Echoes of Iranian Culture: The Courtyard as Cosmology, Code, and Counter-Space

Our host, Romina Daryabari walks us through the complex social, political, and cultural meaning of courtyard spaces for Iranian houses. This space is more than a material formula for promoting sustainable living or an ornamental system for preserving wood and ceramic building techniques. It is a living space that is constituted by the long history of familial traditions undertaken by its inhabitants. Within its shadows, family members learn to exercise both overt and covert forms of power in their daily lives.