International Journal of

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It is accepted that the visual comfort in schools depends on the quality of the whole visual environment. This leads to the concern upon the quality and quantity of lighting. Currently in Iran, in order to calculate energy transfer for public buildings a coefficient is usually used. This coefficient considers the rate of sunlight energy absorption in these kinds of buildings. To increase the degree of accuracy in the calculation mentioned above, the authors suggest a simulation programme that can do the job precisely and accordingly. It seems that, in order to calculate the energy requirements of school buildings in Iran for heating, cooling and lighting, it is better to use a simulation programme, too. In fact, this paper considers details of lighting as part of a comprehensive programme and Iran schools design requirements for lighting. As we will see, this research describes the method of calculation of daylighting, which is used in the part of lighting simulation programme. Effective daylighting design requires consideration of different factors such as daylight factor, luminous efficacy of solar radiation, orientation factor, glass transmittance factor, average reflectance of material and etc. which are need for calculation of exterior and interior luminance. They are discussed in details in this paper.

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Considering the problems facing contemporary architecture in Iran, a better understanding of the meaning of architecture has become necessary. Architecture, like language, defines and facilitates the relationship between Man and his environment. The word architecture both in Arabic (Amara) and in Latin (Architecture), attempts to define the attributes of the maker before determining the characteristics of the product - a fact that points towards a more profound understanding. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important for researchers to define the process of formation (the how of architecture) more than the specific attributes of built form (the what of architecture). In this way, creativity and the different processes by which it is achieved, would gain a higher significance in architectural circles. Using an Endogenous Development model, this article seeks to offer an alternative approach towards architectural design. Accepting the hierarchy in causal relationships and expanding on the concept of elevating hidden meaning up onto the surfaces of expression, this article proposes a model of thought in which design consists of a process starting at the depth of ideas and common beliefs, moving up to the individuals' images and finally arriving at rational and general concepts. It is then argued that this process provides spaces in which it is possible to experience a sense of belonging to place, and even further, it allows users to abandon material belongings to arrive at feelings that occur in sacred places. This article offers the author's own particular teaching as one expression of this model of thought, whereby students start by working with mud and then gradually leave their childhood status to reach full maturity in design. Through this process, they obtain an ability to overcome technical and rational challenges in their projects, moving from "intuition" towards "wisdom", "knowledge" and finally "science" in the material world.

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Iran is located in a high-risk seismic zone of earthquakes. It has thousands of valuable historic buildings, mostly made of unreinforced masonry, which is quite vulnerable to natural hazards, especially earthquakes. The conservation and seismic upgrading of these buildings is vital for their survival. However, resources are limited and some sort of prioritization is needed in order to allocate the budget. There are several factors, which should be considered when ranking heritage buildings, but this paper mainly focuses on the values of historic buildings and describes a survey undertaken to find out whether it is possible to rank them. The method applied is choosing a particular group of people and determine whether they can classify buildings into a hierarchy? The results showed that most people could perform this task, so some sort of hierarchy exists, although different groups might choose different hierarchies.

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The traditional architecture is the achievement of mankind experiences in different geographical/cultural and social domains. The traditional architecture of Iran as a valuable outcome is one of the live and spirited instances of the history of human life that through pondering and research and close relationship with its natural, historical and human environment would be obtained. The repeatability of it contemporarily is somehow difficult so the Iranian architects and urban planners mostly focused their attentions and efforts on preservation and conservation of it. A brief review of such literature provided within this era outlines that mostly current studies and researches focuses on the outcome of such architecture or at most consider the characteristics of their creators and are less surveyed the creation and its process context. The attitude of traditional architect toward designing context or "the place of design" is one of the least considered aspects of traditional architecture. Such attention would lead to noteworthy achievements even in today's attitudes toward design and effective factors. The evolution manner of architecture traditionally which is in place of attention in this paper, provides a method of direct reference of the traditional architect toward the place of design or "earth" even when some written documents of them are not available. To achieve such goal this paper mainly concentrated on the remaining resources. In this respect the historic habitats of Yazd could be mentioned as one of the paragons of "Iranian Traditional Architecture". This paper briefly expresses and points on this fact that the creation of architecture traditionally happened in a totally different existential scheme in compare to modern era that specifically seeks such difference within the attitude and approach toward earth (site) or the place of design. The theories of two notable personalities of contemporary architecture "Christian Nordberg Schultz" and "Christopher Alexander" are considered. This is necessary where as while fulfilling the reliability of the paper and points on some notable similarities within their theories by what's recognizable in Iranian architecture and declares the different fundamental aspects, too. In respect to the subject, part of paper considers the clarification and illumination of traditional architecture.

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Quality is the most important consequence of an urban design project, and its promotion is the final duty of an urban designer. So "urban design guidelines" which use environmental improvement factors in their structure, have an effective role in promoting urban space quality. "Urban design guidelines" are the most important instruments in urban designers' authority, to reflect and appear improvement plans in urban spaces and create the bridge between research (theoretic studies) and practice (professional efforts). The paper guidelines are generic statements that specify the goals, the design pattern for achieving them and the evidence supporting the linkage between goal and pattern. On the other hand, decisions about how to address the issue of parking are among the most important in making the city center a high-quality place for people. The city center cannot have a pedestrian orientation, a concentrated diversity of uses, or a continuity of street-level activity if parking is not well designed. Attention to varied types of existing parking in city center area (such as on-street parking, surface lots or parking structures), the main idea of this paper is to promote the quality of city center spaces, by using different urban design guidelines.

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Neighborhoods within the hierarchy of urban structure are one of the smallest socio-physical building blocks of cities. Traditional neighborhoods of Iranian historic cities benefited from strong social relations which were flourished over the years and were manifested in the neighborhoods centers. In the modern era, the new master plans and the complementary local plans have disintegrated these neighborhoods both physically and socially. While old traditional neighborhoods were destroyed and new car oriented streets and highways have disrupted the traditional neighborhood life, the introduction of metro stations have provided a nucleus for neighborhoods around which urban space and social activity could emerge once more. In this respect, the attitudes of residents towards metro stations are very important. This study focuses on the social attitudes and the evaluation of traffic impacts of metro stations on adjacent neighborhoods. Therefore, the changes in traffic patterns as well as social characteristics and residential satisfaction levels in two neighborhoods adjacent to metro stations are studied through a questionnaire survey. The results show that despite the potentials provided, metro stations had adverse affects on both social integration and residential satisfaction levels. They also adversely affected neighborhoods in terms of traffic flow through increase in local traffic, demand for parking, and increase in noise pollution. Lack of attention to the new potentials turned them into threats and weakened the already damaged neighborhood structures.

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Accessibility is one of the important factors in public open space design and the creation of equitable neighborhoods. Limitations caused by physical disabilities should not be a barrier for accessing desired spaces and people must be able to live with the greatest possible independence regardless of mobility limitations. The purpose of this paper was to identify the inclusive criteria of pedestrian design and explore the physical characteristics of equitable neighborhoods in Iranian cities. People who experience disabilities have equal rights to have access to the physical environment, communication devices and different services for education, recreation, social participation, accommodation, health and employment. This study was based on the analysis of the morphological characteristics of the Iranian traditional towns (Yazd and Nain), the socio-historical information, and the direct observation of the spaces, and interviews. The findings of the research showed that social equity and shaping an inclusive community are among the problems of developing countries. Based on the findings related to physical limitations of people with special needs and their attitude toward the varied problems they face, some key solutions have been proposed to guarantee better independent movement and achieve equity of access. People with disabilities should be equal to others in terms of their access to urban spaces, regardless of gender, ethnicity and type of disability. Safety and convenience are some ways for promoting public health especially its mental aspects. Finally it can be said that inclusive pedestrian networks will provide the people especially those suffering from physical disability and moving limitations with more accessible routes and help them participate in personal and social spheres of life more effectively.

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According to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), poverty is one of the 17 main goals that should be eradicated by 2030. In this vein, it has become a global challenge that international organizations and governments in different countries are trying to identify and control. In addition, many studies have been conducted about its various dimensions, the causes of its formation, factors affecting its growth, and solutions to reduce it in different environments. However, no research has been accomplished to identify urban poverty in all metropolises of a country simultaneously. Thus, this research is trying to cover this gap and has studied all of Iran's metropolises to determine how much of the population and area of the country's metropolises are covered by poverty. The required indicators for this purpose have been selected based on available data from the country's last national census and international studies related to the issue. The Factor analysis model has been used for data evaluation, and the kernel density technique and Moran's spatial autocorrelation have been utilized for spatial analysis.
 

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Bioclimatic condition is the most important factor that affects the quality of human life, architecture and housing. Lastly, results in bioclimatic design that presents valuable solutions for reducing energy consumption in the building sector while providing thermal comfort.
This paper aims to evaluate the thermal human comfort of bioclimatic conditions according to human comfort with analysis software. In this research, descriptive-analytical method was utilized. Most of the data were gathered through library studies and required climate information was extracted from the data according to the weather station (Mehrabad Airport) in Tehran city throughout 10 years- period (2009-2019). By conclusion, in this city, the fall and winter seasons and the month of April have cold conditions, therefore applying mechanical heating and high thermal mass is needed for most of the year. One third of a year has human comfort conditions. In Tehran city natural and mechanical cooling is required for three months of a year due to warm conditions.

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This study explored one of the unique solutions to create climatic comfort in high-temperature and semi-humid dwellings. It also aimed to explain the role of different altitude layers of dwellings in Dezful throughout the year. This study is applied research with an analytical-descriptive method. This study carried out on 23 local houses in Dezful revealed six altitude layers, including the first layer (Shavadoon), second layer (Shabistan), third layer (courtyard), fourth layer (the platform, first-floor room, and veranda), fifth layer (the yard on the second-floor, second-floor room, and veranda), and sixth layer (the roof). The data were collected through interviews, available documents, and field observations. The results revealed that moving vertically through layers can yield thermal comfort. The fourth layer has the most use of space, and the second layer has the most minor use of space during the year.
 

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Despite decades of experience in urban planning, Iran lacks a robust urban policy framework to guide its rapid urbanization towards sustainable and resilient development. Moreover, its existing sectoral policies have failed to operate within an integrated framework. The formulation of a National Urban Policy (NUP), as proposed by UN-Habitat, offers a unified structure to facilitate the preparation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of urban policies nationwide.  However, there is no single approach to develop NUP and urban policymaking in each country needs to be sensitive to its socio-economic and political context. This research employs a qualitative method to define Iran’s NUP framework and develop its content based on the specific circumstances of urbanization in Iran. Drawing on 32 national and international documents, the analysis identifies key themes for creating a sustainable urban future. The findings advocate for a contextualized and localized approach to formulating the NUP, incorporating six building blocks and twenty themes. They emphasize the necessity of a forward-thinking approach to urban planning, addressing critical issues such as climate change, internal migrations, aging populations, and the environmental impact of urbanization. The study also introduces a participatory, data-driven, and integrated approach to ensure the effectiveness of proposed policies and stresses the importance of periodic policy evaluation and adaptation to address future uncertainties. 

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Buildings have a significant share of global energy consumption and a major role in global warming. Buildings also affect the temperature of their surrounding environment. This paper investigates the effect of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and urban block configurations on energy consumption, urban microclimate, and outdoor thermal comfort in Tehran with a hot climate, using the simulation method and Ladybug Tools (1.6.0). According to the results, decreasing FAR in an urban block improves urban microclimate while reducing building energy consumption. The results reveal that the effect of FAR on the buildings' energy consumption is more considerable. Decreasing FAR reduces the buildings’ energy consumption and outdoor air temperature. Furthermore, the scattered form of urban blocks consumes the highest cooling energy while having the lowest heating load. The lowest cooling and heating loads are found in the linear and scatter organizations. Considering the dominant cost of cooling energy, the case with less FAR would be the best choice from an economic point of view. For three-story urban blocks, the best case is the courtyard form, while for five and nine-story urban blocks, the best option would be the linear form.

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  In this paper, authors tackle three very important questions that need to be answered if a theory of design is to be constructed. The first is what designers do, Which we attempt to illustrate with the help of case studies and theories of design practice. The second question is what guides designers. Here, authors try to present some of the proposed normative positions about design, to show the similarities and differences between positions and a framework of how they can be categorized. The main (third) question is how the design thinking process can be represented drawing upon on a review of recent studies of design practice and designer's creativity.

  One approach to design thinking is to extract the features of the designers' strategic knowledge, for which comparative studies between expert designers and novices are useful. Also, controlled experimental studies may be adopted in order to understand the nature of the idea generation process.

Finally, the methods of research and representation of design thinking in order to gain a deeper understanding of the designers' creativity are proposed.

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When a specific building is examined and analysed for its architectural merits, it is the visible, superficial aspects, which are considered, for example: aesthetics, function, spatial relationships, and landscape. One of the most important invisible factors that should be considered in the design process is the safety of buildings against natural hazards, particularly against earthquakes. While the provision of earthquake resistance is accomplished through structural means, the architectural designs and decisions play a major role in determining the seismic performance of a building. In other words, the seismic design is a shared architectural and engineering responsibility, which stems from the physical relationship between architectural forms and structural systems. It is economic to incorporate earthquake resistance in the stage of design than to add it later in the structural calculation or strengthening after completion. In addition, a building with proper earthquake-proof design will be more effective against earthquakes than the one with complementary strengthening. This paper will demonstrate that evidence for this lies in many historical buildings, which have withstood earthquakes throughout the hundreds of years without having been reinforced with special material. The fact is that the master builder or Mimar (traditional architect) of historic buildings was simultaneously designing the architecture as well as choosing the suitable form, proportion, and material for the best structural performance.

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The present paper will investigate the specific elements of architectural design based on Islamic beliefs, by taking Iranian Architectural values and vernacular climate design methods into consideration. This research will assess the spirit of experimental elements, created by the inhabitants, according to recent scientific findings. The main concentration will be on the physical design of rural areas in hot, arid and sunny regions of Iran in order to have active and healthy environments and to emphasize on transferring all these sustainable values to the future.

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  The study seeks to address the importance of urban stream ecosystems from the perspective of urban ecology, human health and social well-being in the context of urban planning. The case study area is Paveh stream in the City of Paveh. The data from the case study area were gathered from questionnaire, existing scientific and library studies and by conducting interviews with residents and authorities. Once the importance of the biodiversity of the stream had been studied based on the existing ecological data, the social importance of the stream and the linkages between human health, social well-being and the biodiversity of the stream ecosystem were addressed.

  Based on the results of the survey and other sources of information, it was discussed that urban stream ecosystems can be rich in biodiversity and function as ecological movement corridors for species .Urban stream corridors can thus be an important part of the urban green infrastructure .Also we can make the weather fine, extend green space, prepare peaceful environment for residents and bring the countryside effects of nature into cities through improvement of stream landscape.

Finally, regarding the finding of this study some suggestions and implications are mentioned to improve the quality of the stream.

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Cracks emerge due to various forces or stresses. After discerning the cracks preferably by non-destructive techniques, there is a need to find the reason for their appearance. With very exact analysis of the shape, form and dimension of the cracks and their location on the structural elements, we can deduce the reason for their formation. This makes, proposing a suitable solution for preventing the expansion of cracks possible.

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This paper will promote many questions about the design validity of these exciting blocks. The physical design of these blocks is prone to have social and economical problems, and it is part of the visual pollution and disturbance created on the sky line of Scottish cities special Glasgow. This paper focuses on the necessity to establish a source of initial design for high rise housing design problem classes theory. A thorough research of all the estates in Glasgow area was launched. Thus, a high amount of information was classified, in an attempt to establish a theoretical approach to support the evaluation and appraisal of current blocks problems. The new class's theory in high rise housing design problems is used as a vehicle for conducting this paper analysis. Classification includes physical and social design problems domains. The physical problems domain variables of the numbers of stories, dwellings, entrances, type of corridor, access from the streets and sharing of the site. Furthermore, to the social problems domain variables of graffiti, damage, litter, crime, drugs, child density and health have been examined. Moreover, their interdependent relationships were explored throughout the new classes' theory. The study of the new classes, theory may prove to be extremely vital for future direction in adapting some from of urban design problem solving techniques. It also serves as an evaluation tool for housing design appraisal in the city from Glasgow and similar cities worldwide.

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Mosque architecture is considered as a potent visual symbol of the Islamic architects’ design ability. Prayer-hall as the manifestation of equality between the believers and the unity of architectural space has challenged such an ability throughout the history. This study, considering the characteristics of light-openings in the domes of Iranian mosques’ Prayer-hall, aims to investigate these domes’ possible relationship with the climatic features of each mosque. To this end, eighteen case-studies according to the research analytic approach are studied to determine: 1. the relationship between the mosques construction period (Iranian architecture styles) and its light-openings number on the one hand and its climatic features on the other hand, 2. The relationship between the light-openings’ location and the climatic features of each mosque, 3. The relationship between the lightopenings’ number and the climatic feature of each mosque and finally, 4. The relationship between the prayer-hall’s height and the number of light openings of each mosque on the one hand and its climatic feature on the other hand. The study shows that Iranian architects have given considerable priority to the natural ventilation function of the light-openings, So, what used to be considered as the domes' main function, allowing the light to the interior space, is considered as their secondary function.

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According to Islamic teachings, human being moves towards perfection if conditions conducive to His/her calmness are realized at home. According to this view, 'house' represents 'family' and a Muslim's home is regarded as Sacred and private. There is an inherent tendency in human being towards privacy, the most important of which is realized at home. Therefore, if privacy is trespassed at home, it may no longer serve as a home. As traditional houses have assumed a more architectural manifestation due to religious principles (Shariah), identifying these principles and converting them into housing rules and regulations are among the major concerns of urban planners. This study introduces, analyzes, and compares privacy and hospitality pattern in the nomads' tents and permanent dwellings through a combined method. In this paper, some of the behavioral patterns related to the privacy, as mentioned in Holy Quran’s verses, are introduced. The evidence also comes from religious texts showing that nomads’, Muslims’ and Zoroastrians’ tents in Kerman have been influenced by religious beliefs. The findings of this study stress the need for privacy and shows that there is a direct relationship between the concept of family in a culture and the scale of privacy and territory .