The Study of Public Perception about Intellectual Current Categories of Temporary Architecture in IRan

In this paper, with a different perspective, the understanding of people (common people and architectural specialists) of "Contemporary Iranian Architecture" term was analyzed. For this purpose, at first definitions and characteristics that have been described by theoreticians of Iranian contemporary architecture for Iranian architecture were overviewed and an intern structural classification of those definitions was provided based on logical reasoning research method using fundamental components of definitions to specify the position of this study. Later, focusing on four intellectual movements classified by Habibi (2006) in "Description of Intellectual Movements of Architecture and Urban engineering in Contemporary Iran" Book: (fundamentalism, traditionalism, modernism-vernacularism and mannerism), the peoples' understanding of these distinguishes and its general validity were assessed. For this purpose, two specified semantic components of each one of these classifications were extracted and mixed with each other (total eight components). Thereafter, two images of architecture related to each category were selected. These images were offered in a survey study to two groups of audiences for assessment including common audiences and professional architects, based on quantitative method and semantic differentiation technique, using eight semantic components. To use the components in semantic differentiation table, agreed and opponent item of each one of components was provided in a table. This study was applied with the objective of specifying if selections of audiences are close to the main classifications or not, secondly specifying the significance of disagreement of two audience groups (professional architect and common audience) statistically and specifying the closeness of ideas of each one of classes to the characteristics claimed in the main theory of this classification. Nowadays, it is discussed on Iranian architecture or Islamic architecture and there are very agreements and disagreements in this relation. Basically, Iranian architecture is attributed to historical architecture; whether if Iranian architecture is supposed excluded to those models or something arising from principles and structures stipulated herein. Its history also may be assumed different. For instance, the architecture related to a period that Iran was very powerful in governing and conquest and what remained from this era as monuments are supposed as monuments remained as Iranian symbols and models and use of those symbols whether symbolically or functionally is assumed as Iranian architecture. Another group assumes the Iranian architecture containing principles which have been applied as basis for definition of Iranian architecture and these principles may be represented referring to the history and instances of Iranian traditional architecture. In all of them, the instance of Iranian architecture and what is assumed as Iranian-being is relied on the opinion of specialists, but it is not very obvious that if common people can understand the Iranian nature of architecture with these instances and principles. Thus, in this paper, the subject of Iranian architecture definitions is analyzed with a different viewpoint and as perspective of audiences except specialists which are presented in two theoretical (analysis of Iranian architecture and revision of Iranian architecture definitions) and practical parts (field survey, analyzing that concept practically and comparison of common and professional architects' opinions).