نشریه نامه معماری و شهرسازی
سال سیزدهم شماره 31 (تابستان 1400)

Nowadays, as cities are the center of development in which knowledge is produced and disseminated, they play a fundamental role in knowledge-based development. Thus, knowledge-based value is the driving force of urban development and is changing the spatial structure of the cities. Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has been proposed as an approach for competitiveness and sustainable development of urban economics and their compatibility to the strategies of the knowledge economy through creating opportunities for the production and exchange of knowledge and innovation between citizens. Due to the fact that KBUD activities are related to the stakeholders in the field of learning and innovation, the use of the capacity building and networking tools based on the institutional framework and through the expansion of local stakeholder engagement can underlie and be the driving force of institutional changes for integrated urban development. According to the emergence of city knowledge studies and the lack of systematic development of its theoretical foundations, there has been little research conducted on the success or failure of KBUD policies and their challenges in the cities in developing countries. Recent studies have shown that the most important requirement for the realization of KBUD is institutional development. In order to create interaction and integrated compatibility between urban resources and stakeholders, the need for good governance and strong political leadership is the pioneer in science and technology that addresses the weakness of institutional arrangements and the inadequacy of the governing tools. The most substantial aspect of knowledge-based urban development is the institutional aspect, since it is the regulator of the relationship between the economic, social, and environmental aspects of the city, which is performed based on political will, strategic view, strong relationships, and KBUD stakeholders' confidence. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the factors affecting the institutional capacity of KBUD in Isfahan to provide a proper understanding of the institutional requirements of KBUD in Isfahan. This research has been conducted with an exploratory-operational goal and has used exploratory factor analysis and survey research methods. It is also a quantitative research due to the nature of the required data, and the main tool for data collection is questionnaire. The findings show that eight factors affecting the institutional capacity of KBUD in Isfahan with a total variance of 66.309% provide a good explanation of the topic, the most important factor being an encouraging and supportive environment for knowledge production and use. On the other hand, the institutional capacity status of KBUD in Isfahan, with an overall score of 34.16 is inadequate and in the absence of sufficient political will and deep strategic insight for the realization of KBUD in Isfahan, actors and managers, in particular, are less willing to cooperate because of their lack of trust in each other. Therefore, they cannot provide an encouraging and supportive environment for knowledge production and use, including hard infrastructure (urban spaces suitable for people to attend and chat) and soft infrastructure (providing incentives, job comfort and security).

In recent decades, the urban areas have gone through fundamental changes due to the development of new technologies, global reorganization of relations, and environmental risks which have resulted in a new outlook on the roles of center and periphery, definitions of space and place, mobility, etc. Dealing with these changes requires new approaches for understanding urban areas and redefinition of various related concepts. Approaches that are capable of taking into account the unpredictable dynamics and the complexity of urban challenges. Complexity and its theories have been used to provide a framework for understanding the new dynamics and their chaotic nature and unpredictability. In this regard, one of the approaches is to consider cities and urban areas as complex interwoven networks within the framework of complexity thinking, in which city dynamics are relational, emergent and contextual and generated by networks comprised of various actors and their relations. This study reviews the theoretical basis of the complexity approach, conceptualizing the notion of urban complexity and its corresponding concepts such as networks, actors, and relations. This study aims to propose a theoretical framework for urban studies that are carried out with a complexity approach. To achieve this, firstly, the article elaborates on the complexity approach and its related concepts such as complex networks, social networks, and actors and then focuses specifically on the manifestations of complexity in urban contexts. Building on these, the article goes on to propose a theoretical framework for urban planning. Finally, in order to clarify the use of such a framework, a case study built on the proposed framework is introduced. The case reviews the latest comprehensive plan of the new town of Pardis and conceptualizes the realizations of the plans. The theoretical framework is proposed using a logical thinking process including different stages of identifying the role of planner/researcher, the choice of theory, developing a working knowledge of the theory, and defining how the theory connects to the research objective. The step-by-step process is embedded in the structure of the article. Regarding the case study, in accordance with the proposed theoretical framework, critical realism paradigm and its process of analysis has been used to conceptualize how the plan has shaped and is linked to the real-life observations in the new town of Pardis. Based on the findings, the most important principle in enabling urban planning in giving order to the dynamic, social, uncontrollable and self-organized system of the cities is the identification of relations and interdependencies between the actors, which can include various aspects, such as different types of relations and centrality, depending on the researcher’s goal. The stepping stone to achieving this is to identify the actors and the networks present in the study context accurately and as extensively as possible. This approach also necessitates the redefinition of the role and function of planners, since in the proposed framework, planners are regarded as one of the actors in the network as well, but with an exceptional positioning, enabling them to either facilitate or impede the flows of relations within the network.

Regarding the concept of formless “l’informe” in Georges Bataille's philosophy, it has been discussed that the very notion of formless is the opposite of architecture. Thus the formless architecture, if the adjective could ever be applicable to architecture, must be somehow symbolic or metaphoric. On the other hand, in Bataille’s philosophy, formless is the “condition of possibility” of art. If we assume architecture as an art, how can we bring formless and architecture together? What can “formless architecture” mean to us? This paper is a reflection on the relationship between architecture and formless. The main purposes would be to give an interpretation of Bataille's “l’informe”; to find the “condition of possibility” of architecture based on Bataille’s formless; and to study philosophical implications of a possible formless architecture that can set free human from its current rigid point of view. This question-based research meditates on the paradoxical concept (formless architecture) with a philosophical approach. In this regard, the possible meanings of formlessness in architecture are discussed. The paradox of formless architecture resembles the paradox of “poetry of silence” in Bataille's ideas; a poetry that sacrifices the language in order to be an art and blooms in the ruins of language. In Bataille's works, this sacrificing of representation and meaning is the necessary condition of art. But in architecture, which in Bataille's world is the reference of human representation and the base on the human form, sacrificing is to make human formless. Bataille’s historical quest for formless human had led him to Lascaux cave galleries, where human are represented unclothed, animalesque, and faceless. Bataille interprets these figures as human desire to negate himself. He defines formless human as the nonstop negating force or nonstop negativity. This is the ideal picture of human in the “General economy” because by negating himself man can be the best representative of extravagancy and can replace a limited view with a general one. Thus formless creates a Copernican turn from a limited viewpoint to a general one. As we will see, in this rotation, the world of form starts to float on the excess of forces that have directed our deeds, and formless defines the foundation and the condition of form. A condition that has directed architecture like other human deeds: just as architecture, which prima facie seems to be a shelter from death, is rather an excess which does not fear ruining vital forces and in its highest forms plays with the fear of death and makes fun of it. In Bataille's opinion in the shadow of pyramids, the fear of death is rendered pointless. But what is the most basic wealth to spoil in architecture? This Copernican turn engages architects with this consistent question: what makes architecture architecture? What makes a place a place? Formless will present itself as the foundation of architecture or the “condition of possibility” of architecture. This Copernican turn paves the way that takes Bataille from Hegel’s “negativity” to Nietzche’s “extravagancy” and ultimately to Proust’s “quest”.

Peter the Great's effective actions are a turning point in Russian architecture. By traveling to European countries and observing their progress, he began to recruit various Western European artists and architects, and imitate them in various fields including architecture. In this respect, Russian imported architecture has influenced the history of Iranian construction in various ways. Therefore, this study seeks to represent the impact of Russian imported architecture on Iranian contemporary architecture in order to answer the question of how Russian architecture is perceived and used in Iran? The research methodology is a combination of the descriptive-analytical method and content analysis, which is carried out in two phases. The statistical population of the study is a collection of itineraries of Iranian who traveled to Russia in the Qajar period. Purposive sampling was used to select seven of the most important itineraries as the sample population for content analysis. In order to summarize the second phase and explain the impact of Russian architecture on contemporary Iranian architecture, Russian-made buildings in Iran have been analyzed. Hence, in the first step, the selected itineraries were reviewed in order to examine and extract the components of Russian imported architecture, their spaces, and details in which travelers have carefully described - which did not exist in Iranian architecture- and in the second step, the effectiveness and presence of these components in contemporary Iranian architectural monuments have been discussed. The main objective of this research is to explain the influence of Russian architecture on Iranian architecture during the Qajar Era. The findings show that due to numerous political and historical issues between the two countries, various trips had been taken to Russia. By studying the echoes of the travels as “Itineraries”, one can become familiar with the Russian architecture of that era, which was somehow the dominant power of Europe. Other findings of this research show that the same architecture and constructions from the Qajar period have been implemented in the form of various architectural components in Iran. Some of the most substantial components regarding the physical elements are “Onion Dome”, “balcony”, various materials such as “Russian wood”, “high ceiling room”, and “large low stairs” in the entrance axis. In terms of the functional elements, items such as “heater”, “furniture”, “functional composition”, and “performance separation” can be mentioned. Also, it is clear from the data that the Russian architecture has been implemented in Iran through a variety of ways and agents. For instance, the businessmen who have brought back architectural drawings from their trips to Russia. Moreover, the Russian architecture had been imported by the photographs and postcards of Russia, the Iranian engineers who were inspired by Russian style through Russian-trained architects, and most importantly, the presence of Russian engineers in Iran.

Daylighting has significant impacts on the physiological and psychological needs of people in addition to reducing energy consumption. Furthermore, it should be noted that excessive daylight can cause visual discomfort and glare. Therefore, the reasons for the growing attention towards the responsive kinetic skins are increasing the indoor lighting levels while controlling glare and providing visual comfort due to different weather conditions during the year. This research proposes and evaluates a sun-responsive kinetic skin consisting of an Islamic pattern for the improvement of indoor environmental conditions.  The use of Islamic patterns has a long history and a special significance in Iranian-Islamic architecture, and its geometric and iterative design is correspondent with the idea of the kinetic skin. With the aim of increasing the illuminance level while reducing the risk of glare, the minimum and maximum solar altitude angles are considered corresponding to the skin opening ratio (50-100%), so that the lowest solar altitude angle is corresponding to the highest opening ratio, and the highest solar altitude angle is corresponding to the lowest opening ratio. The case study is a 7-meter deep south-oriented office space in Tehran. The depth of 7-meter is commonly used for conceptual design explorations and it is also chosen to be this large so that the effect of daylighting remains visible for all adaptive façade variations. Furthermore, horizontal louvers are deployed among the facade to control excessive unwanted daylight. The aim of this study is to provide a visual comfort level based on the LEED certificate. According to LEED, spatial daylight autonomy (SDA) of at least 50%, and annual sunlight exposure (ASE) of no more than 10% is recommended. The proposed envelope was evaluated using Grasshopper/Rhino for parametric simulation, Ladybug for inputting time zones and delivering sun position coordinates, Honeybee for analyzing daylight and glare, and online software ‘Design Explorer’ for extracting optimum solutions. The reflectance of the floor, ceiling, and walls are considered 20%, 80% and 50%, respectively, according to the conventional materials. Louver depth (50 and 100 centimeters), louver material (plastic and aluminium), glass material (double glazed low emissivity glass, and double-glazed clear glass), and the kinetic skin material (plastic and aluminium) were considered as input variables. Test points were chosen 0.5 meters apart and 0.8 meters high from the floor (desk height). The glare analyses were conducted during the winter solstice (December 21st), spring equinox (March 21st), autumn equinox (September 23st), and the summer solstice (June 21st) at 09:00h, 12:00h, and 16:00h, in order to meet extreme sun angles. In this study, 360 glare analyses and 30 annual daylight analyses were performed. The results show that the proposed system is efficiently capable of achieving imperceptible glare most of the time and providing the improvement of daylight performance and visual comfort level based on the LEED certificate. Useful daylight illuminance (UDI) increases by around 20 percent. Despite the decrease in spatial daylight autonomy (SDA) by around 3-20 percent, annual solar exposure (ASE) decreases by around 40-50 percent.

Geometry in ancient Persian texts and from the point of view of people such as Farabi, Kharazmi, Akhavan al-Safa and Ibn Haytham is divided into two categories of practical and theoretical geometry. According to these texts, practical geometry is considered to be the essence of the work of craftsmen, surveyors, surveyors and builders, and the most important external symbol of the application of practical geometry is architecture. Practical geometry is actually knowledge in industry and architecture and Surveying and mapping have been used. Among the mentioned texts, Abulofa Buzjani's treatise on practical geometry is one of the sources in which an attempt has been made to express geometry by mentioning various methods together and with simpler solutions, so that it can be useful for craftsmen. Practical geometry has played the role of knowledge in industry and has been emphasized many times in various sources and has been spread by many scientific scholars of different eras of history. Craftsmen, architects and especially architects of the Timurid period, some of whom are mentioned as engineers in ancient texts, were no exception to this and in their works, using practical geometry, have designed and built many buildings. The oldest existing work regarding the use of geometry in architecture, the use of a grid background. Meanwhile, the name of the architect Ghavam al-Din Shirazi is mentioned in ancient texts as an engineer in the Timurid era and Ghiasieh school is one of the most enduring Timurid buildings built by him, which is one of the most important and beautiful buildings in eastern Iran located in Khorasan in 848. Hijri was built by order of Ghias-ud-Din Pir Ahmad Khafafi, the minister of Shahrokh Teymouri and the most artistic architects of that time, namely Ghavam-ud-Din and Ghias-ud-Din Shirazi. The building of this school, like other similar religious buildings, has four porches and each porch has four It is half a meter wide and 11 meters high. In this research, with analytical-comparative method, first by examining and analyzing the existing documents and then matching it with Abu al-Wafa geometry, it seeks to answer these questions: How has the application of practical geometry been done in Ghiasieh school? How have checkered grids been used in the design of this school? To answer this question, first practical geometry was studied from the perspective of Western and Iranian thinkers and then according to how geometry from Abulofa Buzjani's point of view due to the connection between architecture and practical geometry and his solutions in solving geometric problems, plan and facade of Ghiasieh school Was reviewed. As a result of this research, by applying a checkered modular grid on the plan according to the dimensions of the dome and also matching the formation of spaces with Buzjani geometry, Ghavamuddin used special geometric methods and also used a specific square module in the design and construction of the building.