Keywords: Kiana Maleki Shoja Tribal houses, Compatibility, Balochistan, Iran.

Email ID: Article Citation: Kiana Maleki Shoja and Mojgan Aminravan Tribal housing structures analysis in Balochistan of Iran Journal of Research in Ecology (2017) 5(2): 1192-1198

Journal of Research in Ecology in Research of Journal Dates: Received: 22 July 2017 Accepted: 09 Aug 2017 Published: 14 Oct 2017

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Journal of Research 1192-1198 | JRE | 2017 | Vol 5 | No 2 in Ecology An International www.ecologyresearch.info Scientific Research Journal

Shoja and Aminravan, 2017

INTRODUCTION al housing is the South East region of Iran located in Old architectural values of this land have long Sistan and Balochistan, which is a rare example of per- been totally forgotten, but one can still find villages that fect harmony with the environment in the field of indig- are examples, rich in architectural culture and have enous tribal housing. The characteristics of housing in maintained ways of living and traditions of residence this province is a variation on the traditional mobile and folk art (Davtalab and Azarsa, 2009). In the differ- houses. These portable temporary shelters belong to low ent form of housing alongside racial factors, historical -income villagers, Sistani and Baluch nomads and some and psychological factors, geographical factors, which fixed in winter and summer migration areas are a vary from region to region and create characteristics of blend of traditional and modern architecture. According each region, also have played a major role. The con- to the estimates of the Statistical Center of Iran in 2006 struction, materials, shape and arrangement of the vari- from 2.400 million people in Sistan-Balochistan prov- ous parts of the rural housing are influenced by geo- ince, about 1.200 million people live in 5719 villages graphical conditions in their environments and are of (Statistical Center of Iran, 2006). Based on the men- great geographical importance according to reflecting tioned data, 242.351 rural families live in 192.392 resi- this influence. dential units. In 2006 statistics show that rural popula- In fact, the influences of geographic, social, tion and rural dwellings of the province is more than the economic and cultural conditions create special and rare urban population and urban dwellings (Table 1). That local ecosystems that have the highest sustainability reason is merely enough to pay attention to the decisive with the environment and can supply maximum comfort role of rural areas in the economic and social develop- and convenience for residents. These ecosystems clearly ment, physical and security in the province and country. showed the fact that can through a fight with environ- Housing and environment considering strength, beauty, mental constraints and geographical perspectives where comfort, and its coordination with the producing activi- all the needs of rural communities would be resolved. ties are of such important topics that can help to achieve These ecosystems provide such comfort for their resi- this goal (Sartipipour, 2004).The followings investigate dents that even today's housing are not capable of fully and discuss the types of tribal housing in this area. achieving this goal. Gdam A systematic view of the body and houses of the This type of house is mainly built in northern villages are designed in a way that rural settlements and areas of Balochistan is mostly cold and mountainous. It housing components are identified and their connection is a black (Siyah Chador) made of stripes sewn to- that has determinant effects in the rural and physical gether of woven goat hair and prepared and held by development of proper housing (Gray and Kenny, women and girls. It is a pentagon or hexagonal shape 2004). The fact that components of housing units and at the sides has arches toward inside. (materials, structures, architectural spaces, beauty, func- Gdam components include Pat, Pastak, tion, etc.) are interconnected with elements related to Gdamsak, Cadag, Sad which is called "Reez" or each other and communication and coordination be- "Chilouk", Corag, Dastak, Beam and Nails. tween them can create the desired house. This is the Pat basic principle that should be considered in housing Part of the fabric that should be placed on the renewal and improvement project (Sartipipour, 2005). roof is made of a piece of cloth called "Pat" which is One of the very important areas in terms of trib- formed in accordance with the dimensions of Gdam and 1193 Journal of Research in Ecology (2017) 5(2): 1192-1198 Shoja and Aminravan, 2017

Table 1. Comparison of Balochistan native housing

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can have two to three pieces. Beams which set up risk and palm trees – and has vertical composition. Its Gdam, are placed is under this section (Ibid). entrance is covered with palm leaves horizontally and Pastak flat and between the poles are covered with palm trees Fabrics used along the Pats and are connected and tamarisk foliage. Kapar is usually a in agricul- by "Gdamsak" and "Cadag" means the fabrics which are tural lands or a place to buy and sell products. This sewn across the Gdam. Dastakis slong stick about 1.5 housing mainly used in southern Balochistan (Makran) meters its upper part is shaped like 7 seven and the (Ibid). length of both of it branches is about 10 cm. Dastak is Davar or Loug used to maintain the overall balance of Gdam, in a way It is also called Kapar or shed by some, made of that the 7 seven shaped part of it is placed in the "Pat" foliage of the palm trees and shaped as a semicircle with ring pulled by "Sad" and the other end of Sad is fas- an arch formed roof. In each Davar dimensions, length, tened to the earth byan iron nail ring. This is done along width and height, depend on the number of household the length of Gdam (Bashiri et al., 2009). members, families socio-economic status and its use and Kapar one cannot recognize a specific division, but in the A of long frames- often made of Tama- absence of a specific order it can be said that length to

Journal of Research in Ecology (2017) 5(2): 1192-1198 1196 Shoja and Aminravan, 2017 width ratio of the oval which means the large diameter Davar, we run the following operation sequentially to the small diameter is 3 to 1. The height of Davar is 1. A rather high level ground -shaped as an oval- is pre- variable and the minimum height is 2.5 meters and pared and flattened. reaching the sides of it, the height is reduced 2. Its surrounding is dug by the depth of 3 to 5 cm. (Sartipipour, 2004). 3. They put the Shaboksat approximately equal intervals Materials needed to build Davar are mainly pre- in the ground, If a higher level is needed one or more pared from palm trees and a shrub called Daz- Shaboks are connected together by Chilouk. Nannorhops Ritchiana- which the following would dis- 4. "Peeshes" of palm are put in gaps between the cuss the different parts of it. Shaboks. Chilouk 5. "Peeshes" of palm are fastened horizontally around They weave a rope by the leaves of "Daz" and Davar by Chilouk to the main skeleton. for more strength hit the rope. 6. In the last step, Tagerd is placed on the skeleton of Peesh Davarand attached to the framework by "Shak" (Omran, The young branches of palm trees after their 1996). leaves have been picked and dried. Gerd Toup (Round Ball) Shabok One of the most beautiful vernacular dwellings Made by putting several Peeshes together and or the region is "Gerd Toup". The walls of "Gerd Toup" fastening them by Chilouk. are made of adobe and clay and thatch, it has a wooden Tagerd door and its roof is of palm trees’ foliage and is almost A mat woven from the leaves of "Daz", which is circular. If the vertical wall is made of the wood of palm used as a simple or patterned mat. trees and tamarisk, it is called "toupi".Two examples of Shak toupi’s is shown in Figure 1. This kind of dwelling is Small sticks of palm trees which are used to mainly built in Iranshahr, Chabahar and Jazmouriyan connect the "Tagerd" to the Davarskeleton. To set up a plain. It is so similar to the dwellings of Boushehr, Ab-

Figure 1. Two samples of Toupi constructions (Source: author)

1197 Journal of Research in Ecology (2017) 5(2): 1192-1198 Shoja and Aminravan, 2017 bass Port and Torkman Port. The smaller kind of this REFERENCES dwelling which is used as a barn and products store or Bashiri, Akram. Ghodrati, Fereshte. Heidari, Ah- animals’ shelter is called "Hang Peeshi". mad and Razavi, Mohammad Sadegh. (2009). Rural Traditional housing structures in Balochistan housing pattern in Sistan and Baluchestan. the first na- Based on traditional housing and style of Balo- tional conference on housing and physical development chistan, it should be noted that the dwellings of Gdam, of villages;1:49-58; Zahedan, Iran. Kapar, Davar and Gerd Toup can be categorized to Davtalab J and Azarsa S. (2009). Sistan rural housing smaller groups due to their structure. For example, Gerd pattern with an emphasis on . Toup can be constructed in 10 different ways based on The first national conference on housing and physical materials and methods of construction, which adds to development of villages, Zahedan, Iran. 1: 42-49. the complexity of analyzing these structures. The way of using fiber of palm and Daz in the tissue of the body Gray NF and Kenny C. (2004). A rural housing sus- and ceilings, and also the structural form has differences tainability index: background to development. which can be seen in a particular type of housing in Bal- Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Mu- ochistan. nicipal Engineer, 157(4): 275-283.

Omran B. (1996). Tribal housing typology of Sistan CONCLUSION and Baluchestan. Proceedings of the Fourth Student While Balochistan is an area with vast deserts Conference on Civil, 1: 112-117. and low population density where for various reasons humans had no particular interest to live permanently Sartipipour M. (2004). Rural housing indicators and its there throughout history, nomadic life in small villages development and distribution. The 12th Housing Com- is just so common so that till the contemporary age and prehensive Plan Seminar, Urban Planning Ministry. 12: present time, this way of life is going on in a large part 18-34. of the area. Sartipipour M. (2005). Indicators of rural housing ar- This lifestyle has caused certain kinds of archi- chitecture in Ian. Fine Art Magazine, 22: 51-43. tecture that because of its construction and materials has had little survive a land its construction method has Statistical Center of Iran [Internet]. Organization; passed not as constant and compiled model but from [cited 2017 April 25]. generation to generation and chest to chest. Today the Available from: https://www.amar.org.ir mentioned problem, with the increasing development of Submit your articles online at ecologyresearch.info the heterogeneous patterns of urban life in this area has Advantages put this type of architecture in danger of oblivion the  Easy online submission patterns and practices and original constructions. This  Complete Peer review  Affordable Charges review explored four different types of housing that are  Quick processing native to Balochistan and has divided them into 17 dif-  Extensive indexing  You retain your copyright ferent types. And one by one the materials, construction techniques, type of form and appearance similarities with modern structures were discussed to create a hope [email protected] of maintaining this tradition. www.ecologyresearch.info/Submit.php.

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