Typology of the terrace of historic houses in Najafabad

Najafabad is one of the cities of Isfahan province, which is called the oldest new city in Iran. Despite research related to the special urban planning of this Safavid city, and in terms of increasing renovation of historic houses and their importance as part of the history of architecture, so far no research has been published on what are the historic houses of this city and their typology. The aim of this article was to introduce the architecture of Najafabad houses and identify its types, while a qualitative research method with a combination of descriptive-analytical methods and logical reasoning by collecting data in the main field study and interview method. This research found that houses of this city are classified as the central courtyard, built on both sides (or more) with the importance of the northern front and has room spaces, porch, post room (safe), attic, entrance hall and dashko (a kind of attic) above it, and service spaces (kitchen, toilet, wareroom basement). The arch structure of these houses is seen in the form of a spring arch, a beam (flat) or a combination. Finally, the shape and location of the porch can be considered as determining the types of architecture in this city; There are five distinct types of indigenous house architecture that can be named under these headings: three mid-major porches with side aisles, three mid-major porches, three simple porches, two porches (simple or one-major), one side extensive single porch and formal single porch. At its heart, this typology also shows the change and degradation of the spatial role and functional position of the porch: from a space with a north-south extension and perpendicular to the courtyard, intertwined and involved with its back room and structures along it towards the space with east-west extension and parallel to the courtyard, single and independent of the rooms and in front of and tangential to them, with independent structures.