Proceedings of the 8th U.S.

National Conference on Earthquake Engineering

April 18-22, 2006, San Francisco, California, USA
Paper No. 1143

Structural Typology of Traditional Houses in Iran Based on Their Seismic Behavior

S.E. Mousavi Eshkiki1 , A. Khosravifar2 , M.A. Ghannad3 , A. Bakhshi4 ,

A.A. Taheri Behbahani5 , Y. Bozorgnia6

ABSTRACT

About 4 million rural houses of Iran are vulnerable against earthquake.

Considering this essential issue, a study on seismic vulnerability of
traditional houses is conducted. This paper presents parts of findings of the
first stage of this research containing structural classification of rural houses
of Iran and their distribution through the country. Description on used
materials and constituting elements such as roofs and walls is rendered
including related sizes and weights to illustrate the existing condition and
features of these elements.

1. Introduction

About 97 percent of more than 4 million rural houses of Iran, housing more than 20
million people, have no lateral load bearing elements and are vulnerable to earthquake [1]. On
the other hand Iran is located on Alpine-Himaliyan earthquake belt [2] and has experienced
many catastrophic earthquakes in the past some of which are Tabas earthquake 1978 (18,000
deaths), Manjil earthquake 1990 (40,000 deaths), Bam earthquake 2003 (40,000 deaths) and
Dahoeieh-Zarand earthquake 2005 (650 deaths). Most of the casualties took place in the rural
regions showing the necessity of investigation of retrofitting methods for these houses.
In response to this need a project was defined at Sharif University of Technology under the
title “Seismic vulnerability study of rural houses in Iran”. The first phase of this research deals
with gathering structural information and classification of rural houses based on their seismic
behavior. This paper presents a summary of the information obtained from field investigations
about different types of rural houses and specifications of their constituting elements.

2. Structural Elements of Rural Houses

Different materials and methods of construction are used in structural elements of rural
houses. This variety is influenced by climate and availability of materials. It is noticeable that
villagers used to employ local materials to build the elements of their houses such as walls,
roofs, foundations, columns and etc. To investigate the seismic behavior of these houses it is
necessary to study the specifications of these elements.

1
Graduate Student, Civil Engineering Dept., Sharif Univ. of Tech., Tehran, Iran, si_moosavi@mehr.sharif.ir
2
Graduate Student, Civil Engineering Dept., Sharif Univ. of Tech., Tehran, Iran, arash_khosravifar@yahoo.com
3
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Dept., Sharif Univ. of Tech., Tehran, Iran, ghannad@sharif.edu
4
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Dept., Sharif Univ. of Tech., Tehran, Iran, bakhshi@sharif.edu
5
Senior Structural Engineer, P.E., Free-lance, aataheri@yahoo.com
6
Associate Director, PEER Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA, yousef@peer.berkeley.edu
2-1. Roofs
Roofs of rural houses fall in four major groups according to their shapes and materials:
arched roofs, wooden flat roofs, inclined roofs and jack-arch roofs. From more than 4 million
existing rural houses in Iran, 50 percent have wooden flat roofs, 37 percent jack-arch or joist
roofs, 6 percent inclined roofs, 5 percent different types of arched roofs and 2 percent have
other types of roofs [1, 3, 4 & 5].

2-1-1. Arched Roofs

The materials used in this type of roofs include brick, adobe, mud mortar, and a
mixture of mud and straw as a cover. Nowadays, bricks and cement-sand mortar are used in
place. Considering the architectural shape (Fig. 1), this type of roofs can be divided into the
following groups: dome roofs, barrel vault roofs, crescent-shaped arched roofs, intersecting
vault and complex arched roofs [6]. Arched roofs are mainly found in hot arid regions, located
in central provinces of Iran such as Kerman, Southern Khorasan and Yazd. Table 1 shows the
range of dimensions of arched roofs observed in different parts of Iran.

Table 1. Arched roofs [3 & 5].

Specification Range
Thickness of roof 30 to 50 cm
Height of arch 70 to 150 cm
Height of wall up to the pivot of arch 200 to 280 cm
Span of dome arched roof 400 to 500 cm
Span of barrel vault roof 280 to 360 cm
Weight of unit area 450 to 750 kg/m2

Figure 1. Examples of arched roofs.

2-1-2. Wooden Flat Roofs

These roofs are the traditional format of joist roofs using wooden beams instead of
reinforced concrete or steel beams. Gravitational load of the roof is transmitted to the walls
through wooden beams which are embedded in adobe or stone walls and usually no
longitudinal or transverse anchorage is observed. Wooden beams are covered with branches of
trees, earth and mud and finally coated with mud-straw that works as an insulator. Fig. 2
shows the sketch of a wooden flat roof and also an example of this type.
Wooden flat roofs are common in cold and mountainous regions such as Azerbaijan,
North of Khorasan and Fars provinces and in general in those parts of Iran that construction
wood like aspen trees are available. Table 2 shows the range of dimensions of wooden flat
roofs observed in different parts of Iran.
 Table 2. Wooden flat roofs [3 & 4].
Specification Range
Diameter of wooden beam 5 to 20 cm
Beam span 250 to 400 cm
Lateral spacing 20 cm for diameters less than
10 cm and 100 to 200 cm for
larger diameters
Thickness of roof excluding joists 20 to 40 cm
Clear story height 270 to 300 cm
Weight of unit area ≈ 300 to 600 kg/m2

(a) [7] (b)

Figure 2. Wooden flat roofs.

2-1-3. Wooden Inclined Roofs

This type of roofs is mainly found in the Caspian Coast provinces, Gilan, Mazandaran
and Golestan with high annual precipitation. The structure of these roofs is a wooden truss
that is covered with mission tile, galvanized iron, azbest or thatch. Figure 3 depicts examples
of wooden inclined roofs in Gilan province. These roofs are relatively light and therefore less
vulnerable to seismic loads. Wooden elements are connected to each other with nails with
poor workmanship. The following table contains the range of sizes of this type of roofs.

Table 3. Wooden inclined roofs.

Specification Range
Section of elements 10 to 15 cm (rectangular)
Slope of the roof ≈ 60%
Vertical elements spacing ≈ 120 cm
Weight of roof covering (mission tile) 70 kg/m2

Figure 3. Examples of wooden inclined roofs.

2-1-4. Jack-arch Roofs
This type of roof is built with industrial materials such as brick, steel, concrete and
clay-gypsum mortar and can be found in almost every village. Sometimes lack of supervision
among villagers leads to ill-constructed roofs and various problems in seismic behavior. One
of the problems of these roofs is too much spacing between bearing beams that is shown in
Fig. 5. Another common problem in these roofs is insufficient support length of bricks on a
beam that begets slippage of brick jack-arch roofs in earthquake (Fig. 4). This type of failure
was very common in destructions of Zarand earthquake, Kerman, Iran (22 Feb 2005).

Figure 4. Insufficient support length [5]. Figure 5. Large spacing between bearing
beams [4].

2-2. Walls
In rural construction walls are built from adobe and mud, stone, wood or bricks and
concrete blocks. From more than 4 million rural houses of Iran, 58 percent are built from
bricks or concrete blocks, 26 percent from adobe and mud, 14 percent from stone and 2
percent from wood and other materials [1, 3, 4 & 5].

2-2-1. Adobe and Mud Walls

This type of walls is common in regions where adobe soils are in hand and also in arid
and semiarid areas with considerable temperature variation between day and night, notably in
Kerman, Yazd and south of Khorasan. Elements of these walls are sun-dried adobe blocks and
mud mortar which is finally coated with mud-straw. Adobe blocks are usually found in
20x10x5 centimeters. Figure 6 illustrate a profile of an adobe wall which was destroyed in
Bam earthquake. Various layers of adobe block and mud-straw covering are observed in the
figure. Figure 7 shows an adobe house in Kerman province. The range of dimensions of
Adobe walls are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Adobe walls [3 & 5].

Specification Range
Thickness of adobe walls in
40 to 120 cm
arched roofed houses
Thickness of adobe walls in
35 to 90 cm
flat roofed houses
Weight of unit area 900 to 1200 kg/m2

2-2-2. Stone walls

This type of wall is very popular in mountainous regions that stone is easily accessible
like Fars and Kordestan (Fig. 8). As stones have a high compressive strength, stone walls bear
the gravitational loads by far; on the other hand, very weak mortars (like mud or gypsum
mortars) are usually used in this type of walls, giving it little strength against lateral loads.
Furthermore, stone walls are too heavy and increase the earthquake-induced loads. Table 5
includes the range of dimensions of stone walls.
Table 5. Stone walls [4].
Specification Range
Thickness 40 to 60 cm
Height More than 2 m
Weight of unit area 1000 to 1500 kg/m2

2-2-3. Wooden Walls

These walls are mainly found in the Caspian Coast area where wood is easily
accessible. In these walls, after erecting wooden columns (10 to 20 cm diameters) some skew
or horizontal timbers (5 to 15 cm diameters) are positioned between columns and then the
space among timbers is filled with mud and finally coated with mud-straw. The local name of
these walls is “Zegali” or “Zogmei” (Figs. 10 and 11).
These structures have shown a good behavior in past earthquakes (e.g. Manjil 1990)
that seems to be due to their light weight and skew elements that transfer seismic loads. Table
6 shows the range of dimensions of wooden walls.

Table 6. Wooden walls.

Specification Range
Diameter of timbers 25 to 30 cm
Weight of unit area ≈ 250 kg/m2

2-2-4. Brick or Concrete Block Walls

This type of walls is attributed to the majority of the rural houses of Iran. Brick and
concrete block walls are indeed a copy of urban construction and are not native to the rural
regions (Fig. 9). These houses are known as un-reinforced masonry buildings that are proven
weak even against moderate earthquakes. Even though villagers are inclined to build these
houses presuming their high strength and easier construction, but their lack of technical know-
how (for example using mud mortar instead of sand-cement mortar) results in poor quality
and bad performance. Thickness and weight of typical brick walls are as follows.

Table 7. Brick walls.

Specification Range
Thickness 22 cm
Weight of unit area (not
≈ 380 kg/m2
including finishes)

Figure 6. Profile of an adobe wall. Figure 7. Adobe house.

 Figure 8. Stone wall Figure 9. Concrete block wall.

Figure 10. Wooden wall (Zegali). Figure 11. Wooden wall (Zogmei).

2-3. Openings
Dimensions and positions of openings have a strong effect on seismic behavior and
shear strength of the building. Openings are usually framed and/or lintels are used as shown in
Fig. 12. Table 8 shows different types of openings and their dimensions.

Table 8. Size of openings in centimeters [3].

Niches Windows Doors
Height Height
Depth from Height Width from Height Width Height Width
bottom bottom
30 to 80 0 to 60 90 to 220 70 to 210 20 to 120 70 to 210 90 to 230 180 to 240 60 to 120

(a) [8] (b)

Figure 12. Using lintel in openings.
2-4. Foundation
There are no actual foundations in rural houses as it is described in technical codes.
Foundation, in its best form, is limited to about 50 centimeters of digging the ground and
filling it with lime-sand mortar and stone or the wall materials up to ground level.
Deterioration occurs in the pivot of the wall in case of walls without foundation [3].

3. Structural Classification of Rural Houses of Iran

According to the field observations in rural regions of Iran, rural houses are divided
into the following groups. This typology is based on the previously described structural
specifications of elements. Table 9 contains pictures that depict a sample of each type with its
characteristics. Figure 13 shows the distribution of different types of rural houses. Figures 14
and 15 show the distribution of dwellings in height and types of roofing systems respectively.

Table 9. Typology of rural houses of Iran.

Type: Brick/concrete block walls with jack-arch roof

Location: Almost in all rural regions. This type is built
with industrial materials and as a result is not restricted
to one specific climate.
Constituent percentage: 25 %
Description: Unreinforced masonry buildings, weak
even against moderate earthquakes. Among problems:
large openings, too much spacing between bearing
beams , lack of technical know-how (for example using
mud mortar instead of sand-cement mortar), and low
ductility.

Type: Adobe walls with wooden flat roofs

Location: Very popular, usually found in mountainous
areas of north eastern and north western Iran. It is the
dominant type of rural construction in Khorasan,
Azerbaijan and Ardabil.
Constituent percentage: 21 %
Description: Poor beam to wall, beam to column (in
balconies) and wall to wall connections, no
longitudinal or transverse anchorage at bearing
supports of beams on the adobe walls , and
inappropriate foundation.

Type: Zegali (wooden) /concrete block walls with

inclined roof
Location: Caspian coast in north of Iran, provinces:
Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan.
Constituent percentage: 18 %
Description: Roof covering of this two-story building
is of thatch while galvanized iron, mission tile or
azbest is also used widely. Thatch is a good heat
insulator. The structure of the roof is a truss built from
wood and sometimes steel resulting in a light roof.
Type: Stone walls with wooden flat roof
Location: Mountainous and cold regions, provinces:
Fars, Azerbaijan and Khorasan.
Constituent percentage: 16 %
Description: Very heavy walls with poor wall to wall
connection, the roof is covered with mud-straw every 2
or 3 years that makes it heavy, weak beam to wall
connections, the mortar is mud, gypsum or sometimes
no mortar is used, stone and mud mortar are not
consistent materials.

Type: Brick/concrete block walls with wooden flat

roof
Location: Like other types with wooden flat roof,
usually found in regions that wood is available.
Constituent percentage: 14 %
Description: Unreinforced masonry building with
large openings and weak roof to wall connection.

Type: Adobe walls with arched roof

Location: Arid and semiarid regions especially the
deserts in central Iran, provinces: Kerman, Yazd and
south of Khorasan.
Constituent percentage: 5 %
Description: Several layers of mud-straw cover the
roof making it too heavy. Collapse of structure can be
prevented if the walls and their connections are
maintained sound.

Type: Brick/concrete block walls with arched roof

Location: Arid and semiarid regions.
Constituent percentage: 1 %
Description: The roof is built with brick and covered
with mud-straw. Wall to wall connection is limited to
laying bricks alternatively in two perpendicular
directions.
 % Brick/cement block walls - jack arched roof
%
% % Adobe walls - wooden flat roof

Zegali/cement block walls - inclined roof

Stone walls - wooden flat roof

%
Brick/cement block walls - wooden flat roof

%
Adobe walls - arched roof
%
Brick/cement block walls - arched roof

Figure 13. Distribution of types of rural houses in Iran [3, 4 & 5].

% %

Flat wooden roof

One floor
Jack-arched or joist roof
Two floors or more %
Inclined roof
Arched roof

%
%
Figure 14. Distribution of houses in Figure 15. Distribution of types of roofs [1].
height [3, 4 & 5].

4. Typical Plans

The following figures show typical plans of rural houses of Iran. Dimensions indicate
the range of typical values [3].

Figure 13. Typical plan of a one-story house with flat roof – without central courtyard.
 Figure 14. Typical plan of a one-story house with arched roof – with central courtyard.

5. Conclusions

In this paper dominant types of rural houses of Iran and their structural elements were
studied including their materials and dimensions which create a framework for the next phases
of the project such as numerical modeling, assessing economical retrofitting methods for these
structures and shaking table tests.

References

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Engineering (Building and Housing Research Center), Vol. 4, pp. 173-186.
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Vulnerability of Traditional Houses in Iran”, Report #4: Khorasan Province, Civil Engineering
Department, Sharif University of Technology, Apr 2005.
[4] Khosravifar, A., Mousavi Eshkiki, S.E., Ghannad, M.A., Bakhshi, A., “A Study on Seismic
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Department, Sharif University of Technology, July 2005.
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Tehran, Iran.
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