The traditional Iraqi courtyards house demonstrates fundamentals principles in term of construction, its spatial organization and design can be compared with the modern home. The research claims the current housing design in Iraq does not fulfill the cultural and the social need of their residence; the traditional courtyard houses have manifested that in the uniqueness form in the plan. This research attempts to analyze the historical and traditional courtyard house as the arisen construction of houses in Iraq. The research objective is to document the architectural forms of the courtyards houses in Iraq. The form of the house is one of the aspects to be studied and understood as it measures and establishes the architecture design concept of these dwellings. Morphological study on the form of eight case studies of the Iraqi Traditional Courtyards Houses has been utilized. The aim is to discuss and inspect the uniqueness of these units that served their residences for decades. Additionally, the author used computer software (AutoCAD and 3d Max) to redraw the cases to be more representative. The study’s significance is to add a distinct understanding among designers, planners and decision-makers to put into consideration the future architecture of houses design and to preserve the traditional houses from vanishing. The findings revealed that privacy has a great influence on the design layout of the traditional house which presented in the simplicity of design and the separation between zones.

1. ASSESSMENT OF MORPHOLOGICAL
ANALYSIS OF IRAQI TRADITIONAL
COURTYARDS HOUSES
Hayder Haraty
Ph.D. Candidate
1

2. Content The courtyard house
The dilemma
Methodology
Case study
Analysis
Findings
2

3. 3
THE COURTYARD HOUSE
• It represents a model for the
collective social, political and
economic benefits.
• The various types of courtyards
houses characterize the harmony
recurrence of the plan and shape
• It allowed both privacy and
participation in the clan and
extended family levels
• The Iraqi courtyard house served
both physically and symbolically,
and it was the most appropriate
space of a family
Fountain In The Courtyard Of An Old House
Source: www.ericlafforgue.com
A. Alhusban and A. Al-Shorman (2011)
A. El-Shorbagy (2010)
S. M. Sharif, M. F. M. Zain, and M. Surat (2010)

4. 4
THE ISSUE
• Environmental factors like
cleaning, proper maintenance,
and ventilation have a direct
impact on the space
cleanliness (Hamid, Taib, Wahab, & Alias, 2015)
• Spaces include the using of
water require significant
qualities (Kumar, 2015)
• Failing in providing these
factors would increase the risk
of skin diseases and unclean
environment (Mokhtar, 2005)

5. 5
Investigations of the ablution rooms by Maher (2016) and Suhaimi
(2010) suggests the issue of ventilation is an epidemic in Malaysian
mosques and have caused poor ventilation, black footprints and
repulsive ablution rooms, mostly gathered from public concern.
Maher also stated that between the issues, the location of the
ablution room in a dirty basement, poor ventilation and improper
treatment of space were also reported.

6. 6
METHODOLOGY
Iconic
Mosque
Wilayah Federal Territory Mosque
Physical observation
Architectural drawing analysis ADA
UBBL
Interview

7. Malaysian Iconic
Mosques
According to The Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture in
Malaysia MOTAC and The Islamic Tourism Centre ITC,
there are 53 Malaysian Mosques considered to be Iconic
Mosques in Malaysia (Islamic Tourism Centre, 2013)
The term “iconic” describes the architectural styles
of the world’s greatest mosques globally that are
adopted in many Malaysian Mosques, while others
incorporate local elements and design motifs.

8. PHYSICAL OBSERVATION
8
Ablution room
Gate A
Ablution room
Gate B
Ablution room
Gate C

9. ABLUTION ROOM GATE A
9

10. ABLUTION ROOM GATE B
10

11. ABLUTION ROOM GATE B
11

12. ABLUTION ROOM GATE C
12

13. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS FROM THE PHYSICAL O.
GATE A GATE B GATE C
Natural ventilation and
extracting fans
Natural ventilation and
ducting system
Not applicable
Smelly area from the
toilet room
Smelly space resulted
from the animal wastes
and unattended trash bin.
The ducting system was
unclean
Smelled bad, dark and
unventilated
The room was
considerably clean, no
footprints or unwanted
objects
Some of the noticeable
points: dark spots, trash in
the water drains and
insects
Darks spots, shabby
flooring, and stained walls

14. 14
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING ANALYSIS
Process Sketching the ablution rooms
Transferred to AutoCAD
UBBL
Calculate the total floor area
Calculate the openings area
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 (𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂
≥ 𝟏𝟎% 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂

15. GATE A
15
Toilet women
12.5000
5.0000
Ablution men
3.9m Height
2.0000
toground
floor
toprayer
hall
22 windows 1.14x0.35 mAblutionroom(GateA)
• Total floor area is (20 x 8.77) +
(10 x 8.6) = 261.4 square meters,
• The area of the opening is
windows ((22.85 x 2) + (8.6 x 2))
+ doors ((1.4 x 2.85) + (1.4 x 3)) =
44.49 square meters.
• The percentage of the opening to
the total area is 44.49 / 261.4 =
0.170
• Achieved

16. 16
GATE B
20.0000
8.7700
1.4000
2.8500
10.0000
8.6000
11.8500
Ablution
tothemosque
exit
Ablution room (Gate B)
3m Height
• The total floor area is:
(20 x 8.77) + (10 x 8.6) =
261.4 square meters
• The area of the opening
is: windows ((22.85 x 2) +
(8.6 x 2)) + doors ((1.4 x
2.85) + (1.4 x 3)) = 44.49
square meters
• The percentage of the
opening to the total area
is 44.49 / 261.4 = 0.170
• Achieved

17. 17
GATE C
20.0000
8.7700
1.4000
2.8500
10.0000
8.6000
11.8500
Ablution
tothemosque
exit
Ablution room (Gate B)
3m Height
Corridor
4m Height
to the prayer
hall
to the prayer
hall
30.0000
7.6000
1.6000
Ablution
Toiletwomen
12.5000
5.0000
Ablutionmen
3.9mHeight
2.0000
22windows1.14x0.35m
• The total floor area is 30m
x 7.60 m = 228 square
meters
• The area of the doors is 2x
(2m x 1.65m) = 8.91 square
meters
• The percentage is 8.91 /
228 = 0.039
• Did not achieve the
minimum percentage by
UBBL

18. INTERVIEW
An interview was conducted with one of the management staff at Masjid
Wilayah, on March 3, 2018. The participant manages and supervises the
mosque’s facilities.
• The participant mentioned that sometimes mechanical blowers will be used to
speed up the drying process
• There is a need for mixing mechanism of ventilation
• The ablution space gets overcrowded during the peak hours
• Lack of cleaners and limitation of working hours
• The issue of user’s mistreatment
• No enough guidelines

19. CONCLUSION
Mixed of the
both
mechanisms
Share the
awareness
among users
A crucial needs
for more
regulations
Authorities
attention
Increase the
cleaners
numbers and
working hours

20. 20