an analysis of effective physical-spatial elements in rural housing (case study: villages of dizbad-e-bala, frizi, and aydalik)

1. introduction khorasan’s rural housing, like other regions of iran, is consistent with the environmental, cultural, social and economic conditions. however, unfortunately, despite good efforts made by the relevant agencies to assist physical and spatial developments, there have been confusion and misdirection about implementing the needs, facts, and traditions of rural lifestyles. 2. theoretical framework environment, and in the body of it, housing and building are known as innovation and exquisite artifacts of human in every culture and civilization, where it still has, tremendous utility and complexity in all its dimensions. housing concept is known as a vast and complex issue, where it is difficult to present a unified definition for it. the most original and at the same time the most complicated kind of settlement for sedentary people is rural housing. in doing so, generally, vernacular architecture and especially rural architectural has direct, immediate, and strong connection with rural culture and everyday activity in villages. rural housing is known as a multifaceted and sophisticated phenomenon, from this point of view. rural housing is more than a shelter and plays the role of not only a resort, but it also has a generative and livelihood role like a warehouse and workshop in rural areas. compatibility between house and natural environment, villagers’ smart utilization of vernacular and accessible materials for housing, immediate and direct connection with the culture and everyday life of people, and being influenced by social norms like contentment, are the most important characteristics of this type of rural architecture. with the aim of providing proper living conditions and affected by socio–cultural, economic, and physical–spatial factors, rural housing has been formed. finally, effective physical–spatial factors on rural housing typology can be categorized as: ratio of mass and open space, the separation of functional zones, the relationship between mass and open space, type of building orientation affected by wind direction and sun radiation, the separation of private and public territories, type of spatial organization relationships, and type of building materials. 3. methodology using a descriptive and inferential method, the data was gathered by studying documentary sources and observation of the residential buildings of naghandar, dizbad e bala, frizi, and aydalik. the research begins with the introduction of physical, activity, and climate components affecting the rural housing typology and, then, analyzes the mentioned components within the framework of the study samples using maps and descriptive-analytical diagrams. finally, it explains the effective formation factors of physical-spatial elements of rural housing. 4. findings giving an introduction of rural housing, the paper presents relevant issues and recorded influences of the formation of the issues with tables, figures, and maps. in general, common characteristics of rural housing are as follows: generally, maximum portion of the house is dedicated to the yard space and other necessary elements, including service, manufacturing, warehousing, and storage of livestock and poultry, etc., rather than the visual aspects of the house. it can be expressed that the maximum use of the house, including environmental convenience, and its availability to life necessities of rural housing offer a type of housing closely associated with rural living. in this type of housing, proximity of humans to livestock and services is vitally required. livestock and services are the main elements of rural livelihood. although buildings are orientated to the direction of wind and solar radiation, the orientation toward light is more desirable than that of wind. regarding the spatial types (space fillings, empty spaces, and the interfaces), it can be stated that, the presence or absence of the interface is only justified in terms of providing environmental comfort and intimacy. intimacy has always been an important issue in a way that it does not overlook the complexity of relationships in rural housing. in terms of order and spatial-functional structure of the rural housing, the ground floor is allocated to livestock and services and upper floors are used as living spaces. they are connected by a vertical path, along which the horizontal connection is through the covered hallway. moreover, due to the geographical-regional requirements, local materials are commonly used in the housing construction. 5. conclusions in general, rural housing is affected by four elements of regional, geographical, social, and cultural factors that, together, form the structure of rural housing. according to this study, paying attention to the rural background in designing and planning of physical developments is highly advised. from this perspective, the solution to the rural-housing designing problem can be categorized into three main sections of resolving functional, natural, and constructional problems.