International Journal of Architectural Engineering & Urban Planning
Volume:21 Issue: 1, Jun 2011

It is accepted that the visual comfort in schools depends on the quality of the whole visual environment. This leads to the concern upon the quality and quantity of lighting. Currently in Iran, in order to calculate energy transfer for public buildings a coefficient is usually used. This coefficient considers the rate of sunlight energy absorption in these kinds of buildings. To increase the degree of accuracy in the calculation mentioned above, the authors suggest a simulation programme that can do the job precisely and accordingly. It seems that, in order to calculate the energy requirements of school buildings in Iran for heating, cooling and lighting, it is better to use a simulation programme, too. In fact, this paper considers details of lighting as part of a comprehensive programme and Iran schools design requirements for lighting. As we will see, this research describes the method of calculation of daylighting, which is used in the part of lighting simulation programme. Effective daylighting design requires consideration of different factors such as daylight factor, luminous efficacy of solar radiation, orientation factor, glass transmittance factor, average reflectance of material and etc. which are need for calculation of exterior and interior luminance. They are discussed in details in this paper.

Considering the problems facing contemporary architecture in Iran, a better understanding of the meaning of architecture has become necessary. Architecture, like language, defines and facilitates the relationship between Man and his environment. The word architecture both in Arabic (Amara) and in Latin (Architecture), attempts to define the attributes of the maker before determining the characteristics of the product - a fact that points towards a more profound understanding. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important for researchers to define the process of formation (the how of architecture) more than the specific attributes of built form (the what of architecture). In this way, creativity and the different processes by which it is achieved, would gain a higher significance in architectural circles. Using an Endogenous Development model, this article seeks to offer an alternative approach towards architectural design. Accepting the hierarchy in causal relationships and expanding on the concept of elevating hidden meaning up onto the surfaces of expression, this article proposes a model of thought in which design consists of a process starting at the depth of ideas and common beliefs, moving up to the individual's images and finally arriving at rational and general concepts. It is then argued that this process provides spaces in which it is possible to experience a sense of belonging to place, and even further, it allows users to abandon material belongings to arrive at feelings that occur in sacred places. This article offers the author's own particular teaching as one expression of this model of thought, whereby students start by working with mud and then gradually leave their childhood status to reach full maturity in design. Through this process, they obtain an ability to overcome technical and rational challenges in their projects, moving from "intuition" towards "wisdom", "knowledge" and finally "science" in the material world.

Iran is located in a high-risk seismic zone of earthquakes. It has thousands of valuable historic buildings, mostly made of unreinforced masonry, which is quite vulnerable to natural hazards, especially earthquakes. The conservation and seismic upgrading of these buildings is vital for their survival. However, resources are limited and some sort of prioritization is needed in order to allocate the budget. There are several factors, which should be considered when ranking heritage buildings, but this paper mainly focuses on the values of historic buildings and describes a survey undertaken to find out whether it is possible to rank them. The method applied is choosing a particular group of people and determine whether they can classify buildings into a hierarchy? The results showed that most people could perform this task, so some sort of hierarchy exists, although different groups might choose different hierarchies.

The traditional architecture is the achievement of mankind experiences in different geographical/cultural and social domains. The traditional architecture of Iran as a valuable outcome is one of the live and spirited instances of the history of human life that through pondering and research and close relationship with its natural, historical and human environment would be obtained. The repeatability of it contemporarily is somehow difficult so the Iranian architects and urban planners mostly focused their attentions and efforts on preservation and conservation of it. A brief review of such literature provided within this era outlines that mostly current studies and researches focuses on the outcome of such architecture or at most consider the characteristics of their creators and are less surveyed the creation and its process context. The attitude of traditional architect toward designing context or "the place of design" is one of the least considered aspects of traditional architecture. Such attention would lead to noteworthy achievements even in today's attitudes toward design and effective factors. The evolution manner of architecture traditionally which is in place of attention in this paper, provides a method of direct reference of the traditional architect toward the place of design or "earth" even when some written documents of them are not available. To achieve such goal this paper mainly concentrated on the remaining resources. In this respect the historic habitats of Yazd could be mentioned as one of the paragons of "Iranian Traditional Architecture". This paper briefly expresses and points on this fact that the creation of architecture traditionally happened in a totally different existential scheme in compare to modern era that specifically seeks such difference within the attitude and approach toward earth (site) or the place of design. The theories of two notable personalities of contemporary architecture "Christian Nordberg Schultz" and "Christopher Alexander" are considered. This is necessary where as while fulfilling the reliability of the paper and points on some notable similarities within their theories by what's recognizable in Iranian architecture and declares the different fundamental aspects, too. In respect to the subject, part of paper considers the clarification and illumination of traditional architecture.

Quality is the most important consequence of an urban design project, and its promotion is the final duty of an urban designer. So "urban design guidelines" which use environmental improvement factors in their structure, have an effective role in promoting urban space quality. "Urban design guidelines" are the most important instruments in urban designer's authority, to reflect and appear improvement plans in urban spaces and create the bridge between research (theoretic studies) and practice (professional efforts). The paper guidelines are generic statements that specify the goals, the design pattern for achieving them and the evidence supporting the linkage between goal and pattern. On the other hand, decisions about how to address the issue of parking are among the most important in making the city center a high-quality place for people. The city center cannot have a pedestrian orientation, a concentrated diversity of uses, or a continuity of street-level activity if parking is not well designed. Attention to varied types of existing parking in city center area (such as on-street parking, surface lots or parking structures), the main idea of this paper is to promote the quality of city center spaces, by using different urban design guidelines.

Neighborhoods within the hierarchy of urban structure are one of the smallest socio-physical building blocks of cities. Traditional neighborhoods of Iranian historic cities benefited from strong social relations which were flourished over the years and were manifested in the neighborhoods centers. In the modern era, the new master plans and the complementary local plans have disintegrated these neighborhoods both physically and socially. While old traditional neighborhoods were destroyed and new car oriented streets and highways have disrupted the traditional neighborhood life, the introduction of metro stations have provided a nucleus for neighborhoods around which urban space and social activity could emerge once more. In this respect, the attitudes of residents towards metro stations are very important. This study focuses on the social attitudes and the evaluation of traffic impacts of metro stations on adjacent neighborhoods. Therefore, the changes in traffic patterns as well as social characteristics and residential satisfaction levels in two neighborhoods adjacent to metro stations are studied through a questionnaire survey. The results show that despite the potentials provided, metro stations had adverse affects on both social integration and residential satisfaction levels. They also adversely affected neighborhoods in terms of traffic flow through increase in local traffic, demand for parking, and increase in noise pollution. Lack of attention to the new potentials turned them into threats and weakened the already damaged neighborhood structures.

Accessibility is one of the important factors in public open space design and the creation of equitable neighborhoods. Limitations caused by physical disabilities should not be a barrier for accessing desired spaces and people must be able to live with the greatest possible independence regardless of mobility limitations. The purpose of this paper was to identify the inclusive criteria of pedestrian design and explore the physical characteristics of equitable neighborhoods in Iranian cities. People who experience disabilities have equal rights to have access to the physical environment, communication devices and different services for education, recreation, social participation, accommodation, health and employment. This study was based on the analysis of the morphological characteristics of the Iranian traditional towns (Yazd and Nain), the socio-historical information, and the direct observation of the spaces, and interviews. The findings of the research showed that social equity and shaping an inclusive community are among the problems of developing countries. Based on the findings related to physical limitations of people with special needs and their attitude toward the varied problems they face, some key solutions have been proposed to guarantee better independent movement and achieve equity of access. People with disabilities should be equal to others in terms of their access to urban spaces, regardless of gender, ethnicity and type of disability. Safety and convenience are some ways for promoting public health especially its mental aspects. Finally it can be said that inclusive pedestrian networks will provide the people especially those suffering from physical disability and moving limitations with more accessible routes and help them participate in personal and social spheres of life more effectively.