مجله منظر
پیاپی 21 (زمستان 1391)

It is almost an interesting and instructing issue to research how Iranians thought about the space from the very beginning till today and how did they organize them. Did they discover the great secrets of the universe creation by creating gardens and experiencing their routines…… or, On the contrary, based on current secrets found in the sublime universe and based on hidden blessings in the light essence which the creator had bestowed upon them, they tried to preserve what God has blessed for the future generation in making gardens and its spatial organization. In our opinion, freedom in interpretation of Iranian garden and introducing it as the product that is trying to lead the users to the ideal mentality and a better socio-human atmosphere is not sufficiently investigated and this hypothesis is in need of research; this paper aims to research this issue. In order to achieve a new landscape of Iranian garden, this landscape will be discussed in Interconnected and interdependent aspects of “form”, “matter” and “meaning” to offer new ideas to the readers. Firstly, we can accept the Iranian garden as a procedure which has occurred in Iranian lands due to its material essence and later became the subject of interesting and controversial researches and adorations and assessments. Matter is firstly assessed and acknowledged, then determined and defined by the architect in various scales based on its potentials prior to being brought to the formal and semantic world. Therefore, this research requires knowledge of Iranian garden. Form shaping in Iranians garden can be known as a bridge connecting the two worlds of matter and meaning. In Persian literature and also in single notes written about Iranian gardens in other languages, some theories are observed in which the role of garden and Chahar Bagh is affiliated to a universal order. An attempt to provide an insight that relates the presence of water, tree and soil that connects the “other world” and the “living world” is quite obvious. Since this literature dose not emphasize on the existence of four directions in the world, our Chahar Bagh(four Gardens) can be interpreted in ontological aspect. As the thought develops due to assessment and order, the physical space should also be recognized by the order: the order in research scale; the order in transition of a material to a building element; the order in reading spaces created of combined volumes. This space introduces a landscape that connects the earth to sky and the ground to the roof. The truth is that we cannot understand the Iranian garden out of the two connected and interrelated spaces: land space and time space. These two spaces which cannot be defined individually cannot interpret the Iranian garden singularly. The land space depends on the nature and its regulations such as water providing, views, colors, shadows, effect, shelter and etc. Every Iranian garden inside or outside of the city is an indigenous treasure. Indigenous wealth, considered in any sense, does not mean anything without the concept of time. The Iranian garden is closely related to the issue of time – which has an economic aspect necessarily despite the love, joy and meaningful achieved feelings that are offered. I would like to remind that every Iranian garden inside or outside of the city, despite their property ownerships, in their essence, belong to the generations that have long lived in the land of gardens.

Recent constructions and city developments have led to elimination of urban agricultural lands which have been replaced by residential and industrial towns in the new structure. Therefore, a green structure was added to the city structure in order to bring natural spirits to the urbanites; a widespread urban space which was considered the city’s lungs and was used only as a promenading space. Urban landscape design was influenced by costs rising and the economic crisis that led to the configuration of an idea for multi-functional business applications and eventually resulted in revision of green networks in urban structures and initiation of urban agricultural landscape. The productive green space in two main aspects, agricultural and garden preservation as new function of creating new productive spaces, has the capability to be consumed as a part of urbanites requirements. In this case, the consumed water and land resources are directly utilized by urbanites and the consuming green space becomes a productive one. Urban agricultural land revitalization and development within the hierarchy of private to public space can progress an integrated urban agricultural figure. Therefore, urban green space will be allocated to cultivation of a little amount of agricultural products. In this approach, the visual and conceptual urban agriculture is presented differently from different parks, community gardens and urban farms to residents. Agricultural landscape creates a new urban environment and a live landscape by affecting different layers of urban life such as environmental sustainability in producing and consuming process, and by improving public participation in management and preservation of urban green space, offering urban naturalism, providing a sense of place and affiliation in urban green space and by preservation and formation of cultural landscape. This space will connect the urbanites to the nature and result in social interactions, environmental educations, local market improvement, local consumption, employment opportunities and social leisure facilities. Hence, through the continuity of urban agriculture, green space is connected to the social, economic and environmental issues differently and the city embraces a life style that will reduce the loss of energy. Since the productive green space can be created in every city in every scale and its least benefit is the returning of green space maintenance costs, it can be considered as a policy for urban green spaces design and present a naturalistic landscape for the city.

This paper tries to introduce and clarify different interpretations of urban landscape through studying the examples of this case which have been observed and analyzed by the author during her academic and professional experiences. Having these cases reviewed, it seems that the issues and question related to urban landscape, showcases different viewpoints that are different in each city. They also represent very various approaches and several plans for multiple developments in the city. The concept of "landscape" is derived from the natural environment in the Western culture. This article emphasizes mostly on the “classic” concept of landscape to present the urban landscape and cityscape concepts particularly. In the following, this naturalist background faces unexpected and new approaches in these current developments. In the first part the classic concept of landscape; the nature as a “beautiful view” is introduced. The “beautiful landscape” can be interpreted as a set of objects and actors on the stage where harmony is produced by their qualitative relations. In the next part, the nature is introduced as an embrace and depositary of human activities. In this part the cultural landscape of Les Cévennes region is discussed as a landscape relied on domestication and migration. The title of the third part is the “hidden dimension of landscape” and three different dimensions are mentioned for rural landscape: agronomy landscape, urban landscape and also a hidden subterranean landscape; this hidden dimension is a mental landscape and combination of multiple and diverse experiences beyond just visual experiences. Rural domains and the construction of underground storages are the specific characteristics of rural landscape in France. The article continues introducing a preservative-archeological landscape approach and the Vexin natural park is discussed as a case study. “Landscape and the Power Structure” is another title discussed in this article which is introduced as a result of a regulation obeying system. The western city has been formed based on military standards and it has been ruled by governors within their defensive fortifications. Gradually, a political system known as “municipality” was formed.

Landscape had a natural concept for a long period of time: a panoramic view from a high spot which offered perceived aesthetics and emotional pleasure. Today, this visual or decorative perception is in a crisis either in theory or in project and the relation between landscape and human has become complex rather than ‘natural’. Landscape is not merely allocated to aesthetics and it is used in economics, political, law social sciences as well; from industry to saving energy. The question is what impact does this borderless concept have on legibility of concept and landscape performance? For instance, is vision still the only way of accessing landscape while we hear about smell, hearing or even tasting landscape? Furthermore, media developments (photography, cinema and digital world) and the non-material virtual world are distances away from traditional methods of visualization. Generally, nowadays landscape is less readable in the first place. To examine the ontological status, we have to study landscape transitional periods at first. In this study, we reach a basic decision which is the origin or the center of contemporary thoughts in landscape: every landscape can have a material aspect which is portrayed as a cultural oriented issue, a place to live and to be seen as a manifestation of sensible experience and enthusiastic of development. We might come up to a holistic approach in facing landscape which means simultaneousness of landscape rationalisms separated by modernism. This rationalism includes instrumental rationalism which can be observed in science and techniques; common rationalism which defines common ethical and political beliefs; aesthetic rationalism which encompasses various human encounters with the world; conversational or communicational rationalism which build symbolic framework where principles of common life forms within. The landscape architect has many problems to concern about including matching techniques to space disorders and residents’ requests, the meaning and value of place, enhancing life quality in the site and coordination with social context (beliefs, rational thoughts, conflicts and multiplicity of traditions). These are the issues involved landscape in making thinking methods rather than looking for solutions. Obviously, collecting all these things may not be possible in a form of general landscape consideration, but its necessity is also undeniable. A sensible space seems far-fetched at first; however, in fact it carries a profound result in defining landscape and defining the relation between landscape and human beings. This aspect focuses on sensible approach of landscape and deals with landscape as a sensible space. Considering landscape as a part of human identity, it is not fair to think of it only in the issues of distance and vision. We must be "committed to landscape" and "have a sense" in landscape. We are “landscaping” and we are living with it more than we are able to see it. Therefore, we must be more accurate in the sense that we are committed to landscape; since we can intervene in landscape, landscape is close to us, surrounding us and we are able to connect to it, even physically.

The cityscape is closely related to mentalities and realities of a city. Thus, management of urban nightscape should be done under two main themes. On the one hand, physical and functional expressions of city must be considered, but on the other hand, perceptual concepts derived from identity and old traditions are also to be strictly emphasized. An appropriate model for organizing night scenes of city is one that represents physical beauty of the city and indicates, moreover, physiological needs of citizens. The continuity of urban night life is required by making the space more inviting. Achieving such characteristics in night urban spaces needs qualitative and quantitative promotion of space, in turn, is matter of paying attention to subjectivity and objectivity of urban environment and consequently of providing appropriate lighting, a wide variety of activities, a sustainable economy at night, and security and legibility of space. Megacity of Tehran as Iran capital and also as one of important cities in Middle East needs to produce or revitalize night urban spaces. Realizing potentials available in its public spaces and places, city of Tehran can fulfill dream of nightlife for its citizens, provided that physical, perceptual, and cultural requirements could be incorporated. Additionally, it is good to mention that new comprehensive plan of Tehran (2008) has provided a strong valid and legitimate support for doing it. Among statements of vision of this plan, keywords such as global, safe, lively, and vibrant put a strict emphasis on necessity of turning Tehran to a 24 hours city. Hence, an exhaustive planning for continuing urban nightlife in City of Tehran should be considered by both urban management and experts of urban affairs. With a concise literature review and a reasoned documentation, this paper tries to explain significance of realization of urban nightscape management potentials in city of Tehran, to express its requirements, and finally, to offer added economic and social values obtained from suitable organization of Tehran urban spaces at night time.

Through the last three decades, Paris has been known as "La Ville-Lumière" ("The City of Light"). Paris owes this name firstly to its fame for being in the centre of education and ideas during the enlightenment age which gathered many writers and artists of that era. But later on, Paris become famous for its early adoption of street lighting and this event made the city’s identity; an identity which has continued till today and has become a pretext for lighting to be considered as a specific guideline. In this city, the historical and main public buildings are decorated with lights very delicately and carefully and these illuminations make Paris nights so poetic and full of romance. Paris night lighting was launched since 1318 and its initial purpose was to bring security to the dark areas. It took about 2 centuries for Paris bourgeoisie to accept to pay for lighting candles at houses’ windows in the parliament area. In 18th century Paris lighting system was by oil-lights. These kinds of lights were transformed to gas-lights at late 19th. Nowadays, Paris nights light with about 200 thousand sources and 304 sites (monuments, hotels, churches, bridges, statues, public buildings and waterfronts) are illuminated. The electricity for lighting the city costs about 12 million Euros per year and a large part of the Paris budget is allocated to that. Providing security, beauty and creativity, identity and harmony with the context, persistence and sustainability, saving energy, environmental protection, visual comfort and light pollution control, modifying the day views, flexibility and change according to the time and adapting to the needs of users can be mentioned as nightscape design principles outlined in the Paris. Policies for urban lighting design in Paris have created a nightscape which identically belongs to this city. Paris nightscape, despite being formed based on lighting the day landscape, makes a different image of the city in the remembrance of visitors. This image varies at different times of the year. Some effective components of the Paris nightscape could be: Creating vitality and shine in general view of buildings (especially historical buildings) in contrast with the daily figures which is somewhat neuter and colorless, emphasizing on landmarks and signs in the urban landscape, controlling the light pollution in order to avoid visual confusion, using colors in lighting (especially in occasional lighting) with various techniques and performing various special images by lightings monuments in the national celebrations and events. Keep the title "City of Light" as an identity for Paris nights has been made possible by the enormous economic cost, expertise and management. Despite the restrictions made by government programs to reduce energy consumption and air pollution (carbon 2020 program), this identity does not seem to be altered. Planning for optimizing the Paris lighting system is being compiled based on two criteria, "time" and "need", with an emphasis on creative answers and coordination with the city night life. These innovative solutions will add more richness and beauty to Paris nights in the coming years.

One of the factors of vitality in urban spaces is the national and memorial events that occur frequently or yearly in public spaces around the world. This phenomenon has an impact on the form and type of people interaction with urban spaces which are not merely physical or formal. The example of annual festivals with a particular concept like light, can be considered in this discussion. With a glance at some lights festivals in the world: Diwali (India), Saint-lucie (Scandinavia), Festival of lights (Europe), fire festivals (Iran), this article is focused on Lyon’s Festival of lights (Fete des Lumières) and urban management strategies to improve the quality of citizens participation. The city of Lyon that is named today the capital of light, hosts yearly the creative and artistic lighting projects to continue a traditional event which dares backs to 1852. In four days of December, this celebration of light unveils the architectural elements of the city, through the illuminating of monuments, streets, hills and river banks. The municipality of Lyon’s participation in this event began in 1989 in such way that the Festival of Lights has now evolved into a major tourist attraction. The article approach is interested particularly in how the urban management strategies have developed the festival from a local scale to an international event. For example the festival organizer, yearly invites the different cultures to present their traditional ceremonies, or beside the professional projects, hosts the amatory projects and allows students from schools of art, architecture, design and engineers to practice their ideas and creativities. From the social view, this event could activate local communities and build a common sense of affiliation to restore local customs and traditions. It also offers the habitats sensory experiences which differ from everyday routine. Traditionally the Lyon’s habitats still illuminate little lights (“des lumignons”) on their windowsills and balconies. The light is still a symbol of hope and youth in dark nights of winter, but is no longer just for security and illumination, it has become more and more an essential component of the urban landscape, one that reveals the city’s texture without denaturing them and gathers the people interactively in urban space. Though, there are some critical points about augmentation of commercial aspects to tourist attraction, insufficient ways to economize the energy consummation, forgetting its origin, it seems that this festival inspired from a traditional event and supported by the municipality, have improved the people relation with urban spaces where light can act as an urban image device and a unifying element in city.

Today, enhancing the quality of urban spaces through providing pedestrian night life is the main concern of architects` and urban planners` main concerns. Since urban space lighting can lead to the presence of citizens at night, lighting plans, especially in developing and rejuvenating the older urban spaces has been taking more attention. This importance and global attention to the lighting of urban landscapes, has lead to various national and international lighting ceremonies and competitions. One of the most famous lighting competitions is an international competition named "City-People-Light ", which is considered a premier project due to its reduction of energy consumption and incorporation of the principles of sustainable development. Lighting of Kanazawa`s castle park won this competition`s third prize in 2011. This project`s first phase began in 2000 and the second phase was completed in 2010. In this article, this lighting project`s positive and negative points and its mutual effects on reaching the urban landscape goals are discussed and analyzed, especially in aspect of landscape managing of the Kanazawa`s older area. Through creating a dramatic sense between the modern and historical parts of the city, this project achieves to emphasize on the city`s culture and history. This article also represents and emphasize the city`s identity through creating a harmony between the lighting elements. Lighting is both used to emphasize the natural elements and cultural historical symbols while keeping Kanazawa`s famous peaceful space. Recognizing the permanent and temporary landscape shaping components in various scales, makes the design to have a special cascading pattern. The Kanazawa`s castle park lighting project is a successful sample of using light energy with minimal damage to the natural environment which causes the presence of night life while keeping the area`s cultural historical identity using artifact elements.

Atjeh Street is one of the oldest streets in Rotterdam city of Netherlands. During the past decade, city officials were searching for a new solution to revitalize the street due to its social security problems, particularly in the night life. Their final solution was not an anatomical restoration of the street, but the idea of lighting at night. The chosen idea called Broken lighting improves the quality of life of the streets at night, saving the identity and lost values ​​of street. Street lighting design is not limited only to lighting requirements and the performance objectives. However with a different look of the designer to the light and lighting, this type of lighting creates a work of art in the city and makes the street distinct as well. Consequently, it has a great impact on identity and legibility of the street and could change the street from an insecure and a low quality place to some where safe and pleasant for night walks of the neighbors. Street lighting includes both horizontal and vertical lighting. Vertical Lighting is created by illuminated columns on the facades of buildings and shining lights from precise grooves of the lamps. Horizontal lighting illuminates the sidewalk of the street by the idea of Broken lighting and creates artistic patterns. Municipal laws and traffic regulations limits the designers in using this idea in the whole Street. Imaginative and beautiful patterns that are created on the surface of the sidewalk gives a different personality to Atjeh street; a character which is a result of a new experience of public space. Providing adequate lighting with an ice and artistic pattern of lighting at night, make light as a reviver and life - giving of space. In fact, in the lighting of Atjeh street, art in the form of special lightings of floor and facades of the street is a factor in attracting people and shape their collective memories in the Ambiguity halo of dancing lights. Involving pedestrians feelings and a new visual experience for them in addition to changing the old street into a" pillar of light" in the context of the city, has blown rejuvenation in the empty spaces between the buildings.

It is about a century that lighting in the city is considered a field of urban art. Nowadays, urban lighting is being tested pace with technological developments and the introduction of urban social theories in various fields that gives variety to urban landscape. The interactive and participatory design is one of the new areas of urban sociology and urban planning relied on technology which is imported in the field of urban lighting. In this context, the relationship that exists between space and light provides a different perception of light as one of the defining factors of landscape with the audience and entering contact as a factor that plays a role in lighting space. This paper introduces and analyzes the interactive lighting project “Light Scraper” in Melbourne. In this project the special scope of designer is the significant role of audience in space. Depending on the movements, the media scenes and special music will be created tailored to the space, so that it shapes the audience as the third factor in urban space lighting which impresses the public space form that challenges of citizen understanding of space and city in different scales and dimensions. Interactive design that emphasizes on relationship between the project and the audience and their interactive dialog, attracts the audience to participate in creating the space and add variety to it. Therefore, the diversity of audiences is considered as an appropriate approach for creating dynamic urban spaces. “Light scraper” project with providing a context for attracting participants of audiences and converting their movements in to light and sound have created a space in which the audience will figure out the importance of his presence in the space. This approach will help in creating vitality, space legibility, excitement and create the memorial role of the city.

Gathering places of towns should have a strong and special identity and be visually more different, recognizable, memorable and vivid from other places. In fact, gathering spaces should be in harmony and unity with other urban spaces of the city in order to make them a memorable and at the same time effective in forming the city's overall identity. Today a main part of citizen's perception of the city and urban spaces, takes place at night. Therefore, the nightlife of the city has become a major concern for the urban planners and managers. A major part of gathering place's identity also depends on their nightscape in the city. One of the most complicated and sensitive parts in designing nightscapes for the city is planning and designing a lighting master plan, an issue that is more important than specialty and knowledge of technical and aesthetic aspects of lighting. This needs a sufficient and precise understanding of the city, its identity and its qualifications which forms its landscape. And what West 8, landscape architects has done in Helsinki, more than anything else is emphasizing on the identity of place thorough use of its natural heritage. Use of light in West 8 proposed master plan is completely objective and light is used only in special spaces to make signs and symbols. West 8 work in Helsinki is a complete sample of Light Art.

West design team has done numerous successful projects in night landscape, in which, design at the macro to the micro scales, made the group successful as an international leader in landscape architecture. Large number of west8 projects is to design lighting details in small-scale landscape. Adopting two different approaches: identity and function has led to the creation of two different spectra. The team with its successful designs at lighting and nightscape indicates that contextual and identity approaches can play the most important role in advancing the goals. These so-called "second nature" landscapes are considered to have special lighting from the perspective of its location. According to the project, a specific component of site substrate is selected as a symbol which is familiar to the audience, and will be as a special lamp or lighting. At the lowest mode, it is involved in landscape as an identity symbol with other elements. Finally at the highest mode is the original idea and the only identity symbol without any other elements. In this view, the various elements of the site, including history, body, people and their culture, as the substrate of​​ the project, create the identity of the space. It is only due to the field of landscape architecture that they can be understood at all levels including lighting. Another part of the projects are detailed design in lighting for mass production and use in different locations. In these projects functional approach is the most important, and the two aesthetics and identity approaches come after, but these are not parts of the site substrate. So, constructing simple forms with high flexibility, high efficiency are always considered with stable and consistent use of materials such as aluminum, which offers free design. These designs, with technologic and formic sight cannot play a ​​great role in maintaining the identity of a landscape and seems to have fixed designs, in contrast with specific identity of every landscape, which must be modified with other elements of environment, not to contribute to the integrity and identity. This paper discusses the effectiveness of West 8 landscape approaches in the Urban Lighting Tools design by analyzing West 8 approaches in two scales (mid-scale and micro-scale) of lighting design.