Recognizing the Factors of Creating Light Hierarchy in the Iranian-Islamic Architecture

Light hierarchy is a secondary but highly influential issue in the perception of space and forming a unique experience in architecture. Light hierarchy is due to a light gradation which presents the priority of space content and leads the users into the space around him. This is a significant subject in Iranian-Islamic architecture that is considered in constructing a pleasant building in various ways.

To identify the factors contributing to the Light hierarchy, experts in the field of Iranian-Islamic architecture were surveyed by the Delphi method to identify the factors and their role as fundamental, main or complementary factors. To be specific, experts were also asked to rate the role of factors in the creation of light hierarchies with a Likert scale of 5 degrees. Wilcoxon test was used to analyze data at the last part.

The factors were divided into three categories: “Lighting Elements” (such as normal opening and lattice opening), “Intermediate communication with outer space”, and “Decorating”.

Experts believed that the “normal opening” had a significant effect on the “fundamental factor” in creating a light hierarchy. In addition, “lattice opening” and “architectural spaces” were identified as the “main factor” factors controlling the light, and decorations as the “complementary factor” influence the light hierarchy.