The Spatial Changes of Syrian Courtyard Houses from Traditional to Contemporary

The Syrian traditional courtyard houses, especially sampled in Damascus, remained an impressive source with regard to architecture, as they had, and still have appropriate features fulfilling human needs. In these houses, trees, flowers, beds and interior fountains (Bahras) are commonly enjoyed. The Syrian traditional courtyard house is a distinct architectural entity that reflects the socio-cultural, climatic, and physical needs. It is in line with the raw materials available in Damascus and its adjacent mountains. At the same time, Damascus is rich in many types of handicrafts and human skills, which is kept alive throughout successive generations. These also take place in the courtyard houses. Today, contemporary buildings have replaced the traditional Damascus courtyard houses mainly, in which generations of the family have lived. Therefor the residents of the courtyard house have left their homes for various reasons and these houses have been replaced by other residents. Also, today the traditional Damascus houses are suffering from other problems. The new residents no longer take care of the courtyard houses as their original owners took care of, especially after the death of the original owners. The owners of the houses became many, for example. They no longer take care of the houses as before. In addition, reciprocity of contemporary life styles applied to the courtyard houses led to some changes. The reasons behind these various changes can be increased. For these reasons, the this research is structured to shed more light on these courtyard houses, which are valuable in terms of world cultural heritage. The contemporary life and its effects on these houses are researched. Factors of change referred to in this study as globalization, culture, privacy, materials and method, technology affected these courtyard houses. This has been focused throughout the study. To confirm their effect, the research made a direct observation of the courtyard houses in Damascus, and it became clear that the factors of change have affected the courtyard houses in different ways, and each factor had an effect that differs from the other. The concept of privacy, for example, greatly affected the courtyard house formally and ideologically; and led to a change in the spatial origination of the courtyard house. Accordingly, it can be said that contemporary life brought to the courtyard house becomes factors that affected the spatial changes in house. Keywords: courtyard houses, traditional Syrian houses, social factors, physical factors, contemporarylife.