Semantic analysis of traditional Persian residential architecture with an emphasis on the role of signs (Case study: Traditional houses in hot-dry climate)

Statement of Problem: To improve the identity of residential architecture, it is required to enhance the semantic dimensions in the design. To do this, the principles of traditional residential architecture in hot-dry climates, as one of the richest physical-spatial models for Iranian houses, must be applied. On the other hand, one of the best strategies for giving meaning to works is to use signs by examining users' mental image. However, nowadays, semantic concepts such as users' perception or mental image are less considered or ignored in the residential architecture due to factors such as economy or superficiality in design. This is due to the ignorance of the user-environment relationship at the educational and executive levels of design. Therefore, there is a need for finding a practical approach to semantics by extracting the signs existing in traditional houses. To meet this need, the present study seeks to answer the question "What is the role of signs in the semantic aspects of traditional Persian houses in hot-dry climate?" Since the use of successful traditional architectural models is another way for enhancing the identity of residential architecture, it seems necessary to find and use them in contemporary housing in accordance with the current situation. The research background mainly focuses on finding physical patterns or semantic principles in Iranian houses from non-semiotic perspectives, so obviously, there is a need for research on the extraction of patterns using semiotics to match the design with the users' reading.

The design performed "only to satisfy the building function", cannot meet such affairs as identity. So, it must meet the perceptual needs to manifest identity in architecture, and this will be possibly achieved if the design is performed through a semantic process. To this end, the present research seeks to find out how the categories of signs match with the components affecting mental image in traditional houses in the hot-dry climate. Since the present study looks for the effect of signs on meaning in traditional housing design, "sign" is an independent variable, and "meaning in housing design" is a dependent variable. Accordingly, the research hypothesis is as follows: "Using the categories of signs has played a role in the meaning of traditional residential architecture in the hot-dry climate". The present study aims to extract the principles of semantics from the semiotic perspective to use in contemporary residential architecture to pay more attention to the identity and semantic dimensions of today's living environments.

the present research is a qualitative study in which applied examples of traditional residential architecture in the hot-dry climate are studied using "document mining" and "qualitative content analysis". In the "data analysis" section, the matching of the components affecting the mental image with the categories of signs is evaluated by examining the examples of traditional Persian houses in the hot-dry climate. Accordingly, the relationships between the categories of signs, including "index", "symbol", and "icon", and the "spatial", "human" and "temporal" components affecting mental image are analyzed. It should be noted that the case studies are selected based on two criteria: 1. having spatial and physical richness, and 2. having a design in which one can observe the matching of the categories of signs with the components affecting perception. The authors attempt to select those cases having the features observed in most of the traditional Persian houses in the hot-arid climate. In the selected samples of traditional Persian houses in the hot-dry climate, any analyzable relationship between the categories of signs and factors affecting mental image is analyzed. It should be noted that it was attempted to select those components common to most traditional houses in the hot-dry climate.

The results indicate that in traditional houses in the hot-dry climate, "icon", "index", and "symbol" have been used as a means to express meanings by being matched with human, environmental and temporal components affecting users' mental image in accordance with their cultural context. Moreover, the results show the matching of the environmental components with the categories of "icon", "index" and "symbol". The temporal components affecting the users' reading show their highest degree of matching with the category of "icon". The "icon" and "symbol" categories also have the highest degree of matching with the human components affecting the users' reading. Therefore, one of the effective strategies for providing a semantic-oriented residential design is to use the components of "function", "body", "scale", "historical background", "individual experience", "social event", "physiological and psychological factors", "individual and social behaviors" of users and also attention to "components affecting the sense of belonging to place and community" in the form of different categories of signs in the design. Therefore, using different categories of signs, which match with the factors affecting the users' mental image, considering the temporal, spatial and human context of the design can be a way to consider meaning and identity in today's housing designs.