Explanation to the Concept of Rehabilitation in Historic Buildings by Comparative Study of Different Functional Interventions

Interventions related to the use of historic buildings, in addition of rehabilitation, are known in other different terms including revitalization, empowerment, adaptive reuse, etc. However, so far, ther is no research has been done on these terms of interventions by Iranian academics, and this multiplicity of intervention terms and, at the same time, lack of clarity in the concepts, differences between them and their international equivalent terms, has caused confusion among the researchers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze these concepts and other concepts related to reuse historic assets and to determine their relation to each other. In this regard, while studying prerequisites and requirements of functional interventions, different approaches to the subject at the international and national levels are surveyed and the different types of functional interventions in these buildings are analyzed and compared. In order to do the abovementioned, the analytical-descriptive method was used in the first part. In the next section of the article, a comparative study based on logical reasoning has been used to examine the relationship between different reuse interventions. From the findings of this study, it can be noted that the major differences between the various terms in the scope of reuse interventions are due to two major issues of “different word formation in translation” and “belonging to different time and place coordinates”, while they have common underlying concepts and all emphasize on the “role of existence a use in a building in its sustainable conservation”, “the necessity of adapting new uses with cultural significance, values and authenticity of the historic monuments” and “adequately meet to the needs of contemporary life in these buildings.