BAGH-E NAZAR
Year:2021 | Volume:18 | Issue:97|Papers Count:8

Problem statement: The direct connection between the city and nature leads to the emergence of natural edges in the city. The present study investigates the status of the river valleys of Tehran, as the most important natural edges in this city, by studying the upstream management documents of Tehran. This study and critique of the current situation have been done concerning the studies done on these edges at the landscape level. Besides, by looking at the documents related to the status of natural edges, it has been tried to examine the viewpoints of those documents on these elements of the urban landscape. Research objective: Considering these natural edges, this study seeks to identify and examine their status in urban documents and regulations of Tehran. Research method: The present study is qualitative and is conducted through the content analysis of documents by library studies. This study is conducted in the field of theoretical foundations, documents and examples of foreign projects. Conclusion: Comparison of the existing views of the river valleys of Tehran based on the landscape science and also study of the examples of urban edges in development documents indicate lack of attention to cultural or identity dimensions of natural edges and aesthetics of river valleys in the comprehensive urban plan document at the macro level. Under these two dimensions, issues, such as public participation and considering citizens’ mentality of the river valleys are raised in the cultural dimension. Moreover, issues, such as their roles as the view corridors and perspectives related to these natural edges in the aesthetics dimension, are discussed in foreign documents. This can also be applied to the natural edges of Tehran. At the intermediate and operational levels, this study demonstrates a rhetorical and discontinuous viewpoint of the river valleys as large and influential green areas at downstream scales. Content analysis and reference to the foundations of the formation of plans, such as the comprehensive plan, show that with such an intellectual and philosophical basis, the place given to natural edges in the city is inevitable and arises from the modernist thinking of that time.

Problem statement: The basis of alchemy, contrary to what is presented to people today, has mystical aspects and without mysticism, alchemy is no longer considered alchemy. Alchemy is associated with mysticism in monotheistic religions and has been of great value in Islam. Mysticism is the source of Islamic sacred art and historically it has had a deep relation with alchemy. Among the sacred arts luster-ware mihrab is one of the most comprehensive examples. In the art of Luster-ware, a worthless brick is transformed into a tile with a lusterware resplendence by performing an operation that corresponds to an alchemy allegorical action which is the transformation of a base metal into gold. This correspondence, along with the union between Islamic mysticism and alchemy, suggests the importance of alchemy in the structure of sacred art, especially in luster-ware mihrabs. The Main Question is what role did alchemy play in shaping the luster-ware mihrabs and how are the symbols of alchemy in these works manifested Research objective: The main purpose of this article is to explain the importance of alchemy, as wisdom related to Islamic mysticism, in the decoration of the luster-ware mihrabs. Research method: In this research, due to its historical nature, library resources are used and a comparative study of luster-ware mihrabs as one of the most comprehensive sacred works in the Islamic art of Iran, is conducted with symbols of alchemy in a descriptive-analytical manner. Conclusion: By visually studying the luster-ware mihrabs, the effects of alchemy as an ancient mysticism in Islamic art of Iran can be observed. The concepts of alchemy have appeared in the visual form of the luster-ware mihrabs, with a cryptic expression and in the form of overt and covert symbols. These symbols, like alchemy itself, have a thematic scope. Alchemical symbols, laws of reflection and duality, geometric motifs such as circle, square, seal of Solomon and the figure of snake are among the symbols that reveal the connection between the luster-ware mihrabs and alchemy mysticism and also show the presence of alchemy in the visual system of Islamic sacred art.

Problem statement: Even though the dearth of water has long been a permanent challenge in Iran, a large majority of Iranian cities have managed to survive by harvesting underground water through the Qanat system. All these cities share some special features in terms of urban morphology and their traditional water infrastructures have influenced their urban texture to a large extent. Of these cities, the historic city of Qazvin has been selected as a case study. Research objective: This study attempts to examine the contribution of water to urban morphological elements. Since water as a natural element of the urban context determines urban forms (street, plot and building systems), this study seeks to identify such effects on these systems. Research method: The historic city of Qazvin was selected as the research site. Data related to the elements of the urban form of this city in the Qajar era were collected through field observation and interviews with old citizens of Qazvin and experts. Also, relevant documents were examined and analyzed. For data analysis, related software programs were used. Conclusion: Examining the presence of water in four elements of urban forms shows that water as an independent factor has had a large effect on urban morphology. It mainly affects street systems but this effect for building systems was much lesser. However, this effect on the plot systems has been very slight. Overlooking this effect while carrying out intervention in the historic urban texture might lead to some misunderstanding and result in an incorrect decision in the historic urban texture.

Problem statement: Recognizing and examining the relationship between space, behavior and or environment and community in urban studies is always important and valuable. The main issue of behavioral studies understands the relationship between humans and their needs and the formation of behavior in the environment. In this study, two different neighborhoods based on morphological structure (Zargandeh neighborhood with irregular-organic texture and Daroos neighborhood with regular-grid texture) were studied to investigate the effects of different structure of neighborhood texture and the roles of urban planners and designers on the formation of behavioral patterns which can be affected on the formation of the desired behavioral patterns. In the present study, the main question is about understanding the difference between the occurrence and emergence of behavioral patterns in two different irregular-organic and regular-grid textures. This research is not hypothetical and seeks to describe and analyze the relationship between behavioral patterns and these two different urban structures. Research objectives: The goal of this study is detection of behavioral pattern changes in different urban textures in order to prepare a suitable planning according to the goals of urban planners and designers. Research method: The above research is descriptive-analytical. Because it has adapted or compared case studies and also it is comparative due to the comparison of the outputs of the two Agraph and Depth software. Type of this research is mix-method (quantitative and qualitative). Conclusion: The formation of behavioral patterns in different urban spaces of neighborhoods is due to human relations. Existence of regular pattern in the passages has been lead to the high level of access, integration and strengthens the movement patterns. Wide field of view facilitates movement and increases security. Due to proper access of the neighborhood texture, the land-use patterns have been dotted and scattered. The presence of an organic physical form has strengthened walking and increased the sense of search. Parts of the neighborhood have been separated from other parts due to low integration and the existence of multiple dead ends and reduced sense of security because of the presence of many corners, cozy and limited visibility and have become spaces with no or limited visits.

Problem statement: Natural structures have been developed over the centuries to obtain acceptable solutions to external factors. During this process, only the most efficient natural forms have survived for millions of years. One of these natural structures is the vascular structure in plants’ leaves, which is discussed in the present article. Undoubtedly, the plants’ structure follows principles similar to that of human-made engineering, but with more complex and precise technology. The extreme complexity behind the natural elements sometimes make hard to understand the behavior of them. But nowadays, by using computer analysis and modeling abilities, we can understand the natural complex structures and attempt to simplify and extract their algorithmic structure. In this research, we have carried out a computational analysis of vascular structure in plants’ leaves, in order to obtain a plugin to design structural building envelope s inspired by nature. Therefore, according to structural sustainability in the leaves, the present research seeks to answer these questions; can the structure, which a leaf conforms to, be used in a human-made structure on a large scale? Compared to common structures, would it provide more favorable conditions? On the other hand, does the structure, designed based on the vascular structure in plants’ leaves, have more loading capability than the common structures? Research objective: The purpose of this research is to design a different structure, inspired by the vascular structure in plants’ leaves, which will help improve the structural function towards increasing structural loading capability, and also achievement of visual attraction in beam and column systems is another goal in this paper by avoiding orthogonal structures. Research method: This research is descriptive-analytic, and the data are gathered and analyzed through documentology. Conclusion: The designed plugins, using plants’ vascular structure, enable users to create a vast spectrum of cover construction in different sizes by altering the devised parameters. This ability to make changes allows the architect to create more complex forms, which would be impossible without using these plugins, due to complexity in shape or the design’ s structure.

Problem statement: Islamic philosophy and art theoreticians, such as Burckhardt, considered Islamic art as abstract since it presents divine mysteries in Eastern art through symbolization. Hence, traditional art is sacred art with an abstract model of expression that avoids figurative and naturalistic representation. On the other hand, in Europe during the 20th century, Kandinsky started a movement in the visual arts to discover the visual features beyond the visual-narrative realm of the real world. They believed that painting, like music, should set itself free from the boundaries of mimesis or imitation of nature and narratives and influence its audience merely through forms and colors. Both of these attitudes have their theoretical foundations and reasons that are different from each other. The present study seeks to answer the following questions: What is the meaning, function, and characteristics of the word “ abstraction” in both the abovementioned perspectives? What are the concepts of traditionalists and Western art critics from the term “ abstraction” and how are they related to each other? Research method: This basic research used a descriptive-analytical method and first attempted to find the exact meaning of the word “ abstraction” . Afterward, it examined and compared the characteristics of Islamic art from the traditionalist thinkers’ points of view and the concept of “ abstraction” in Western artists’ opinions. Research objective: This study discusses art and stylistics in the theoretical field of art research and can be effective in the development of discussions on “ the nature of art” . Conclusion: There are similarities and differences in the use of the word “ abstraction” in Islamic and Western art. In both of them, the artist and the audience are detached from the material and objective world. Both of these perspectives try to present something beyond what is visible and for this reason, the artists try to employ mysteries and symbols to present their artworks.

Problem statement: Several typological qualitative studies are reflecting stylistic similarity between Mughal architecture and Malaysian mosques based on the occurrence of Mughal features. However, these features were distorted in their forms and materials during their adaptation in Malaysian mosques being a different region, climate, and period though the features were within recognizable limits. Research objective: The purpose of this research is to explore an alternative approach based on components of feature to evaluate the stylistic similarity between Mughal architecture and Malaysian mosques during the British period. Research method: This research is based on the similarity model and feature matching and it will investigate the aim through observation and case study methods by considering components of the feature as connotation with indicators to quantify the qualitative data. The methodology includes comparison and evaluation of dome, minaret, and chhatri as features from three Mughal case studies with three Malaysian mosques of the British period for their stylistic similarity. Conclusion: The findings show that this alternative approach gives a more precise way to evaluate the stylistic similarity between Mughal architecture and Malaysian mosques based on the numeric value of responses for indicators.

Statement of problem: One of the contemporary architectural phenomena is high-rise buildings. Because they are multifaceted, they should be seen in interdisciplinary studies. The problem with this research is the meaning of these buildings. One of the semantic aspects of architecture in addition to its physical and functional meaning is its social and cultural meaning, which is the result of the interaction of social connections, community values, the body and the function of buildings. Research objective: This study seeks to understand some of the cultural and social meanings of high-rise residential buildings. This has been done by reviewing literature as one of the semiotic sources of social and cultural discourse. To this end, after reviewing contemporary Iranian fiction, the novel “ Rahesh” has been selected, which has addressed this phenomenon more than any other story. Research method: This study was conducted in a post-structuralist cognitive paradigm with a qualitative approach using discursive semiotic (post-structuralist) method. The research is descriptive-analytical in terms of type of results and theoretical in terms of purpose. The analytical method used in this study is the analysis of the Holliday Critical Discourse, with the retroductive method, and the data were collected using a library method. Conclusion: This study showed that high-rise residential buildings in social sustainability discourse, challenge to ideal home, urban nature, visions, citizen health, maternal and spouse role, some social values such as capitalism and luxury and links of these, are in the neighborhood. Thus, the underlying socio-cultural transformations, including the role of women in the family, the pretentiousness and the destruction of traditional contexts and green spaces, are most reflected in large urban communities and are influenced by managers’ decisions and political competition.