JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING
Year:2009 | Volume:2 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Art has always played a critical role in forming cultural, social, and political symbols and especially during the last three decades, it, in form of public art, has caught the attention of artists and experts of fields related to public domains including urban designers and planners, architects, geographers, sociologists and politicians. As such, in the 20th century, a variety of factors including fast growth of cities and reduction of quality of public space as a result of urban communities’ ignorance about this growth procedure, the specialization of different fields of sciences and technologies, and understanding the role of arts in promoting the conceptual aspects of public space have been influential in giving shape to public art. Since then, one of the most important questions about public art has been whether any artwork which exists in public realm and is accessible to open space can be called public artwork. Since public art concept, unlike other phenomenon, is not stable and changes in the course of the time, investigating different accounts of this concept, its evolution and its theoretical basis can be assumed to be one way to prepare a base for answering the question that: “what is public art?”. In the second half of the 20th century, the growth of attentions to public spaces remaining from modernist approaches to architecture and urban planning in many countries encouraged local governments to benefit from ‘a percent for art’ policy in built environment developments. With this policy, artworks, which had disappeared in such spaces for more than half a century, re-emerged in public spaces. Therefore, in the initial years of following this policy, the artists, who up until that time had exhibited their artworks in modern museums, found the opportunity to put them on view in public and accessible spaces. After less than three decades, the appearance of these artworks that were devoid of the socio-spatial dimensions of public spaces has been criticized by citizens and social and art critics. With the increase of these criticisms, a new paradigm, with socio-spatial dimensions being in its central core, emerged in public art field from the end of 1980s to the beginning of 1990s. With a deliberative and comparative review of evolution of public art concepts and definitions, this paper introduces the 1990s as the paradigm shift and public art theoretical basis transformation period, and divides the evolution of public art into two general periods; the first one since 1960s to 1990s, this period was dominated by artist-oriented public art that the modernism concepts of space was followed in designing and creating of artworks in public open spaces, and the other since 1990s up until now, which introduces the theoretical basis of the public art development process in social contexts. Drawing on related literature, a definition of public art is presented and also concerns regarding future of public art in relation to public spaces that is becoming more and more privatized in many countries, are debated.

In spite of the improvements of methods, equipment, techniques and urban planning and designing processes in the 20th century, contemporary urban planning in the beginning of the 21st century is facing new challenges. This is because of the wide range of issues to be solved in one side and the need of radical changes in the ways of observing and facing these issues from the other side. New urban planning approaches, like “community planning” and “non-Euclidian mode of planning” besides most recent theories such as “critical theory”, “phenomenology”, “ethical theory” and “sustainable development” all show the importance and the need of a new attitude towards the world, human beings, environments and ultimately architecture and urban planning. In spite of the differences in principles and methods, issues such as morals versus the profits, community versus individuality and quality versus quantity, are the common principles among all the aforesaid theories. Therefore, it seems that achievement of sustainable development of cities acquires a change in content and procedure in contemporary urban planning. This paper tries to analyze the principles and concepts of urban sustainable development from viewpoint of a phenomenological approach. Therefore by applying a descriptive/analytic method, and with the use of “library studies” the basic principles of sustainable development are studied by the basic phenomenological principles such as “return to the things themselves”, “dwelling”, “lived space”, “sense of place”, “meaning” and so on. One of the most important results of this study can be the need and importance of paying attention to human existence/life as a labyrinth, elegant and complicated network of real and symbolic relations and knowing this relation network by: leaning toward qualitative and quantitative paradigms, avoiding using space only as geometrical space, resisting against optimization, considering desirability, humanity and control of small and concentrated cities instead of sprawl growth, improving “decision making” methods in different levels of urban planning by considering human and environment in dialectic manner and legitimacy of people participation in preparing and implementation of urban plans. According to these explanations, achievement of many principles of sustainable urban development such as making neighborhoods that encourage public life, applying native patterns consistent with climate, considering a rational limit of population and building density, designing based on pedestrian and public transportation, improvement of community relationships and avoiding making social ghettos would be possible only if there is a qualitative and in-depth recognition of the environment.

The present era can become an epoch in which public participation in planning and decision-making process and the future of urban community leads to a situation in which urban planners and public cooperate together in urban planning and community development plans. Turning ideas and participation theories in urban planning into practical techniques and approaches is very crucial because as long as these theories do not be objectified, they can’t be implemented. Moreover, according to diverse institutional and legal considerations in different countries, application of these techniques must be proportionate with these conditions. However, in Iran, practical approaches capable of turning theories and ideals into reality are not present yet. Accordingly, studying different aspects of public participation and trying to implement them is essential. In this paper after a brief investigation of participation theories, it has been tried to implement these theories introducing and benefiting from current techniques in pioneer countries in the field of participation. The main goal of the project selected as our case study, namely Amir-Abad, Golha neighborhood, is increasing quality of life using participatory approaches. The proposed factors are: safety and security, efficient transportation system, access to services, walk-able urban space and identity. It has been tried to use different methods to achieve participatory approaches. These are utilized in various steps of the project, filling questionnaires, interviewing with stakeholders and etc. in cognition step, using SWOT matrix in analysis step and setting up public hearings in designing process. The questionnaires were based on place check technique and quality of life criteria because place check can provide a focus for bringing people together to work in collaboration and can identify what is needed to be done in order to improve the place. This research shows that public participation is based on a non-elitist view of social progress. Good ideas are always generated from community, so ignoring people in urban plans leads to alienated public which feel that their views has been ignored and the plan has been imposed upon them. Successful participation process in urban plans in different environmental, social and economical conditions requires applying various levels and techniques of participation. The most important role of a planner in leading public participation in an urban plan is selecting the appropriate approaches and implementing them according to context and cultural terms. One of the findings of this research is that some of participation techniques cannot be implemented in our case study, so we tried to find out which approach is the best so that we can carry out a good participatory process. To achieve the mentioned goals, this paper has been presented in four sections. In the first section important theories in public participation will be investigated. In the second section three theories about levels of participation will be expressed. The third section offers prevalent techniques for benefiting from public participation in urban plans. At the end the outcomes of a practical experience in preparing community development plan in Amir- Abad, Golha Neighborhood will be presented.

Historical sites are special places not only due to the cultural heritage that they house, but also due to their natural resources. They can be considered as irreplaceable assets representing the investment of centuries of knowledge and lessons which weave the various physical elements and spatial units together in particular contexts. For this reason, such environments are “a treasure house of human experience – of successes and failure”, good examples of “problem solving a total response to the challenge of climate and topography” and demonstrating an adaptation of man to the ebb and flow of social and political history of particular nations in a long process of trial and error. Many such sites are in a danger of losing their historical aspects if relevant studies are not put in place to measures those aspects and ensure the continuity of their qualities. This paper is concerned with the historical spects in the city of Sanandaj considering two leading questions: (1) how has the historic core of Sanandaj formed? and (2) what historical aspects it contained which gave birth to its character? Theses will be dealt through document analysis, observation of the built form of the city and physical survey of existing built form and its natural context (taking photograph and analytical drawings). The information has been collected from 2003 to 2007. The results of the case study shows that its main structure sprang from the castellated cities, which contained three layers of urban spaces; the citadel or Qala on the top of a hill in the centre of the city’s setting was surrounded by a wall, the quarter occupied by the ruling class was again enclosed by a wall, and, beyond these two parts, is the rest of the city comprising three main quarters and one newer quarter free of man-made walls. This means that outer layers of the city have surrounded the power center and have been categorized according to occupations needed by the ruling class. This also has changed the main route of Sanandaj in a manner that its direction, instead of being along with bazaar – as it is the case in other traditional Islamic cities, is conforming to the direction of power and sovereignty cores. Due to this spatial organization and also those factors involved in formation of the city, it can be concluded that the founders of the city has predefined the overall structure of the city and its main components which means that it can be regarded as a “planned” city. The outcome of this review is that the historical site of Sanandaj has the potential for cultural resource-management plans, qualities that should be protected and enhanced. These findings will also be a useful base in recognizing the roots of urban form elements, and further research concerning the city’s conservation plan.

Nowadays, it seems that due to imbalances in urban sub-systems, large parts of cities suffer from flawed and undesirable performance. Apparently, this weak performance is in such a manner that some urban textures have lost their identity as collective habitats and suffer from lack of identity. This is evident from the fact that the cognitive relationship between city and its residents in many of today’s urban fabrics has decreased, and consequently recognition of “sense of orientation” and “identity of environment” by citizens has encountered serious problems. On the other hand, such inefficient or deteriorated urban fabrics, due to the fact that they will be marked in the mental map of the citizens as undesirable areas, are considered as undeniable parts of the urban form and townscape. “Inefficient” or “deteriorated” urban fabric is a general term for those textures which deviate, in one way or another, from expected and desirable form or function in the opinion of interested groups. This study has reviewed those elements which affect the visual system in deteriorated urban fabric neighborhood, as collective and public areas, so that this can serve as a basis for purposeful and identifying design of visual system. Regarding aforesaid issues, in this paper, consideration is given to the necessity of performing studies of visual system as the visual- physical aspect of townscape in cities with special texture (i.e. inefficient or deteriorated urban fabric). Introducing the identity and sense of place as the major components involved in determining the value of urban fabrics, this paper addresses the deteriorated urban fabrics and different strategies to interfere in them. The necessity of performing visual-formal research in such fabrics will then be emphasized and the visual system and its components (as the visual-formal aspect of the townscape) will be analyzed and reviewed. Result of the present research are: suggesting identity and sense of place as means of determining inefficiency and deterioration of urban fabric, elucidation of the role of researches on the visual system in theoretical basis of urban design, and introduction and illustration of visual elements as components of visual system and their relationships. The achievements of this study also have been considered in the case study of Abbasi District of Tehran. It is noteworthy that in this paper, descriptive-analytical research method and review of literature has been used for collecting information during library-based phase of the research, and case study method, photo documentation, observation and interview for its field study phase.

The word “concept” has been used in many theoretical discussions (especially in architectural schools) with different applications and aspects that are somewhat contradictory. Also, some other phrases such as “conceptual” art or “conceptual architecture” have been used with ignorance to their true meanings. In some cases, the word “concept” has been used instead of primary ideas or general ideas or sometimes as study models in design process. Using this word with so many different meanings in architectural literature is really disappointing. On the other hand, design concepts in architecture have been written about by many authors before. The majority of these writings, however, analyzes and criticizes concepts as end products of the design process. By contrast, this paper intends to describe this word by comparing it to conceptual art and its use in practice and depict it from viewpoint of design process itself. A comparative analysis of conceptual art and conceptual architecture shows that appearance of “concept” in conceptual art is related to the scientific research about the nature of question, dematerialization, de-formalism and anti-aesthetic status of the artistic products while in architecture, it is related to nostalgia, sprit of the time, contrast with context, metaphors, radical aspiration of form, physical suspension of architecture and transitive concepts. In spite of this, there are some similarity between conceptual art and conceptual architecture in this regard: using research in design process, importance of design process and benefiting from literature. A Comparative analysis also shows that conceptual art and conceptual architecture are two fundamentally different disciplines and conceptual architecture is weakest when it tries to imitate conceptual art and neglects its architectural properties. Conceptual art considers the “immaterial” ideas that define its artistic concepts as the primary issue and its object status and method of production as the secondary one. Paying attention to production process instead of final form can be observed in conceptual architecture but it is different from that of conceptual art because architecture should be conforming to needs, program, construction and budget. Conceptual architecture is related to conceptual words (such as emptiness, lightness, transparency, etc), production process and material and also is related to the context. Architecture exists in the entirety of its productive processes, from thinking and writing to drawing and building, including consideration of materials, structure, costs, techniques, and relationship to other practices, events, and places and it can not neglect them. What connects these various aspects is architecture’s reference to its objective nature. Projects, built or unbuilt, that do not consider this physicality closely, are less successful from architectural viewpoint. This statement can be read simultaneously as reactionary, dogmatic, or even obvious, but there is no easy way around it.

Windmill (Asbad) is one of the most important kavirian architectural constructions in Iran. This small and apparently plain and simple factory is the significant evidence of ancient Iranians’ ability to put art and science together in using native and local feasibilities and possibilities and natural power to satisfying their first need of having food. Khourasan as a vast area in Iran has an old history in creation and production of brilliant architectural constructions before and after adopting Islam by Iranian people, especially during Islamic period. In this area, there are lots of unique incomparable windmills which are more than 1000 years old. These exclusive and exceptional windmills can be found in Nahbandan, Khawf, Nashtifan, Khargard, Barabad and some other areas in Great Khourasan, among all of them only Nashtifan’s windmills complex is long-lasting and still standing. Actually, even now some parts of this set of buildings are working. Another reason for the significance of this study is that, this local-industrial unique architectural complex is the most matchless and incomparable windmill construction in Iran and the oldest windmill complex with vertical axis in the world. This review generally deals with a broad look at windmill as a local-industrial unique architectural construction and specifically with describing Nashtifan’s windmills, their architectural structure and organization, their operational procedure and functional process in order for revealing their great concealed and hidden architectural values. The research method is analytical-descriptive. In order to prepare and propose a theoretical framework for obtaining and using information about architectural specifications and characteristics, firstly review of literature will be done on several questions about windmills and their function. In situ investigation and comprehensive assessment and examination of a windmill unit is another important part of this research. The result of this part of the study is preparation of some plots and drawings of a windmill unit which is one of the few and limited working and ongoing units. In these plots and schemes, architectural spaces in a windmill unit are shown. Theses spaces and rooms are “Askhane”, the bottom room of windmill and the place of mill stone, and “Parkhane” the top part of windmill and the pace that “charkhbad” (wind round or disk) is located. Two points that are discussed in this paper are especially worthy of notice: first the operation system of windmills from first step of providing wheat to the last one of making flour and stopping the circle of windmill; second is the local construction materials used in Nashtifan Windmills. Some of these local construction materials which have an important and vital role and position in proper and appropriate work of windmills are the wood of some native trees, mud brick, and Kahgel (mix of clay and straw). According to these points, this study is aimed to show the hidden values and capacities of this unknown architectural structure of our cultural heritage so that high-quality and superior conservation can be provided for this worthy and valuable achievement.

A large part of central Iran is in hot arid zone. Living in these areas depends on existence of water. In order to keep water in an Iranian city or a village, different ways have been adopted. Iranian people have used an important architectural element which is called ab-anbar. Ab-anbar or underground cistern is a place to keep water for different users in a settlement during hot seasons. We can depict an overall picture of their building elements. Generally, all ab-anbars consist of tanks or cistern, dome or vault, steps, and badgir or wind-catchers. In most ab-anbars, access to water is provided by a long staircase with a steep slop reaching the tank. There is “pashir” (small underground hall) at the end of the staircase in which a bronze tap is arranged to take from cistern which is a water reservation tank located deeply under the ground. The vaulted covering on top of the tank holds wind-catchers which ventilate the area and make the drinking water cool. The main aim of this paper is to concentrate on structural elements of ab-anbar. This building must be built very precisely. Any mistake means leaking water which is so vital for habitants. We can consider constructional methods for different elements such as roofing, tank, staircase and wind-catchers. The first section of the paper is devoted to materials used for construction of ab-anbar. Different materials are used such as brick, stone, gypsum mortal and some composition of lime mortar. Application of these materials is very crucial in maintaining water in the tank. Covering the cistern is a useful act to prevent water evaporation contamination and warming. In Iran, the most common type of roof is the vault and in central parts of Iran, due to shortage of timber materials vaults are common. Another reason for superiority of vaults over timber roofs is the weakness of the latter against dampness. Furthermore, penetration of insects and small animals in wood fabrics may contaminate water resources. In addition due to the fact that it was not possible to repair and control ab-anbars continuously their covering structures need firmness and durability. Types of vaults in each place are different on the basis of typology of ab-anbars and what determines the type of each covering in different places is the type of the tank plan. In ab-anbars with circular cistern plan domes are also located on circular surfaces without using squinches. In the cases of sizeable rectangular tank plans the main solution is application of domes. Different vaults are used for small rectangular tanks. For columned plans various vaults have been used like crossed vaults, small domes and barrel vaults. Cisterns are containers for water reservation. Water reservation idea is materialized by the tank construction and performance. In order to access water in ab-anbars we can identify two methods in different parts of Iran. Both these elements have been built with high quality materials in order to preserve the entire building for long time use.