The Characters of the Form in the Vernacular Architecture A comparative study of the form's characters of facades of individual houses and commercial buildings in the City of Baghdad after 2003–Zayoona district as a case study

Abstract

The characters of facades' form of the Iraqi building after 2003 have been changed, it has been described by many names. The problem of the research is that what are the features of the characters of the form in the façades of the buildings in Baghdad city after 2003? Are the façade of the individual houses or the commercial buildings is the heaviest in the visual weight? The research aims to answer those questions by choosing the vernacular architecture as a measurement tool. It is the informal image of the architecture, which is built by people informally and spontaneously, without official control and legislation to be organized. This is smellier to what has happened in Baghdad, after 2003 according to previous study submitted by the same researcher (The phenomenon of trespassing the architectural design regulation in the Iraqi cities 2003-2016- case study Baghdad) the individual houses as a case study. The research method has dealt with the previous studies, and with the terms and the vernacular architecture in some Arabic countries. The research determines the features of the form's characters in the façades of the vernacular architecture in Egypt, Yemen, and Palestine as the generic features of the vernacular taste in Arabic societies.  The researcher examines these features by checking list and Excel program and by selecting samples in Zayoona district after 2003 as a case study. The research's hypothesis has proved that the form's characters of local façades in Baghdad after 2003 are a rural vernacular. The facades of the individual houses have had the heaviest influences at the visual weight. The research has concluded that the characters of the vernacular architecture's form have common and basic styles among societies. when it has manifested in cities, showed their architectural style and identity, it indicates a decline in both architectural style and identity. The heavy influences of the visual weight in Iraqi architecture after 2003 depends on the decoration included two types: the rhythmic and geometric decoration, being important elements in the facades.