Recognition of the architecture of health housing based on traditional medicine; Casestudy: Housing of the hot and dry climate

Prevention is better than cure. Humans have been looking for ways to improve their health. So prevention must be strengthened. One of the tools to strengthen health is to provide it in the dimensions of environmental health. This research aims to review the principles and features of traditional health housing by reviewing the documents of traditional medicine and the features of traditional architecture.

This research is qualitative. Before and after setting the criteria in the present interdisciplinary research, medical and architectural researchers have been referred for interviews to deepen medical concepts and the consensus of experts in the validation of architectural examples. The method of data collection has been searching library resources, articles related to prestigious medical and architectural journals, and exploratory interviews to deepen the understanding of the subject.

The findings show that traditional medicine with a single approach based on common qualities, explains the effect of environmental factors of health, including climate, physical and mental movement, and sleep-wake, on housing management. In traditional architecture, some principles and features are by the recommendations of physicians in the four mentioned forms for organizing housing.

The most important medical advice for hot and dry climates is to moderate heat and dryness by increasing humidity, cooling, and natural airflow in the spaces. Air dryness can be controlled with an introverted design to control radiation and wind, the use of the spatial pattern of the pond and cellar and the elements of water, plants, and canopies, and cool and natural airflow is achieved by installing holes, windbreaks, and openings in walls and high skies. In the dimension of physical and mental movement, to regain physical and mental forces and general balance in its temperament, priority should be given to the state of stillness and tranquility of the house. Mental health can be achieved through hierarchical design, spatial centrifugation, collective space centralism, and the use of symbolic arrays. In the sleep-wake dimension, by observing the principle of space and spatial independence, the ground for benefiting from awakening and recovery of forces in the sleep state is provided.
Amirabadi Farahani M, Hamzehnejad M, Ranjbar Kermani A M. Recognition of the architecture of health housing based on traditional medicine; Casestudy: Housing of the hot and dry climate. Medical History Journal 2021; 13(46): e11.