Elements of interior courtyard design as an interactive space in Islamic architecture

Abstract

   Islamic architecture is one of the greatest architectural civilizations in history, distinguished by its innovative and distinctive use of the courtyard as a crucial feature in building design. The courtyard was a focus for social gathering and interaction among people in Islamic architecture, and it played an important role in establishing an interactive and functioning environment. The courtyard functioned as an area to provide air and light, as well as a place for observation and seclusion. Many interior rooms struggle to adequately use the inner courtyard as an engaging place that provides a delightful and intriguing user experience, so the interior design may be insufficiently suitable or imaginative to turn the inner courtyard into a location that promotes contact and active involvement, as a result, the research problem emerged with insufficient knowledge about the mechanism of transforming the courtyard into an interactive space in architecture in general and Islamic architecture in particular, so there has become an urgent need to study the subject of courtyard design as an interactive space in Islamic architecture, as it works to develop the principles of interactive interior design and guide designers in achieving an interactive experience. The research aimed to provide knowledge of the methods of designing the inner courtyard as an interactive space in architecture in general, and Islamic architecture in particular. To accomplish this, the study used the analytical historical method, first presenting the basic cognitive aspects of the inner courtyard as an important element in architecture throughout the ages, then developing a theoretical framework to develop a set of indicators that aid in the discovery of ways to transform the courtyard into an interactive space. The most notable findings of the study are: identifying the design factors influencing the transformation of the inner courtyard into an interactive space, such as orientation, measurements, materials and their decorative potential, interior element distribution, and color and lighting use.