Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

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Qualitative aspects of housing always considered as the most critical planning tools and have gained great interest in recent housing research. Housing areas in order to provide social development, involved the environment around in addition to residential units. This paper tries to assess the quality of traditional houses, describe and analyze them to achieve the criteria to devise guidelines in the next step which are effective for increasing the quality of contemporary housing. Iranian traditional houses have a kind of internal spaces structure on the basis of religious and traditional ideas of Iranian families.These houses have manifested native-traditional models of the past history of Iran which have originated from individual and collective cultures of the people, who have been formed, have grown, have been manifested and have reached perfection. Study of Iranian contemporary architecture indicates that it has been changed with regard to its rich and meaningful history during the time. Roots of the principles governing the traditional houses can be found in Iranian thoughts and culture. Any building which is constructed aims at fulfillment of some living needs. Traditional houses are not only a shelter. Residence indicates meaningful link with the place which can include all of the different levels of private and general life environment. This link is an effort to find identity and to have attachment feeling toward a place while our modern houses couldn’t have fulfilled the most primary needs of residence i.e. tranquility and physical relaxation and generally inspired quality expectations. In this regard, to reach the aim through qualitative approach and case study strategy, this value of the Iranian traditional housing was investigated.
This study was carried out by qualitative method and in order to final assess of the data, AHP method was used. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a structural technique to organizing and analyzing complex decisions, based on mathematics and psychology. Rather than prescribing a «correct» decision, the AHP helps decision makers find one that best suits their goal and their understanding of the problem. It provides a comprehensive and rational framework for structuring a decision problem, for representing and quantifying its elements, for relating those elements to overall goals, and for evaluating alternative solutions. Therefore the method of collecting data was based on lists for interview techniques, observation, investigate the features of place and space, measuring attitudes and by searching the literature and documents and maps about the subject. So at first multiple systems of residential environment quality assessment were studied and then a model to assess the quality of housing for this paper was developed. In the second step through the main factors of the model, 5 criteria have been determined to assess the quality of housing.In the next stage parameters derived from the lists in relation to each criterion were analyzed compared to the data of other criteria and the overall impact of research factors in reciprocating reviews and alternatives obtained in relation to the main criteria have been introduced in traditional houses. Then by analyzing and interpreting of these alternatives and considering the effects of lifestyle, human needs and conditions of contemporary society strategies to improve the quality aspects of contemporary housing have been proposed. The term lifestyle can denote the interests, opinions and behavioral orientations of an individual, group, or culture. The term refers to a combination of determining intangible or tangible factors. Tangible factors relate specifically to demographic variables, i.e. an individual›s demographic profile, whereas intangible factors concern the psychological aspects of an individual such as personal values, preferences, and outlooks. Therefore, a lifestyle is a means of forming a sense of self and to create cultural symbols that resonate with personal identity. Not all aspects of a lifestyle are voluntary. Surrounding social and technical systems can constrain the lifestyle choices available to the individual and the symbols she/he is able to project to others and the self.According to the results of the research there is a significant relation between the quality of traditional houses, human, the architecture and the past lifestyle that emanates from traditions and original values. The evaluation showed that in order of importance the criteria of human needs, environmental, physical, functional and structural qualities have contributed in this meaningful relation and among them the first three criteria are more effective. Although in general comparison the coordinated presence of all proposed criteria resulted in lasting quality. Recognizing the traditional strategies and perception the Persian culture and life style can help modern architects to design suitable contemporary house design. People really need a house that response all its duties, not only merely be a shelter.Hence the main orientations for the development of housing in the qualitative aspects should be provided with development of long-term, medium-term and short-term goals. Providing desirable housing according to the physical and spiritual needs of Iranian families is one of long-term goals that must be met in the future.

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The mosque has served as a ritual space for Muslims since the emergence of Islam; in every era it has been designed and constructed based on terms and conditions of performance and the technology. But there are almost some fixed and unchanged elements that distinguish the mosque from the other places. In the mosque architecture, the dome is considered as an important symbol and element, and in addition to the concepts hidden in the space of the dome, many designers suppose its existence as a reason for the symbolic architecture of Islam. Therefore, the study of the construction of domes seems necessary, while today the progress of the construction and implementation methods doubles the need for understanding their structures. Meanwhile, in a place like the mosque, it is required to provide the user comfort in terms of the minimal situation to improve the spiritual state of the worshipers, which is needed additionally in the hot and dry climate due to the distance between the natural conditions and the scope of the human welfare. The mosque is at least a safe place where the audience or prayer tries to upgrade his/her spiritual modes and preferably in the zones of hot and dry climate people try twice more to go to the mosque for the development of their spiritual modes and natural comfort. For this purpose, the present study compares three kinds of materials in the prefabricated domes and evaluates the traditional materials (brick) in comparison with the concrete and fiberglass structures. The method of prefabricating was selected from the operational details of the Dk domes Company that has constructed many domes in the Islamic world, including Wilayah mosque of Kuala Lumpur and the form of samples was taken from the Imam Mosque of Isfahan. Thermal behaviour is one of the effective factors for the user comfort and has been selected as the research variable and the samples were analysed based on the behavioural differences. This study aims to find which type of dome provides better response in terms of the studied parameters in hot and dry climates. The paper is to answer the following questions by the utilization of software analyses:
1) Which dome has appropriate thermal behavior in the hot and dry climate zones?
2) Is it possible to construct a dome such as the dome of The Imam Mosque in Isfahan by the implementation of the modern systems?
The paper has been classified into two sections including- The main subject and the case study to answer precisely the above questions. Firstly, the concept of the thermal behavior is evaluated; performance of dome roofs and the thermal studies and then the domes made of prefabricated concrete, brick and fiberglass are analyzed. The research methodology is descriptive analytic of the case study, quantitative and empirical aspects of the samples through more precise calculations. The analyses were done with Ecotect software in the cities of Yazd, and Isfahan and the results show that in the selected cities, the brick provides more hours of comfort in the climatic conditions of Yazd and the concrete structure of the dome provides more comfort in Isfahan. In both cases, regarding energy exchanges in the dome structure during the night and day and the total of the year, the concrete moderates the temperature and the brick and fiberglass create medium and maximum behavioural differences respectively.
It is concluded that brick dome structures provide more comfort for the prayers to the mosque for the advancement of their spiritual modes in Yazd but concrete domes in Isfahan. In both samples, the concrete is moderator of the temperature; both brick and fiberglass changed the thermal behavior of the domed roof to average and maximum levels respectively both round-the –clock and annually. Whereas the concrete always has a mild linear behavior; always develops uniform conditions even when you need temperature differences to reduce the thermal load in the mosque. It seems that such a moderate behavior is not so suitable in hot and dry zones for the existence of more powerful parameters in these zones. The temperature differences are more in hotter and dryer zones at night and during the day in cold and hot seasons. Concrete can’t provide comfort for the prayers due to the constant load of thermal energy and the energy convection. The dome roof made of fiberglass material provides less comfort out of 8760 hours in a year. The concrete dome can produce more comfort than that of the fiberglass in Isfahan with 0.9 percent difference in comfort condition than that of the fiberglass. But in Yazd, the difference in comfort condition is 1percent for the domes made of brick, then it is concluded that the concrete domes provide more comfort for the prayer in Yazd. Generally, it is concluded that brick is more suitable for hot and dry climate zones; although with a very trivial change in the weather, the concrete showed better thermal behavior than that of brick both in Yazd and Isfahan.

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Islam has perfectly organized all notions involved in human excellence through its material and spiritual guidance; settlement and housing are no exception. Therefore, real Islamic housing can be of concern to architecture researchers in Islamic Republic of Iran. On the other hand, the severe shortage of residential units, low quality of construction, short life span of buildings and low financial ability of home buyers are other challenges facing architects in Iran. According to the experts, industrial construction is an appropriate solution for these challenges. In this paper, the uncertainty and dissatisfaction with industrialized construction are discussed in terms of identity issues such as Islamic housing. Since the Iranian society theoretically seeks Islamic architecture for its houses and on the other hand, construction necessitates the application of industrialized building methods, the relationship between these two realms must be investigated and their facts should be analyzed to achieve a reasonable approach to the problem. Hence the research questions are about how these architectural realms interact with each other and which requirements of industrialization divert the residential architecture from its Islamic aspects. These questions seem novel because they have not been addressed in any research. It appears that many industrialization parameters are not opposed to Islamic features of residential architecture, but totally coincident with them. In this study, the data is collected through library research and some indexes are derived by reasoning and represented in corresponding tables to be surveyed by the experts of both realms. It is an applied research based on a descriptive-analytical methodology. The data collection is accomplished through field research using interviews and questionnaires. The data is analyzed using an inferential analysis which has the most coordination with the descriptive-analytical methodology. The analysis is performed through a parametric paired samples t-test using an AHP model. Statistical data is analyzed in Excel, the information obtained in the discussion and conclusion section is conceptually analyzed and the final results are presented. The results of research show that the set of industrialization components agrees with jurisprudential and physical principles of Islamic housing by 63%, which indicates an acceptable consistency. The set is compatible with semantic principles of Islamic housing by 17%, which indicates a contradiction between industrialization and semantic principles of Islamic housing. Thus it can be concluded that the relationship between industrialization and Islamic housing is a consistent and positive relation with contradictions just in ​​“design constraints”. Therefore, industrialized construction can be an optimal solution to the current and future problems of housing in Iran, after elimination of its slight contradictions.

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In a general glance, vernacular knowledge is part of the national capital which embraces beliefs, values and knowing of each nation. It can be considered as a set of natural, cultural, traditional and social conditions of a region that includes a wide range of cultural, climatic, artistic, literary features… of a human community. Ancient history of Iranian architecture has created a large collection of criteria and designing methods of vernacular form and physic that is shaped by geographical, cultural and livelihood variables. Recognition of region, vernacular architecture, form, semantic and functional commonality of these factors can create a powerful background for the current architecture, because one of the most important issues in the habitats of human societies is looking to the local problems of that land and without considering the vernacular issues and quantity and quality of social, cultural, political, economic and climatic issues of every region and land, planning will face with unresolved challenges. At the other hand, according to the experts, today a serious crisis has struck our architecture, along this, it is constantly discussed that vernacular architecture has not come up with such crisis. Hence, it seems that, for explaining the form in Iran›s contemporary architecture, it has to go further and assessing it in the vernacular architecture in order to grasp correct understanding of it in the present. Vernacular architecture is the basis for the importance of the cultural and social values of any society that must be recognized for the globalization of each nation, because the values of architecture and society culture begin from the basis of its vernacular architecture and also the vernacular-style approach to architecture requires understanding of vernacular knowledge and environmental conditions because architecture in vernacular-bed is the result of adaptation to culture and climatic. It is clear that vernacular architecture has deep relation with region so, by referring to, we can achieve the influential factors of it. On the other hand, architecture consist of different parts, which the discussion of the form is one of them. So, for survey the crisis in the architecture, different parts can be distinguished and survey them separately, in this research, the form of building and the factors influencing it in residential vernacular architecture are examined. It should be noted that the designer›s artisans on the factors influencing building design have a prerequisite for the correct intervention. With these interpretations, the main problem of the research is that how the form is associated with the roots of vernacular and the question that arises is that what factors of the region and consequently vernacular architecture affected on the form? And the form by what particular factors was largely determined? this impacts How and to what extent is? To get the answer, in the theoretical part, with qualitative approach and library and using the analytical-descriptive method, theoretical framework represented. Also, in practical section, by providing a questionnaire and interviewing the person with the opinion and case studies, the mentioned theoretical framework in relation to houses in a cold and, mountainous climatic is evaluated by SPSS statistical test. The questionnaire contains questions from the indices of the vernacular in the fourth tables on vernacular architecture forms which has been studied in the west of the country. The statistical population of this research consist of 25 faculty members, that the reason for this choice is their familiarity with the subject. University professor with their scientific knowledge have the greatest influence in this research.
Eventually, the findings are analyzed by using logical reasoning in relation with the theoretical framework that discussed in this research and it will be determined which factor (s) will have the most impact on the vernacular architecture. By accomplishing this research and achieving its results, the contribution of different parts and concepts affecting the form of vernacular architecture was revealed more than ever. The result of this research confirm that finding out the factors associated with the form in vernacular architecture depends on the recognition of the content elements and the various aspects involved in vernacular architecture that these funds were studied in various cultural, social, economic, climatic and other fields. According to the experts, the result show that the index of beliefs (culture-religion) with the highest average (3.82) is the first priority, and the index of physical principles of construction (material-technique) with the lowest average (3.44) also is the last priority and in general in order of importance, all the main indicators; beliefs, welfare factors, geography of the place and physical principles of construction have favorable conditions in terms of impact in the form of residential buildings.
 

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Nature has always played a very significant role in responding to numerous human needs. Human needs have two dimensions of material and value, and this subject has been the source of both material and value views of nature. Human, in response to their needs, has invented solutions that have, if repeated, become a model. The current article aimed to compare the role of technologies and solutions derived from nature in meeting human needs in both traditional and contemporary periods from the perspective of experts. The question posed to attain this objective is: What are the differences in the extent and manner of responding to different human needs by patterns derived from nature in the traditional era and the contemporary era? At first, in the theoretical framework of the research, the solutions and technologies obtained from library studies were categorized in eleven groups and via the qualitative method and logical reasoning, the formation of solutions and technologies derived from nature based on the response to human needs and their transformation into architectural patterns and the impact of features such as multifunctionality, and combination of patterns in an appropriate response to various human needs were mentioned. To answer the research question, to compare the two traditional and contemporary eras in response to human needs using solutions and technologies derived from nature, the architectural experts’ views were cited via a semi-structured interview method. The results obtained from the present study at this stage were that in the traditional era, nature has played a more effective role in meeting the various needs of human beings than in the contemporary era and in the contemporary period, with the diminution of the semantic dimension of man, the attention to the value dimension of nature in architecture has also diminished and the provision of material needs of nature has been given priority. In general comparison, in the traditional era, technologies derived from nature were more abundant in architecture, but in the contemporary era, it is limited to specific buildings. Out of the eleven solutions obtained, according to experts, the criteria of nature as a source of matter and energy and inspiration from nature in the promotion of technology in the contemporary period and the criteria of direct use of nature in architectural design and use of renewable energy in the traditional period, had the highest frequency.