P.H. D. Thesis

Mrs Arezoo Sadoughi will present his P.H.D thesis on "Understanding the Nature of Persian House: a Phenomenological Study. case Studies : Shavadan & Pish Boom of Dezfulian House "at 16 A.M on 19 April 2011 under the guidance of Dr.Gholamhossein Memarian .

  Abstract

  The nature of the Iranian house in this thesis is discovered by a phenomenological research based on the lived experience in two spaces in Dezfoulian residence: Shavadan and Pish boum (Terrace). This nature is understood by emotional dimensions of the place. A field study was accomplished in order to acquire the emotional dimensions that, in phenomenology, are known as the study of lived experiences. The nature was assessed as a hidden meaning in understanding the person’s lived experience in a living space.

  The necessity of exploring the emotional dimensions of the house is considered in some aspects. First aspect is the emotional problems in the big industrial cities and ever-increasing growth of dormitory-like shelters in Iran. The other aspect is the rapid demolition of traditional Islamic Iranian houses that can respond to the emotional dimensions of human needs. Therefore, emotionally-responsive Iranian houses are chosen as the subject of the research, and understanding the emotional dimensions as its goal. This goal was analyzed in order to achieve the meaning of place in Dezfulian houses. The reasons of choosing Dezful as the context of the research are: liveliness of old fabric, its being livable despite bombardments of the war, and the importance of non-physical aspects of old fabrics. Since the spaces are various in Dezfoulian house, the most important ones are chosen: the first is Shavadan and the second is Pish boum; based on the presence of the phenomena, earth and the sky, in the house.

  The phenomenological method in this research is based on of Van Manen’s method, which is an interpreting one. Since this study is attained in the architectural area of research, it is too important to overlap the experiential data with the architectural components. That is why the Van Manen method is chosen. It depends on a deep relationship with the being-studied phenomenon (here, place) and interpretation of the data in the context. The field data are gathered in two categories: emotional experiences of people and their field care regarding the characteristics of the environment. The emotional dimensions of Shavadan and Pish boum show similar meanings, as: serenity, tranquility, security, contemplation, closeness to God. Different meanings, like detachment, exhilaration, and place affinity are obtained for Pish boum. At last, because of the importance of people’s religious believes, in the interpretation whole, the data was evaluated by quotations of Islamic texts. The final deduction of all these meanings is the meaning of the house in case examples. It shows a very close interaction with the phenomenon of place, its components and it’s whole. All of the emotional data is discovered as a result of such an interaction.

  Key words: lived-experience, interpretive phenomenology, place meaning, Persian house, Shavadan, Pish Boum