An Investigation of the Open Spaces Design principles with regard to the Iranian Urban Development and Architectural Background

Since old times, open spaces have been noticed in the Iranian architecture and urban development and it can be said that no building has been built unless there has been proper redevelopment and formation of open space noticed by the architect in it. The stable principles of Iranian past architecture in the open spaces is also observed such as respect to the nature, attention to proportions, unity between the whole and a part, stability and coordination with the climate, creation of the sense of place and space identity. Amid these, there has always been a specific attention to open spaces in the design of Iranian housing units. Observing the full and empty models in the creation of the Iranian living spaces in agreement with the culture of adaptation with the nature of this nation has been the method of performance in the side of architects in different climates of this country for constant centuries. In recent centuries, unfortunately, with the passage of time and in particular the presence of foreign culture in the housing architecture of this land, paying attention to the creation of dynamic open spaces and in agreement with the life of residents have been forgotten. Limitation of such places to parking, storehouses or moving routes inside the residential units, has practically deleted the application of open spaces as a part of human life environment from the housing complexes. This article has three parts. The first two parts, deals with the features of open spaces in the past architecture of Iran through research process of library and searching in various sources and analyses its formation in the Iranian housing. Then, it deals with the course of change of full and empty spaces models in the Iranian contemporary architecture and challenges ahead of it in creation of open spaces in today’s housing units. In the third part, using the qualitative research methods and based on the existing conditions and present rules of architecture and urban development ruling in the country, and also through compilation of design approaches and suggestions in open spaces, authors have tried to revive the principles expressed in the first part in the formation of these places in the housing architecture.