Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

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Space as an essential and integral concept of architecture has always included different meanings and understandings, and this reduced its original meaning to general architectural features. In addition, because this concept was created in the modern period, architects’ general understanding of its indicators has unilaterally been led to the concepts such as void, freedom and movement. Therefore, there has not been any true and comprehensive understanding to evaluate the indicators directly related to this concept. On the other hand, in Iranian-Islamic Architecture, space as the main element making form of the buildings has been considered much more than the material aspects, but due to the lack of a specific framework for explaining its physical indicators or modern sense of space, it has not properly been analyzed. The main purpose of this paper was to identify the principal indicators related to the concept of space and examine the relations, and this was achieved through purposeful analysis of basic definitions, Western viewpoints of architectural space, and perspectives of Iranian-Islamic architectural space. The paradigm of this study was qualitative and the methodology was based on documentary and library researches. In order to achieve a conceptual framework for analyzing the essential indicators of space in architectural works they were distinguished from general features and other concepts through analyzing and comparing of important perspectives and organizing existing structure in recognition of space. Finally, based on this model, the overall status of the indicators of space in Iranian-Islamic architecture and important periods of Western architecture were compared. An examination of architectural space indicators based on Western theories revealed three types of viewpoints: 1- According to this view, architecture was considered as the “Art of Space” which has been on the path of historical evolution, and always conformed to “dematerialization” (reducing the effect of the masses) and increasing the role of empty spaces. Clearly, on this view, the indicators were emphasized those which conformed to “total freedom of space”, “exposure”, “permanent expansion”, and “maximum relation”. 2- This thinking was almost the opposite of the first point of view. The theorists criticized the unlimited freedom of the space and looked for defining the new intricate and meaningful structures. It could be said that this view, influenced by phenomenological approaches, conformed to promote the concept of space to “place”, caused to the sense of habitation and settlement, and emphasized the “internalization” and “preservation” as the main characteristics of the space. 3- In this view, the relative balance among the dual indicators of architectural space and their challenges were emphasized. Accordingly, fundamental characteristics of the architectural space in different periods were identified with no specific direction to one side of dual indicators. In fact, the balance between the inside and the outside was necessary. It meant that in order for space to be essentially recognized as real space, at least a part of this separation was needed. On the other hand, the complete separation was not usually correct too. The enclosure and protection of the inner space and the continuity between the inside and the outside both were inherently necessary and appeared differently depending on the period of each architectural work and its context.
Iranian-Islamic views on the space were investigated both in art and architecture. In Iranian-Islamic art theories, two facts were revealed: 1- The emergence of imaginary and mysterious quality through the constant fluctuation between opposing characteristic and creation of dual concepts such as “Hayaa” (modesty). 2- The balance between material and immaterial aspects in art to achieve two main goals: the existence of art and a trace or an echo of God. By reviewing the opinions of some experts in Iranian-Islamic architecture, such as Nader Ardalan, Darab Diba, Seyyed Hadi Mirmiran, Mohammad Reza Haeri, etc., it became clear that the dual indicators of space appeared in two different ways: In the first case, there was simultaneous presence of opposing dualities, such as void-mass, inside-outside, movement-stagnation, continuity-obstruction of vision, etc., and at the same time, the tendency to internal and limiting indicators. In the second, there was simultaneous presence of opposing dualities and the lack of inclination to one side: balance, ambiguity or fluctuation in dual indicators. The results of numerous analyzes indicated that, despite of intricate and extensive theories of architectural space and approaches derived from, they revealed certain forms of relations between the dual indicators in a “spectral” framework. These indicators both at the basic level (fundamental indicators) and at the final model (extension of basic indicators) showed different tendencies, including the overcoming of liberating characteristics, overcoming of limiting characteristics, and the balance or fluctuation between the dualities. In a general comparison, it could be said that the indicators of the space in Iranian-Islamic architecture appeared balanced, vague, or mysterious, which had some similarities with spatial concepts prevailed in Postmodern architecture; and they were completely distinct from those of other periods of Western architecture.

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When architecture is discussed in the land of Iran, architecture is created as a container and context of life for human beings where the Spirit of God is blown in his (her) (Surah Al-Hijr - Verse 29), his existence is not limited to material needs, but he is a creature with different existential levels. It derives from the material needs such as eating and sleeping, and need for shelter, which arise from the material levels of human existence to the psychological needs that embrace a range of needs from security to belonging and levels of spirituality of human existence with its characteristics and needs in which the essence and basic instinct of humans lies. Iran is a country with long-standing architectural value. Experts have long a consensus on the preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of Iran’s past values to preserve cultural values representing the national identity. Identification of the past noble values and adopting the most important one in observing criteria in accordance with the circumstances of time and place of today's society is considered the main problem. In this regard, we should try to recognize the Iranian - Islamic architectural values and reflect them to young professionals who are somehow involved in this issue. Today, it is tried to convey ideas and thoughts to others in the form of desired concepts and ideas using the meaning language which is indirect.
In the meantime, valuable Iranian Islamic architecture, due to its comprehensive functionality as well as permanent and enduring presence in our culture, is considered more than before. Because maintaining Iranian – Islamic values and identity is one of the requirements, modern designers are obliged to think deeply about traditional architectural values and standards to get rid of the imitation and create a design in accordance with modern human expectations based on Islamic law. In this regard, architecture, due to direct contact with human life, plays an important role in strengthening or weakening culture and identity in the face of globalization, for all the people are associated with the architecture and their behaviors are shaped in these buildings. The importance and necessity of this issue, in challenging designers to think about the different aspects of the past architecture and special attention to the ancient fundamental values, is to enrich the design quality. The study has a qualitative and quantitative research method, because it used desk and field study to gather information. Its qualitative nature was created with research studies and literature review and its quantitative nature was shaped by choosing statistical population and preparing a questionnaire for the analysis. 
The identification of the past architectural values and selecting the most essential of them are considered as the main issue in the observance of the scales matching with the temporal and spatial conditions of the today’s society. Efforts have to be constantly made for recognizing the Iranian-Islamic architectural values and reflecting them to the young experts who are somehow involved in this issue. The present piece of writing has been compiled based on a qualitative and quantitative method and the study has been conducted based on a survey method; the study is fundamental in terms of objectives. It is posited based on the selection of a process of the qualitative-descriptive type and its investigation based on a quantitative method that “there is observed a significant relationship between meaning and contextual elements of architecture”. It might have been quite common in the past architecture, especially in the Islamic Era’s architecture, that the manifestations and embodiments of the concepts stemming from the society’s culture were manifested most beautifully in the architectural works hence more readily identifiable. Moreover, the principles that are dealt with in the resources are different in terms of prioritization and valuation; thus, experts’ notions have been used in this area to quantitatively discover these topics using survey methods. At first, in order to achieve sublimity in architecture through seeking assistance from the honorable Surah Hashr, ĀYA 23, and comparing it with the valuable architectural principles, it has been descriptively investigated and extracted and 15 professors were subsequently asked to confirm this information. Next, a questionnaire was codified and, in order to select a study sample volume comprised of the experts, including the professors and students of post-graduate education in state and national universities of the country, five universities were selected that included 120 individuals in total and, excluding the imperfect questionnaires, 100 questionnaires were finally attained. The data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 21, using statistical tests (one-sample t-test, two-sample test, ANOVA test and Friedman test); the results have been offered in two descriptive and inferential methods. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between the indicators of the concepts and the contextual elements in architectures. Furthermore, factors like semantic, climatic, structural and eventually technological indicators were respectively found with the highest degree of importance.

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A brief reflection on the various works of Iranian-Islamic architecture in different periods illustrates the fact that the Iranian artist's architects have always sought the order in elements, components, spaces and buildings, and in order to achieve this important, the method There were several varieties (Bemanian and Avis-Nasab, 2012: 72). One of these methods is the use of the qiblah axis in the architecture of the mosques. What is nowadays visible in the architecture of contemporary mosques is the absence of the creation of spirituality in space for the guidance of the qibla. In this research, by revising the way of applying the Qibla axis to mosques of different periods of Iranian-Islamic architecture, it is analyzed on the qualitative role of the qibla and the attainment of ways of presenting the qualitative aspects of the qibla. Therefore, the research seeks to answer the following questions:

• The research seeks to answer the following questions: What is the best pattern of movement path from the entrance to the qibla in mosques?
• And what is the hierarchy of movement from the entrance to the qibla based on the spatial organization in mosques?

Therefore, the purpose of the research is to explain the role of qibla in the design of traditional mosques in terms of orientation, entry into the building, and placement along the qibla, the dynamics of the axis of the axis, in order to provide the basis for designing and constructing contemporary mosques. Therefore, this research has been conducted in a descriptive-analytical manner and based on library-documentary studies. Also, using the flow pattern and the relationship between activities in 18 samples of Iranian-Islamic architectural style mosques, the pattern of the path of human movement from entrance to altar, as well as the degree of proximity of each space to the other space in this motorway, has been studied.
Considering the comparison of architectural criteria to emphasize the direction of qibla in mosques, the index of periods and styles of Iranian-Islamic architecture can be said in Khorasani style, due to the form of the mosque's nave, using two criteria for increasing the number of columns and The elongation of the length of the plan defined the direction of the qibla. Architects in the style of Razi and then in the Azeri style, had the most attention to Qibla, and used more criteria to emphasize the Qibla axis in designing mosques. In the Isfahan style, the elongation of the yard with the increase in the number of columns helps the prayer in understanding the axis of the qibla. It can also be seen that the criteria for increasing the number of columns, the construction of the dome in the direction of the Qibla and on the altar, the longitudinal elongation of the plan, have the most effect on the direction of the Qibla axis in the mosque building. By studying contemporary mosques, we will find that these mosques do not have apparent effects due to the lack of theoretical principles, and the mosque's plan does not emphasize the Qibla direction. For this reason, the architecture of contemporary mosques has no effect on the principles and appearance of the Qibla axis.
Historical overview of the evolution of mosques since the beginning of Islam, indicates that paying attention to Qibla direction has played a significant role in the spatial organization of mosques in Iran. Also, observance of the principle of dynastic movement and space axis in the construction of mosques, has strengthened the direction of qibla and guided man from the interior to the outside and created the integrity of the foundation. In this research, based on the descriptive-analytical method and using the flow pattern and the diagram of the relationship of activities, the pattern of the path of human movement from the entrance to the altar, as well as the degree of proximity of each space relative to the other space in this motorway , Through a structural study of 18 samples of Iranian-Islamic style architectural mosques. Six patterns of eight flow patterns were defined as the pattern of movement from entrance to qibla in mosques, as well as motor hierarchy and the arrangement of spaces from entrance to qibla, using the activity relation diagram. A single pattern was developed for arrangement of spaces between the time of arrival and the Qibla, including: Entrance, Porch, Vestibule, Courtyard, Verandah, Shabestan, Mehrab.
The architects of traditional mosques show their thoughts in the form of geometric shapes and spaces, in which the sense of confidentiality, sanctity, immortality, and clergy preserves the space of the mosques, At the time of entering, they have been converted to a humane, perfected human being by directing and observing the dynamics of movement. In the design of contemporary mosques, not only the emphasis on the center of the qibla, but also the sanctity, spirituality and Islamic identity of these buildings have been lost.
 

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Beauty is related to experiencing beauty events, which has different beauty experiences among people due to different circumstances, however, understanding beauty is incredibly difficult. On one hand, the public agree that beauty is considered a value as far as its particular manifestations are pleasing, on the other hand, as it is worth studying, it is considered an educational issue. Moreover, as it is a living object of social development, it is also regarded as a cultural topic. An artistic work, whether a result of one's work or a product of the artistic innovation of a group, appears due to inspirations or advices of a society and necessarily resembles the color of society. Undoubtedly, features of artist's life and even his/her physical features are reflected in his/her artwork, but reflection is not direct, and indeed it can be recognized and measured after passing through filtering of society. The beauty of urban environment as a living space, experienced by a wide range of people every day, is one of transcendental needs of human and functions as a stimulus for his flourishing. Therefore, in forming and designing the environment, category of art and its relation to aesthetics is of high significance and becomes a valuable and purposeful phenomenon in the society. Although aesthetic values differ between various cultures and communities, if these values are in conflict with cultural issues of society, they will create rational, accepted, and emotional norms of society. In addition, considering undeniable relation of any designing and shaping human life environment, like designing environment with art and also the relation of this reformulations with spiritual concepts of beauty, the concept of "aesthetics" which is in fact basis of philosophical and theoretical designs, becomes of great importance. On the other hand, urban buildings and spaces as an identifier of Iranian cities, have been shaped under the influence of Iranian-Islamic artistic and thought patterns over many years and have provided opportunity for public cooperation and interactions and in present era, with evolution of architecture and urbanism, process of designing and creating urban spaces has declined and a defective role of national identity and Iranian-Islamic culture is manifested, which indeed, ignoring these issues in designing has led to lack of originality and validity of the design. Therefore, this study attempts to consider the mentioned importance and answer vital questions of " what is the theoretical position of fundamental aesthetic values in two views of the West and Iranian-Islamic world?! What is practical application of an overview of the fundamental aesthetic values in Islamic-Iranian architecture and urbanism?", Thus, the current paper investigates theoretical concept of fundamental aesthetics values, to identify Iranian-Islamic fundamental aesthetics values and explain functional status of fundamental aesthetic values in creating Islamic-Iranian architecture and urbanism as well. As this paper attempts to deepen fundamental aesthetic values in creating Islamic-Iranian architecture and urbanism, it is considered basic research. Since urbanization is an interdisciplinary field, subject of aesthetics can be examined in the humanities and school sciences (theoretical and practical wisdom) and in science (physical dimensions).
This research is developmental and functional in terms of purpose and approach (characteristics and nature of data) and qualitative nature and methods; it is a description of type of content analysis and in the section of theoretical framework is interrogative. The information is collected by generalizing to field of Iranian-Islamic architecture and urban planning with method of deductive reasoning seeks to explain basic values of aesthetics and provide a new classification appropriate to principles of creating Iranian-Islamic architecture and urban planning. The collection of data and qualitative information in this research is also using written scientific documentary sources and libraries in order to explain conceptual model of research.
In a general conclusion, it can be said that today in Iran, beauty is either imitated by Western models or there are many shortcomings in applying the principles of Iranian-Islamic aesthetics.
This is due to the lack of a true understanding of fundamental values of Islamic Iranian aesthetics.
Therefore, a suitable framework should be created for architects and urban planners, who can extract desired criteria by considering basic values of aesthetics. For this purpose, studies have been done in previous studies and theoretical basis to assess direct relationship of aesthetics factors. These factors show relationship between fundamental values of Iranian-Islamic aesthetics and types, criteria and sub-criteria of aesthetics. Therefore, findings of research on fundamental values of aesthetics in Islam include four main categories:
1. Reasonable aesthetics 2. Sensible 3. Reasonable based on sensible, and 4. Sensible based on reasonable. Furthermore, in order to evolve the fundamental values of aesthetics, types of aesthetics are needed, these include: 1. Logical values, 2. Meaning and codification values, 3. Aspirations and logical ideas respectively and 4. Emotional and moral contexts values. These values which are directly related to fundamental values of Iranian-Islamic aesthetics and Iranian-Islamic aesthetic criteria, are related to practical application of an overview of fundamental values of aesthetics in Iranian-Islamic architecture and urban planning. Since aesthetic criteria are basis for assessment, to identify and select t fundamental values of aesthetics, these criteria include; Harmony (purposefulness, proportionality, balance, order, symmetry, correspondence), meaningfulness and perception (spiritual influence, equation, contrast, free will, disinterestedness), absolute self-existence of God (hierarchy, unity, ideal of embodiment, concentration, harmony, peace, vicinity, sophistication), emotional pleasure (relationships between shapes and forms and colors, pure manifestation of emotions and feelings) and stability and identity (piety, inclusion, freedom, connection with past and future, emergence of nature) and are directly related to types of aesthetic values. Thus, architecture and urban projects can offer new patterns in terms of Iranian-Islamic culture and employ creativity of designers. This was done by creating a logical relationship between aesthetic values and application of values in theoretical field of architecture and urban project.