Soffeh
Year:2006 | Volume:15 | Issue:42|Papers Count:8

Information Technology (IT) is increasingly affecting all aspects of human life. This paper tries to question the changes caused by IT through a search for an Optimal Urban Planning Model. After a review of basic definitions, the impact of IT on urban planning elements is assessed.Changes in planning elements will inevitably lead to changes in planning at various levels. The planning elements which are constantly changing are urban activities, meaning of real and virtual, ecosystem, and physical setting. The change in these elements will result in the evolution of general layout of cities, scale, density, intensity, land use, landscaping, and appearance. It is concluded that the nullification of many Modern constraints will be accompanied by the opportunities provided by the pre-industrial settlement. The Optimal Urban Planning Model in the Age of Information Technology is thus defined by a new set of work –life relations.

City centers are part of our cultural capital. They represent the accumulation of our collective memory. In many cities, city centers are not only a place of living and residence, but are also the economical heart of the city.This paper tries to explain the importance of the city center vis-a-vis the city as whole. It further presents reasons for revitalization of the city center. The following questions are answered:1. What are the reasons for attending to the city center?2. Why should the city center be revitalized?3. What can be learnt from the experiences of different cites in revitalizing the city centers?The experience of Birmingham, Damascus, Shiraz, Tehran and Yazd are analyzed.The paper concludes with a set of questions which arise if the city centers are to be revitalized:

In early twentieth century, Iran witnessed the creation of new social institutions which established a dominating role for Modernism. This was associated with separation from traditions and a collective craving for modernization. Art, architecture and urban planning are the most prominent areas which practice modernized thinking.Modern arts such as photography and cinema were introduced to the Iranian public under the reign of Nasser-ed-Din Shah after his visits to Europe. The first cinema was opened in 1904 to show European films for the rich elite. At this time European styles are increasingly practiced by the court painters, while European melodies are introduced in Persian music. The desire for modernization thus leads to a top-down imposition of modernism.Architecture in this period witnesses four main trends which are all somehow influenced by modernity and modernization. The first trend tries to incorporate some European elements in the traditional Qajar architecture. The second revives ancient Persian architecture in a modern fashion. The third promotes the 'International Style' buildings, while the fourth trend follows European classic architecture.Urban planning of this period is marked with a deliberate Government intervention in cities to create a modern urban image by demolishing old city walls and building wide roads in the historic fabric. Prepared by French consultants, Tehran Master Plan (1937) is noticeably influenced by the international Modern Movement. The master plans prepared for other big cities followed the same approach. This paper reviews socio-economic and cultural changes between 1931tV1941 which influenced art, architecture and urban planning to explain the emergence of new urban forms in the contemporary city.

Interaction is defined as a mutual correlation. This paper presents a philosophical analysis of the interaction between the human being as a designer with the surrounding environment. Different doctrines are explained. An objectivist view of interaction would necessarily lead to a negation of creativity. If the relation is taken to be as the fundamental factor, however, it can be seen that it takes various forms: association, proportion, relativity, and attachment. The analysis leads to the subjectivity of human-environment relation. This means that within the framework of a subjectivist system, the human being (designer) has the freedom to choose between evolution towards perfection or constant decline.

Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University Architecture underwent a fundamental change in terms of both profession and education in Moderntimes. Tounderst and the nature of architectural education in pre-Modern times is not only essential in recognition of our mutual identity, but is also necessary for understanding Modern educational methods.An accurate method for understanding pre-Modern architectural education is to review the architectural documents in either form of buildings or manuscripts. Architectural manuscripts are rare in the traditional world, both in Orient and Occident. Resaley-e-Me'marieh is one of these rare documents which is reviewed in this paper.Written in 1614 ADby Ja'far Afandi, Resaley-e-Me'marieh is a Turkish manuscript using Arabic script. The manuscript is about Mohammad Aqa who was a disciple of Sinan and has built the Sultan Ahmad Mosque in Istanbul. It is not merely a biography, but rather a description of the architect's profession after the Middle Ages.The manuscript opens with a detailed preface on its contents followed by fifteen chapters. The chapters treat five different topics: the biography of Mohammad Aqa (chapters I to IV); the architecture of Mohammad Aqa (chpters V and VI); measurement units (chapter VII to X); a tri-lingual lexicon of construction and architectural terms (chapters XI to XIV); and the epilogue (chapter XV).The review of this manuscript interesting points on: 1. the professional status of architecture and its relation to other sciences and techniques;2. ontology and architectural education;3. education and professional organization of architects; and4. architectural education and ethics.

This paper focuses on practical mechanisms in judgment of students' design work as a guiding instrument for architectural education. This requires a review of judgment methods and their role in architectural education.Assessment and evaluation are the most influential types of judgment which implicitly give direction to architectural education. Assessment means regular measurement of values, while evaluation involves judgment about the results of this assessment.Reviewing the factors affecting the evaluation process, this paper concludes that for effective impact in the education of students, evaluation should be based on clearly defined criteria and objectives which have to be explained to students prior to design exercise.

The although rural architecture have always attracted architects and students of architecture, the study of significant rural areas and their life and architecture was not seriously considered in the academic curricula before 1980s. After the Islamic Revolution, architectural education' was influenced by post-revolution wishes to eradicate poverty and equal treatment of rural and urban areas. The need to control rapid urbanization by providing services in rural areas was another influential trend.This increased attention to rural areas led to creation of an individual course in architectural curricula for studying various aspects of rural life. Over the past decades, this course has provided the opportunity for students of architecture to become acquainted with different aspects of rural life. It is not clear however, that how much and in what way this course has contributed to achieving overall objectives of architectural education.On the other hand, the course on rural architecture has been criticized in many schools to the extent that it has been modified, abridged or in some cases deleted from the curricula.Nevertheless, the achievements of this course have never been assessed. This paper reviews the role of the course on rural architecture in the overall architectural education to present new approaches for increasing its effectiveness in the process of architectural education. For this purpose the role of villages in the settlement system of the country is reviewed against the background of teaching rural architecture.The course content and education methods are then reviewed. It is concluded that the multidisciplinary nature of the course on rural architecture necessitates that to improve the quality of education for this course:1. a specialized department should be established for education of this course; 2. the course should respond to professional needs;3.academicnetworking should be enhanced; and4. more attention should be paid to the quality of this course and its professors.

Relocation of rural settlements is undertaken for different reasons: natural disasters, conservation of natural resources, war, and development projects. The paper reviews the relocation of Angtarood village in Mazandaran Province. Formed over a century, Angtarood was located at the end of a mountainous road which passed through several villages and mountainous forests. In 1991 a flood damaged the public bath.When the village representative approached the officials, it was proposed to relocate the village to a location about 8 kilometers away. The residents were persuaded to relocate by promises to provision of services and housing loans. The relocation proved to be not as simple as it seemed. Extended families were disintegrated; the land allocated for public facilities was used for the added residential need; agricultural and animal husbandry activities were drastically reduced; and migration rate has substantially increased.This paper reviews the relocation experience and provides recommendations for similar cases: 1. Avoid relocation to the extent possible.2. There is a need for having a complete understanding of the rural settlement.3. Choice of an appropriate site the new village.4. Design of the new settlement.5. Implementation