The Role of Modernity Indicators in Housing Architecture Dimensions: A Case Study of Tabriz Residential Complexes

Housing has various aspects whose formation is a reflection of various social, economic, cultural, ideological, and environmental conditions. Due to the changes that take place in these conditions, modernity has changed all aspects of life including living area and has transformed the spatial structure of city and the concept of housing and home. Ignoring the effects of modernity on housing architecture leads to uncertainty in planning for urban life. In this regard, residential complexes are the result of economic, political, social, and cultural developments that are triggered by modernity. In Tabriz city, this type of housing has become popular since the 1970s, and a large number of its citizens are settled in these complexes now. In fact, these buildings form the main part of the look of Tabriz city. Therefore, identifying the factors that form the architecture of these buildings is of paramount importance. As such, this paper aims to examine the effects of economic, social, cultural, and political factors, which constitute the main dimensions of modernity, on various dimensions of the architecture of contemporary residential complexes of Tabriz city. To this end, experts have been surveyed by means of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the degree of attention paid to each of these dimensions in designing the facade, plan, form, and orientation of these complexes, and selecting the location, materials, structure, and their density has been evaluated. In addition, the importance and impact of these factors of modernity in the formation of architectural dimensions of residential complexes have been compared and determined. The results show that modernity has been effective in the architecture of Tabriz residential complexes but the impact of various dimensions of modernity is not the same; in fact, he economic dimension has been the most influential one in the formation of these complexes in Tabriz. In addition, among the economic elements, ‘utility’ has had the highest impact on all aspects of the architecture of residential complexes in Tabriz.