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سال بیست و یکم شماره 141 (اسفند 1403)

Typology provides a simple and diagrammatic description of a group of phenomena and establishes a degree of connection or affinity between those phenomena. Many studies have addressed the typology of spaces of historical houses, but most of these studies have focused on one or more limited spaces, which reveal the absence of structural connection between different spaces and the lack of a specific method or framework that can be used to typify all spaces and explain the structural connection between them.

This study aims to establish a connection between different spaces in introverted historical houses located in the Central Iranian Plateau Iran and identify the formal-structural connection between the findings from previous studies on the typology of spaces of historical houses in Iranian architecture.

Using the shape grammar, the present study performed a typological analysis of micro-spaces of 64 historical houses from Kashan, Yazd, and Isfahan. This study also developed the initial typology of micro-spaces and established a coherent system of relationships between formal typologies in the historical houses located in these three cities.

Based on the findings from this study, a two-stage grammar was first developed for generating the formal structure and then establishing spatial relationships between components of the houses. With the help of this grammar, a triple structure was developed using a range of formal structures and spatial relationships identified in the studied samples. The developed typology can account for the structural relationships between different forms. In addition, it can pinpoint the differences between different typologies in other cities. Accordingly, the typological model developed in this study establishes a structural-form relationship between different spaces in introverted historical houses located in the Central Iranian Plateau.

Landscapes always showcase visible and invisible signs or traces of power structures. Actions such as development plan, sustainability programs, agricultural policies, national and international plans, and their underlying policies form landscapes. As such, landscapes, the main sites of conflicts and disputes, are always subject to recurrent and unpredictable transitions and create new landscapes under the influence of external factors. Thus, the political aspect, which is at the center of all relationships, seems to be overlooked in most landscape studies. Therefore, it seems that recognizing the site of these conflicts and disputes as the ‘political’ nature of the landscape is essential for decisions about transitions in landscapes. This research attempts to answer the following questions: what is the political nature of the landscape? In what aspects does it manifest itself? How can understanding such aspects influence the shaping of landscapes (by the designer)?

This research aims to investigate the political and power-based nature of landscapes and ultimately understand how such nature affects landscapes. 

This research employed qualitative design and the data was collected using the desk research method. For this purpose, valid domestic and foreign databases were examined and the data were analyzed based on the content analysis of pertinent discourse.

The findings show that the political nature of the landscape, that is, the landscape is not merely the place where forces are present, but the result of the encounter and sometimes even the conflict of forces. Democracy, a plurality of values, collective and individual identities, various ways of the landscape illustration, perception of the concept of people, and finally power were identified as political dimensions of the landscape. Even though they are not the same as the common definitions, they are derived from them. If the landscape designer aspires to construct the ‘new thing,’ which is the core of the landscape, in a way that is not imitative, he/she must construct a layout that minimizes the relationship of sovereignty and slavery and allows for the emergence of uncounted forces.

Sounds play a critical role in environmental perception and significantly influence human interaction with both the environment and other individuals. They directly affect the auditory senses as well as humans’ understanding of their surroundings. The diversity of sounds within a given environment leads to the formation of various soundscapes. Both auditory and non-auditory factors play a notable role in shaping soundscapes. Auditory factors encompass anthrophony, biophony, and geophony which constitute the central focus of the present study.

The present study was an attempt to investigate the auditory factors shaping the soundscape of educational spaces in the city of Qazvin, through cognitive maps. Narges Shahed School in Qazvin was selected as the case study and anthrophonic, biophonic, and geophonic sounds within the school premises and the surrounding off-campus areas were analyzed.

The research method of this study is descriptive-analytical and survey-based. Data collection was conducted through document analysis, recorded observations, field surveys, note-taking, and sketching using cognitive maps. To achieve the research objective, soundwalking and sensory survey techniques based on visual and auditory perception were employed.

In conclusion, the analysis of auditory factors in the study area revealed that all three auditory factors—anthrophony, biophony, and geophony—are present in the indoor spaces, courtyard, and surrounding off-campus areas of the school, both as direct sounds and indirect sounds (emerging from the echoes of dominant sounds in the environment). The biophony and geophony components are relatively desirable when they are not expressed in excessive amounts. In particular, the geophonic component, which is based on natural factors, but part of the anthropophonic component, due to its human-centered nature, appears undesirable in the form of noise, and in other cases is desirable. These soundscapes directly affect the auditory senses, perception, concentration, learning and cognition of students.

“Religious science” has ancient roots. However, its modern form, known as the theory of religious science, emerged following the advent of modern sciences. This theory was introduced and debated after the Islamic Revolution in Iran with the aim of Islamizing sciences and producing knowledge in line with the realization of the “New Islamic-Iranian Civilization,” eventually reaching a considerable degree of coherence. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the application of this theory in various fields of knowledge. On the other hand, the discourse on Islamic architecture and its realization in contemporary and future Iranian architecture is one of the major challenges in the field. In this regard, the relationship between these two subjects has been examined through the research question: “What are the indicators of Islamic architecture from the perspective of the theory of religious science?”

This study aims to define the indicators, framework, and principles for the “realization of Islamic architecture” by utilizing the foundations of the “theory of religious science.”

To achieve the research objective, the criteria of religious science were first identified, followed by an exploration of the dimensions of architecture from the perspective of Islamic wisdom through a library-based method. The extracted data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Subsequently, based on the obtained data and employing logical reasoning, a conceptual framework for the realization of Islamic architecture from the perspective of the theory of religious science was developed.

The research findings indicate that the realization of Islamic architecture from the perspective of the theory of religious science requires the Islamization of five key criteria: “subject, foundation, source, method, and application” within four architectural domains: “natural and fundamental sciences, humanities and social sciences, applied sciences and engineering, and art.” The combination of these elements has led to the identification of twenty indicators for “Islamic architecture.” These twenty indicators collectively establish a coherent epistemological system under the title of “Islamic architecture.” It is evident that architects’ understanding and their intention to adhere to Islamic teachings constitute the necessary condition for the creation of worthy architectural works. The sufficient condition, however, is the ability to transform theoretical knowledge into practice and tangible architectural outcomes. The architectural works resulting from this process are relatively “Islamic.”

Abbas ibn Ali, known as the Water Bearer of Karbala, is one of the central figures in the Karbala event, inspiring numerous artists, especially muralists. One example is the tile painting in the shrine of Taj al-Din Gharib, created by Haj Baqir Jahanmiri. According to Gestalt theory, the human mind tends to categorize and organize visual elements during visual perception, such that the organized whole differs from the individual components. In Gestalt principles, the critical aspect of visual perception is understanding the relationships that lead to meaningful combinations. Accordingly, this tile painting represents structural changes in the visual narrative of the Karbala event during the Constitutional Era. The question of this research is How is the visual structure of the tile painting of the Water Bearer of Karbala organized based on Gestalt principles of visual perception?

To identify the visual perception features in the tile painting of the Water Bearer of Karbala in the Taj al-Din Gharib shrine.

The research employed genre analysis and documentary methods for data collection.

The findings indicate that after applying the seven Gestalt principles to the mentioned tile painting, strong Prägnanz was identified in the principles of similarity, proximity, continuity, closure or completeness, and common fate, aligned with Itten’s seven contrasts. Employing each of these principles facilitated a planned visual perception process. The presence of visual relationships, as emphasized by Gestalt theorists, enhanced the organization of the painting’s elements and simplified the audience’s understanding of the artwork.

Over time, from the mid-Qajar period to the first decade of the Pahlavi era, public and private spaces, the spatial hierarchies between these two, and their forms underwent transformations, leading to the emergence of a hybrid style. One of the spaces that has experienced such transformations is the threshold space. As both a concept and a physical structure, the threshold space can encompass a wide range of meanings connected to customs and culture, imbuing the space with distinctive qualities. The significance of threshold spaces lies in their accessibility to public spaces, their integration with private spaces, and their role in shaping the quality of the urban environment. Christopher Alexander, in his Nature of Order series, refers to this concept and highlights the importance of thresholds as a sophisticated architectural element.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the ground and first floors of residential areas in terms of their relationship with public spaces on the scale of buildings, as well as the connections between neighborhoods and buildings on the scale of streets. The study aims to align these findings with Christopher Alexander’s theories on thresholds. Accordingly, this research primarily focuses on threshold spaces and investigates the patterns between these two components based on Alexander’s theoretical framework.

The methodology of this research is qualitative. Data was collected through desk research, interviews, analysis of historical documents (e.g., records, maps, and photographs), personal observation, photography, mapping, and analysis of the current state of threshold spaces. The historical core of Babol city, located in Mazandaran Province, was selected as the case study for this research.

The findings reveal that, during the Qajar era, the hierarchical access to private spaces from urban public spaces, as well as the connections between residential neighborhoods, aligned with Christopher Alexander’s theory. Spatial arrangements were appropriate to and consistent with the customs, culture, and needs of the inhabitants, despite the influences of modernity on the architecture of that period.