Traditional Settlement Morphology from the Perspective of Thermodynamic Architecture Theory: Taking Two Villages in the Iberian Peninsula as Examples

The form of rural settlements is not determined by a single factor, but by various factors. With a particular focus on settlement morphology and natural energy, this study introduces thermodynamic architecture theory to discuss the relationship between rural settlement morphology and environmental energy, starting from the analysis of the relationship between rural settlement morphology and building density, building order and settlement boundary dispersion, trying to provide a reference for the updated design of traditional settlements. The first part of this paper explains the research method of settlement form based on thermodynamic architecture theory from the theoretical level trying to construct the analysis framework of settlement form typology based on energy concept. The second part introduces the coupling between thermodynamic energy concept and morphology from the methodological level. The relationship between the three energy correlation factors of intensity, order and dispersion and settlement morphology is studied. In this paper, two settlement cases are quantitatively analysed by simulation and mathematical analysis. In conclusion, it proposes a new perspective for the morphological analysis of rural settlements, which provides a feasible framework for further research on energy utilization and microclimate comfort of settlements. This study also provides a preliminary concept for the integration of the buildings type and thermodynamic study of vernacular architecture in the future.