MANZAR
Year:2025 | Volume:17 | Issue:70|Papers Count:6

Persian garden design, which began with the creation of the Pasargadae garden, continued until the Qajar period. However, during this era, the traditional Persian garden-making approach gradually faded into oblivion. In the Pahlavi period, the first modern green space, known as “Park-e Shahr”, was established. Today, due to the increasing psychological and mental health crises affecting modern humans, many scholars are seeking to restore the connection that has been lost between humans and nature. In Iran, efforts have been made in this regard; however, not only is there no clear approach to urban green space design, but the disconnection from the Persian garden and, more broadly, Persian architecture leads to a loss of Persian identity. This study aims first to analyze the principles and patterns of the Persian garden and then according to them, propose principles and patterns that can be adapted for contemporary green spaces. The research initially conducts a literature review to read the principles and patterns of the Persian garden. Then, using a descriptive-analytical method, the obtained data is analyzed to extract applicable principles and patterns for contemporary green spaces. Finally, considering the preservation of Persian identity and behavioralist theories, the study discusses the reasons for utilizing these patterns and how they can be used in contemporary urban green spaces.The study identifies principles and patterns from the Persian garden that, while preserving Persian identity, can also address the needs and behaviors of the modern era and be applied to contemporary green spaces. The principles are categorized into six key aspects. The patterns are divided into two categories: First, the Geometric pattern of the garden, which defines the overall layout, and second, the planting pattern, which is both influenced by and influences the garden’s geometry, shaping other elements within the space.

Post-industrial landscapes with identity values are recognized as cultural heritage of the modern era. These areas have been damaged socially, economically, and environmentally, and have created an unsuitable visual landscape. Various interventions have been made in these areas, but due to the complexity of these landscapes and the damage to the ecosystem, a comprehensive approach is needed. This approach should preserve the industrial heritage values, repair past damages, and improve the mutual interaction between humans and nature. The “regenerative design and development” approach, employing a “comprehensive” and “systematic” view, uses the system’s intrinsic resources to create restoration and regeneration that leads to the integration of human society’s needs and nature. The research aims to provide a comprehensive framework for regenerating post-industrial landscapes with a regenerative approach. In this study, the influential factors in regenerating post-industrial landscapes in previous methods were analyzed and compared with the effective trends in the regenerative approach and were enhanced. Then, using the Perkins + Will framework, as one of the practical regenerative frameworks, a comprehensive and innovative framework for regenerating post-industrial landscapes was presented. This framework is a multi-layered diagram consisting of a core and several rings, based on which policies and strategies for the design and development of post-industrial landscapes are provided. In this framework, “place” is the core of the system, the first ring is “place assessment dimensions,” the second ring is “effective trends” in regenerating post-industrial landscapes, the third ring is “sub-trends,” and the fourth ring is the “ecosystem.” According to the research findings, the effective trends in regenerating post-industrial landscapes include 12 trends: biodiversity, community, economy, culture, education, aesthetics, health, participation, infrastructure, materials, energy, and water. This framework can be applied to regenerate post-industrial sites ranging from a small workshop to a large industrial complex.

Drought and water stress in the metropolis of Tehran can adversely impact the environmental, social, economic, and political areas of life while increasing the vulnerability of the society and the city. Tehran’s resilience against drought has been exacerbated by a range of factors such as the management’s atomistical view of the integrated human-environmental system of the city, the loss of water resources, the disproportion between the change of land uses and the water capacities, as well as human interventions and the development of gray infrastructure. This situation has turned decision-making and identifying priorities regarding the water tension into a serious challenge. This research aims to provide multi-scale solutions to reduce drought based on the capacities of Tehran’s landscape and answer the question of what main risk reduction strategies can be adopted at the macro level and what appropriate tools are available at the micro level. To address this question, the experts’ opinions in collaborative panels were analyzed and the causes of Tehran’s vulnerability were identified through Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) and related-driven scenarios. The findings show that the strategies for encountering and reducing the consequences of drought in Tehran are a combination of nature-based and gray solutions. Changing urban management strategies, modifying population patterns and city development, restoring natural ecosystems, and changing the mentality of citizens towards the issue of water shortage are other proposed solutions. Among Nature-based Solutions (NbS), river valleys play a key role in modifying the city’s development pattern. Using these solutions requires the adoption of integrated strategies at the institutional-physical levels along with the promotion of social and economic programs.

Until the Qajar Era, the historic city of Shushtar served as the administrative center of the Khuzestan plain. Water and the location of the river relative to the city influenced the city and the establishment of its core. This research employs a historical-interpretive method to investigate the historical impact of the natural elements of water and river, human-made urban elements, as well as agriculture and other water-related human activities concerning the spatial organization of this city. The research aims to explore these factors in several layers during the pre-Islamic era to represent the inner order and spatial organization of the city.The spatial organization of historic Shushtar was studied and interpreted by examining this historical era through studying historical documents, records, and evidence, as well as searching for events, occurrences, and conditions that influenced the emergence of this city in the pre-Islamic era. The interviews with experts were then utilized to verify the field observations and perceptions.This article concludes that water has played a significant role in forming the spatial organization of the city as an influential element in the prosperity of the region. The findings contradict previous archaeological findings, historical documents, and texts. Therefore, this study seeks to provide a more accurate picture of the city’s spatial organization during the pre-Islamic era by identifying stated contradictions. The research findings ultimately reveal that the natural elements of water and the Karun River were the main factors for settlement in the region. The initial point of the spatial organization formation of this city was the Shushtar city core, located at a strategic point compatible with the natural landscape and water elements. The religious values, economy, politics, needs, and life activities developed under the influence of said natural environment.

Problem Statement: Visibility of the surrounding environment for users requires sufficient light within the space, enabling individuals to perform their activities without eye strain. Additionally, natural light significantly impacts human health. Accordingly, openings, as sources of light and thermal comfort, play a pivotal role in architecture. The quality of window design can substantially affect the quality of indoor lighting and the extent of visibility from the interior to the exterior.This research aims to investigate the role of the position and proportions of openings in determining the quality of indoor lighting and the degree of visibility from inside to outside the space.To evaluate the level of illumination, daylight indicators such as the Daylight Factor (DF), Glare Index (Glare), were utilized. For assessing the visibility to the outside, a View Analysis method was employed. A rectangular space measuring 5×3 meters with a single window of 1×1 meters on its southern façade, located in Shiraz, was considered as the base model. A total of 22 case studies with varying positions and proportions of openings were selected as the study samples. Following simulation and analysis of the cases using Honeybee and Ladybug plugins, the results were analyzed to determine the optimal position and proportions for openings on the facade.The findings indicate that utilizing horizontally elongated openings located centrally on the facade provides the optimal conditions for both outdoor visibility and indoor daylighting.

Studying the writings of Orientalists and analyzing their underlying texts provides a criterion through which it is possible to trace landscape-related perceptions and, beyond that, access the thoughts and ideas of a nation. This approach enables the reconstruction of the mindset of people who lived, at a specific historical moment, in another national lived space. Such a mindset, apart from being influenced by the author’s personality and personal tendencies, is more broadly linked to the cultural, economic, social, political, and educational conditions as well as colonial tendencies of the time. The perception of a “mental landscape” is formed based on the cognitive distinction between the “self” (the observer, usually European) and the “other” (Tehran’s inhabitants or the city of Tehran itself). Accordingly, this study poses the question: How did Orientalists perceive Tehran’s green landscape from 1796 to 1931 AD?. The study identifies two approaches: a holistic approach and a fragmented approach. This categorization reveals that from the reign of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar onward, orientalists’ focus shifted to the details of the green landscape, and their understanding of the overall system of the green landscape as a cohesive whole became less discernible. Only a few Orientalists superficially referenced Tehran’s climatic system, which led to a semi-nomadic lifestyle, and thereby depicted a fragmentary image of the city’s green landscape. It appears that the Orientalists’ focus on the details of the green landscape was influenced by the experience of European modernity in Tehran. This shift occurred within the framework of broader external systems, including the political powers of foreign governments and the interest of Iranian statesmen in the West. As a result, orientalists paid increasing attention to the details of Tehran’s green landscape, either through an authoritative, governance-driven perspective or from a political-cultural viewpoint.