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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  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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There are many evident that people are more interested in walking in attractive urban spaces and inappropriate physical and psychological condition can reduce their presence in a remarkable amount. The current research investigates the influence of physical design and psychological elements and their criteria on selective physical activity and specifically walking in urban public spaces. However there are some limitations in determining specifications of physical and psychological design which have effects on walking, meanwhile the urban planning elements, transportation and crime prevention via environmental design are developed strategies which have potentials for influencing the rate of pedestrian-oriented state of urban spaces. The research frameworks which are extracted from the complex of these elements include 5 applied criteria of safety, aesthetics, destination and (environmental) security which are specified by use of documentation and library method. In this paper, the public general spaces of Farahzad village were selected by field study and by help of questioning technique which its statistical community included 12 urban planning experts, the mentioned criteria were analyzed by Analytic Network Process. The results indicates that the quality of physical design and the psychological elements have major effect on pedestrian-oriented state of urban spaces and the importance degree of each criterion in determining the rate of pedestrian-oriented state of urban spaces of Farahzad village included the aesthetics, security and applied indicators in a value level, destination and safety. Meanwhile, the most pedestrian-oriented spaces of Farahzad village were specified by considering the mentioned criteria and by use of Analytic Network Process. Cognition of this issue will help the above-mentioned options to overcome their challenges which are creating attractive and dynamic urban space via improving the condition.

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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 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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Due to audiences’ diversity, local cultural spaces have the highest share in residents’ mass life. Therefore, these spaces are the necessary environment for social relations and face-to-face communication of residents of urban area. If these are well qualified, welfare would be promoted. This study aims at identifying and evaluating factor influencing quality of local cultural spaces and aims to recognize and prioritize the factor using AHP analytical hierarchical process so as to promote them. This applied study has a descriptive-analytical basis with a population of 75 experts in urban planning and cultural matters and academic staff used as participants. First, the quality criteria of cultural space was determined based on the 4 main criteria and 26 sub-criteria in a hierarchical tree. Then experts were asked to score the major and minor criteria and specify their priorities based on paired comparisons. Applying the Expert Choice which implements the AHP, the weights of each criterion and sub-criterion were estimated respectively. Finally, according to the study’s aim, priorities were determined. The results obtained showed that the physical criteria, weighting 0.557, got the first priority and it was followed by social (0.162), economic (0.148) and environmental (0.133) criteria which got the second to the fourth rank. The sub-criteria affecting the "quality of cultural spaces" of the physical structure included safety, human scale and availability.

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The key issue in the design of today’s living spaces is the cognitive and socio psychological gap towards individual and social needs of today's human. Place attachment as a quality of urban space has a kind of product-oriented output and requires careful attention to the stages and process of attachment. In the analysis of this process, familiarity with cognitive structures and novel research methods in the field of cognitive psychology, provide designers with valuable information. The main aim of this study is to investigate the role of cognitive psychology approach in the process-oriented study of place attachment. The research tries to address the issue that "how does the process-oriented model is realized in place attachment with an approach of cognitive psychology?". Research is a combination of qualitative (interview) and quantitative (questionnaire) methods. In order to determine the appropriate number of participants, first a pretest was performed as a pilot study on 40 residents of the neighborhood and after the estimation of variance for the initial sample (S2 ) at the confidence level of 95%, the number of the sample was increased to 297. The findings of this study suggest that the most influential criterion on the attachment of residents, is the affect (0.97) dimension; Behavior (0.86) is the second and cognition (0.74) is the third one identified in terms of process dimensions. This research introduces influential criteria in the promotion of affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions of the place attachment process and also investigates the effectiveness degree of each dimension. 

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The present study is an attempt to find out processual and functional aspects of privacy regulation in a dialectical investigation. For this purpose, 180 samples are selected from among mothers of families in Mashhad, Iran using random sampling. In this study, "meaning structure" method has been applied. Samples participated in Laddering Interview. Analyses are set in Content-Goal Table. Based on this table, the initial questionnaire is designed and implemented after being finalized. 8 factors are obtained by factor analysis. Considering the compression variance, in the intended houses, these factors account for 87 percent of the hidden regulation of meaning structure in the privacy achievement and function processes. In general, we can conclude that these means have proper validity and reliability, and they can be properly used for studying "privacy" in the intended social housing. It is suggested to analyze the relationships among the privacy factors in order to present the regulation model of privacy aspects

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Change is an essential element to Humans and foundation of their lives. Each change though requires its unique
conditions. But Change may result in total destruction instead of exaltation if it takes place without considering conditions
regarding it’s time, place and also without scientific evaluations. There are many factors and reasons for change and
transformation and once it happens, consequences would follow. Due to social, managerial and historical events, Iran’s
society has undergone changes during its modern era. Consecutively, Iran’s architecture has too experienced a drastic
transformation during the past hundred years and especially in the past six decades which some call this an interruption.
Interruption means, the connection between past and present has been cut off. Today as result of this interruption, Iran’s
society is experiencing an increase in individualism and decrease in social relations. This would seriously question objectives
of a utopia.This study is looking to clarify the interruption process and events influencing it in Iran’s architecture and
urbanization base on three fundamental questions: 1. What are the causes of interruption in historical textures and which
factor plays the main role? 2. What is the orientation of master plans, the thinking of the inhabitants and the authorities of the
historical context regarding the issue of interruption and continuity? 3. What is the relationship between social relations
governing the formation of architecture in historical contexts and the issue of interruption and continuity?This study will be
using qualitative paradigm and historical research method to review the selected time intervals. As we progress through the
study, we will have a look at the consequences of the disconnection from past in Iran’s architecture and urbanization. There is
also a time graph which includes influential historical events projecting delicate turning and decision points. Moreover,
explaining the consequence of the interruption in Iran is the achievement of this study which would assist others with the same
interest with a clearer path throughout the time.

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Different approaches and methods are used in the architecture design process that logical and intuitional methods are the most common ones. The role of knowledge in each method is different.  Investigating aspects of knowledge demonstrated the hierarchy from data to wisdom and the interaction of explicit and tacit types, subjective and objective sources, and analytical and exploratory ways of processing knowledge. Logical methods rely more on explicit and objective knowledge with analysis, while intuitive methods rely more on tacit and subjective knowledge that processed by exploratory ways. To investigate the difference between the two methods, we conducted a survey that involved architecture students in two groups of logical and intuitive methods. Results demonstrated that they have different opinions about the role of each type of knowledge, the importance of knowledge in each step of the design process, and the role of sources of information in their design process. We concluded that an integrative method that considers different aspects and integrated interactions of all aspects of knowledge is needed..
 

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The purpose of this research is to investigate the travelers' visual preference criteria in caravanserai hotels’ interior design to enhance human’s social, historical and cultural interactions. Using 356 questionnaires and Quantitative Research approach, the travelers' visual preferences of three hotels in Tabriz city are assessed. Photo questionnaires are prepared according to the Information Processing Analysis theory and were examined by SPSS software. The results indicate that preferred caravanserai hotels are mysterically related to physical factors like medium intensity of light, warm and neutral colors, modern and traditional furniture integration, green space and wooden decoration. Interior architects can increase peoples’ interest for using Caravanserai Hotels by considering this results and its application in their design methods.

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Architectural training is a part of higher education. One of the most important issues in this context is the judgment and measurement of design students' abilities and achievements. This research aims to answer the question of possibility of a model or method for a purposive and clear judgment, so that in addition to the academic achievements of architecture as a field of study, the level of architectural design for future engineers and designers will be promoted. Reviewing the literature of the context, the two terms "assessment" and "evaluation” are initially clarified. Through these two concepts, the JAAD (Judgment of Academic Architectural Designs) model is introduced and then examined for the judgment of undergraduate architectural designs, considering design of a commercial complex as a sample to arrive at a prototype. It is expected that by using this model, lecturers will be able to achieve more purposive and accurate judgments. In addition, students can take effective steps through purposive designs in order to improve the level of training and learning of architecture, which ultimately results in flourishing architectural achievements in future.

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The present study aimed to align the applied approaches to the concept of visual literacy to provide a new list of abilities needed to promote visual literacy. Visual literacy is a cognitive concept that can be promoted using Bloom's revised classification of the cognitive area that has targeted the mastery learning stages. The method of this study is descriptive-analytical conducted in a purposeful logical course using interpretive strategies and logical reasoning based on documentary studies and valid libraries. In this study, Bloom's cognitive classification was examined and four categories of the most important competencies and existing and valid visual literacy standards were analyzed separately. Finally, a new list of abilities needed for individual mastery of visual literacy was presented. Since most visual literacy researchers have described its nature as ability or set of abilities, a new list was called the classification of visual literacy abilities. The results showed that since each of the previous lists has a specific specialized view on visual literacy, they do not cover all levels of the cognitive process and Bloom's knowledge dimensions. Thus, by adopting a comprehensive approach, a list of abilities was proposed that includes six levels of cognitive process (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) and each level includes four levels of knowledge (factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive). This list can be used in the educational planning of disciplines that their main goal is visual communication. Finally, the topic of one of the architecture courses was examined as an example of the way of applying this classification.

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The study intends to explore the factors that lead to an increase in place attachment of apartments in residents' attitudes toward applying for housing. After analyzing previous research on connectivity, five major components that affect place attachment were identified: perceptual-cognitive, social, historic-cultural, physical, and economic factors. Field research involving 73 Tehran mid-rise apartment residents utilized textual-visual questionnaires to investigate these factors, employing open coding and content analysis for data interpretation. Despite subtle contextual changes, the findings support the relevance of the identified components. According to the participants, influencing factors listed as environmental, sociocultural, perceptual-cognitive, economic, and historic emphasize the relevance of the first five; however, the details, order, and synthesis differ somewhat from those in the research reviewed. Furthermore, based on the literature reviewed, the study concluded a three spatial scale named global-urban-property for the home connectivity scope, with varying strengths. Additionally, based on the field study conducted, the paper added two sub-scales to the property scale, specifically within the context of an apartment. These sub-scales are building and unit. City, community, and neighborhood are subscales of the urban scale.
The global scale is also related to the country, which was not highlighted in the context of the present study since all participants were Iranian. Thus, the spatial scales of place attachment for apartments include city, community, neighborhood, building, and unit. Analyses highlight the relationship between a sense of belonging, influencing factors, and spatial scales. The study concludes that residents' place attachment is a protracted process that includes building/unit allocation and context-sensitive design considerations. In conclusion, changes in the sociocultural setting impact inhabitants' perceptions of place attachment.