JOURNAL OF REVITALIZATION SCHOOL
Year:2023 | Volume:1 | Issue:1|Papers Count:7

In the urban landscape design process at Tehran University, one phase is dedicated to the “design imagination” (see A Landscaped Approach in Urban Design, Mansouri & Farzin, 2016) Students are supposed to read the place of the design and functional planning of the project and then conceive a single and integrated identity for the final product. In addition to the actual requirements for the design of an area such as geographical and functional conditions, historical monuments, and the transportation network, they incorporate citizens’ understanding of the area. The outcome of such integration is a narrative of the design that is reminiscent of fantasy which preserves the design’s spatial identity while maintaining the area’s actual and spatial capabilities. This method is the product of a new approach to place and landscape, which plays a fundamental role in the process of space restoration by helping to understand the target area for design. By highlighting this point of view in the reading space of city restoration, landscape, architecture, and related arts, the journal of “Revitalization School” hopes to contribute to the development of scientific literature, highlighting the significance of using modern knowledge in the process of development and progress of society. In doing so, this journal intends to get the support of academic specialists while also enlisting the involvement and help of young scientists in their ongoing research and the use of novel techniques to address societal issues. This journal  declares that it is prepared to accept and present research findings within the journal scope from Iranian and foreign scholars. The picture on the cover of this issue was prepared by Alireza Afzali, who designed the surrounding environment of Toghrol Tower in Ray city to create a communal space. His depiction is a fantasy-like and surrealist narrative, like a nightdream of reality, whose characteristic elements can be distinguished.

Despite 60 years of urban planning education in Iranian universities and 55 years of centralized government planning for cities based on comprehensive urban plans, which brings uniformity to all, there is a lack of satisfaction among almost two-thirds of the population in cities. Traces of reducing the city to a building layout and seeking a solution about their arrangement are evident in the first approved master design of the city, created by “Victor Gruen” in 1969. Restoration efforts in the “damaged parts” of Iranian cities started a few decades after Western modernists dominated the cities. Redefining restoration was done in imitation of the West, whose own cities were damaged by modernist urbanization. Contrary to the systemic and holistic view, originality in the modernist worldview is an element. This process is more precise and original if it can lead to a smaller element, which is ultimately the atom. According to this perspective, only things that are tangible and observable can be quantified as real. Based on this perspective, different degrees of restoration of objects, buildings, textures, and the city have been defined. “Objectivity” and “thingness” are the themes of restoration in all degrees of this classification. The Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran developed restoration guidelines for identifying, defending, and interfering in valuable urban textures. The common features of all guidelines are the importance of the architectural form and the emphasis on the city as a real and external object. The perceptual layer of the city, which is derived from the observer’s interpretation when facing the city, cannot be replaced by the evolution and expansion of layers of knowledge about the city or even the dimensions of intervention in the city. As a result, improving fundamental data and adding more layers contributing to city knowledge cannot make up for mistakes made concerning city knowledge. Therefore, how can restoration preserve the place’s existence and dynamism if it is based on an architectural form-centered approach and depends on the architectural form’s proportions, shape, and historical functions while ignoring values, and semantic textures?

This research presents a comparative analogy of spatial configuration and isovist in relation to communication between the courtyard and main living spaces in traditional and contemporary houses. It is assumed that in traditional houses main living spaces had deeper relation with the courtyard into contemporary ones. For this purpose, both traditional and contemporary houses were analyzed in space syntax software; UCL Depth Map. The interview method was used to identify any types of activities and their relations with spaces of traditional houses, and finally, indicators of space syntax software were evaluated, so the results were expressed. A comparison of houses shows that the courtyard in today’s houses plays a more passive role than before and has less communication with the main living spaces.  To stay safe from cold winter, in most cases, TANABI room has less physical and visual connection than the rest with the courtyard, which people spend their time in that in traditional houses, but the living room has must physical and visual connection toward the others at contemporary, which shows the attention of contemporary architects to the connection of the main living space (living room) with the courtyard.

Goy Masjid (Blue Mosque) of Tabriz, as the only remaining architectural building from the Muzaffariyya Complex of the Turkoman period of Qaraquyunlu, has special architectural features and studying the history of architecture has particular importance for understanding the architecture of Iranian mosques. Different views are presented in terms of the difference in the architectural form and the origin of its design, and it is emphasized to take patterns of the architecture of other regions. Our understanding of the architecture of the original building is only through historical documents because natural and human factors had seriously damaged its architecture throughout history. And today’s building is the result of conservation and restoration operations over the past fifty years. For this purpose, the research question has been proposed as follows: What is the relationship between the form and plan of Goy Masjid and Iranian mosques? And what is the process of formation and carrying out restoration operations of Goy Masjid? The purpose of this research is to present views regarding the origin of Goy Masjid architecture and to analyze and examine a pattern of the architecture of Iranian mosques, four-Eyvān (porches) in the plan of the mosque, to find out how to exploit and appearance in the Goy Masjid form, and also considering the characteristics Stated in the historical documents, the process of the restoration operation should be presented with it. The research method used was the descriptive-analytical method. Data included documents, pictures, and notes left from the past and its restorers along with field visits and observations. The results of the research showed that despite the efforts made by some researchers to attribute the adaptation of the original idea of the architecture of this mosque to other cultures, the form and plan of the Goy masjid have an Iranian origin, which has been presented the four-Eyvān pattern of Iranian mosques in a different way. The repairs and restorations done to protect and maintain the Goy Masjid and the operations in the embellishments part of the building have apparently been in line with the theoretical basis. However, the lack of adherence to the identical theoretical basis, and the existence of opinions intensity in the restorations can be seen. In the architectural restoration part, the geometry, and proportions of the original structural features of the building have not been observed and no attention or study has been given to it by the restorers.

The modern applicable approaches in urban management have resulted in the unification of the historical parts of the cities with the newly built areas. The centrality of protecting the historical parts of the cities by using various solutions has established sustainable development for such cities. The priority of protecting the historical parts of the cities by applying multiple solutions has established a sustainable developed area in these kinds of cities. The Tang Paradise Park is an example of a historical-based approach, specifically the buildings established along the main axis, which are representing the historical architecture of China in the present era. This study has evaluated and analyzed the urban process of the mentioned project as a case study based on the definitions and international charters written for the protection of cultural heritage. Moreover, for getting a clear result, the specialized terms of ‘Protection’ and the related definitions have been applied by using the experiences of other historical cities. Given the comparative study is an approach in case studies, such a process is either the reconstruction of the past, similar to what happened in the city reconstruction of Warsaw after the war, or it is modeled the ancient architecture of China; but, the architectural model in the axis of Tang Paradise Park is an imitation of the past styles of Chinese architecture. This kind of architecture neither represents the past architectural style of China nor reflects its present status, as it has created a fabricated pattern of architecture and urban planning. This article is based on the hypothesis that a historical-based approach in architecture and urban planning is a great threat to the authenticity of historical urban spaces. For example, the axis of Tang Paradise in Xi’an City, which is the mere repetition of the past styles of Chinese architecture and urbanism has caused an eclectic approach in the historical urban spaces.

In recent decades, the deterioration of urban decay has become a significant problem in the country. On the one hand, the expansion of urban decay, and on the other hand, the uneven process of renovating these fabrics has led to the emergence of new problems for the cities of the country. The analysis of the renovation damage reveals that the imbalance and inconsistency in various social, physical, economic dimensions, and other similar factors have caused disruption or disconnection with networks and urban development flows, resulting in decay in vulnerable and susceptible areas.” Therefore, it can be said that deteriorated urban fabrics or lagged urban areas are the result of unfair urbanization and imbalanced urban development. For this reason, so far, there has not been a balance between the processes of renovation with the process of deterioration. The four main obstacles to Balanced Renovation are ambiguity of the fundamental and foundational concepts of renovation (lack of knowledge and lack of theoretical foundations), existence of conflicts in the governance system of renewal management, and lack of a strategic-executive plan for renewal, lack of active participation (actors) of target communities in renewal, especially people in policymaking, planning, and implementation of projects (distrust in promises, programs, and renewal management), and instability in managerial approaches, inability to coordinate departments, and weakness of responsible parties in coordinating departments and responsible organizations (lack of transparency in processes). With this process, it can be concluded that the persistence of deteriorated fabrics leads to the “decay”, “decline”, or “collapse” of the remaining Fabrics. In other words, the decay or collapse of tissue in such a situation means that these tissues have reached a point of irreversible redevelopment. Therefore, there is a need to open a path for rational, scientific, and intelligent intervention in the deteriorated urban fabrics of the country, which, based on the three fundamental insights and wisdom of “justice-based” redevelopment, “community-based” redevelopment, and “neighborhood-Oriented” redevelopment, will rejuvenate the deteriorated fabrics in a balanced manner. Given the fundamental insights and basic principles, Balanced Renovation, which aims to intervene rationally, scientifically, and intelligently in the deteriorated urban fabrics of the country, requires a systematic formulation. These principles can encompass all the objectives, plans, actions, and performances of revitalizing deteriorated urban decay within that framework for implementation and evaluation. The management system for revitalizing deteriorated urban fabrics primarily requires comprehensive perspectives, intellectual and practical balance, and rationality combined with intelligence in addressing the issue of urban decay in the country and promoting the revitalization of these areas. In this way, the goal of the balanced revitalization of deteriorated areas is realized and urban development is also balanced.

Any theoretical framework designed to safeguard cultural heritage must address the question of “how” to ensure the continued existence of historical buildings and sites. In light of the disconnection from tradition and the past brought about by modernity, the proposed framework should strive to reestablish this severed connection. The objective of this article is to introduce a new framework for preserving historical buildings and sites, to revitalize this heritage. It examines how a narrative approach can confer significance and longevity to this heritage, enabling it not only to persist but also to evolve into an influential societal element while retaining its distinct identity and adapting to temporal changes for its preservation. Additionally, the article investigates integrating this approach with other methods to achieve sustainable outcomes in heritage preservation.