A comparative study of climatically responsive house design at various periods of Northern Cyprus architecture

Abstract

Architecture is considered as a mirror of a civilization that is shaped up by needs, society, technology, culture and climate. Except climate these factors are modifiable and changeable with respect to time. Climate is a fixed environmental factor affecting architecture and its built environment. Thus, different climatic conditions pertaining to the countries force them to take special architectural precautions to create more comfortable living spaces. Furthermore, these can define the architectural characteristics of various countries at different time spans. On the basis of this argument, with this paper it is intended to reveal the main approaches and criteria for climatically responsive houses and settlements in Northern Cyprus. Contribution of the article to this field is the discussion of the climatic considerations of different architectural periods in urban and rural areas. The periods such as Ottoman (1571-1878), British (1878-1960) and Modern (1960-present) are the most significant ones discussed together with the Cypriot vernacular architecture. Site planning, building design and specific building elements are the main parameters handled to analyse the climatic considerations. In addition, the impact of socio-economy, technology, culture, politics and building management strategies have also been discussed during the process of evaluation of each period and vernacular architecture. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.