Searching the genotypes - Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
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SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium Searching the genotypes Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam Farida Nilufar Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) faridanilufar@yahoo.com/ faridanilufar06@gmail.com/ farida@arch.buet.ac.bd Pushpita Eshika Department of Architecture, Primeasia University, Dhaka, Bangladesh ar_pushpitaeshika@yahoo.com Abstract The ancient city of Panam was established in late 19th century in a non-urban setting in Dhaka region. Panam was famous for cotton manufacturing and trading during British rule. The cotton traders built a good number of closely located and nicely ornamented buildings with narrow street frontage. According to history these buildings were owned by merchants who were absentee landlords, coming Panam once or twice a year. However, history explained little about their life styles and function of these buildings. The buildings apparently similar from outward had a variety in terms of their spatial organisations which remains unexplained without any evidence of their use pattern. Although researchers attempted to classify those buildings into common residential types available in this region, a large number of buildings of Panam remain unexplained due to their idiosyncrasies and dissimilarities with the available types. In absence of social and functional data, buildings can be defined abstractly as a certain ordering of categories, to which added a certain system of controls, the two conjointly constructing an interface between the inhabitants of the social knowledge embedded in the categories and the visitors who’s relation with them are controlled by the building (Hanson, 1998). Space syntax transforms the buildings into the form of adjacency graphs to represent, quantify and interpret spatial pattern in such a way that their underlying ‘social logic’ is understood. These syntactic statements explain the ‘abstract genotypes’. In search of genotypes, the syntactic data compiled here are compared to find any difference in the spatial organisation among the different type of houses of Panam and to explain the ordering of space in these buildings in relation to the prevailing types in Dhaka region. Among 52 dilapidated buildings of Panam, 22 buildings are analysed as abstract systems. Apparently the layouts of large houses of Panam, with halls and courtyards, are similar to the urban residential houses of Dhaka region having courtyards with encircling corridors giving access to series of rooms. However, spatial analysis reveals that both the introverted and extroverted houses of Dhaka have a deep uni-linear sequence whereas in the genotypes of Panam that uni-linear sequence is not very common, rather ringiness became the major character. In fact, the houses of Panam have overlapping rings connecting most of the interior spaces along with the exterior suggesting the depth of the buildings of Panam much shallower than the buildings of Dhaka. From graph analysis it is quite clear that the halls were distributed with the exterior in a ring, thus become shallower and easily permeable for the visitors. It can be interpreted as the need of privacy was low indicating that buildings have less residential quality in respect to the socio-cultural background of Dhaka. Interestingly, spatial analysis suggests that the consolidated type buildings with segregated central spaces and integrated frontal rooms are completely different from F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:1 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium any prevailing typology of Dhaka. Thus space syntax analysis suggests that perhaps some of the houses of Panam were not residential type; rather they have some other commercial use which is not clear from their history. Keywords Ancient city of Panam, urban houses, architectural morphology, genotypes, space syntax. 1. Introduction Panam is a unique settlement in historic landscape of Sonargaon in Dhaka region. Sonargaon was once famous for its finest cotton named ‘Muslin’ and as an international trade center till medieval period. With the decay of once flourishing cotton manufactures, Sonargaon fell into oblivion only to be revived by the emergence of the town of Panam by a group of Hindu businessmen in 19th-20th century (Husain, 1997). According to historians, 90 Hindu Talukdars lived in Panam who were traders and money changers. They purchased different goods from large cities of Bengal, like Dhaka and Kolkata, and used to sell the commodities in the village around. They also made extensive trade of cotton and English piece goods in and around Panam. Most of these traders were absentee landlords who lived in large city like Kolkata and used to come to Panam once or twice a year in different occasions. However, according to popular history in the first part of the 20th century, some rich Hindu Businessmen started to live permanently in the Panam city with family and it is assumed that the still remaining ruins of the buildings were residences of those businessmen. It is also assumed that these merchants had a good business relationship with East India Company as there is a building adjacent to Panam Nagar which was owned and occupied by the Company officers. Tailor (1840) suggests that the present settlement of Panam probably grew as a byproduct of the commercial activities of the East India Company. Panam was in vicinity of Dhaka, which was once the capital of Bengal. In fact, Dhaka itself has a glorious history of 400 years of urbanization. Type of ‘bargage plots’, as found in Panam, were common in many trading towns including Dhaka ensuring a commercial interface to a large number of merchants. Panam had a large assemble of richly ornamented buildings. However, such a large collection of secular buildings were found nowhere in the closest periphery of Dhaka. Here in Panam, some buildings have court or a double heighted ornamented hall in the middle of the configuration and some have series of small cells without any hall or court. These buildings of Panam can be divided into different typologies in terms of their spatial organization. However, due to lack of information about the functional use of different spaces, the social interpretation of their spatial organization is still unknown. Besides their richness in ornamentation, such variety in spatial organization draws attention of researchers to unveil their origin as well the use pattern. It still remained unknown whether these houses had any influence from the nearer and larger urbanizations like Dhaka or Kolkata. Therefore, it is important to examine the buildings of Panam in comparison to the prevailing type of houses to unveil how similar were these ancient houses to those of Dhaka or Kolkata. However, this research only attempts to compare the houses of Panam with those of Dhaka in order to identify the social meaning of spaces as manifested though the spatial layering. Further research might seek resemblance with those of Kolkata. In absence of social and functional data, buildings can be defined abstractly as a certain ordering of categories, to which added a certain system of controls, the two conjointly constructing an interface between the inhabitants of the social knowledge embedded in the categories and the visitors who’s relation with them are controlled by the building (Hanson, 1998). Therefore, with space syntax analysis, this research tries to find out the morphological character of the architecture of Panam and compare them with the prevailing house forms of Dhaka in order to determine their genotypic resemblance. So, the major objective of this study is to define the buildings of Panam by visitor inhabitant relationship through the ordering of categories and system of control to explain the social relations of the functional spaces in these buildings in relation to the prevailing types in Dhaka region. F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:2 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium Figure 1: Houses of Panam Nagar 2. House Form of Dhaka Region The vast region of Dhaka was dominated by rural areas along with few urban centers in the past. Hence, the house form of Dhaka region can be divided into two basic types: Rural House Form and Urban House Form. The rural house form is a cluster of covered shelters around a central court. (Figure 2) Besides, two settlement patterns were prominent in the urban areas of Dhaka: ‘Indigenous’ and ‘Formal’ pattern. Indigenous urban pattern of Dhaka basically evolved from the rural house form and characterized by inward looking houses with a court, known as ‘Introverted house’, attached to the adjacent buildings forming a continuous facade along the narrow irregular roads. The introverted type houses developed chronologically with the development of the business core of Dhaka city. (Imamuddin, 1982; Haque, 1997) These houses mostly served the dual purpose of living and business. The spaces of introverted houses were organized according to their hierarchy considering the courtyard which was a mandatory functional space that provides light and ventilation to the house (Imamuddin, 1982). The introverted houses of Dhaka were divided into two sub-groups based on the organization of courtyard and its adjacent spaces. They are ‘detached’ and ‘enclosed’ courtyard types. The spatial organization in a detached model is indeed taken from the archetype rural houses reflecting its urban model. Besides, the enclosed courtyard type may refer as the most indigenous urban house form in Dhaka region as its rural counterpart is never found here. This type of houses is usually enclosed around a central courtyard. Rooms are arranged considering the courtyard in a much compact way within a deep and comparatively narrow interior dominated by narrow and dark corridors where the formal and service blocks were situated in ground floor and the living block in upper floors. (Figure 2) F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:3 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
During the colonial period (18th–20th century), the planned part of Dhaka developed with outward
looking houses, i.e. residential ‘bungalows’, along wide roads in regular layout. This was the formal
pattern with ‘extroverted houses’ of classical order which was popular among local elites, where the
traditional system of mixed use areas was replaced by single use. Based on their spatial organization of
functional spaces the extroverted type houses too, represent two different types of house forms:
‘Composite’ & ‘Consolidated’ types. (Imamuddin, 1982) Composite Extroverted type colonial bungalows
representing a free standing, outward facing courtyard-less house has detached service functions in its
backyard. Consolidated Extroverted type houses integrated living and service parts into a single mass
which followed either L or U shaped plan and became popular among the urban elites of this region.
Figure 2: House Form of Dhaka
2.1. House Form of Panam
The settlement of Panam is stretched along a narrow road. Fifty two buildings, single to three storied,
were built along the road and ruins of those houses still survived. The street front houses of Panam are
apparently seemed to be compact in nature and introverted in type following indigenous pattern of
commercial streets of Dhaka. (Hussain, 1997) Most of the houses of Panam share the common backyard
and some even share wall with adjacent houses. However, various types of spatial organization are
found among the houses of Panam. Some houses have enclosed courtyard in the middle of the house
surrounded by the transitional spaces; some have decorated double heighted hall in the middle instead
of courtyard. Another typology is found which contains both a double heighted hall and enclosed
courtyard. Besides, single roomed and compartmental buildings are also seen in this area (Kabir, 2010).
Many houses have series of rooms connected by single or multiple corridors without any hall or court.
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:4
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
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Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (ASB) broadly divided these buildings into three groups according to their
plan. (Husain, 1997) They are-
i. Double Heighted Hall type Houses
ii. Courtyard type Houses
iii. Consolidated type Houses.
Though one of the typology of Panam houses are termed by ASB as consolidated type, but the physical
organization of this type has very little in common with the prevailing consolidated type of houses of
Dhaka.
Apparently the courtyards, halls and spaces around the courtyard and double heighted hall of Panam
houses look alike the introverted houses of Dhaka with enclosed courtyard type. Again the location of a
‘Company Ka Kuthi1’ in the closest periphery of Panam, its ornamentation, use of material, physical
layout refers to the probability of colonial influences over these buildings. Therefore it is necessary to
compare the houses of Panam to the extroverted houses as well. From this understanding this paper will
examine the buildings of Panam in comparison to the introverted and extroverted houses of Dhaka
prevailed at that time to determine the genotypes of the house forms of Panam.
Figure 3: Different types of Houses of Panam
1 Business houses maintained by the colonial rulers.
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Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium 3. Syntactic Analysis ‘Justified Graph’ analysis of space syntax method is applied here to examine the morphological character of the houses of Dhaka and Panam. It tries to make a comparative analysis among these cases to find out the generic character of the buildings of Panam. Justified graph is restructured so that a specific space is placed at the bottom, ‘the root space’. Root space is the point inside or outside of a building from where syntactic measures of other spaces are taken. J-graphs offer visual image of the overall depth of a layout seen from one of its points. Every space is identified in this graph as a node and the line connected these spaces are known as edges. This study incorporates some variables of Justified Graph analysis - control, depth, integration and rings. ‘Control’ measures the degree to which a space controls access to its immediate neighbours taking into account the number of alternative connections that each of these neighbours have. Control value less than 1, represents weak control of that space. ‘Depth’ between two spaces is defined as the least number of syntactic steps in a graph. ‘Integration’ describes the average depth of a space to all other spaces in the system. When the integration value of a space is found more than 1 the space termed as integrated space and less than 1 refers towards segregation. When one space is linked to another space with more than one link in syntactic measure it is called ‘ring’ (Hanson, 1998). Rings add extra permeability up to a theoretical maximum where ever space is connected to every other. It is the fact of space that creates the spatial relation between function and social meaning in buildings. Space syntax is therefore, a tool by which buildings are transformed into dimensionless forms (Bandyopadhyay, 2007) or into the form of adjacency graphs to represent, quantify and interpret spatial pattern in buildings in such a way that their underlying ‘social logic’ can be understood. In absence of functional descriptions the syntactic data compiled thus, are compared to find the social interpretation of spatial organization among different types of houses of Panam. This study goes further in quantitative analysis by looking closely at the distribution of spaces within the building and how each space is integrated with other spaces. This measure is a powerful predictor of how busy or quite that particular space is likely to be. 3.1. Syntactic Analysis of Houses of Dhaka Five cases, including three introverted and two extroverted types, have been selected from Dhaka. F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:6 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:7 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
No of Spaces
Control Integration
Building No
Total
No of
no of Name of Space
Rings mea
Spaces
Type
max min mean max min
n
Transitional space 3 3 0.67 1.8 1.43 1 1.14
Uni-permeable
Introverted
1 21 7 7 0.25 0.16 0.18 0.82 0.64 0.67
space
House
Bi-permeable space 11 2 0.4 1.03 1.22 0.6 0.8
Court 1 5 0.86
Transitional space 6 2.3 0.42 1.41 1.25 0.67 1
Uni-permeable 0.6
9 0.33 0.17 0.3 0.77 0.5
Introverted
space 3
2 19 2
0.7
Bi-permeable space 2 0.83 0.75 0.8 0.83 0.67
House
5
Court 1 2.25 0.88
Transitional space 13 2.5 0.6 1.42 1.2 0.67 1
Uni-permeable 0.6
3 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.77 0.5
Introverted
space 7
3 29 12
0.8
Bi-permeable space 7 1.2 0.67 0.86 1.1 0.65
House
4
Court 2 1.1 0.7 1 1 0.8 1
0.8
Transitional space 8 1.25 0.45 1 1.03 0.6
5
Extroverted
Uni-permeable
4 23 19 0 - - - - - -
space
House
0.6
Bi-permeable space 10 2.25 0.5 1.16 0.88 0.53
8
0.8
Transitional space 6 4.2 0.8 2 1 0.5
3
Extroverted
Uni-permeable
5 23 10 4 0.33 0.14 0.2 0.64 0.45 0.6
space
House
House
Bi-permeable space 8 0.4 1.7 0.86 0.81 0.55 0.7
Table 01 : Syntactic Properties of prevailing House Forms of Dhaka
3.1. 1. Syntactic Properties of Introverted Houses:
Though the physical layout of introverted houses varies case to case, but several common syntactic
properties are found. They are-
- The transitional spaces, mostly those in the middle part of the building, remained strongly
integrated and have strong control as well. But the integration value of the courts varies with
their organization. When the court is in the middle part of the building it remained integrated
but the court remained segregated in rear parts. In all cases they have weak control.
- Ringiness is less pronounced as a character, except at the ground floor due to use of secondary
entries. Though many of these houses served both commercial and residential purposes still
segregation between public and private zones remained distinct. The residential part of the
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:8
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
houses remained segregated in uni-linear branches and did not belong to any external rings to
ensure the privacy of this part.
3.1.2. Syntactic Properties of Extroverted Houses:
These two cases of extroverted houses have similar syntactic properties.
- The graphs show extreme ringiness with deep interiors. Unlike the introverted type, the rings
are internally distributed in main building block. The service area is linked to the exterior. As a
result, external ring incorporated the ground floor spaces. But transitional spaces strongly
control the permeability of the main building block.
- All the living and service space are distributed in small intersecting internal rings. But the service
area remained segregated and non-distributed either physically or syntactically.
- In extroverted houses transitional spaces around vertical circulation remained as the most
integrated spaces. All other spaces, those are mostly bi-permeable in nature, remained
segregated.
Figure 5: Extroverted type Houses with Justified
GraphGraph
3.2. Syntactic Analysis of Houses of Panam
This research has observed the houses of Panam and undertaken a syntactic analysis on 22 houses
(Eshika, 2014). Here the results of 10 houses are discussed under respective groups. As the functional
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:9
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
labeling of internal spaces could not be identified from any prevailing literature, the present study has
identified different convex spaces2 and labeled by numbers for analysis. The continuous corridors around
halls and courts have been divided into different convex spaces. The carrier has been taken from outside
the building on Panam Street in all cases. To compare with the prevailing types of Dhaka, this paper has
labeled the spaces within the buildings according to their architectural morphology, like uni-permeable
and bi-permeable rooms, courts, halls, transitional spaces (like corridors, verandas) etc.
3.2.1. Double heighted Hall Type Houses:
Three buildings have been studied to find out the social logic of spaces through syntactic analysis,
especially the double heighted halls and the spaces around them. These buildings have some common
syntactic as well as morphological properties. Such as-
- The halls themselves are integrated spaces placed in shallower position of the configuration,
which are two to three steps deep from the carrier and also surrounded by strongly integrated
transitional spaces.
- The halls are extensively distributed among internal and external rings. This made the halls as
the locus of the visitor-inhabitant interface and encourages the outsiders or the visitors to
participate and experience the indoor activities.
- Though the hall is distributed with all the spaces of ground floor through series of linked spaces,
but it is not necessary for a person to pass through the hall every time he goes from one space
to another within the building. Still the hall has a strong control over its neighbouring spaces.
Thus, without being involved in the day to day activities of the configurations, the hall still
remained as a strong controlling space in these configurations.
- A highly ornamented small chamber is located adjacent to the hall in all the three cases which
remained non-distributed and extremely segregated (R=0.62-0.67). When such a separate
shallow uni-permeable space is surrounded by integrated and distributed bi-permeable spaces,
the uni-permeable space represents different kind of functional segregation (Hanson, 1998). In
the first place, it can be interpreted functionally, as a convenient place to do house hold work;
but its uni-permeable character with the double heighted hall in all three cases doesn’t support
this theory. So, in second instance, it had to be assigned a symbolic value, as a separate but
shallow place appropriate to the celebration of special, therefore more formal events, such as
celebration of prayers. Hence there is a possibility that this ornamented small chamber was
probably a temple and the double heighted hall was probably a space for public gathering in
special occasions which was dedicated to this uni-permeable cell.
- The distributed transitional spaces around the double heighted hall in the ground floor have the
highest integration value and also have a strong control over their neighbouring spaces. It is
found out that the mean integration of the colonnaded corridors around the hall are R=1 or
above. These integrated corridors are neither enclosed by continuous facade nor completely
open towards the hall. Rather these corridors are easily permeable spaces with a series of
colonnade opening towards the hall. Therefore it can be said that the hall is surrounded by
integrated corridors which are organized by a continuous system of boundaries.
In an ideographic language for architecture it is said that the space organized for social purpose are
always neither purely continuous nor purely bounded. The effective space organized for human social
purpose is a conversion of spatial continuum by a system of boundaries and permeability (Hanson,
1998). The hall and its adjacent corridors support this theory of socialization both physically and
2Convex space is a space where no line between any two of its points crosses the perimeter. A concave space has to
be divided into the least possible number of convex spaces.
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:10
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of PanamSSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium syntactically. Moreover the rings that distributed the internal spaces to the outdoor made these configurations more permeable for the visitors. Figure 5: Plan & Justified Graph of Double Heighted Hall type Buildings of Panam F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:11 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
Control Integration
No of Spaces
No of Rings
Total no Name of Space
of max min mean max min mean
Case no
Spaces
Type
Transitional space 8 2.1 0.75 1.6 1.3 0.83 1.05
Double Heighted Uni-permeable space 5 0.3 0.25 0.2 0.8 0.6 0.67
18 5 Bi-permeable space 1 0.6 0.71
Building
no-1
Hall
Double Heighted Hall 1 2 1
Transitional space 8 1.6 1 1.2 1.4 0.61 1
Double Heighted
Uni-permeable space 2 0.33 0.25 0.3 0.6 0.5 0.56
14 7 Bi-permeable space 1 0.75 0.71
Building
no-9
Hall
Double Heighted Hall 1 2 1
Transitional space 5 3.3 1 2 1 0.77 1
Heighted
Uni-permeable space 8 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.7 0.4 0.57
24 4 Bi-permeable space 9 2.5 0.7 1.2 0.8 0.5 0.61
Building
Double
no-39
Double Heighted Hall 1 1.8 1
Hall
Table 2: Syntactic Properties of Double Heighted Hall Type Houses of Panam
3.2.2. Courtyard Type Houses:
Usually the courtyard type houses in Panam have an enclosed courtyard in their middle part. The frontal
part has one or two rooms and the rear part has most of the rooms. The common syntactic properties of
courtyard type houses are-
Court remained as an integrated space (1/RRA=1) and is distributed among more than one ring with
almost all the bi-permeable spaces of the system. However these courtyards have weak control over
their neighbouring spaces.
- From this point of view, it can be said that, though, the courts are linked to almost all the spaces
in the configuration and is integrated to the system, still it certainly, is not such a place that has
much influence, syntactically, over its neighbouring spaces. Rather situated in the relatively
shallower zone in respect to the total system, probably it is a space which, has been frequently
used as a meeting place for the inhabitants and the visitors or outsiders. It’s open to sky
character refers to the possibility that, it may have worked as a light-well as well as a breathing
and recreational space for the inhabitants.
The syntactic values reveal that the front rooms in ground floor and transitional spaces in the middle
part are mostly integrated and rest of the configurations remained much segregated. Among the
transitional spaces the continuous verandas around the court have strong integration and control. These
transitional spaces of the configuration play a significant role in connecting the system locally and
globally and also strongly control the permeability of the internal part of the building.
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:12
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of PanamSSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
Figure 6: Plan & Justified Graph of Courtyard type House of Panam
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:13
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of PanamSSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
Control Integration
Total no of
Case No
Spaces
Name of Space
No of
No of
Rings
Spaces
Type
max min mean max min mean
Transitional space 7 5.3 0.45 2 1.4 0.83 1.1
Building no-33
Uni-permeable space 9 0.33 0.14 0.3 0.7 0.5 0.64
34 9
Courtyard
Bi-permeable space 12 2.33 0.5 1.1 1 0.5 0.85
Court 1 0.7 1
Transitional space 9 2.42 0.34 1.4 1.1 1 1.05
Uni-permeable space 2 0.25 0.2 0.2 0.7 0.76 0.75
Building no-34
27 12
Courtyard
Bi-permeable space 10 3.33 0.34 1.1 1.4 0.75 1.05
Court 1 0.65 1.03
Table 3: Syntactic Properties of Courtyard Type Houses of Panam
3.2.3. Consolidated Type Buildings
Based on circulation pattern in physical organization, the consolidated type buildings can be divided into
three sub-groups: single corridor type, multiple corridor type and buildings without corridors. Five
buildings of these three types have been analyzed to find out their morphological character.
General character of consolidated type buildings:
- These are extremely ringy systems incorporating exterior in more than one ring.
- The single corridor type buildings are very shallow with two or three steps depth, whereas other
two types are moderately deep sequences.
- The transitional spaces in middle part of the houses remained less integrated having very weak
control. Whereas the uni-permeable or bi-permeable spaces located at front or rear location,
which were directly linked to exterior, poses the highest integration values. The social
interpretation of integration is to incorporate the major activities of a system. The front and
rear rooms, therefore, can be expected to hold the most important function or circulation of
these configurations. Being in the shallowest part of the configuration, front rooms confirm the
permeability of the visitors in this space. Such strong integration in the front room which is the
place of visitor-inhabitant interface of the configuration is very uncommon in the residential
buildings of Dhaka.
- The front and rear rooms also pose strong control (above 1) over their neighbouring spaces.
These spaces, therefore, can be defined as the spaces which determine the visitor-inhabitant
and also inhabitant-inhabitant relationship thereby indicating their authority and choice to
control the permeability of the visitors in much segregated interior of the configuration.
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:14
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of PanamSSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
No of Spaces
Control Integration
No of Rings
Total no of
Name of Space
Spaces
Case no
Single corridor Single corridor Type
max min mean max min mean
5 1 Transitional space 1 0.6 1.25
Uni-permeable space 2 0.3 0.25 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.63
Building
no-24
Bi-permeable space 2 3 2 2.5 1.7 1 1.35
11 4 Transitional space 1 0.5 1.31
Uni-permeable space 0 - - - - - -
Building
no-45
Bi-permeable space 9 3.3 0.67 1.1 3.1 0.3 1.25
21 4 Transitional space 4 2 0.45 1 1.1 0.8 1
Uni-permeable space 2 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.55
No corridor Multiple corridor Multiple
corridor
Building
no-42
Bi-permeable space 10 2.3 0.75 1.3 1.1 0.6 0.8
13 3 Transitional space 4 0.7 0.42 0.5 1.4 1 1.26
Uni-permeable space 3 0.3 0.25 0.3 0.8 0.8 0.8
Building
no-42A
Bi-permeable space 4 4 1.75 2.4 2 1.3 1.63
12 3 Uni-permeable space 4 0.3 0.33 0.3 0.6 0.5 0.56
Building
no-31
Bi-permeable space 6 1.8 0.5 1.3 1.5 0.9 1.06
Table 4: Syntactic Properties of Consolidated Type House of Panam
Figure 7: Plan and Graph of Single Corridor
Type Building of Panam
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:15
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of PanamSSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium Figure 8: Plan and Graph of Multiple Corridor Type Buildings of Panam Figure 9: Plan and Graph of no Corridor Type Building of Panam F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:16 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
- On the other hand, the uni-permeable and bi-permeable rooms in the middle part of the
buildings are strongly segregated and have very weak control, which are directly opposite to the
model of centrally integrated systems as found in Hall type and Court yard type buildings.
- Small non-distributed and strongly segregated uni-permeable cells were found in the middle of
consolidated buildings. As we know that the non-distributedness indicates a tendency towards a
unitary super ordinate control (Hillier & Hanson; 1984), therefore, the permeability of these
spaces is controlled by their adjacent spaces. These chambers, situated in the physical center of
consolidated buildings are terminal spaces, thus remained non-distributed whereas surrounded
by distributed systems which only accommodate movement to and from themselves. Moreover,
it can be conjectured that these spaces were built to serve some kind of purpose which needed
insulation from everyday transaction as well as immediate surroundings. Absence of ventilation
and smaller sizes indicate that possibly these rooms were not habitable; rather they were
probably used as store for valuable goods.
4. Classification and Genotypes
‘Genotype’ is defined in terms of some sets of underlying relational and configurational consistencies
which show themselves under different ‘phonotypical’ arrangements. From j-graph analysis of the
samples, dominant types are found based on the existence of central hall, courtyard and corridors laid as
organizing elements in houses. Syntactically two distinct spatial-functional genotypic tendencies are
found - to integrate the spaces with the central part in hall and courtyard type buildings and to segregate
the spaces from the central part in consolidated buildings. Apart from ASB, a classification of house
forms can be derived in the context of Panam. The houses can be divided into two genotypes-
i. Houses with integrated central space.
ii. Houses with segregated central space.
In houses with integrated central spaces, the central space visually, physically and syntactically integrates
the total complex. On the other hand, the houses with segregated central spaces, it has a tendency to
segregate.
While compared to the prevailing houses of Dhaka, several similarities and differences have been
identified in the house form of Panam. Such as-
In spatial order, Panam buildings cannot be positioned entirely in any category of the prevailing house
forms of Dhaka. Both the introverted and extroverted type of houses of Dhaka had integrated central
spaces with highest integration in the central transitional spaces which is slightly reflected among the
Courtyard and Hall type houses, but totally absent in the consolidated houses of Panam.
The courtyard type houses with integrated central spaces are much similar to the introverted houses of
Dhaka. But the double heighted hall doesn’t have such resemblance. The double heighted halls of Panam
houses showed unique character having strong integration as well as strong control over their
neighbouring spaces. This is again not found in the courtyards of the introverted houses of Dhaka.
Therefore, the hall cannot be syntactically termed as ‘covered courtyard’ of these houses. Over and
above, the courtyard type houses of Panam are physically and syntactically similar to the introverted
enclosed courtyard type houses of Dhaka and all the transitional spaces in the central part of the
configuration remained strongly integrated. From physical and syntactic analysis therefore it can be said
that the courtyard type houses of Panam have some similarity with the introverted enclosed courtyard
type houses. Such similarity enhances when the court is placed in the central part of the introverted
buildings.
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:17
Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of PanamSSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium Almost all the spaces in the houses of Panam were distributed internally and also incorporated the exterior spaces with building interior in more than one ring, which is an uncommon character in the house forms of Dhaka. In the houses of Dhaka, zoning and privacy of the living and service spaces are a determinant factor. Other than transitional spaces, very few spaces of the Dhaka houses are distributed with the exterior. Thus the internal spaces of the houses of Dhaka remained in the uni-linear sequence ensuring the privacy of the living zones. Again, in extroverted houses, almost all the spaces are distributed in small intersecting internal rings but they do not link the exterior. Distributedness encourages permeability and makes the space shallow to the system which results in the lack of privacy. Hence, privacy is almost absent in Panam house. Finally, it can be said that, in the typology of ‘integrated central spaced buildings’, those buildings which have courtyard in the middle of the configuration have some common syntactic properties with both the introverted and the extroverted houses of Dhaka. Therefore they might have some residential properties, but those buildings with double heighted halls are quite different in comparison to the house form of Dhaka. The hall is clearly visible from almost all the neighbouring spaces in both ground and first floor. It is one or two steps away from Panam Street and can be easily permeable from the outdoor. Almost all the spaces of this type of buildings are linked to the outdoor with more than one external ring. Thus not only the hall but the other spaces are also easily permeable for the outsiders in hall type buildings. Though the central transitional spaces remain strongly integrated in these buildings like the house forms of Dhaka, the strong visibility, easy permeability and strong integration and control of the hall are not found in the prevailing house form of Dhaka. Moreover the segregated uni-permeable cell coupled with the strongly integrated hall remained as the unique characteristic of this type of building which is also a very uncommon character of the house form of Dhaka. Buildings with segregated central spaces are completely different from any prevailing typology of Dhaka. These are the buildings that have highest integration value in the frontal rooms adjacent to Panam Street which probably incorporated the visitors in the most integrated space of the configuration, which has no resemblance with the prevailing types of Dhaka. Moreover, the highest segregation in the physical center of the configuration is also an uncommon character in the house forms of Dhaka. 5. Conclusion Syntactic analysis reveals that the buildings of Panam were not the analogous genotypes of the residential house form of Dhaka. The buildings of Panam had a strong commercial interface for public use; simultaneously they probably didn’t have any exact residential use. The buildings with ‘integrated central spaces’ and ‘segregated central spaces’ have two completely different spatial organizations, among which the former type has some similarity to the residential houses of Dhaka. On the other hand, the buildings with ‘segregated central space’ reflect a completely new type. F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:18 Searching the genotypes: Architectural morphology of urban houses in the ancient city of Panam
SSS10 Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium
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Note for Software identification- JASS
Jass is a software for convex space analysis which is written under a GNU public license. The original
publication is: Koch, D., 2004, "Spatial Systems as Producers of Meaning: The idea of knowledge in three
public libraries".
F Nulifar & P Eshika 8:19
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