JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURE STUDIES
Year:2018 | Volume:7 | Issue:13 |Papers Count:8

Architectural and artistic remains of the Achaemenid Empire have attracted the attention of scholars for many centuries. Nevertheless، the focus of research has been on locating Achaemenid origins in the architectural forms of other conquered civilizations. More recently، a tendency has emerged that tries to analyze Achaemenid art and history on their own terms. However، little attention has been paid to Achaemenid architecture and building crafts. The sporadic studies cannot open up new horizons to gain a fuller understanding of Achaemenid building traditions. This paper aims at filling this knowledge gap. Given the unique engineering of the Achaemenid palatial complexes، it is of high importance to identify the technology used to realize such ambitious projects. Benefitting from an interpretive-historical research method، as well as reading the archaeological evidence through the lens of engineering knowledge، this study sheds new light on topics such as construction techniques and materials، effective resistance against destructive powers of nature، as well as the way through which building technology developed during the empire. The Achaemenids benefitted from a partial understanding of the physical properties of materials and the flow of forces in structures. Moreover، they not only employed the most effective techniques available by then but also invented genuine methods to improve the static behavior of their colossal palaces.

One of the ways of studying architecture in the premodern Islamic world is to approach it epistemically، especially with regard to its relationship with the formal sciences. Since the very beginning of the intellectual movement in the mid-second century AH/eighth century AD، Muslim philosophers paid attention to the classification of sciences. In this article، we examine the most important primary sources on science classification in the first phase of the history of science in the Islamic world، that is، from the mid-second/eighth century to the fifth/eleventh century، with an emphasis on Farabi’ s works. Using the techniques of “ conceptual history” ، we trace the concept of architecture in the sources— regardless of its different manifestations as in words، terms، or systems of classification-? to identify its position in relation to other sciences. For this purpose، after a brief historical survey and introducing our sources that are six primary books written in the first Islamic centuries we observe the different manifestations of the concept of architecture. The most straightforward word in the conceptual field of architecture found in the sources is? ina? at al-bina? (the art/craft of building). This term mostly appears in Farabi’ s and Ikhwan al-? afa’ s works in the field of civil practical arts/crafts in relation to other sciences and arts/crafts. Farabi also addresses another art/craft in the conceptual field of architecture as? ina? at al-ri? asat al-bina? and describes its relation to? ina? a al-bina? . Some layers and parts of architecture are also found in sciences such as the al-? ilm al-? iyal، al-? ilm al-masa? ah، and al-? ilm al-naql al-miyah. After Ikhwan، consideration of arts/crafts including architecture gradually declined in the works of Muslim philosophers.

Varied harsh climatic conditions in different areas of Iran calls for researching different vernacular architectural methods used to gain thermal comfort with the least consumption of energy. The study of vernacular architecture strategies can provide some solutions for contemporary design. This study uses field measurements to analyze the thermal performance of shavadoons (a kind of underground space used widely in the vernacular architecture of Dezful and Shoushtar in Iran). Variables such as temperature، relative humidity، air velocity and mean radiant temperature of the shavadoon in the Souzangar House were measured and analyzed for this purpose. CFD analysis was performed using DesignBuilder based on temperature contours derived from field measurements. The results indicate that thermal comfort conditions are achieved in different seasons، and the mean radiant temperature is relatively stable especially during the summer due to the high thermal capacity of the soil. The impact of air velocity، which pushes out humidity from the shavadoon، is very little، rather negligible، in these spaces.

“ Placelessness” has emerged as the main issue in urban spaces following the standardization and the lack of identity of contemporary urban spaces. It can be said that placelessness occurs when a place loses its meaning. Therefore، the creation of meaning which is an essential feature of the vitality of urban spaces has become a challenge in the design of contemporary Iranian urban spaces، and thus factors contributing to the understanding of the meaning of places should be prioritized. This qualitative study aims to uncover the meaning of place in urban spaces. The case presented is Bagh-e Ferdows، which is a vital، historic urban space in Tehran. The experiences of twenty frequent visitors of “ Bagh-e Ferdows” were collected and analyzed using the content analysis method. Participants were selected randomly and data collection was done using semi-structured interviews up until theoretical saturation. The data was then analyzed using qualitative content analysis. According to the results، four main themes emerged which influence the experience of place and understanding of the meaning of historic urban spaces، namely، naturalness، socio-cultural interactions، architectural authenticity، and historical significance. Study results indicated that these four elements were associated with the visitors’ understandings of both the explicit and implicit meaning of Bagh-e Ferdows. This theoretical model shows that the improvement of these four themes through urban design and planning interventions in other historical places، according to the attributes of each place، can lead to create successful urban places and to provide more vital and attractive public places within the place-making approach.

The limited resources of energy، the significant rise in energy consumption، and its devastating effects on the environment are among reasons to save and optimize energy consumption. To minimize the dependence on energy، innovative low-energy structures can be built. Since the maximum amount of energy (about 40 percent) is consumed in the building sector and most of it is spent in cooling، heating، and ventilation systems، passive design solutions can help reduce this amount. One of the ways to reduce the total energy requirement of a building is to replace conventional above-ground buildings with underground structures. This study examines the pattern of heat exchange، heat gains and losses to identify the principles that make earth-sheltered buildings significant energy conservation systems. The subsurface walls at varying depths have a direct impact on energy consumption and the environment. In this study، soil temperatures in Tehran، Yazd، and Tabriz were calculated by using a thermal model. Separate analyses of an above-ground building and an earth-sheltered building exposed on its south side at depths of 1-6 meters were carried out in Energy Plus to determine the energy consumption and ultimately the energy efficiency. The simulation results showed that due to soil parameters considered for each climate، the amount of energy savings in Yazd is more than Tehran and Tabriz. In general، underground buildings in the hot and dry climates are more efficient especially during the summer، to the extent that the cooling load reaches zero at some depths.

Knowledge of humanities in the thinking and practice of engineering nowadays is necessary because of the ambiguities of modern technology in terms of its use in development and its consequences for the future of human beings. The intent of Bionic Architecture، as a master’ s program، should not be simply considered positive، ignoring the associated ethical and humane criticisms. This study is conducted on two levels، i. e.، philosophy of technology and ethics of technology. Regarding the philosophy of technology، biotechnologies are explained epistemologically and ontologically. Regarding the ethics of technology، social ethics and environmental ethics are discussed. Then، the syllabus of the course Philosophy of Art is compared with that of similar courses in other engineering curricula in Iran as well as in the United States. The main finding of this research is that although presently the course of Islamic Wisdom is included in the Bionic Architecture program، it is not sufficient. Training for critical thinking as well as for ethical values instead of the mere description of modern technology must be placed at the core of the curriculum to give depth to students’ thinking and bring about ethical and value development in architectural technology.

Among the most important factors affecting energy consumption in the building sector are social and economic conditions، the culture of energy consumption، geographical and climatic characteristics of a city، the role of a city، efficiency of energy supply and consumption systems، and physical/spatial parameters of buildings and residential fabrics. Addressing urban form through planning and design can significantly reduce the amount of energy consumption. The energy-efficient approach is one of the five dimensions of sustainable development and pursues the reduction of energy demands، reduction of fossil fuel consumption، and the supply of clean energy. Therefore، this approach can greatly benefit the building sector if applied in the design of building complexes and urban fabrics. In this study، eight types of building form and four patterns of urban blocks were analyzed in terms of energy efficiency using descriptive-analytical methods، typological studies، and simulation modeling. The relationship between research variables— the physical characteristics of urban form (urban form and urban block) and energy consumption (energy consumption for heating، cooling and lighting)— in each of the proposed scenarios was investigated using the energy simulation software Design Builder. Based on the results of the present research، the optimal model of residential massing is heavily influenced by factors such as neighboring masses، form، dimensions and building pattern، blockage pattern، and road networks— building pattern and road network structure having the highest influence. Therefore، before the implementation phase or at the stage of assessing alternative designs، it is possible to obtain the optimal forms of single buildings or urban compositions with the help of building energy simulation.