Soffeh
Year:2017 | Volume:27 | Issue:76 |Papers Count:9

According to general opinion, “imitation” is considered as the opposite of “creativity”. In architectural design, which is based on creativity, the same perspective is, likewise, prevalent to some degree. Some instructors imply upon students that imitation opposes creativity by issuing statements such as, “Be creative, and do not imitate others”. This paper, by “conceptualization” and logical reasoning of theories from a psychological viewpoint of imitative learning, traces the creative act in the right-brain from its imitative inception in the left-brain hemisphere, postulating that “proper imitation” is the motor of “creativity”.The concept of “tacit imitation” is then presented in the paper, and its essential role proved in the transfer of “tacit knowledge” of design skills from the architecture educator to the learner. Finally, the path for further research is indicated by suggesting questions about the “proper imitation for learning architectural design.”

Flexible housing is among many topics of interest for contemporary architects. Production of housing that would be responsive to the many and varying needs of occupants throughout a life cycle can solve a great part of current housing issues both socially and economically.There are many factors affecting flexible housing design, one of them being access and circulation which is of inevitable importance in the architectural plan design. The focus of this paper is on circulation spaces aiming at enhancing the flexibility of design.A library research was conducted in the first step, exploring the views of pioneers of flexible housing design regarding the role of circulation spaces. Several examples of housing plans were then reviewed in the next step. Since the complexity of different projects is variable from the flexibility perspective, hierarchical levels of complexity were introduced in this paper (from simple to complex) to help analyze the cases presented with regard to the role of access and circulation spaces. In the final step, a group of access and circulation design solutions is presented at each level of complexity. It is also revealed that the organization into levels of complexity result in better understanding of flexibility so that learning about simpler levels facilitates design in more complex levels.

Flexibility was naturally realized in the general approach of traditional architecture. With recent advances in technology, various approaches to flexibility have been developed that are somewhat confusing. The principal question of this research is about the fundamental potentials of flexibility, and whether they could be used to analyze and organize the various flexible design approaches. The research objective is, therefore, the recognition of potentials to render a clear context according to which the different approaches could be analyzed. In this paper, the general concepts and potentials of flexibility are first reviewed, and three fundamental potentials are introduced as, ‘soft connection, ’ diversity and multiplicity of spaces, ’ and ‘multi-functional place.’ Each of these potentials addresses one aspect of flexibility: the first one refers to space connections, the second one refers to the number and scale of spaces, and the third one refers to the internal qualities of spaces. It can be stated that these potentials are not conflicting, but are rather complementary, and that their simultaneous realization represents a comprehensive approach to flexibility.

Nature has always been a retreat and an inspiration for humans, satisfying many needs in life including a sense of aesthetics. “Everyday landscapes” which contain many of the attributes of natural environments also serve to connect humans with their surrounding elements and conditions. In addition, everyday landscapes have an impact on the daily interactions and activities of people and serve to better understand the social processes and landscape structures and elements. Since the relationship between humans and nature is no longer in a desired or meaningful state, this research focuses on the principal aspects of everyday landscape and its impact on human cognition from a landscape architecture viewpoint. To do this, a visual assessment case study of a section of the route to the girls’ dormitory in Shahid Beheshti University was conducted.Based on a combined qualitative/quantitative method, qualities of landscape especially those of everyday landscape were assessed by analyzing cognitive maps of 40 girl students. The data from the field survey was then analyzed using the Shannon entropy method. Besides revealing some of the important elements of everyday landscape and their cognition, findings show that qualitative variables of legibility, complexity, coherence, and mystery are the priorities of participants, respectively. It is evident that user priorities among the variables of everyday landscape and in architectural, landscape architectural and urban design activities can help develop and generalize qualitative and quantitative environmental goals throughout the planning and design of urban spaces.

Human experience of the urban environment comes from different sensory channels i.e., sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.The depth and breadth of these sensory experiences can be investigated under the general term, sensory “richness.” Since urban studies have been dominantly concerned by the sense of vision, the overall sensory experience of richness is little in cities, let alone degraded visual qualities as well. To solve this, it is first essential to record different sensory stimuli in the city, and then assess them in terms of their shortcomings. The research objective is the introduction of a suitable method to collect information on the quality of richness of space. For this, the background of the topic and the methods used worldwide for collecting and recording urban sensory information is introduced, and its application is tested in a case study of Golshahr Street in Karaj. The suggested method of this research for assessing the quality of sensory richness is introduced as a “combinatorial method for environmental sensory assessment. ”The application of this method for assessing the quality of richness in Iranian cities can better inform urban designers and improve this often-neglected dimension of cityscapes.

The first pedestrianized streets seem to have appeared in cities during the 1940s and 1950s along with concerns of conservation and improvement of historic fabrics. With the domination of cars and their accompanying problems in urban life, pedestrianization movements started all over the world in 1960s-1970s which are still continued. Although after a slight delay, the movement has reached Iran and there are many cities in which urban streets are turned into pedestrian areas. However, there are some cases which eventually fail at this. This paper is in search of the reasons for such failures, examining 17 Shahrivar Street in Tehran as a case study.In order to determine the reasons for the failure of this project, it has been analyzed from both a substantive (spatial quality of the pedestrian area) and a procedural dimension (the process of project implementation). The research uses grounded theory methodology, in which semi-structured interviews were carried out with 15 respondents from local tradespersons, local residents, and peddlers.Next, steps were taken to identify codes, categories, major categories, and the core category in both the substantive and the procedural dimensions of the project according to the interviews and the project documents. Codes in the substantive dimension indicate environmental qualities of the pedestrian area while codes in the procedural dimension indicate ethical values during the four-stage life cycle of the project. The core categories of the procedural and substantive dimensions are “lack of shared understanding of the project life cycle in the urban management system” and “insufficient innovation in the planning and design of the pedestrian area” respectively, which together, constitute the main reasons for the failure of the 17 Shahrivar Street project.

The bazaar, like the heart of Iranian towns, not only delivers social, cultural, and economic functions but also functions as the most significant urban space forming the town structure.Incongruous development in recent decades has led to the deterioration of central town fabrics and has impaired the physical, economic, and social life in the bazaars, marking a challenge for urban regeneration initiatives.This research aims to carry out a deep study of the morphology of the Iranian bazaar in order to preserve the most important urban element in the spatial-cognitive structure of the historic cities of Shiraz and Kerman. The research, using a qualitative and descriptive-analytical method, initially attempts to analyze the bazaars in Shiraz and Kerman according to Trancik’s theories of urban spatial design (1986) using library material including maps. In the second step, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 residents of Shiraz and 11 residents of Kerman using snowball sampling investigating the meaning of the bazaar using content analysis.The results show that the Iranian bazaar is an “urban solid” space with an axial/angular organization typology, functioning as a coarse urban block or an armature of geometric open spaces. According to linkage theory, the bazaar is a “group form” and a “mega form” articulating the old town spaces. According to place theory, the bazaar is the most important historical element and a landmark for the inhabitants of the town, posing a unique physical form and architectural style, housing trade activities, and an urban tourism center. The results of this research can lead to design solutions for urban designers and planners in urban regeneration projects.