International Journal of

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There is abundant literature regarding virtual reality as a technology of interest in the present age. However, there are few comprehensive studies on strategies that can improve the level of urban design research using this technique. To investigate the issue, this paper first reviews the concept of virtual reality. Next, the opinions of experts in the field of virtual reality technology are summed up and key elements needed to create a virtual reality experience and key operators that establish the actual interaction of users with virtual environments are discussed. The use of Virtual Reality Modeling (VRM) in the urban design process and is also elaborated on. Uses of this technique in urban projects and advantages and limitations of its use in the field are discussed. Finally, the paper attempts to provide practical solutions and strategies to improve the quality of semi experiments developed virtual environment. This can improve the results and findings of research conducted with the technique. Strategies discussed in this article have been mostly derived from practical experience and research in recent years by the author. They can help provide a more robust analysis and reduce the errors made in the virtual environment.

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This paper deals with evaluating the thermal behavior of exterior walls in dwellings of a particular place. Today, there is a huge increase in constructing multi-storey apartment buildings and single-family houses in the city of Yazd, a city with hot dry climate and a rich historical architecture in Iran. Unfortunately, the new methods that are used nowadays to make the envelopes of these dwellings are not suitable for the climate of the city, so they are not sustainable. The aim of this study is to evaluate the thermal properties of all types of applicable walls and recommend suitable exterior walls that are constructed of common materials in the region to improve comfort and energy conservation. The procedure of the research includes two parts: at first the climatic characteristics of Yazd is Studied. At the second part, to define the most suitable wall, effective thermal properties of the walls are calculated in none steady-state conditions. These properties are calculated for the walls with different types and thicknesses of common material layers in various positions. At last, a comprehensive compare between thermal properties of the different walls is done and sustainable envelopes ─exterior walls that are suitable for both cold and hot seasons in Yazd─ are defined. In the result section, the types, thicknesses, and positions of the layers of the recommended walls in four directions of acceptable building orientation (that is +15 degree towards east-south) are defined, and the needed amount of mass and insulation as well as their relative positions is discussed. Furthermore, sun porch as a suitable passive heating system for cold seasons is suggested in some directions.

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The concept of redevelopment is accompanied by actions and forecasts to improve the quality of the physical-spatial environment inthe cities, that is by the emergence of new facilities and conditions, improving the spatial environment is achieved. This requirement occurs when the coherence, coordination and the performance of the urban area is diminishing and is not responsive to the requirements of that area. The brownfields are amongst the inefficient urban areas and require redevelopment, which mostly include Deteriorated buildings accompanied by environmental contamination. The main issue of the present study is the lack of a compiled and appropriate roadmap to redeveloping the brownfields in Iran. Accordingly this article is seeking to introduce and present the defining indicators of brownfields, adapt these indicators to Iran's condition and achieve the redevelopment roadmap of these lands in Iran. In this regard, the codification of this article has been done by the descriptive-analytical method. Results of the study show that the main problem of Iran's planning system is the lack of a regulatory and legal description of brownfields on one hand, and absence of a compiled roadmap to lead urban development into the zone and use the capable potentials and opportunities for redevelopment

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Due to the change of lifestyle and improvement of public health the number of aged people has considerably increased. Considering the relationship of the environment and people, the built environment features could exacerbate or facilitate the elderly people’s vulnerability and social needs. Recently, a large number of studies have put emphasis on the relationship between the neighborhoods’ open spaces attributes and seniors’ social needs. This study seeks to investigate the impact of the built environment indicators on the time the elderly spent in urban spaces of Banafsheh neighborhood in Mashhad. In order to do this, through a cross-sectional survey research, 33 indicators were collected from recent studies and categorized in seven main urban design qualities based on perceived and self-report data collected by questionnaire. A regression analysis revealed the impact of each quality on the sociability of the elderly. Results demonstrate that in this context, “safety” is the most effective factor on the elderly presence in open spaces. “Attractiveness” and “all age presence” are at the next points.

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The increasing rate of urbanization and rate of population growth over the 20th century has led to various problems such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and lack of open and green spaces that have affected the cities and their citizen's life. This condition has led to increasing demands for more land use, homes, and work places, more public transport and mass transit systems and modern infrastructure, so new approaches must be found to better utilize space available. Considered use of underground space creates new methods for solving these challenges. The urban underground spaces have great untapped potentials. If these potentials are managed correctly, it would chip in considerably to the urban sustainable development. Nevertheless seeking of spaces and shelter within the earth is no new idea, man and animal alike have exploited the protective and insulative properties of the soil long before recorded history. During the history of communities have existed in areas all over the world including Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Ethiopia, China, North Africa, and the American Southwest, to name a few. Some of the best examples of man’s symbiotic relationship with nature are Nushabad in Kashan, Sāmen in Malayer and Kariz in Kish Island. These underground cities and Constructions offer many opportunities and lessons for underground development in contemporary cities. This study aims to discuss the ancient settlements of Nushabad, Sāmen and Kariz for their unique and creative underground space use and also explore the potential of developing underground spaces in order to achieving sustainable development . The basic hints of discussion are the physical geography and dominating forms of underground space use.

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The Holy Shrine of Imam RezaAS is one of the most important places in Iran in terms of religious and public beliefs. Huge volumes of pilgrims travel to the mentioned place, so the appropriated environmental and furniture design to increase the visitors' satisfaction is inevitable. In this regards, the main objective of this study is to identify an appropriated design for public water taps through the assessment of affecting factors in terms of the pilgrims’ satisfaction. Methods: In this survey, 400 volunteer pilgrims participated in our 5-scale Likert questionnaire. The gathered data were analysed by SPSSWin21 and Spearman test.Results: This study shows that there is a significant association between user satisfaction and public water taps' function (p = 0.00), however the participants were more satisfied with the technical aspects than the aesthetic ones. The users were not satisfied with the placing of water taps, pressure of water’s valve and local illumination in night time.Conclusion: This study confirms the importance of design considerations, construction and materials, location of public water fountains in the assessed courtyard of the Holy Shrine of Imam RezaAS to satisfy the pilgrims. Considering with Islamic architectural elements, appropriated form and style, color and material, perfect harmony affect on users. The modification of water fountain place in terms of dimension and local illumination are also important.

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A review of findings shows that Persian gardens have attracted a wide area of interests between psychologists and environment designers. The main reasons behind the attraction of Persian gardens are natural content and particular landscape configuration. To study these features, overall organization examination is employed according to psychological pattern. One of the impressive psychological patterns to evaluate the natural landscape is preference matrix which has been developed by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan. In this study, characteristics of Persian gardens are reviewed and they are analyzed according to the Kaplan preference factors (coherence, legibility, mystery and complexity). Hence, four gardens namely, Fin, Shazdeh Mahan, Eram and El Goli, with different topographies are randomly selected and have been analyzed based on the four mentioned factors. Because of the inseparable relationship of human behavior and environment, the research methodology applies psychological approach based on a descriptive – analytical method and to implement this method library documents are used. As the discussion demonstrates, concepts created from the relationship between factors and Persian gardens' characteristics are associated with coherence, legibility, mystery and complexity. It shows that elements shaping the Persian gardens have close relationship with these factors because they are important in perception of the natural environment. Based on analysis, the elements in Persian Gardens are used to provide the best psychological and aesthetic responses for viewers. Also, it can be concluded that, the quality of the material and semantic makes them more attractive.

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Electronic cities result from the implication of information and communication technology (ICT) in the contemporary era. Significant ICT development and internet network expansion as well as the need of urban management to new ideas in managing cities lead us toward a new strategy called "electronic cities". The current study aims at investigating the Electronic Cities' Strategic Planning Case Study: Uremia, Iran. The research method is documentary and survey research population consists of mangers and specialists working in Uremia's urban planning and ICT, obtained from Morgan table. To collect data, Likert spectrum is employed. Findings indicate that the most important challenges in the way of establishing an electronic city include the lack of strategic document for urban development, high number of decision-making centers and administrative extra parallel works among them, the inclination of the urban managers toward traditional methods, low-speed, high-cost internet connection, the lack of infrastructures for ICT, the lack of digital literacy among citizens and so on. With respect to ANOVA results, findings indicate that some of the sub elements play a key role in the establishment of electronic cities. Concerning the inequality of the role of factors effective on the establishment of electronic cities, each factor's sub elements has been ranked through multi-criteria decision making techniques and TOPSIS model. According to the findings, some strategies have been recommended, which need the serious care of urban managers and planners in the metropolitan Uremia.

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In the developing world, skills in innovation and creative design have emerged as key attributes for graduating designers. Creativity is essential if we want to generate new solutions to the considerable and complex problems in architecture. Metaphor is frequently expressed as a key tool for enhancing creative design, yet little empirical research has been performed on how novice designers can use it within their design. The goal of this study is to empirically research the use of metaphor in the design studio, with a focus on its effects on design creativity and quality. A three-stage method is presented, which allows novice designers to use meanings and metaphors in the early stages of design and idea generation. This method was tested in an architectural studio with two groups as experiment and control groups. The results were evaluated using a qualitative research methodology and a questionnaire was prepared in which the students were requested to assess the use of this method in their design process. Also expert designers evaluated the design outcomes in both control and experiment groups. The results highlight that metaphor is a helpful tool for young designers to stimulate design creativity and has a noticeable effect on design quality factors such as novelty, value, flexibility, usefulness and detail. These research findings have different implication for novice architects and help them enhance creativity and quality in their design endeavors.

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The condition that varieties of cities including Iranian cities are confronted makes the creation of successful public space a necessity. It is clear that for creating suitable public space first we should understand the influencing factors on space and simultaneously solve and improve the problems through understanding the environment. For achieving the factors that influence the success as a main goal of this research, important theories of the successful public space such as White, Montgomery, Jacobs, Gehl, Carr, Oldenburg and the experience of the famous international institutes are reviewed. finally a model for space evaluation based on place game model of PPS institute was presented. The main method of research because of its experimental-theoric orientation for identifying the most influencing factors on success of space is testing theory Method. In order to verify theory the Correlation Test is used. At first based on place model, place game checklist of PPS institute and theoretical framework presented in this paper, the factors influencing the success of public space are categorized as comfort-activity-access- socialability dimensions. By means of deep observation, questionnaire, Llewlyn Davies's scale and field survey techniques data was collected to complete the data requirements of the place evaluation model. In order to spatially analyze the success level at Imam st, interpolation model of GIS software was used. The result showed that Abresan Street is the most successful section, Saat, Mansoor and Golestan sections were followed respectively. The results of investigation about the theory in our case study (Imam Khomeini street) show that between following factors: comfort-activity-access- socialability, factors of comfort and image are the most important condition for place success.

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Housing is the second need after food for human beings. Since the housing crisis began with the increase in population, respective governments were forced to construct houses for a large number of families. Ignoring the qualitative aspects of these houses has caused social and cultural harm. Therefore, designers need to pay more attention to the quality of housing and living environments. The main objective of this study is to find the most important factors that affect the quality of low- income housing. In order to achieve this goal, the first stage of the research was to undertake a systematic review of the literature and interview the residents. The housing environment factors were classified in four categories: environmental, functional, formal and semantic factors. In order to give priority to the factors, a questionnaire was distributed among 15 experts (according to the Delphi technique, two rounds of surveys were taken). In the first round, some factors were removed and a new category was added. In the second round, experts gave priority to the factors. Once the data was collected, the next stage was to analyze it. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 18 SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The results obtained - based on the weighting of each factor - showed that some factors, such as interior space function, volume, relationship with nature, safety and social security are the most effective factors of low-income housing quality.

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Following development and qualitative and quantitative changes in communities, that have made substantial changes in historic environments, the authenticity concept has attracted attention in order to strike a balance between conservation and development approaches. The concept of authenticity as the transmitter of values and significance of cultural heritage, is regarded as a key criterion in the process of conservation and thus, the need for clarification of its factors has been emphasized in the international documents. This paper aims to refine the prioritization of authenticity factors in the plans and measures of the revitalization project of Atique Square in Isfahan, Iran. To achieve this, firstly the conventions and the international documents related to authenticity are reviewed using qualitative research methods and content analysis strategy consequently the effective factors in measuring authenticity have been selected in three main categories : ‘historical-evidential values’, ‘artistic values and creativity’, and ‘socio-cultural values’. After that, prioritizing these factors in the Atique Square revitalization, is analyzed by quantitative research method and correlation strategy. The findings indicate that the ‘historic- evidential values’, ‘socio-cultural values’ of the context and ‘artistic values and creativity’, in descending order, have the highest to the lowest contribution in explaining the concept of authenticity in the measures taken for the project of the Atique Square revitalization.

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This paper classifies green envelopes as green roofs and green walls according to effective factors, which were derived from literature to compare the green envelopes’ thermal and energy performance in a more effective way. For this purpose, an extensive literature review was carried out by searching keywords in databases and studying related journal papers and articles. The research method for this study was bibliographic and logical reasoning. The paper proposes five classification factors: contextual factors, greenery factors, scale factors and surface and integration factors. It also demonstrates the influence of physical and geometrical properties of plants and their supporting structures on the thermal performance of green envelopes. The paper argues that climatic conditions also have an important role on the thermal behavior of green envelopes and it determines the types of greenery integration into building envelopes.

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Traditional building technologies have much to teach us about how to design regionally appropriate structures. The Orosi is one of these useful technologies, which has been used for many centuries in order to control the harsh sunlight in Iran. This architectural element was rather important because the intensive solar radiation could easily damage valuable carpets used in most spaces in Persian buildings. The main question of this research was how much could the traditional Orosi windows reduce the harmful spectrums of sunlight? In order to investigate this effect, a combination of field study, laboratory measurements, and case study research method was applied. Nine Persian traditional Orosi windows were chosen as case studies and the windows’ geometric lattice (Gereh–Chini) and glazing color combinations were drawn and plotted. The experiment was carried out for carpeted and non–carpeted spaces. In order to measure the light transmission of the sample tinted glazing from the Orosi windows, a T80+ spectrophotometer was used. After calculating CIE and skin damage factors and visible transmittance for each piece of glass, an area weighting was used to calculate these factors for the entire Orosi. The results show a significant difference between CIE damage factors of the Orosis in carpeted and non–carpeted spaces where the carpeted spaces had the least amount of CIE damage factor.

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The importance of small urban parks (SUP) in mega cities has been accepted as an essential component of urban lung and restorative settings. As urban population in the world increases and the cost of maintaining large parks escalates, urban authorities are shifting their attention to creating and maintaining smaller urban parks. However, SUP may present a different ambience due to their location, size and visual appearence. In this regard, visual preference which is associated with spatial configuration and content of space, plays a vital role. This research examined 394 respondents’ visual preferences related to 16 SUP located in the city of Tabriz, Iran. It employed a quantitative photo survey method, based on Kaplan and Kaplan's information-processing and Appleton’s prospect-refuge theories as preselected variables by expert panels. Results indicated that mystery, as an indicator of having winding shapes of paths and expansive body of trees, was the most preferred spatial configuration of space, followed by coherence, refuge and complexity. Legibility and prospect as indicators of wide perspective and sky lines with clear focal points were the least preferred constructs. The results provide information on preferred visual configurations for SUP that may assist urban designers and landscape architects to improve their design of these specific green areas for the public.

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Current literatures on urban parks and green spaces showed that people’s preference for visiting urban parks in various group users is different. People visit parks for various motives and activities, leading to several patterns of park usability. However, the patterns in urban park use in majority of Iran cities are not yet known. This study presented the preference for activity in urban parks among people in Gorgan city. A survey research was conducted to gain understanding of respondents’ preferences for activity in urban parks. The Data was collected among 300 visitors of two well-known urban parks in Gorgan. Visitors rated preference for four activities: relaxation, socializing, nature involvement, and playing activities. The results revealed that the people of Gorgan chose relaxation and nature involvement as the most preferred activities whilst socializing and playing were the least preferred activities. Furthermore, a significant difference in two variables: relaxation and nature involvement activity was found among marital status and visitor age groups. The results also indicated the role of urban parks on psychological needs of the citizens, which creates urban nature as a valuable urban resource and key component for city sustainability. This result contributes notions towards significantly impacting design of urban parks and their facilities that designers and decision makers should manage those facilities to satisfy the visitors’ needs.

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This paper examines the utility of the air pollution Model (TAPM) in simulating meteorology and dispersion of PM10 and wind data in order to assess The Impacts of Wind Variability Function on Urban Heat Island for the day of 25, November,

2012 in Karaj city that experienced severe degradation in air quality. Drawing, Skew-T diagrams, maps of surface pressure (500hp), omega (850hp) and atmospheric conditions at 300 – 900hp  level are used for analysis. Due to wind patterns, the air pollution behavior is simulated regarding to resolution of 5 km for output amplitude. Simulations of the PM10 and wind data in ten metric levels from three point of city are prepared according to synoptic conditions. Meteorology and PM10  dispersion results indicate that in spite of prevailed wind direction (West to East) in the mentioned day the effect of wind threshold on the air filtration is reduced and heat island formation is occurred as a result of reduction in air flow speed in urban areas. Therefore, it is essential to consider adopted strategies to mitigate urban heat islands such as the principles of bioclimatic architecture,  urban  morphology,  urban  infrastructure-related  measures  (architecture  and  land  use  planning) for  urban planning.

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The numerical investigation of computing the rate of radiated solar-energy requires equations as a function of solar-time according to the radiation angle of the sun (β) in the latitude 37°N and the shape. This paper implements the Lagrange interpolation to obtain the equations of normal diagram of elements based on data obtained from surveying. Also the method of Hann-window equation used to estimate the sun path. Albeit, the solar radiation angle effects on the length of element`s shadow on the ground but it is a function of solar-time too. The parameters of the dome traits did compute using the solar-geometry principles in a coexisted function of time to reach a viable equation. The amount of absorbed and wasted energy is presented by analysing its surfaces in the all sides simultaneously. Every single element of BM has been considered to define its especial equation of geometry to analyse their different reactions while transferring energy. Quantitative method of this paper has based on library method of research to define especial equations and field survey to experiment data analysis. According to the mentioned methodology, around 7,54e+4(Kcal.h/m2) solar energy radiate on the BM that its value is equal to around 9,43 (lit/h) energy of gasoil. In other word at least 75,44lit/day fossil energy is saved by the Blue-mosque.

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When thinking about traditional Iranian architecture, one imagines extensive ornamental patterns that adorn almost every surface of mosques and other prominent buildings. Yet, many theories of architecture since the beginning of twentieth century have considered ornamentation a superficial and superfluous layer. But, are these ornamental surfaces superficial and can they be removed so easily? This paper uses a qualitative research methodology based on theoretical cross examination and critical analysis to highlight the significance of surface and appearances in architecture and argue that formulating a strategy to adorn architecture is in fact the generating gene of every architectural movement, from Modernism to Postmodernism and even to Parametricism of recent times. By setting up a philosophical and a theoretical discourse about the notion of surface and the various metaphors used in architectural theory, this paper concludes that from the woven walls of first architectural spaces to the clothed walls of modern times, surfaces have played a sacred role in architecture, and rather than being superficial barriers that mask reality, they are indeed the very materials with which architects demarcate space and create new aesthetics.

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Daylight in classrooms is a critical factor in school design, in terms of its impact on students’ health, learning and visual performance. Providing adequate amount of evenly distributed daylight and glare prevention are important challenges in classroom design. Window configuration significantly affects the intensity and uniformity of daylight. This paper aims to investigate the effect of window configuration on daylight performance through parametric analysis. Different window configurations such as window to wall ratio, incorporating light shelves and roof monitors have been analyzed on a typical south-east facing classroom in Kashan based on results from DesignBuilder Radiance simulation which has first been validated against field measurements. Daylighting credits of green building rating tools; Leed EQ 8.1 and BREEAM HEA1 have been used as indices for evaluating and comparing different window configurations. Results show that by increasing the window-wall-ratio to 35, 40 and 50% and by installing a roof monitor, the daylight credits of the BREEAM and LEED could be achieved respectively. According to the fact that none of these window configurations have reached the standards required by both rating tools, the authors believe that a combination of installing monitor roof and light shelves and increasing window-wall-ratio may result in enhanced daylight levels.