Residential In-between spaces, in addition to providing a connection between outside and inside, light, and natural ventilation, offer an opportunity to connect people with nature and neighbors. They are ambiguous in nature and belong to neither inside nor outside a housing unit, having this possibility of regulating the relationship between inside and outside. They create boundaries between housing units that shape the spatial configuration of home-patches and neighborhood. Considering the relevance of these two items in social and environmentally sustainable design, the in-between space is an important place to meet different human needs. Therefore, examining and understanding the current situation of the in-between space is the basis for a more conscious design approach compatible with people's lifestyles. This paper aims to understand in-between spaces’ different typologies within the home-patch scale in the city of Aleppo throughout its history from the traditional housing to the latest official residential urban development before the war. The city's informal housing is excluded from this study. This research tries to answer these questions:
- What are the in-between spaces in a home-patch and how are they distinguished?
- What categories of housing are there in the historical course of housing developments in Aleppo city?
- What types of in-between spaces can be identified in the official housing category of Aleppo city?
- What are their physical differences? And what environmental qualities have they led to?
The research methodology consisted of three stages, first: developing a theoretical framework about physical characteristics and environmental qualities of in-between spaces in home-patches, second: dividing Aleppo housing development into different periods and selecting samples of home-patches from these periods, third: field-study. comparison, analyzing findings and drawing conclusions. Since the study of the city as a whole is beyond the scope of the present paper, an attempt has been made to present the typology of in-between spaces and their distinguishing characteristics by studying the historical developments of the residential neighborhoods of Aleppo and selecting neighborhoods and home-patches for a more detailed investigation. The first stage of the research has classified in-between spaces into transitional spaces and connecting spaces that include housing unit entrances, building entrances, staircases, ground floor yards, balconies, roofs, green spaces, and pavements. According to the literature these spaces were to be analyzed based on a) physical characteristics such as location and surrounding spaces and enclosure; and b) environmental qualities such as physical accessibility, visual permeability, adaptability, livability, comfort and sense of safety. In the second stage, using a descriptive-analytical research strategy, five housing periods are examined: traditional housing - housing during the French occupation period (1920-1946) - housing after independence and until the beginning of the socialist economy (1963-1946) - Housing in the stage of socialist economy (1963-2004) - Housing in the stage of social economy (2004-2010). the neighborhoods were identified by examining historical and library sources, and aerial photographs, and then by conducting a field study to identify in-between spaces. A home-patch has been selected for a detailed study and the main types of in-between spaces in Aleppo city have been identified and presented in the table.
The results indicate the presence of four typologies for each of the housing unit entrances, the building entrances, ground floor yards, and balconies; and three typologies for each of the staircases, green spaces, and pavements. One of the most obvious results is the transformation of transitional spaces such as the staircase and the pavements in their physical characteristics and environmental qualities. The staircases transformed from a private space with private physical access and visual permeability to a semi-public space with inappropriate environmental qualities that lessened their livability and sense of safety. In contrast, transitional spaces outside the residential building such as pavements have larger dimensions and a better sense of safety. In the same manner, connecting spaces inside the residential buildings such as balconies, entrances, and yards have been given smaller dimensions and inappropriate visual permeability for private activities, also reducing the sense of safety in them. However, the green spaces on the sidewalk and the home-patch park are designed to provide climatic comfort and a sense of safety through their visual permeability from all balconies.
Therefore, one of the most obvious results is the transformation of transition spaces from completely private to semi-public and from semi-private to public ones, increasing their number, and the change of connecting spaces despite their private ownership into semi-private and semi-public spaces through their visual permeability. With this transformation, the livability of spaces such as the staircase, ground floor yard and green spaces decreased. Also, reducing the dimensions of semi-private transition and connection spaces has led to not paying attention to important social dimensions and not responding to environmental issues.
Aleppo, like other Syrian cities, went through many changes in its residential fabric, especially after the French colonial period. In-between spaces have undergone significant transformation changing the nature of the relationship between people and their houses. The typologies presented in this paper identify and classify the existing situations of in-between spaces in Aleppo before the war and the changes in their environmental qualities, opening the door for future studies to evaluate and revise the design of these spaces in accordance with Aleppo's culture and their adaptation to their lifestyle.