International Journal of

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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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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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How to design a city more legible is one of the main problems in urban design. To define the parameters that are crucial in designing legible cities is the main debate of this article. The research methodology was studying mental maps of the city dwellers and comparing the group image of the city with the pattern of continuity of salient elements and integration of the urban axes using Space Syntax theory. It was found out that to make a city more legible there should be continuity between salient elements of the city; between main integrators and visible fields of the landmarks, to form a coherent structure, or these elements should overlap to emphasize each other to make the city more legible. The relationship of these two elements in the city structure depends on the degree of irregularity of the layout and the presence of the rules of Gestalt of “good configuration". Each urban morphology according to its degree of irregularity and presence or absence of Gestalt rules can be categorized as organized, semi-organized and unorganized. The role of landmarks or visual clues according to the type of morphology differs from one type to another. To make a legible city, there should be a coincidence between the maps of main integrators to the landmark setting to emphasize the main structure of the city in regular settings (organized and semi organized structures). In irregular layouts, there should be continuity between pattern of visible fields of landmarks and main integrators of the city to form a coherent whole. The hierarchy of the urban axes in global and local level- most integrated and least integrated axes- will be followed by the hierarchy of the visual clues in global and local levels, which defines the nature of systems of reference in the structure of the city. The aim of the study presented by this article is to show how the interaction of landmarks and pathway configuration influence the legibility of the city and make the image group of the city.