International Journal of

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Early design decisions made on building configuration and spatial design affect seismic behavior of buildings. Therefore introducing design guidelines and empirical methods implemented to assess seismic behavior of buildings have been proposed as an appropriate approach. Such concept helps architects to take into the consideration that how their preliminary design decisions influence downstream structural results. In previous efforts guidelines for seismic assessment of irregular buildings configuration and also torsional effect of interior walls-layout have been introduced. While seismic effects of the adjacency in spatial units and associated structural systems are almost ignored. This paper tries to show how spatial layout and specifically adjacency of spatial units affect the seismic behavior of a building when (1) the roofing systems are non-uniform and (2) specific spatial units correspond to the specific types of roofs with specific seismic behavior. The paper focuses on masonry buildings with curved roofing systems. To develop guidelines and empirical methods, we selected conventional masonry residential buildings implemented in central arid and semi-arid zones of Iran, traditionally, as case study. Two approaches have been proposed in the form of seismic guidelines and empirical methods. First, a method is introduced to show how adjacency of spatial units and associated vaults with different seismic vulnerability can affect the vulnerability of whole structure according to the effect of “successive damage”. An empirical method is also proposed to estimate the value and shape of distribution of lateral forces on load-bearing walls transferred by adjacent curved roofs, since lateral forces increase seismic vulnerability of load-bearing walls

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Environment consists of a hierarchy of behavioral settings that create activity systems in conjunction with each other and it will contribute to a better understanding of environment capabilities for people. Recognizing the reflective behaviors of the students provides the possibility of optimized designing of university spaces in order to form the behavioral settings. The aim of the present research is extracting the indicators of behavioral settings and comparative comparison of them in internal frame and landscape of the universities. For this purpose, Azad University of Tabriz, based on the assumption of physical desirability, due to the assignment of use to higher education and its modernization, and Islamic art Faculty with its historical structure in urban texture and change of its function from residential to higher education has been evaluated in this study .Survey method based on map reading is used by students and the questionnaires are collected and the results are analyzed using SPSS software. The results show that Islamic Art Faculty with more student-defined behavioral domains and responding to behavioral setting variables has spatial desirability for students while Islamic Azad University of Tabriz, along with the modern structure, is not responsive to behavioral variables In the meantime, through discovering the problems for evaluation of the building, some strategies are suggested to improve the present condition.

 

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Learning environments have the ability to enhance the quality of education and produce optimal behaviors. The management of educational environments raises the quality of education both physically and psychologically .This research attempts to modify higher educational environments by enhancing creativity, accountability, motivation, self-actualization, and interaction. This study is quantitative and qualitative research done through a descriptive-survey method. Included in the study used for research were published books and articles that resulted in the development of a theoretical framework and the collection of two groups: environmental and human factors. Then, field resources were used. Students of University of Guilan were randomly selected as the statistical population and the sample was modified based on Morgan's Table. Afterwards, environmental and human variables were prioritized by the Delphi method as a result of interviewing several architecture and psychology experts. A closed-ended questionnaire was made, its validity and reliability were examined (Cronbach's alpha), distributed among the target community, entered into SPSS, analyzed by Chi-square and Friedman tests, and lastly the data was extracted. Based on the findings of survey, the impact of environmental and human factors on each other were identified and ten priorities were concluded to be the most effective on the relationship. Finally, with a semi-structured and an open-response interview with several architecture professors, design suggestions were proposed.

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Nowadays, many urban parks are underutilized due to changes and developments of cities, parks location, inappropriate inner conditions of parks, and other factors. Besat Park in Tehran is located in an urban district where people have fewer recreational choices other than going to parks. So, the issue of underutilization in this park might lead to so many other problems. This research is aimed to identify and prioritize the effective factors which can improve the visitors’ number of Besat Park. Field observations and interviews with Besat Park users were used in this research. During the observation process, three main factors were scrutinized including activity, access, and legibility. Behavioral mapping was applied to observations in 18 parts of the park which occurred at 6 different times in various seasons. Behavior mapping recordings were based on people's age, gender, and activity. Also, a questionnaire was set up covering the three main factors investigated in behavioral mappings. The results show that activity as the main important factor had negatively affected the level of presence in Besat Park. Even on large scale, the incompatible land uses inhibited neighborhood resident’s interaction with the park edges. Inside the park, despite the lack of legibility and impermeability of some routes and districts, only the ones which had other issues in terms of activity, access, and other sub-factors were vulnerable to the mentioned problems. Generally, the factors affecting Besat Park use could be prioritized based on their level of influence respectively as activity, legibility, and access.

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This study seeks to investigate the effect that environmental factors have on the use or non-use of bicycles according to gender in urban travels in Iran. To this aim, while conducting a questionnaire survey among 304 bicycle users (162 males and 141 females) within the dedicated bicycle network in Shiraz, "T" test and "Regression" statistical tests were conducted to investigate the preference differences between the two groups (male and female) and specifically, the effect of factors among women.
Based on the findings of the aforementioned statistical tests, both men and women faced barriers to using bicycles in urban travels, although a difference was observed between the two genders in the effective environment they preferred. This difference is especially significant regarding socio-cultural indicators considering the specific traditional-religious context in Iran. Therefore, in addition to indicators such as "sense of safety," "path security," "using dedicated bicycle lanes," "path greenness and attractiveness, " women's cycling is significantly affected by indicators such as "community custom and people's judgment" and also "religious norms."
Based on the analysis, education of women about the benefits of using bicycle and the creation of synergy between cultural and religious institutions of the society to remove social, cultural and normative barriers for women's cycling in Iran along with planning to increase urban bicycle transportation lanes with the necessary environmental qualities and standards can increase the per capita and eliminate the disparity in the number of men and women who cycle in developing countries such as Iran.

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Neighborhood parks are important as spaces of residential neighborhoods where part of the daily interactions of residents take place. Hence, the study of environmental quality of the behavioral settings in which they are formed can be considered a suitable indicator to measure environmental quality with behavioral patterns. In order to intervene or adopt strategies in the design and planning of neighborhood parks, behavioral settings offer appropriate indicators. The present study has a combined strategy (qualitative and case study) with an analytical-descriptive approach. The paper evaluates the quality of behavioral settings in a selected neighborhood park (SEKONJ of Shiraz) in three steps. In the first step, the basics and conceptual framework are discussed and in the next step, two components, namely physical (welfare, recreational facilities, and site features) and social (social interactions) are introduced to measure the quality of the setting in neighborhood parks. In the third step of the research, two tactics of semi-structured interview (40 participants) and behavioral mapping (using filming and observation techniques) are used together to collect data. In addition, in this stage using the components expressed in the second step, the quality of behavioral settings in the selected neighborhood park is analyzed. The results of the findings indicate that there is some synomorphy between the behavioral pattern of “recreation” and the physical environment, but the behavioral pattern of “children's play” is not consistent with the physical milieu. Finally, planning and design guidelines and strategies to improve the environmental quality of neighborhood parks are proposed.