Soffeh
Year:2013 | Volume:23 | Issue:62|Papers Count:8

Christopher Wolfgang Alexander (born October 4, 1936 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian American architect noted for his theories about architectural design, urban planning, interior design, philosophy and mathematics. He is an architect, mathematician, and artist who employs feeling, intuition, as well as ration in his work. This paper attempts to give answers to the following four questions by reviewing his quest for the nature of order in his writings.Can human feelings be employed as apposite and reliable criteria for architectural judgment?Which feelings are reliable?What is the essence of this capability, i.e. judgment based on feelings?How would this approach change our understanding of the intrinsic nature of the material world and consequently architecture?

Recent design research implies that the design process includes two key intellectual sub-processes: ideation, i.e. finding or generating ideas based on an investigation of the design problem and idea processing which includes evaluation and selection of an optimal idea as the solution. This paper attempts to examine the relationship between these two intellectual processes drawing on recent findings in cognitive psychology. It is concluded that both processes include ‘analyses’. Yet the differences is that in ideation, the analysis focuses on the problem, while in idea processing its emphasis is on the solution. Analysis is also employed for a constant review of the design process, per se.

Current metropolitan buildings consider windows solely as sources of natural light and rarely provide for favorable views. This paper investigates the favorableness of window view towards the sky. To this end, a literature survey including both cultural and evolutionary approaches indicates that sky is a favorable view per se. A sample of working adults was then selected for survey. Their preference for diverse views was recorded. The results show that view from a window towards the sky is significantly preferred to views to the cityscape and its built elements. After view towards the sky, vistas including the city silhouette as well as the sky are favored. The worst preferred views are those that look at built elements at a close distance.

Despite rapid urbanization in Iran, in the past five decades, Urban Growth Boundaries [UGB] have been applied to cities without fundamental change. Although, planners have referred to evidence indicating the inefficiency of these boundaries, they are still widely applied as the sole urban growth management instrument. This paper attempts to review the effectiveness of UGBs in Iranian cities. To this end, the theoretical and legal basis of UGBs is first reviewed. Then, a sample of 11 cities is selected in which each city represents a typological category in terms of scale, climate, and the relation of the city to its suburbs. The effectiveness of UGBs in these cities is assessed based on two criteria: (i) the validity of UGB indicating the area of the city neglected by UGB; and (ii) the ineffectiveness of UGB indicating the areas of urban sprawl outside the defined UGB. The results show that in all city types there is a degree of ineffectiveness, as well as lack of validity for adopted UGBs.

A cellular automaton consists of a regular finite grid of cells, each in one of a finite number of states. A set of rules defining the state of neighboring cells is defined relative to the specified cell. An initial state is selected by assigning a state for each cell and a new generation is created, according to some fixed rules that determine the new state of each cell in terms of the current state of the cell and the states of the cells in its neighborhood. The cellular automata concept has been combined with Markov series to yield a multi-criteria dynamic planning tool. This model has been used to predict land development trends in Ahvaz City, the capital city in Khoozestan Province. To this end, land use trends have been modeled for 2006. After fine-tuning the model to an accuracy level of 85 percent, urban growth was predicted for 2020 when the city will show a sporadic urban sprawl.

Toghrol Tower is a mausoleum located in Rey, southern Tehran. Although the exact date and attribution of this monument is subject to dispute, there is no doubt that it was built under the Seljuk rule. Its plan is circular inside and indented on the exterior façade. There are two entrances on the southwest and northeast. It currently boasts no roof. To reconstruct the original form of the Tower, this paper draws on historic Iranian and foreign travel accounts, manuscripts, sketches and photographs. It is demonstrated that before a restoration in early 1880 AD, there were brick corbels both on the façade of the monument. Corbels were possibly installed on the crowning stalactite frieze below and, probably above, an inscription band in Kufic script. The frame around the southwest entrance was also topped by may be up to three rows of stalactite bands.

Eivan-a deep covered recess overlooking the courtyard-is a key element of domestic architecture in hot arid climates. The Yazd-Ardakan Plain is a rich water basin in the central Iranian Plateau which is home to cities such as Yazd, Ardakan, Meybod and Mehriz. This paper reviews the evolution of eivan in traditional houses of this Plain between 14 ~19 century AD. Some 12 houses of Mozaffari period (circa 14 century and 30 houses of Safavid period (circa 15~18 century AD) were studied, while houses of before and after this period have also been referred to where appropriate. It is concluded that although its proportions, area, construction techniques and its relation to other spaces have changed over time, eivan has definitely been a key element since at least early Islamic period and has maintained its prominent role in domestic architecture throughout later centuries.