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سال نوزدهم شماره 114 (آذر 1401)

Problem statement: 

Privacy is one of the most important issues in housing design. Facades in architecture, the outer shell, and the main component of the building cover, have an effective role in creating visual privacy and preventing visibility into the house. The most important issues in the facades of contemporary residential complexes are the improper design of skylights and the lack of visual privacy in the house.

This study, by examining Mashrabiya as an indigenous solution in the Middle East, introduces the historical background of this physical-spatial element and examines its role in creating visual privacy in the homes of this region. It also extracts the design features of Mashrabiya, a two-shell wall, and presents solutions for creating visual space. This study examines them in contemporary residential complexes of Tehran and analyzes how this indigenous technology has been used and modernized in the facades of these buildings.

This research is qualitative and its method is descriptive-analytical. The methods of data collection for this research were field and documentary (library). In this study, focusing on residential complexes in Tehran, 15 cases of houses with two-shell walls in the main facade were selected. In the following section, the effective components in the design of two-shell walls that have played an effective role in creating visual privacy were studied and analyzed in these cases.

Two-shell facades are commonly used for thermal comfort. Contemporary residential complexes have used this feature of two-skin facades, in addition to aesthetic and functional possibilities, as well as creating visual privacy for residents. Shape and form, location, type of opening, materials, and technology of two-shell facades have played an effective role in their performance and behavior. Studies show that the use of indigenous flexible materials such as wood and brick and the possibility of controlling the opening by users can create different functions and improve the visual privacy of two-shell facades in these houses.

Problem statement:

The current study suggests that the depictions and illustrations of classical Persian poetry are associated with the (dominance) or hegemony of urban discourse over rural discourse, in many city/village dichotomies. Previous research endeavors have primarily attributed human aspects to the causes of this hegemony. Since cities and villages do not just include human aspects, neglecting the relationship between physical aspects (especially architecture) and creating or establishing this hegemony is considered an important issue.

The present paper aims to understand how that architecture is used in poetic literature to depict urban-rural hegemony.

The theory of critical discourse analysis has been applied as the theoretical framework and the research method of this study. The initial data of this qualitative research is limited to classical Persian poetry. Furthermore, non-poetic texts, such as travelogues, the positions of architecture, rural planning, and geography scholars, have been used for additional discussions.

The findings confirm that language has emphasized and de-emphasizing architectural features to create and consolidate the hegemony of urban discourse over the rural in the illustrations of classical Persian poetry. The architectural characteristics of cities, such as having unique units (minarets, Adineh Mosque, etc.), the centrality of cities to villages, and the huge scale of urban spaces, are emphasized in this literature. Findings show that this emphasis is compatible with the physical structures of the cities and the intellectual structures dominating the periods before and after the arrival of Islam. Furthermore, the following characteristics have been ignored to de-emphasize the architectural characteristics of the village: contextualism; the integration of rural spaces with nature; suitable village situations for sightseeing; livelihood-oriented rural spaces; simplicity of construction solutions; historical background of rural architecture versus urban architecture; the diversity of the village-related dwellings, etc. Therefore, architectural features have literally become a tool to portray and symbolize the hegemony of urban discourse.

Problem statement:

 Embroidery with different applications has been common since ancient Iran in decorating fabrics with a wide variety of patterns, colors, and types of sewing according to their production area. The embroideries with the motif of “Lady Sun” (Khorshid Khanum in Persian) are used in some Iran areas to avoid the Evil eye, such as Sahebqaraniyeh Palace’s Embroideries.

There are some questions about the reasons why the “Lady Sun” motif has been used in Iranian embroideries, such as why do the sun illustrations have female faces? What are the cultural and functional meanings of this motif in these embroideries, and what is the relationship between this motif and the Evil eye? An iconographic approach was used to answer those questions.The purpose is to identify the iconography of “Lady Sun” motives in embroideries of the Sahebqaraniyeh treasure and its relationship with the Evil eye both descriptively and analytically.

This research is qualitative and descriptive-analytical, and the data was collected in the field and library based on the iconographic approach of the Ervin Panofsky school.

In ancient culture, the sun was closely associated with the eye and the Evil eye. A woman’s face in the sun can be considered a symbol of Anahita and the sun as a symbol of Myhr, who both were protectors against the devil. The sun resembles the eye of the sky and is both destructive and protective. In many cases, the sun is described with a female face in literature. In the folklore of some regions of Iran, a beautiful female face was painted on a Sabu (pottery jar), called “Cheshmaro”, to avoid the Evil eye. In some other parts, it is called “Chesh Cheshi” or “Cheshouk” and is used to stay away from the Evil eye, which can be considered the use of Sahebqaraniyeh samples for this purpose.

Problem statement: 

One of the most influential and, of course, controversial theories of Kant in aesthetics, expressed in his critique of judgment, is that he considers aesthetic judgment to be both subjective and universally valid. At the same time, Kant emphasizes that there is a fundamental difference between the beautiful and the agreeable. The question is how it can be subjective and also universally valid? And whether the difference between the beautiful and agreeable can be proved empirically?

The purpose of this study is specifically to examine these questions from the perspective of contemporary thinkers in experimental aesthetics. Some thinkers of this school have criticized the general validity of the aesthetic judgment and the difference between the beautiful and the agreeable, and have tried to refute it experimentally. At the same time, Nick Zangwill, a well-known critic of the field of aesthetics in Kant’s defense, considers the methods used in experimental aesthetics to be invalid and unreliable.

 The research examines the two empirical approaches of Cova and Zangwill regarding Kant’s aesthetics with a qualitative approach. In the first part, Kant’s opinion is briefly introduced. The next section introduces some of the most important empirical studies by Cova that are presented in Kant’s critique. An attempt is then made to categorize Zangwill’s critiques so that they can be analyzed in the final section.

It seems that empirical research can be used to better understand Kant’s aesthetics, and therefore, contrary to Zangwill, experimental aesthetics complements traditional aesthetics, not a failed attempt to discard them.

Problem statement:

 Light is always used as one of the most important mediators and elements for inducing divine concepts in various works of Islamic art. The film “Mohammad Rasoolullah” is one of the leading examples of Iranian religious cinema in using the manifestation of light to convey divine and sacred concepts. One of the most important issues of Iranian religious cinema is the howness of showing and expressing an aesthetic and effective image of divine and religious concepts using valid criteria and components.

Research objetive: 

The present study aims to explain and analyze the basic components of the aesthetics of the element of light such as unity, complexity, and radiance in this film. In addition, this study intended to analyze the two elements of chaos and uniformity in the visual and conceptual structure of this work, which is in fundamental opposition to the aesthetic experience.

This study is qualitative and its framework is descriptive-analytical and based on library resources and direct study of the artwork.

The findings of this study show that the visual and conceptual structure of the film of Muhammad Rasoolullah is to a large extent not associated with unity, harmony, and complexity. Visual disturbance in the use of light to induce religious and sacred concepts is not seen in most of the scenes. However, it has a repetitive monotony, without narrative logic and with the least credibility, which does not bring aesthetic experience. The illumination of the space with unrealistic and often artificial effects has given a symbolic atmosphere to the whole film. The explanation and analysis of the aesthetics of light in the film of Muhammad Rasoolullah shows that it has been minimally successful in reflecting the divine and religious teachings.

Problem statement: 

“Four Seasons” is one of the design structures of Iranian carpets, dating back to the first half of the twentieth century amid the cultural and social evolutions of Tabriz in the Qajar and the first Pahlavi eras. The combination of rural life scenes and historical buildings along with the structure and patterns of traditional designs in the Four Seasons pattern has made these carpets similar to visual texts illustrating the cultural and social situations of their production time. This study attempts to answer how the social and cultural conditions of a society are depicted in the Four Seasons Carpets and which visual symbols represent them. Hence, the main question of this study revolves around the identification of dominant subjects and effective social backgrounds in shaping the pattern of the Four Seasons in the geography of the Persian carpet.

This study aims to identify dominant subjects in depicting landscapes, the geographical area of products, and effective social backgrounds in shaping the Four Seasons pattern.

The research method is qualitative and employs content analysis of patterns. First, 26 carpets containing the Four Seasons pattern were selected as case studies. Next, a qualitative analysis was conducted on the contents of each case based on the outlined questions and objectives in the study.

The results of the research indicate that all the identified samples were designed and hand-woven in Tabriz. The patterns of these carpets show nationalism, archaic concepts, and cultural-social customs of Iranian society in the form of visual and written signs.