مجله صفه
پیاپی 95 (زمستان 1400)

Evolved over thousands of years, the Iranian lifestyle and its manifestation, namely, Iranian architecture, underwent radical transformations since the late Qajar period. Although several factors played their role in this transformation, one of the most important factors was undoubtedly the activities of BP (as the most visible manifestation of the presence of the British Empire in Iran) in the oil-rich regions of the south. Advised by British architectural firms such as Wilson Mason, formerly operating in colonial cities such as Delhi, BP created quasi-colonial cities in Iran that had nothing to do with their cultural context. It was also the first instance of modern residential architecture and urban life based on a Western model in Iran. Using the interpretive-historical strategy and documentary research method, the present research examines the role of the oil industry, and above all BP, in order to answer what and how the Iranian architecture and lifestyle changed. It shows that the activity of BP paved the way for transformation in three steps. In the first step, the welfare facilities prompted discrimination between European and Iranian employees, and with it a desire for change among Iranians. In the second step, from 1925, the company started extensive modernisation of oil cities. In the third step, the modern architecture and lifestyle of cities such as Abadan and Masjed Soleyman were imitated in other cities, which proceeded through widespread propaganda.

One of the concepts discussed in architecture is that of ‘The Void’, with Christopher Alexander being one of the proponents. He does this through three associated concepts, namely, the more explicit ‘The Great Void’, and ‘Voidness’, and the more implicit‘ The Void’. He has distinct definitions for each, but never tries to clearly connect them. However, it seems that they are associated with the hierarchies of the same concept in Alexander, and can be understood as parts of a comprehensive whole.
The present paper seeks to delve deeper into Alexander's views and, using an Islamic perspective, analyse the hierarchies of these concepts and their interrelations, and through rational reasoning cast some light on the less-known aspects of his thought. This results in the emergence of a concentric constellation of the void hierarchies in which the ‘The Great Void’ is at the centre, having the innermost and most subtle position, with others organised around its central position. Around this constellation are five other tiers of the concept, with the outermost being ‘simplicity’ and ‘emptiness’ located in the world of the sensual, or architecture, conveying a sense of the manifestation of the ‘Great Void’ in the form of spiritual freedom.

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University
Daylight reception in built environments is one of the main performance indicators for the quality of life. This is even more important in certain spaces such as study rooms. There are a variety of measurement indices for assessing daylight. The present paper assesses daylight availability and visual comfort in seven libraries at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, through software simulation using DIVA. The corresponding performance indices are then evaluated against recommended values in national and international standards. In order to improve visual conditions a series of solutions are proposed, and then applied in studied cases, to demonstrate their effectiveness in improving the quantity and quality of daylight.  The simulated models are tested for validity, and used in order to study their respective effect in sufficiency and distribution of light, visual comfort and required energy. In the end, a series of suggestions are made in each case based on simulation results and costs. According to initial assessments, the main problem was low levels of daylight availability in five cases, and high levels in another. The Useful Daylight Illuminance index (UDI300-3000) are increased from 6–59% to 24–100% by implementing improvement strategies. In addition, the lighting energy in the studied spaces, have been improved by 4–58%. The most effective improvement measures are
1. increasing the reflectance of walls and ceilings (changing colours),
2. using skylight, and
3. increasing the light transmittance of windows by substituting them with more transparent windows or by regularly cleaning them.

Globally, the urban condition has fundamentally changed, resulting in the emergence of new urban spaces influenced by new modes of urbanisation. Discussing urbanisation or cities, assumptions arise about the nature of cities and urbanisation. Most urbanisation discourse have been city-cantered, as they have understood the city as the driver and cause of urbanisation. Discussing the city without understanding the urban is often misleading, because there are both strong connections and distinctions between the two. Most of the time, the city and the urban are used as if they were one and the same concept, with no spatiotemporal differences. They are different because they correspond to different processes of transformation and space reproduction. The aim of the current study is to compare the two concepts of the city and the urban, based on the status of each in urbanisation. Accordingly, appropriate readings are proposed to provide an understanding of these two phenomena. Based on the intellectual principles of qualitative content analysis, this research explains the conceptual framework of the distinct components of the city and the urban. The results show that urbanisation has been explained in four conceptual levels: urbanisation centred on the growth of the city that the urban as its adjective, urbanisation based on the urban transformed into a noun, urbanisation centred on the urban and weakening the city, and the urban as utopia.

Contemporary cities are increasingly involved in cut-throat competition in globalisation, with architecture playing an increasingly important role in this competition, despite insufficient attention paid to this in Iranian cities. Experts believe that contemporary architecture can create a variety of grounds for economic growth for citizens and attracting tourists. 
The present study aims to study how large-scale architectural projects effect urban development, and is based on available data from two large-scale buildings in Mashhad. The main question is how large-scale architectural projects can be effective in the development of urban economics, and how to identify and measure the added values created by architectural projects. The approach is quantitative, and based on the hedonic model and Difference in Differences method as an effective tool to measure the economic impact of architectural projects, the spill-over effects of architectural projects have been measured and evaluated. Based on the findings of this study, constructing large-scale buildings has resulted in a 50 percent increase in the value of adjacent apartment units, and had an impact on the pricing pattern of apartments in their vicinity. This increase is inversely proportional to the distance from projects in a radius of up to 500 to 750 meters, causing an increase of 15 to 25 percent in affected property values.
The results indicate significant upwards effects of the formation of large-scale architecture projects on local business prosperity, which can be seen as effective in the growth of the urban economy.

Millions of people become homeless every year due to natural disasters. Owing to its geographical location, Iran has experienced many earthquakes and floods, with more likely to recur. Paying attention to temporary accommodation is, therefor einevitable. Despite the supposedly definitive approaches, there are many problems in supplying thermal comfort inside the shelter, and high levels of user dissatisfaction is reported, leading to users eventually alter or abandon these spaces. Most problems arise from misconceptions about people’s post-disaster experience. The present research is after proposing optimised forms to provide thermal comfort for disaster victims. It is an applied research, and qualitative when it comes to studies on natural disasters and experiences of making shelter in different places. Design Builder Software is used here for simulations and examining interior environment comfort.  comments can be made related to optimal climatic shelter for post-disaster circumstances by stimulating and internal temperature tests.11 shelter forms are thus examined and compared, with results showing that the dome provides the most suitable indoor temperature conditions, followed by polygonal pyramids, and then cubic shapes with vaulted roofs. In general, curved pyramid roofs, and smoother folds improve the shelter's thermal performance.  The same is true for flat roofs with fewer construction layers. As the layers increase, the curved walls will have a slightly higher temperature than the flat roof. Since the cube and other roof shapes have relatively similar performance, the ease of construction and the user’s demand should be considered in choosing the optimal form. Fiberglass and cork coatings can be proposed as effective materials in improving the temperature quality inside the shelter in cold climates.

Changes and adaptions have a long history in architecture and urbanism, and as far as the public and government buildings of the last two centuries are concerned, these changes have been substantial and accelerating.  Among these buildings is Divankhanih, which has continually undergone changes, in response to changes in lifestyle and governance in the last two centuries, reflected in the building’s form, function and meaning. This research aims to study these changes and their under laying factors in the southern side of the building and its surrounding, using interpretive-historical and analytical methods. After Shiraz was chosen as the capital of the Zand Dynasty, Divankhanih was built as the administration office and was an important element in the spatial organisation of the Karim Khan's complex. With the introduction of the telegraph during the Qajar period (1858 AD), Divankhanih turned into a telegraph office. In the Pahlavi period, following modernisation and the extensive changes in the city's spatial organisation, the southern part of the Divankhanih transformed into the city’s Post, Telegraph and Telephone Office. After the Islamic Revolution, and due the reconstruction of the historic Karim Khan Zand complex, the Pahlavi post office was completely removed, only for its ruins to remain untouched to this date.