Courtyards—private open spaces surrounded by walls or
buildings—have been in use in residential architecture for
almost as long as man has lived in constructed dwellings.
The earliest known courtyard houses were built in India and
China and date as far back as 3000 BC. Courtyards have
historically been used for many purposes including cooking,
sleeping, working, playing, gardening, and even places to
keep animals. Before courtyards, open fires were kept
burning in a central place within a home, with only a small
hole in the ceiling overhead to allow smoke to escape. Over
time, these small openings were enlarged and eventually led
to the development of the centralized open courtyard we know
today. Courtyard homes have been designed and built
throughout the world with many variations in every century.
Courtyard homes are perhaps more prevalent in temperate
climates, as an open central court can be an important aid
to cooling house in warm weather. However, courtyard houses
have been found in harsher climates as well for centuries.
The comforts offered by a courtyard—air, light, privacy,
security, and tranquility—are properties nearly universally
desired in human housing.
Ur, 2000 BC — two-story houses constructed around an open
square were built of fired brick. Kitchen, working, and
public spaces were located on the ground floor, with private
rooms located upstairs.
The central uncovered area in a Roman domus was referred to
as an atrium. Today, we generally use the term
courtyard
to refer to such an area, reserving the word atrium to
describe a glass-covered courtyard. Roman atrium houses were
built side by side along the street. They were one-story
homes without windows that took in light from the entrance
and from the center atrium. The hearth, which used to
inhabit the center of the home, was relocated, and the Roman
atrium most often contained a central pool used to collect
rainwater, called an impluvium. These homes frequently
incorporated a second open-air area, the garden, which would
be surrounded by Greek-style colonnades, forming
a peristyle. This created a colonnaded walkway around the
perimeter of the courtyard, which influenced monastic
structures centuries later.
Courtyard houses in the Middle East reflect the nomadic
influences of the region. Instead of officially designating
rooms for cooking, sleeping, etc., these activities were
relocated throughout the year as appropriate to accommodate
the changes in temperature and the location of the sun.
Often the flat rooftops of these structures were used for
sleeping in warm weather. In some Islamic cultures, private
courtyards provide the only outdoor space for women to relax
unobserved.
The traditional Chinese courtyard house is an
arrangement of several individual houses around a square.
Each house belongs to a different family member, and
additional houses are created behind this arrangement to
accommodate additional family members as needed. The Chinese
courtyard is a place of privacy and tranquility, almost
always incorporating a garden and water feature. In some
cases, houses are constructed with multiple courtyards that
increase in privacy as they recede from the street.
Strangers would be received in the outermost courtyard, with
the innermost ones being reserved for close friends and
family members.
The medieval European farmhouse embodies what we
think of today as one of the most archetypal examples of a
courtyard house—four buildings arranged around
a square courtyard with a steep roof covered by thatch. The
central courtyard was used for working, gathering, and
sometimes keeping small livestock. An elevated walkway
frequently ran around two or three sides of the courtyards
in the houses.Historic use of courtyards
Comparison of courtyard houses throughout the world