Analyzing Techniques of Urban Façade Using Developing Topic-based Analysis Approach of Cityscape According to the Factors Affecting it from an Urban Design Perspective

Recent developments and the pace of construction in cities and subsequent urban disruption call for a more accurate look at the issue of townscape and, at a smaller scale, the urban façade and cityscape. One of the important elements of the urban landscape is urban bodies. Urban bodies are among the most effective elements affecting the quality of urban spaces, the modification of which can increase the quality of the visual landscape of the city. The constitutive surfaces of each body are called "façade", which is the most important vertical element of urban landscape. In the meantime, the street view should be considered as one of the main components of urban bodies. Codification a visual landscape management framework for urban bodies is of particular importance and should be proportionate to various components such as context, physical conditions, and land-use type. However, unfortunately, by looking at the bodies of most of the country's metropolises such as Tehran, it becomes clear that these views are not in good condition, especially in terms of aesthetics. What can be seen in Tehran, much more than the desirable features, are the problems of the urban landscape. This issue needs serious investigation and action. On the other hand, the existing practical approaches of urban landscape design only aim for organizing of urban façades. Hence, one of the biggest problems is how designers ignore the three-dimensional approach to urbanscape while considering the two-dimensional view and provide cosmetic-decorative solutions. Therefore, in this research different analytical tools of urban façades and the way they can be applied have been introduced. Since the comprehensive façade analysis must evolve a 3D output, the techniques are studied to reveal the principles, façade levels, measurement tools, and the applicable software. So, the purpose of this study is to explain the importance of façade analytical studies in urban design and to identify factors affecting their design, as well as to introduce façade analysis and modeling techniques. In this paper, we try to study the factors affecting cityscapes, to develop a conceptual-analytical framework of the relationships among these factors to present appropriate analysis techniques, methods, and software related to it. Therefore, the present study, with an applied-analytical approach and subject-oriented development, while analyzing the urban façade holistically and comprehensively and explaining the types of it based on location and uses, formulates and introduces its analysis techniques. As a result, a comprehensive analytical toolbox and up-to-date techniques, and the way each one could be applied in the analysis process, evaluation, and design of the urban façade and cityscape are presented to the experts with a succinct introduction of the software associated with each of the façade factors. Finally, an example of façade modeling is presented based on “inverse modeling of façade layout” to demonstrate the power of applying modern techniques over traditional and manual analysis. This allows for a combination of modern and traditional approaches to take advantage of both.