Architects 'understanding of citizens' style in the design of residential buildings’ facades with emphasis on "Bourdieu's theory of distinction"

Social stratifications cause complex differences among the social strata, which we call "differentiation," following Pierre Bourdieu. As a result of these distinctions, different facades are designed in residential buildings, which affect the city's appearance. The variety of tastes in the design of residential facades by the citizens has caused heterogeneity in the urban landscape. It has created a lack of integration and continuity in the concepts related to architecture in the field of urban facades. This research explains the understanding of architects in facing the style of citizens in designing the facade of residential buildings based on Bourdieu's differentiation theory.

The research method of this research is applied, qualitative in terms of purpose, and "interpretive" in terms of the "intention" of the research, and it tries to answer these questions: "What factors influence the formation of employer and consumer’s style in production and has the symbolic consumption of housing in Tehran been influential from 2005 to 2019? What is the understanding of architects on the basis of consumers' tastes in the design of residential facades from 2005 to 2019?" In explaining research variables, individuals' cultural capital and economic capital are defined as independent variables, and the architect's consumption pattern is defined as the dependent variable. In this research, using interviews with experts, indicators and variables that effectively explain the architects' role in facing the style of Tehran citizens regarding residential architecture were extracted from the text of the interviews. The "logic" of the research is "inductive," and the method of analyzing the data also includes open coding and axial coding.

This research shows that the opinion of most Iranian architects about the concept of "citizen's style in residential buildings" can be divided into four forms: "building structure," "facade compatibility with climate," "façade compatibility with building function" and " visual beauty." The consumption pattern is influenced by two general categories: "economic capital" and "cultural capital".

People's style is an essential factor in the quality of facades of residential buildings and, accordingly, the city's appearance. As Bourdieu mentioned, views are the link between construction companies and architects. Considering that the appearance and body of residential buildings are the result of the mastery of the aesthetic criteria of people; therefore, the style change in residential architecture shows itself in the form of the change of "dominant" style in each period. In general, it can be said that the mastery of a style has a direct relationship with the supply and demand relationship.