This study compares the social sustainability models of Western cities with those of historical Islamic cities in Iran, exploring their theoretical foundations and practical implementations. The research investigates whether the principles underlying Iranian Islamic cities align with Western standards of social sustainability, identifying similarities and differences between these models. Using a comparative analysis and an interpretative-historical approach, the study reviews the evolution of sustainable practices in both contexts. Concrete examples from Western urban models and Iranian cities are examined to assess their effectiveness in fostering sustainable communities and promoting sustainable behaviors. The findings highlight significant parallels between Western and Iranian Islamic models, with an 83% overlap, particularly with the new urbanism models of Europe and America, despite distinct approaches rooted in cultural and historical contexts. The study concludes that modern urbanism in the West and the Safavid era cities in Iran represent the most sustainable models within their respective regions.

Housing quality is one of the most important domains of quality of life. One of the most important qualitative aspects of housing is paying attention to the residents’ satisfaction with their place of residence. The purpose of the upcoming research is to know the physical-spatial characteristics that affect the quality of apartment housing. The research method is combined and based on two quantitative and qualitative approaches. In this way, in the first part and the qualitative approach of the research, the text content analysis method was used. In this section, with the help of the content analysis method, the most important sources of the first category related to the quality of apartment housing are reviewed and the physical-spatial characteristics affecting the quality of the housing are identified. In the second stage of the research, with the help of a quantitative approach, the evaluation of people’s characteristics has been done with the help of TOPSIS method. The statistical population university professors related to housing was used to evaluate the physical-spatial characteristics. The findings of the research show that the characteristics related to housing quality are not only physical.

Geometry is one of the most important aspects hidden in the design of historical buildings in a way, it can be said that architecture without the presence of geometry is meaningless and lacks functional validity. The ratio and proportion that can be seen in the entrance and front facade of the historical houses of Kashan is a function of geometry, which is named hidden geometry in this research. The geometric system at the entrance of historical houses is one of the most important topics that help to better understand the historical building. The findings show that the entrance design of the houses is under the hidden geometry system, and five types of geometric systems are used to shape it, including symmetry, Fibonacci in golden triangles, Fibonacci in golden rectangles, dynamic rectangles, and regular polygons.

Local reports from different international societies have considered the achievement of the successful Glocalized architecture model in line with the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Aga Khan Cultural Foundation’s International Program for Islamic Architecture has also prioritized the understanding of the success drivers in architectural projects. This study aimed to detect the potentials of the common global indicators to access qualitative design assessment through analyzing the Aga Khan Award’s reports. The selected methodology in the present study is a quantitative approach using the systematic content analysis and coding techniques for qualitative data obtained from the technical. The physical, non-physical, modern, and traditional factors that have contributed to the success of the works as well as their combinations were extracted and analyzed using Sensible and Abstract international, national, and local indications. There is a relative superiority for Sensible indications (A combination of modern and physical factors). The hybrid data distribution provides the ground to assess the works, and this can be used to manage the globalization challenges in the contemporary architecture of Muslim societies.

Contemporary Iranian architecture in the last forty decades has been influenced by different currents and trends, from modern trends to postmodern and kitsch and attention to regionalism in recent years. Yet, there have been fewer participatory approaches in design and especially community architecture. As an approach, participatory architecture has not been a suitable approach for many architects because they believe the user interference leads the project to a wrong path, and it is a time-consuming process. On the other side, some governments make seductive participation for some political aims. Many recourses in this field talk about the user’s direct participation in the design process, and also many of the cases are not outstanding in contemporary architecture literature. So just a seduce participation occurs during design. Some methods used in this kind are questionnaires, workshops, interviews, etc. Some cases consider involvement during the project’s construction phases (especially in developing countries). Assessing different successful Iranian projects in four recent decades shows a little kind of participatory methods in CA of Iran. The lack of usage of community architecture paradigms leads to not being too good architecture practices. Some projects with a successful appearance made community design principles in the design process. Combining regionalism and community design approaches make responsible and sustainable projects for the future. In this study, by using the PAR research method, the typology of participatory architecture in contemporary Iranian architecture has been analyzed. Seven typologies of participation in the design process show different levels and conditions of participation for users and architects. Some typologies such as interpretive and regional participation consider more values, costumes and user behaviors, and they are more indirect. In the next step, using the case study research method and qualitative analysis by the ATLAS.ti software, the relationship between the concepts of community architecture and its impact on the formation of Iranian architecture has been discussed. Different typologies of participation in architectural cases are wide ranges of successful methods of participation that if far from previous typical involvement consideration in social mobilization and questioner’s procedures. Today, questionnaire participation and social mobilization are named seduce participation (also, in some cases, may be useful). In recent years, the tendency towards participatory design with interpretive and regionalism approaches has increased. Studies show the use of three branches: 1 – Elements of traditional Iranian-Islamic architecture (29 codes), incorporation with the environment (23 codes), use of natural light (17 codes) are the most important reasons for the formation of today’s Iranian architecture. In recent years, by combining the concepts of community architecture (29 codes) with emphasis on identity (4 codes), transparency (4 codes), attention to user needs (3 codes), privacy, sense of belonging, sense of ownership, and sense of unity have become the main criterion of architectural formations. Today, assessing the contemporary architecture of Iran (recent decades) shows the usage of responsible typologies of participation in the design process have a good impact on the built environment, and it also improves the condition of life for user and respects values, culture, costumes, needs and ideas, literature survey and recommends a sustainable future. The most influential factors in contemporary Iranian architectural ideas in recent years include topics such as the Usage of Iranian-Islamic traditional elements, harmony with nature, and natural light. Combining Iranian-Islamic traditional architecture elements (such as courtyards, Koushk, etc.) with community design architectural concepts with solutions such as social spaces, flexibility, platform spaces, courtyards are the most important features of the formation of today’s architecture. Central courtyard, Eyvan, and the Persian garden have been the three main elements of today’s Iranian architecture.

Flexibility has been one of the valuable concepts in architecture due to the emphasis on the formation of a variable space to meet the needs of users and their peace and comfort over time. The main components of flexibility in a space system are multi-functional space, seasonal and daily displacement, and component separation and aggregation. Overall flexibility is a structural and conceptual concept that means the ability to make internal changes in a spatial system. On the other hand, the concept of spatial configuration emphasizes that space is the main factor and core of how events occur. To understand and explain the spatial configuration, one should look for a suitable method that responds to the environmental characteristics, one of the most important methods for understanding the spatial configuration is the space arrangement method. This method determines the configuration of a spatial system with the help of its variables, which are: coherence, depth, space difference, isovist, and visual accessibility. The main goal of this research is to know the relationship between spatial configuration variables and flexibility components in the spatial system of traditional houses in the Sufian neighborhood of Borujerd. This research is of applied type and has been done through correlation strategy and space layout method. The tool for collecting information in this research is documentary and library research and a survey through a questionnaire. To evaluate the variables and components of spatial configuration and flexibility, the relationship between the components and variables is first measured using the correlation method and spss software. The statistical population for measuring the relationship between flexibility components and spatial configuration variables is 25 experts and university professors. In the next step, five houses from the traditional houses of the Sufian Boroujerd neighborhood will be measured and evaluated using specialized space layout software to determine the variables of the concept of spatial configuration and their relationship with flexibility components. The results of this research show that the multi-functional space component in flexibility with depth and visual accessibility variables in the concept of spatial configuration, the seasonal and daily displacement component in flexibility with interconnected variables, space difference and isovist in the concept of spatial configuration and the component of separation and aggregation in flexibility is related to the interlinking variables, depth, and difference of space in the concept of spatial configuration.

In Iranian architecture, the emphasis on the use of geometric ratios such as human scale and modularization, caused beauty and harmony. Unfortunately, in contemporary architecture, the use of these scales has been forgotten, and their presence has been diminished. Therefore, the main goal of the present study was to analyze and evaluate the geometry and proportions used in six remaining traditional Iranian sunken courtyards in Yazd and Kashan. For each house, the length, width, height and the ratio between these dimensions were measured for the sunken courtyard, courtyard and earth of the case studies. Then, to find out which kind of proportions were used in these sunken courtyards, we proposed some statistical tests to compare our measurements with the traditional proportions used. In the end, the results showed that the proportions used in the design of the sunken courtyard, courtyard, and earth of the case studies are related and the traditional Iranian sunken courtyards have been designed mostly based on the use of Gereh (a unit of measurement), which was the most appropriate and most widely used scale in housing architecture.

In many parts of the world, especially Central Asia, pigeon towers have been constructed as traditional buildings with different forms and types to keep pigeons. These buildings are cylindrical, cubic, dome-like and multi-cylinder in shape. This study was conducted to identify the effects of sunlight and shadow on the surfaces of pigeon towers in Iran, Qatar, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia with hot and dry or humid climates. Several pigeon towers with different types and structures in these countries were selected and modeled in detail in Rhino 5. Radiance and Ecotect were then employed to measure solar radiation and shadow on the surfaces of the pigeon towers on the hottest day of the year. According to the graphical and numerical results obtained, sunlight and shadow differently affected the surfaces of the different pigeon towers. The effect level of sunlight and shadow on the single-form pigeon towers was higher than on the vaults. In fact, solar radiation was lower and shadow was higher per square meter of the surfaces of the vaults constructed as pigeon towers in close proximity. These houses were therefore found to be the optimal type for the hot and dry or humid climate in Central Asia.

Natural structures are known to be the source of inspiration for numerous architectural and structural rules in the fields of aesthetics, function, and structure; therefore, the application of the principals governing them could be used for appropriate and optimal design. The present paper was conducted to model the natural structure of load transfer in order to design the structure of a pedestrian bridge with a span of 100 meters. This bridge is located in a mountain park in the tourist area of Kashan, 230 km south of Tehran. For this purpose, by examining the patterns in the nature, which provides a relevant answer to the problem, the spine of animals was identified as the bearing skeleton of the body, the best option for patterning. Inspired by it, a stable structure was designed as a skeleton of a bridge without a middle pillar. Based on a form inspired by the spine of a four-legged animal, the bridge structure was designed. To control the stability of the bridge structure against the loads, the initial design idea was analysed employing the Karamba plugin in Grasshopper software to identify its weaknesses and the final design was obtained. The final design was analysed with SAP2000 structural finite element software to ensure the stability and control of permissible deformations. Additionally, attention to the modular structure of the spine was the source of inspiration for the design of prefabricated elements of the bridge parts, which in addition to reducing the cost of execution, increases the speed of construction of the project. The final design of the pedestrian bridge, which acts similar to a suspension bridge in terms of load transfer and was inspired by the structure of a four-legged vertebrate, is a combination of truss and tensegrity structure and in addition to visual aesthetic, has optimal structural performance.

The article “The role of visual preferences in architecture views” by Ali Akbar Amini, Bahman Adibzadeh, published on 24 September 2020 in the Journal of Architecture and Urbanism, 44(2), 122–127, https://doi.org/10.3846/jau.2020.12582 contained a following errors on: 122 p. The source is incorrectly cited in the text. The correct citation is: (de la Fuente Suárez, 2016) 126 p. The references incorrectly indicate author name, lastname and title of article. The correct citation is: de la Fuente Suárez, L. A. (2016). Towards experiential representation in architecture. Journal of Architecture and Urbanism, 40(1), 47–58. https://doi.org/10.3846/20297955.2016.1163243 Corrected version of the article is available online. The publisher apologises for this error.

With rapid changes in urban living today, peoples’ behavioural patterns and spatial practices undergo a constant process of adaptation and negotiation. Using “house” as a laboratory and everyday life and spatial relations of residents as a framework of analysis, the paper examines the spatial planning concepts in traditional and contemporary Iranian architecture and the associated socio-cultural practices. Discussions are drawn upon from a pilot study conducted in the city of Kerman, to investigate ways in which contemporary housing solutions can better cater to the continually changing socio-cultural lifestyles of residents. Data collection for the study involved a series of participatory workshops and employed creative visual research methods, participant observation and semi structured interviews to examine the interlacing of everyday socio-spatial relations and changing perception of identity, belonging, socio-cultural and religious values and conflict. The inferences from the study showcases the emerging social and cultural needs and practices of people manifested through the complex relationship between residents, the places in which they live, and its spatial planning and organisation. For a better understanding of this complex relationship, the paper argues the need for resituating spatiality as a socio-cultural paradigm.

The cities of Dezful and Boroujerd can be considered a treasure trove of traditional houses in Iran whose social, functional, and cultural roots are reflected in their architectural body. Traditional housing includes and expresses the lifestyles and behavioral systems of its inhabitants. Therefore, by analyzing the spatial structure in different traditional dwellings, we can understand the structural differences in them. The main purpose of this study is to identify and express the structure and spatial differences in traditional housing in Dezful and Boroujerd, which have many differences in terms of environmental structure. This study seeks to answer the question: What are the differences between structural patterns and spatial configuration in traditional housing in Dezful and Boroujerd? The method of this research is generally qualitative and software that includes analytical-descriptive approaches and logical reasoning. First, using observation, field survey, and library studies, the desired maps are obtained and the research parameters such as spatial integrity, visual privacy and control, and access are determined. In the next step, the maps of selected research houses are analyzed and analyzed in Space Syntax software, which is specialized software for space syntax, and the patterns of spatial configuration in traditional houses of Dezful and Boroujerd are expressed. The results show that the permeability and readability of more spaces due to the depth of each space and better spatial perception by individuals in traditional houses in Dezful is more than traditional houses in Boroujerd. In contrast, in traditional houses in Boroujerd, spatial stratification and spatial hierarchy, the creation of public and private layers due to the shape and type of housing, and also environmental security in the residential complex is more than the examples of traditional housing in Dezful.

The sense of place is like a mental perception of people individuals and the conscious feeling of the environment and the entrance as important signs cause the formation of mental image and the continuity of sense of belonging to the place in people. The character that the entrance takes is an important factor for the connection between inside and outside the building. The research question is what are the criteria for recognizing entrance architecture? And how have these criteria been able to improve the continuity of the sense of belonging to the place in the inhabitants of the historical context of Kashan? In the architecture of Kashan’s houses, entrance space as a conceptual element has high importance and reflects the architectural, cultural, and social values. This important element, which is based on behavioral patterns, has lost its identity today and has been reduced scale to a separating outside from inside. Studies show that integration and integrity, the radius of vision, and visual depth are three important indices designed based on them. This research through case study and using Depth map software has examined these characteristics at the entrance of nine historical houses in Kashan. The results show that the design of these entrances has the highest degree of coherence and a maximum radius of view and due to high visual depth have high privacy.

Since the biggest part of the human relationship with environments occurs through visual sense, the interests and wills of humans in seeing environment and architecture are important. In fact, these interests give personal or individual aspects of architecture. The role of these visual interests and mental judgments of architecture audience is very important, such that architecture has become a function of the visual preferences of the audience. Therefore, realizing these preferences is important to form architecture and ignoring them results in not providing the desired architecture condition for the audience or the required motivations for producing useful mental images to meet the basic needs of the audience. Accordingly, this study addresses the role of visual preferences in the formation of environment architecture? And which factors in this environment affect this concept? Thus, this study aims to describe the visual preferences paradigm in architecture in order to examine its different aspects in relation to human and environmental behaviors and determine the effective factors, so This study was conducted using Bourdieu’s “distinction theory” and the nature of sensory judgment with the help of field studies and descriptive analysis a number of audiences of 62 different residential environments. As a result of this research, natural, memorable, evocative environments along with the combination of open and closed spaces have shown the most visual preferences of the person towards architecture that the mental images of the person with cultural roots have been very effective in judging architecture views.

Unfortunately, the architecture and urbanization of the Iranian cities, especially the traditional Iranian cities in the present era, are in many cases in contrast to the historical, social, and cultural background of these cities. In this study, architectural design in small historical cities such as Soltaniyeh has been explored to achieve a conceptual and sustainable architecture through a research-based library approach inference. Achieving the principles of architectural design in the historic city of Soltaniyeh. Iran is the main concern of this research. Therefore, to reach an integrated design process, previous studies and projects were examined and analyzed and the obtained data and principles, including historical, cultural, social, natural, climate, were in the design process of the real project. As a final result of this study, the integrated design process of these parameters is presented as a process of architectural design in small historical cities such as Soltaniyeh.

The expansion of cities and increasing car traffic have brought problems such as increased greenhouse emission, noise pollution, and access problems that makes sustainable urban development one of the most significant concerns of urban governors. Obviously, the utilization of public transportation and walkability is one of the highly significant aspects of sustainable development. In an effort for the recognition of urban districts of Bojnourd, the current article compares the extent of walkability in each district. To investigate the walkability index using the opinions of experts and scholars 4 criteria and 22 sub-criteria were taken into consideration. In this regard, the ANP approach was also applied to improve decision making and grading the importance of criteria; districts were finally graded using the TOPSIS model concerning walkability. In the present study as an applied one, field surveys, questionnaires, library studies, and documents were the data collection tools. The findings revealed that the old district (central), have the highest walkability potential in comparison to medial, and the new development districts respectively. Since the old district has the highest amount of mixed land uses, passage connectivity, passage integration, public transport, and so forth, it can be concluded that walkability is closely related to the mentioned factors.

In recent decades, the concept of existence is increasingly becoming a significant subject in contemporary studies of architecture. However, its concerns in architecture cannot be denied in the last centuries. In the 17th-century Persia, a philosophical movement had effects on the concept of existence, which coincided with the urban developments, and the establishment of novel civic centers. With respect to philosophical backgrounds of architecture, this study aims to interpret the concept of existence in the designs of civic centers. For this purpose, the primacy of existence to essence, and bestowing of presence are illustrated to analyze the presentations in the designs of civic centers in that era. Then, the presentations are categorized to elucidate manifesting units in the designs of civic centers. Finally, the result of this study presents principles applied in the designs of civic centers, based on the concept of existence

Although the Pritzker Architecture Prize is prestigious and highly influential, it has not been the subject of any coherent studies to date. This research investigates the network of sponsors, the jury members influential on the nomination process, as well as the discourses dominant during each year of the prize. In the first section, we examine the network of sponsors using the bibliography method. In the second section, we study the contents of the annual jury citations using the content analysis method. The second section shows that each announcement contains four parts and various sub-parts. we compare the results of both sections to draw a content map of the various years of the prize. Finally, we attempted to evaluate the relationship between the jury members and their cooperation network with the discourses formed over time.

Human has a dimension of knowledge named the tacit knowledge that the main important part of it is obtained through experience and direct connection with phenomena over time that turns into a pattern. Based on knowledge and intelligent use of it, the garden-house pattern appears to have an unbreakable bond with the nature and the understanding of both social and cultural rules of users. The research questions at first place discuss the role of tacit knowledge in shaping the architecture of garden-houses of Meybud and how this knowledge has appeared in architecture of garden-houses of Meybud. Qualitative research method and data collection method relies on library studies and field research. The results indicate that the patterns of housing in Meybud have shaped based on the recognition of two components of environment (the climate and natural context) and human (social norms), understanding of these two and applying them. The tacit knowledge and reliance on experiences is very influential and the garden-house pattern is institutionalized as the most sustainable pattern of architecture.

During the past two decades, economic crises and climate change have triggered mass migrations from rural areas to big cities and metropolises. Considering that the destination cities often lack the required capacity to systematically accommodate these newcomers, immigrants settle in unofficially on city margins. Since these immigrants have different ethnicities, the informal settlements constructed by them turn into multiethnic informal Settlements in which development of proper social ties becomes impeded. As a result, social cohesion is weakened and eventually ceases to exist among the residents in open community spaces. In this regard, the present study aims to analyze this process and the effects of multiethnicity on social cohesion in the open community spaces of poor urban areas and the role of environmental factors in this mechanism. The Hesar Imam Khomeini neighborhood, which is located in Hamadan Province and has a rural core, has given shelter to Lurish, Kurdish, Turkish and Persian-speaking immigrants during recent years, which makes it a suitable sample for study. Because of the existing limitations and in order to achieve the goal of the study, the grounded theory was used to conduct the research. In-depth interview was carried out on sixteen residents of the neighborhood, four individuals from each ethnicity. After coding the interviews using the theory, a grounded model of the study was formed. The results indicate that multiethnicity has negatively affected behavior settings, vibrancy and consequently social cohesion in the open community spaces of the area of study through the three factors of “different expectations from neighborhood space”, “different time of attendance in open spaces” and “different residence size”. It can be proposed that “creating spatial shared values” is one of the most effective strategies which can be used for narrowing gaps and increasing social cohesion in multiethnic neighborhoods.

Today, our understanding and experience of heritage sites have been reframed by the advent of social media and the ubiquitous use of smartphones that offer more participatory ways of interacting with heritage. The lifespan of a heritage site is highly concerned with how it is understood and experienced by visitors. This study aims to investigate a heritage site and its participatory culture through the lens of social media and how a certain heritage site could be understood by these online networks. The historic city of Shiraz packed with several monumental buildings and heritage sites has been chosen as the case study of this research. Three social media platforms of Flickr, 500px and Instagram were investigated during 2015 and their photos of Shiraz were downloaded for analysis. The analysis of more than 186 images from these websites has provided an opportunity to investigate how the historical district of Shiraz is remembered in the eyes of social media users. Based on the initial photo audits, Nasir-al-Molk Mosque with more than 74 published images was the most published building and therefore was selected for an in-depth photo survey analysis. The Nasir-al-Molk Mosque images were studied regarding the physical and spiritual qualities of its building and how they contribute to its popularity among social media photographers.

With recent advances in technology, fundamental changes have occurred in architectural flexibility methods, a great deal of experience has been gained, and many strategies and tactics have been developed in this field. However, a convergence is lacking in these experiences, methods, and tactics, which raises a need for providing a convergent approach in this regard. In this paper, it is going to propose such a model of flexibility. To do this, it is first reviewed the general concepts of flexibility, and provide a short review of its history and its main executional tactics. It is then divided its main tactics into eight main groups of: ‘open plan’, ‘pre-fabricated modules’, ‘similar spaces’, ‘extendable unit᾽, ‘attachment and detachment of adjacent units’, ‘common space between adjacent units’, ‘portable walls’, and ‘retractable furniture in a multifunctional space’. Analyzing these tactics, it is extracted the three fundamental principles of flexibility: ‘soft connection’, ‘diversity and multiplicity of spaces’, and ‘multifunctional space’. Accordingly, this paper proposes a concise rule for flexibility as: ‘soft connections between spaces’ which implies to the three principles if some special attentions are paid. Although the rule seems to be simple, the paper argumentations show that paying attention to what it implies, can produce much more flexible spaces than what is created generally. At the same time, new creative ideas along supported by new emerging technologies can enrich these simple solutions extensively.

Iranian garden has been known as a specific architecture in the whole world. Among all its special features, the geometrical structure of Iranian garden has always attracted the attention of architects and researchers. Nowadays, despite numerous studies on the Iranian gardens, the lack of geometrical studies and the extension of some old concepts have led to recognize the Iranian gardens based on a unique pattern in terms of geometry. This pattern has been known as an archetype and typifies the Iranian Garden Geometry as a quarter pattern. That it could not be a true hypothesis, because the impact of garden components on its structure has been neglected. Investigating geometric position of garden elements and their relationship with the general form of garden would provide more accurate theoretical basis for Iranian garden design. In addition, this approach could help experts to retrieve the ruined part of historical gardens. So far, extensive garden studies have been carried out more on the symbolic concepts, components introduction and typology according to times and locations. This article is the first attempt to study each common element’s geometry to realize how the spatial structures could be effective in the garden formation. This paper aims to recognize the architectural geometric logic of gardens based on library studies and field recordings.

The concept of identity has the potential to be interpreted from the aspect of any field and according to requirements and abilities of that. Identity is defined as language, art, and thought of any phenomenon, and the relations between these components in an environment. These relations represent a range of similarities and dissimilarities. Structure is one of the concepts that can be tracked in different phenomena. Identity is a total, consisting of language, art, and thought that are related to each other by transformators, around regulators, in adherence to principles, which create the identity structure. Likewise, the physical structure of the city is the outcome of structure of its components that are related to each other by transformators, around regulators and in adherence to principles. This study aims to find out whether the identity structure of the society is in accordance with the physical structure of the city? The study has been performed by descriptive and comparative methods. Results show that the identity structure of the society is corresponded to the physical structure of the city in principles, components and constituents. As a result, the identity structure of the society is in accordance with the physical structure of the city.