Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

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In the Islamic architecture of Iran, meaning, aesthetics, shape and structure are four fundamental factors by an appropriate combination of them a traditional architect is able to manifest an image of metaphysical world on material world. A rational and integrated relation of these factors has put the Islamic architecture of Iran in an outstanding position. An important challenge of the modern architecture is the lack of an intergrated relation among its constituting factors. The main cause of this shortcoming is moving away from traditional roots and doctorines that has lead to the disintegration of defferent phases of design process and construction, changing architects education, and fast construction. In order to disclose the relation between metaphysical factors (meaning and aesthetics) and physical factors (function, form, geometry and structure) in architecture, it is first necessary to analyse cases that contain the relation in an outstanding way. For this reason, a number of majestic historical mosques, in which the manifestation of meaning in their form has been proved, have been studied. Literature on meaning, aesthetics, geometry and structure has been reviewed. Utilisation of the four factors in historical buildings of Iran has been explained. Relation among interfering factors in design process has been illustrated in the buildings. An algorithm for architectural design process in the modern world has been proposed in which the positions of the four factors have been defined.

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One of the issues in theory field of architecture especially in Islamic architecture which has been considered in academic assemblies in recent decades is the field of symbolism and its different approaches. Basically symbolism is one of the important features of Islamic architecture, to the extent that some scholars in Islamic architecture believe that symbolism is necessary to fulfill this kind of architecture. This article deals with the problem of what is symbol and generally sign in Islamic architecture and consequently, how the symbolism can be implemented in Islamic architecture. The purpose of this article is explaining different approaches that Muslim architects used for symbolism in their works meanwhile with explaining the nature and characteristics of each of these approaches, lessons would be learned for future symbolism in Islamic architecture. To illustrate the problem of this article, a hybrid method consisting of logical-argumentation research and qualitative content analysis research is used meanwhile the method for gathering data in this research is documents studies. The theoretical foundation of this research is based on Islamic wisdom so the research results have enough competence for the application in Islamic architecture. According to these results, in addition to credit architectural landmarks, there are genetic signs which can be manifested in various architectural components such as geometry and form and symbolism in Islamic architecture requires attention to both these two types of signs. Using these two types of signs, two main approaches are available for symbolism in Islamic architecture which is inductive and deductive symbolism. The first approach is based on sensory tools while the second one is often based on rational and intuitive tools. In this paper, meanwhile these approaches are explained, several examples will be presented for each of them.

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Human’s perception and cognition of city form based on his mutual interaction with the environment. The knowledge of urban design, which is aimed at creating a good environment for humans, tries to identify ways of deepening the relationship. It has mostly utilized the achievements of environmental psychology, but the notion of perception, as an epistemological issue, has its conceptual roots in other cognitive domains such as philosophy. Philosophy can be considered the origin of conceptualization of perception while this notion has suffered from the inattention of urban designers. The present research aimed to make maximum use of the viewpoints of Iranian philosophers on the notion of perception to identify productive achievements of philosophical opinions in this regard, including those that are applicable to urbanknowledge. It tried to attain this goal by drawing comparative analysis between philosophical achievements and those of environmental psychology. In this study, the notion of perception was explored and investigated based on content (including issues based on the content of perception) and procedure (including issues based on its procedural structure and its design in urban design) in the following two cognitive fields: philosophy and environmental psychology. The effectiveness of the use of philosophers referred to in each section was assessed as well. The present manuscript adopts an interpretive (non-positivistic) approach and uses the logical reasoning method to perform a comparative assessment of the viewpoints of two areas of knowledge. Research findings were tested using the Delphi method (theoretical saturation) and the principle of research. This study aimed to answer the following questions: How are the thoughts of Iranian philosophers effective for perception as compared to environmental psychology? How can the opinions of Iranian philosophers be used for explaining the nature of structure of the perception process and its application to urban design? Among Iranian philosophers of Islamic eras, the theories of the following famous philosophers have had the most contribution to the growth of philosophical movements in Iran: Avicenna, Sohrevardi and Mullasadra. Research findings revealed that application of the thoughts of Iranian philosophers is useful for clarification of the nature of perception and its contents as well as refinement of the structure of perception and its phases. The process of perception has the following levels with respect to philosophy: sensory perception, imaginary perception, illusive perception and rational perception. Each of these phases is differentiated from other levels using a constructive factor. Each phase also has a specific function and product. The most important issues derived from the opinions of philosophers are presented in the following table. The research adopted an interpretive approach (instead of a positivist approach) to the analysis of contents of texts. It also studied the viewpoints of the aforementioned two cognitive Results of comparison and integration of the two theoretical areas showed that environmental perception is a “subjective and objective process [12]”, which results from the interactive (mutual) relationship between the human and environment. This process has a dynamic and progressive nature. It depends on human’s constant growth and his mental construct. During the perception process, the mental image resulting from the influence of the environment is re-created to demonstrate the true essence of the environment. The perception process is composed of distinctive steps and various functions which are classified in the following three groups: reception and selection (emotional perception) organization and preservation (imaginary perception) and interpretation and signification (rational perception). In addition, numerous factors (human and environmental) influence the process and mechanism of perception in the form of stable dynamic factors.

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In current time, modern architecture design opinion along with new generation of academic graduated architects has great influence on new buildings, such as mosques design. One of the most important effects is the distortion of shapes and space, which is headlined as new design view of mosque in architecture and society. Unlike the past which mosque buildings were followed by special tradition style in each era, there is much diversity of types and design methods, which it cannot be classify in tradition or any specific category by shape and form. In addition of extreme evolution on design and built process of contemporary buildings, this article is trying to have a specific overview in the orientation of mosque designing. Then classifying the indexes of this development with identification and on the other hand notifies the effective courses on mosque architecture process. Research questions are: can we suggest any features of Iranian current mosque design comparing to Islamic world design? What standards can we consider? What is the design style of contemporary mosques? And what is the specification of each? Many researchers have proposed approaches for classifying the effective streams on contemporary architecture of Islamic countries, particularly the modernist mosques. These approaches investigate the recognition of the principles of design, favorite variables of architects, and also their work product as architecture body. Each of these researches, in turn, has suggested different categories or for modernist mosques. For example, "Ismail Serage-aldin" in his article titled "classification of effective approaches in contemporary architecture of Islamic countries", divided this approach into five groups of popular approach, traditionalist approach, people-oriented approach, adaptable modernism approach, and modernist approach. These approaches have an effective role in different streams of architecture design in contemporary era, particularly in the designing of mosques. This article is aimed to recognize trends of designing mosques in contemporary era specifically and by identifying indicators of these changes classifies them and recognizes effective streams on the evolution era in the architecture of mosques. Therefore, after reviewing performed classifications, the desired attitudes for investigating works are introduced and tables are prepared for each of these works that have been analyzed in those works based on defined attitudes, and then by comparing tables an attempt is done in classification of works based on common characteristics in the table. At the end, those attitudes that have affected contemporary mosques are introduced as a group of indicators. For better recognition, some examples of these groups in Iran and the other countries will be introduced. The questions that have been asked in this research are: Can attitudes be introduced in designing Iranian contemporary mosques in comparison with Islam world? What criteria can be considered for this issue? What orientation do exist in designing contemporary mosques? And what are the characteristics of each of them? At first, the research process has been formed based on quantitative variables that have had a key role in recognizing mosques as modernist mosques. These variables are volume versus space, full and empty, physical development, plan pattern, facade, the average ceiling height, decorations, form, color, position, construction location and its time and then categorizing the amounts of variables has converted them to qualitative data and make it possible to divide them to some groups based on a integrated structure that in every group part of amounts are in similarity or proportionality with each other. Therefore, three groups of tables were prepared from characteristics of mosques during research. In first group, the table introduces the status of each variable in mosques second group separates the mosques with common characteristics and the last group introduces their properties. This classification that has been obtained from investigating 50 modernist mosques can indicate shape-physical approach in typology of modernist mosques in Islam world. Based on conducted investigation, a part of contemporary mosques that a typology was done about them are mosques that are outstanding in Islamic society or have introduced the meaning of mosque in a new body from physical perspective. These mosques have been classified into four categories based on shape typology and these categories are: white modernist mosque, pure mosques, form-oriented mosques, and hybrid modernist mosques. In white modernist mosques, the volume is not important and often takes a form of project site. In pure mosques against traditional mosque building, the architect aims to create a symbolic volume. The volumes are simple and Platonic. Especially, the cubic shape that has a background in Islamic tradition is used. In form-oriented mosques, the attention to external volume is very important so that ignoring internal space is resulted. The volume of these mosques usually includes complicated and innovative forms and architectural sculpture and pure forms are not applied. Asymmetrical and simple decorations, use of color and light shadow diversity are usual in these mosques. Hybrid modernist mosques are a combination of the former types that means each of their elements follow one of types and cannot be placed in any former types. On the other hand, they are a hybrid of the former types.

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The knowledge of environmental design process describes and explains the fundations of self-conscious design of the man-made environment and is always rooted in polemical theories. Hence, theoretical foundations play a pivotal role with a strong and generalizable support in design, in order to be able to recognize the borders required in the creation process. The purpose of this research is to present an applied model of the design process taking into account the ontological approach in Islamic philosophy. The methodology of this paper is comparative and argumentative. In this regard, a series of similar and equal orders in the basics of Islamic ontology (perceptions and types of essence of perception and essence levels) and phenomenology, in proportion to the process of creating and visualizing an artistic product, in order to establish a functional model in The architecture design process is compared and explained. The research approach is a five-dimensional model of "Tarif, Tabiin, Tasvir, Tadvin and Talif" in the process of architectural design in accordance with the varieties of substance and human perception. In the Tarif step, in accordance with the design theme, the principles and aspirations of the architect designer are determined by the various life-worlds, and can be received. In this step, the designer, with intellectual freedom and in various ways, expresses his conceptual and idealistic concepts of his hypothetical architecture. The second step is the Tabiin of the relative state and is interpreted and adjusted in time and field. The Tabiin step, in addition to identifying the project's nature, leads to analyze and the establishment of various diagrams of spatial relationships, functional, physical planning, and so on. In the third step, Tasvir, imagery and the role of creativity are significant and the layout of the project is created. The Tadvin step in the design process means arranging and arranging components and evaluations after the creation of the form. At this stage, the form is arranged in relation to the creation of space, and the focus is removed from the mass of architecture and the relation between mass and space is transmitted. At the step of Talif, the architectural work is of soul and life and as a living phenomenon with a distinct identity in conjunction with other phenomena in the system of the universe. The use of this proposed model in the design process, due to the experimental nature as well as the content connectivity with the principles of Islamic ontology, paves the way for a tangible understanding of the complex design path and, on the other hand, gives rise to freedom of action for designers and architects.

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If one looks with the eye of discernment upon the extremely varied manifestations of Islamic art over vast expanses of space and time, the question arises as to the source of the unifying principles of this art. What is the origin of this art and the nature of this unifying principle whose dazzling effect can hardly be denied? The question of the origin of Islamic art and the nature of the forces and principles which brought this art into being must therefore be related to the world view of Islam itself, to the Islamic revelation, one of whose radiations is directly the sacred art of Islam and indirectly the whole of Islamic art.
there is an inner nexus between Islamic architecture and Islamic cosmology and angelology. The Islamic cosmos is based on the emphasis upon God as the Unique Origin of all beings, on the hierarchy of existence which relies upon the One and is ordered by His Command, on the levels of existence which relate matter to the subtle world, the subtle world to the angelic, the angelic to the archangelic, the archangelic to the Spirit or al-ruh and the Spirit to God's primordial creative act. This cosmos is based on order and harmony which is more than the result of the direct manifestation of the One in the many.
By examining the past works of architecture and urbanization, we can see the traces of the manifestation of the imaginary universe in the artwork. One of the examples for these works are Safavid dynasty monuments, such as Imam's mosque in Isfahan, which is an example of the application and expression of the other world in architecture.
Iranian-Islamic culture and knowledge are a rich treasure of the principles and Criterions in all social, economic, cultural and other fields of life. By Looking at Islamic history and civilization, we can always find the reflection of religious and cultural ideas in all aspects of life, including architecture and urbanization. However, one of the issues that is less contemplated in contemporary urbanism, which has led to an identity crisis in the present era, is to provide an opportunity to combine the art of designing urban spaces with Islamic spirituality and art. this kind of art can illustrate the example of the other world by revealing the signs of world of imagination on earth and always point out the beliefs of the people. Hence, the present study aims to derive the applied principles from among these theories. at first we have discussed and categorized theories related to the subject of perception, the imaginary world and the imagination. these theories have been brought up from the point of view of the Islamic Philosophers and Theorists. then it has been examined how these principles are applied in the Iranian-Islamic urban design. The present paper has a qualitative approach and the research is based on "interpretiveism" paradigm. The research method is "analytical-comparative" and it tries to transform fundamental ideas into applied theories. In this regard, in order to clarify the subject, the Qibla Square of Mashhad has also been selected as a case study and finally, a design framework has been developed. The research results show that the universe of imagination and its manifestations have always been considered in the views of great Philosophers; and its appearance in urban spaces can be expressed as different kind of elements, which most notably are light and geometry. For this purpose, one of the most important principles in the world of imagination is "duality", which is based on the four principles of "light and darkness", "inside and outside", "motion and motionless" and "symmetry and asymmetry". These principles are presented in a comparative manner with urban qualities in the form of "hierarchy, unity while plurality, emphasis, contrast, parity, balance, proportions, integrity, and inclusiveness, etc", as well as the solutions below each.

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In our country, research on architectural design process, is based on two main theoretical approaches; one is the system of Islamic theosophy, and the other is recent empirical studies on design methodology. The main problem here, is to find out the relationship between these two viewpoints, to attend the domain›s pathology, like misunderstanding and oversight of the position and order of theories, rootlessness of empirical theories, ambiguity of theosophical implications on design methodology, extremism and wastage in holism / serialism sides, and finally choosing one and putting aside the other. So the debate is on knowledge unity rejecting polysemy.   
The macro goal of this research is to find design process, conform to epistemology rules of theosophy, and the micro goal is to draft a comprehensive, existential, meaning rolled, and transcend schemata of design process, as a conceptual model. The practical goal is to comprehend the nature of design process, in order to nurture it. The importance of this inquiry is to avoid latitudinal contest of theories, and therefore wisdom unity and conformity of knowledge stages, in a comprehensive structure of knowledge as a result. The questions of this inquiry are:
o    On a descriptive objective: what is the designerly knowledge and how can we draw a schema of its process?
o    On a causative objective: how is the conformity of designerly cognition and its roots in the epistemological map?
o    On an alteration objective: possibility of a syntactic viewpoint and longitudinal conformity of epistemological theories, instead of latitudinal selection between them
o    The inquiry has no interpretive-historical objective
The research method is under the «transcendental Realism Paradigm» framework, which is programmed and followed by a retroductive strategy. In the research process an allegoric model is derived from transcendent theosophy of Molla-Sadra (as the cognition mechanism) and then this model›s mechanism, is checked with the empirical theories of design process (as eyewitness) to see the conformability.
In the first chapter, literature and precedents of the subject are presented. The epistemological paradigms are divided to categories of pantheism and humanism. The pantheist sector contains Masha, Eshragh, and Motealieh dispositions, and the humanist sector contains Sophist, Skepticism, Realism, Positivism, Relativism, Pluralism, Existentialism, Phenomenology, and Hermeneutics. Next the history of design studies and its methodology generations, are classified into three groups: the early analysis-synthesis generation, the concept-test generation, and the late hermeneutic generation. Then the research precedents are listed as different approaches of subject inquiry, followed by design process researches within Molla-sadra theosophy framework. Critiquing the precedents on theosophical cognition and comprehension and oversight of theories, a new strategy of inquiry is conducted. Retroductive inference, conformity as methodology of Molla-sadra, a two sided viewpoint to philosophical and empirical theories, and comprehensive modeling, are mentioned as new specifications of the research.  
Chapter two belongs to research design and contains realism paradigm, retroduction strategy, and the process of inquiry. Describing the Islamic Realism and Molla-sadra›s special contributions to it (that is mystic approach to knowledge besides the philosophical-logical one), conformity method as the truth finding theory of Molla-sadra is explained. According to this idea, every difference between theories does not mean controversy and the judgment of true and false, because the two sides might be two levels of a truth in our knowledge that may conform. Then the inquiry paradigm, Transcend Realism of Bhaskar which critiqued positivism and critical rationalism (induction and deduction), is introduced. This epistemology considers our knowledge in tree domains of feeling, imagination and intellect. The intellectual domain contains mechanisms and constructs, which underlie a phenomenon seen in nature. These mechanisms are conjectured as descriptive models that are rules and patterns, witnessed by empirical studies. The research strategy of such paradigm is called Retroduction, which uses allegoric models as hypothesis of a mechanism, being tested and proved by eyewitnesses.  
The next chapter (3) is on theoretical framework of hypothesis (model). Transcend theosophical system of Molla-sadra, is chosen to be the fundamental and generative mechanism of epistemology. The philosophical hermeneutic of Gadamer is also considered to be the epistemological background of empirical design studies, because of the comprehensive viewpoint. These two theories are conformable on the essence of creativity, two sided viewpoint, unity of knowledge, and transcend thinking. This is continued by modeling hypothesis as an allegoric descriptive model, which is a core-crust schema on design process.
Chapter four informs the data collection from references, and the discussion. The resource in cognition mechanism is epistemological system of transcend theosophy of Molla-sadra, while the resources on empirical design studies are: Donald Schon›s reflective practice, Nigel Cross›s desinerly ways of knowing, and Bryan Lawson›s designers thinking skills. This part discusses conformability of Molla-Sadra theosophy and empirical theories of design study, in ten theorems on epistemology ontology (kinds of wisdom) and epistemology itself (cognition process). Theorems are consisted of: 1-implicit & explicit knowledge 2-imagination/presentation/verification 3-the whole & the part 4-schema & detail 5-design process and cognitive levels 6-cognition levels, growth & expertise 7-consciousness & unconsciousness 8-reflective thinking/practicing 9-framing/solution-led/co-evolution 10-constructive/generative reasoning.
The last chapter concludes and draws inferences of the discussion. It is concluded that the cognition mechanism in transcendent theosophy of Molla-Sadra which was constructed and presented as a core-crust descriptive and allegoric model, has an adoptive methodological conformity, with the empirical theories of design study in holistic aspects. Empirical design epistemology also, could be deducted depth wise from Molla-Sadra theosophy. Therefore, existential theosophies and hermeneutic interpretation of design studies, are not adversary theories to choose between.
 

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Tabriz Blue Mosque is a valuable historical monument from the 9th century AH, which has been built during the Kara - Koyunlu of Turkomans rule on northwestern Iran and about 35 years before the beginning of the Safavid Iranian government. This building has some features that make it to be distinguished from other monuments of the Azerbaijan region and even Iran. These features have attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of ‘historic studies’ and ‘art studies’ and as well as have led to the publication of various sources about it; the approach of which are mainly to introduce the historical and artistic aspects of the mosque. But, little research has established about its architectural design and discovering its environmental relations. Therefore, there is a gap of knowledge in the understanding of architectural norms of this building that need to be addressed by some systematic and targeted researches. Understanding this fact, the present paper examines some of the ambiguities about this building; such as the way of its interaction with the natural environment. Accordingly, this paper aims at investigating the quality of interaction between the nature and architecture in the process of planning and architectural design of the Tabriz Blue Mosque. The mentioned aim is based on this hypothesis: the interaction of “natural environment” and “artificial environment” in the architecture of Tabriz Blue Mosque is based on a systematic approach that in its regulative foundations, the component of politics is dominated other components, especially the component of nature. The necessity underlying this research is to point out this fact that the architect of Tabriz Blue Mosque along with the exciting beauty that created in this building, did he/she also pay attention to natural and climatic aspects? Drawing on what has been said, this research has been done by descriptive - analytical method and data collection was via field study, direct observation, corpus analysis in order to answer the following questions: 1. What are the requirements and necessities of naturalistic architecture in Tabriz's environmental and climatic conditions? 2. To what extent did architect of the Tabriz Blue Mosque, in the architecture of this building, adhere the principles of convergence and harmony with the nature and climate of the region? 3. What is the reason for the existence of some incompatibility between the architectural design of the mosque and the system of nature and environment? The result of this paper shows that the architectural design of Tabriz Blue Mosque was based on the ambitious desires and motives of a social climber king. The desires required some specific necessities, some of whom was contradicted the natural and climatic requirements of region. These contradictions create some incompatibilities between the architectural design of the building and natural environment. Accordingly, in the architecture system of Tabriz Blue Mosque, political considerations and government accreditation were prior to other components of design, especially the component of nature.

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In Islamic thought, imagination has a special importance and place in artistic creation. The nature of imagination has created such opportunity to realize this fact the each spiritual affair to be imagined should occur partially and tangibly in imagination. In fact, the imagination is the interface between meaning and material and its images, on one hand, are similar to the matter and on the other hand, are separated from the body and spirit. With regards to such nature and capability of this power, using the imagination in the creation of valuable art and architecture is highly effective. The artist, like all other human beings, enjoys all aspects of perception, but uses his imaginative perception in artistic creation more than others. The artist expresses his mental concept, within the words or images or changes them into the sound, or makes it with brick and stone. In all of these creations, what the sacred artist creates in his mind is free of sense and the physical world. Even, when he recreates the nature in his works, it is not the same as nature, but his imagination and creativity power are reflected in his work. What is formed in the artist’s mind is partial with an image and hence is in the imaginative perception area. For this reason, what is created by artist is fully dependent on his imaginative power.   
Like other arts, meaning in Islamic architecture is a fundamental and necessary concept which visualizes an imagination of the meaning world in a matter world by physical and non-physical factors. But, despite the critical role of meaning, current studies have not discussed such issue. In fact, the architect perceives the real world, but in his creation, he does not only imitate, but tries to manifest that fact. Hence, he starts recognition from the matter, but the more he progress, he makes his recognition deeper, separates from the mater and achieves the concepts and rationales. This process occurs in imagination world which is separated from the real world and the wisdom world perception is attained.
The present study aims at explaining the imagination position as the interface for manifestation of meanings in architecture design and its role in architecture design process. In this research, the background related to the imagination in Islamic thought in areas of imagination world and its steps, imaginative perception and sacred art and creation are investigated. By descriptive – analytic method focusing on the rational inference and reasoning, this study deals with the data and collected materials.
To start the design from meaning area, it is necessary to take areas of meaning into account. Meaning area in architecture is the same as the mental concepts of designers which is related to the culture, innate feelings and values of designer. Therefore, starting the design from the architectural qualities like life and presence in space paves the way to achieve the ideas with meaning substance. Trend of meaning manifestation in architectural works (architectural space and form) is made with the help of imagination. Accordingly, each concept or meaning should initially takes and imaginative aspect to become evident in the real and tangible world. Meaning comes from the designer’s entity and the imaginative images of meaning are manifested in architectural space and form. Enjoying the meaning movement is design process is: paying attention and achieving the concepts and meanings (meaning), transforming these meanings into the intellectual images and ideas creation (imagination), recreation of these images in tan bilge world while conforming with both the imagination world and limitations of tangible world (architecture work). Movement of the meaning of the tangible is understood by artist and movement of the tangible to meaning by the audience. For this reason, artist and audience, communicate through affecting each other.
 

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The lack of proper understanding based on the fundamental and original notions of persistent architectural patterns of the house has led to disturbances in the fundamental structures of contemporary home architecture. The design of a home-based on sustained principles and archetypes has had complexities that have been taken into consideration in recent traditional architectural patterns have been one of the most prominent and important ways to meet the needs of their time. Among its achievements are climate and design adaptation, the proper use of natural energy, and the enjoyment of comfortable space for humans. It seems that by examining the nature of the archetypes, their applications in the residential design are represented. In this paper, after reviewing the basic principles of residential patterns in case studies, the design criteria used in them are extracted. The purpose of the research is identifing the old architectural patterns of the Kashan houses and its efficiency in designing modern residential architecture. The research method is based on case studies that analysise the content of the texts to identify the conceptual framework for understanding the design criteria. An overview of the role of patterns can be pointed out in terms of its functionality to meet the needs of its time, such as the central courtyard, the Godal Baghcheh (the construction of the main spaces at the negative level), spatial hierarchy, spatial expansion, etc. They are, for example, placing the outdoor space in the center of the house, orientation based on the use of natural factors such as sun, water and wind, roof tiling, sun light and even engaging such as colored glasses from a set of patterns which has a good response in terms of climate, style, aesthetics, and performance. Using the archetype in today's architecture, architect should pay attention to the reason for the emergence of the old patterns. What was the reason why each pattern was originated and what needs to be answered? Finally, how can they be improved by increasing their qualitative dimension with the continuation of them in the formation the spaces of today's homes? In addressing each of the dimensions we want to identify the criteria we can use to cite impact of each criteria to form a pattern-based space. The research is qualitative and analyzes the content of theoretical texts by the research samples. Finally, an analytical review of approaches and considerations consistent with the content of the concepts of theories is obtained to assess the qualitative criteria achieved. Issues raised through representation are examined. Using this method, the studied houses are considered based on the proposed criteria based on the shape structure. Therefore, in this section, the dimensions of the climate, spatial organization, relationship with the earth, materials, proportions and spatial geometry in the four dimensions will be studied to summarize the desired dimensions. Considering the basis of the research, which is based on qualitative analysis, sampling was selected randomly from houses built in the past and present in both Kashan and Yazd. In this regard, the principles based on architectural design patterns in the past and continuity in today's architecture is extracted. Then, based on the conceptual model presented, the criteria were classified into the components of natural structure, physical-space structure, and visual structure. After assessing the reliability of the components by the experts, the level of impact and more comprehensive principles were identified. Subsequently, the semantic analysis of each that was carried out in the studied samples. The results of the research show that the architectural patterns of the houses studied in natural, physical, spatial and visual structures through 15 concepts of hierarchy, spatial equilibrium, flexibility, introversion, collective activity, sensibility, security, energy efficiency, confidentiality, confinement, vernacular materials, static, natural varieties, natural elements, and architectural negative-level are recognizable. These concepts are introduced in the formulation of the criteria of spaceism, introversion, naturalism, and structuralism. These items are more likely to be found in the homes of Saleh and A house, Yazd. In the later spatial organization, lowering the level of clearance (architectural negative-level), the Govdal Baghcheh means the use of the yard in the center of the house and the use of natural lighting and communication with the open space can be viewed on a wider level. In the dimension of the space hierarchy, space communications are considered in two horizontal and high altitudes, open, semi-open, closed, and spatial space, based on space and movement. In the pattern of introversion, there was no direct visual relationship between the inside and the attention to the design of open spaces that could provide direct visual communication; the confidentiality of limiting the attainment of the mental comfort of residents in the home and the observance of safe privacy; spatial communication to develop the activities of the residents of the house is examined. Finally, by evaluating these criteria, the archetypes that can continue in the architecture of today's homes are presented in the form of an analytical-applied model.

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Statement of Problem: To improve the identity of residential architecture, it is required to enhance the semantic dimensions in the design. To do this, the principles of traditional residential architecture in hot-dry climates, as one of the richest physical-spatial models for Iranian houses, must be applied. On the other hand, one of the best strategies for giving meaning to works is to use signs by examining users' mental image. However, nowadays, semantic concepts such as users' perception or mental image are less considered or ignored in the residential architecture due to factors such as economy or superficiality in design. This is due to the ignorance of the user-environment relationship at the educational and executive levels of design. Therefore, there is a need for finding a practical approach to semantics by extracting the signs existing in traditional houses. To meet this need, the present study seeks to answer the question "What is the role of signs in the semantic aspects of traditional Persian houses in hot-dry climate?" Since the use of successful traditional architectural models is another way for enhancing the identity of residential architecture, it seems necessary to find and use them in contemporary housing in accordance with the current situation. The research background mainly focuses on finding physical patterns or semantic principles in Iranian houses from non-semiotic perspectives, so obviously, there is a need for research on the extraction of patterns using semiotics to match the design with the users' reading.
Research aim: The design performed "only to satisfy the building function", cannot meet such affairs as identity. So, it must meet the perceptual needs to manifest identity in architecture, and this will be possibly achieved if the design is performed through a semantic process. To this end, the present research seeks to find out how the categories of signs match with the components affecting mental image in traditional houses in the hot-dry climate. Since the present study looks for the effect of signs on meaning in traditional housing design, "sign" is an independent variable, and "meaning in housing design" is a dependent variable. Accordingly, the research hypothesis is as follows: "Using the categories of signs has played a role in the meaning of traditional residential architecture in the hot-dry climate". The present study aims to extract the principles of semantics from the semiotic perspective to use in contemporary residential architecture to pay more attention to the identity and semantic dimensions of today's living environments.
Research Method: the present research is a qualitative study in which applied examples of traditional residential architecture in the hot-dry climate are studied using "document mining" and "qualitative content analysis". In the "data analysis" section, the matching of the components affecting the mental image with the categories of signs is evaluated by examining the examples of traditional Persian houses in the hot-dry climate. Accordingly, the relationships between the categories of signs, including "index", "symbol", and "icon", and the "spatial", "human" and "temporal" components affecting mental image are analyzed. It should be noted that the case studies are selected based on two criteria: 1. having spatial and physical richness, and 2. having a design in which one can observe the matching of the categories of signs with the components affecting perception. The authors attempt to select those cases having the features observed in most of the traditional Persian houses in the hot-arid climate. In the selected samples of traditional Persian houses in the hot-dry climate, any analyzable relationship between the categories of signs and factors affecting mental image is analyzed. It should be noted that it was attempted to select those components common to most traditional houses in the hot-dry climate.
 
Conclusion: The results indicate that in traditional houses in the hot-dry climate, "icon", "index", and "symbol" have been used as a means to express meanings by being matched with human, environmental and temporal components affecting users' mental image in accordance with their cultural context. Moreover, the results show the matching of the environmental components with the categories of "icon", "index" and "symbol". The temporal components affecting the users' reading show their highest degree of matching with the category of "icon". The "icon" and "symbol" categories also have the highest degree of matching with the human components affecting the users' reading. Therefore, one of the effective strategies for providing a semantic-oriented residential design is to use the components of "function", "body", "scale", "historical background", "individual experience", "social event", "physiological and psychological factors", "individual and social behaviors" of users and also attention to "components affecting the sense of belonging to place and community" in the form of different categories of signs in the design. Therefore, using different categories of signs, which match with the factors affecting the users' mental image, considering the temporal, spatial and human context of the design can be a way to consider meaning and identity in today's housing designs.

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Due to the construction process and the emergence of new technologies in the construction industry, the use of vernacular architectural patterns is less common in today›s buildings. However, in order to maintain identity and preserve the vernacular architecture, it is important to know the features of the native architecture. Rehabilitation of indigenous buildings of an area requires recognizing, analyzing and presenting the appropriate model of an area and the texture of its neighborhoods and building types. The major objective of this study is to understanding the vernacular architectural and structures to recognition the typology of buildings, the pattern of local and traditional texture of the Masheh neighborhood of Kish Island in order to revive the local identity of the region. This research will first have a descriptive-analytical view, a review of key issues related to indigenous architecture, urban context and typology in architecture. Then, while analyzing and explaining, the research method of the case study has been used to identify and evaluate the Masheh neighborhood. Finally, according to the obtained findings and results from the physical analysis and typological studies of vernacular houses, the most effective indigenous factors of this neighborhood were identified. Effective physical factors included the network of passages, the system of mass and space, granulation and segmentation, spatial organization, height, and geometry. The results of the research based on typology examined the texture of the Masheh neighborhood in four general categories that can be considered by architects and urban planners in constructions based on the indigenous identity of the region.

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The growth and development of “mass” tourism in recent years has had adverse and inappropriate socio-cultural consequences such as: cultural transformation and invasion, the emergence of social corruption and anomalies and the destruction of indigenous culture in many areas. Islamic countries face challenges in developing this type of tourism, so Muslim thinkers have proposed solutions to these socio-cultural problems, one of which is to provide an alternative model in accordance with the rules of Islam and Sharia. With a little attention, it can be seen that there are no classified rules and criteria for providing services to Muslims and Islamic tourists regarding tourism infrastructure such as airlines and hotels.
Muslim tourists have special material and spiritual needs in travel, which will affect their choice of hotel. In this article, an attempt has been made to identify and explain the most important components of designing a hotel to meet the material and spiritual needs of Muslim tourists in accordance with the Shari'a and its characteristics, based on the books and concepts of Islam, and he main question of this research in this regard will be: What standards and criteria should be considered for designing a hotel in accordance with Sharia?
Introduction; How best to satisfy the needs and wishes of Muslim hotel guests is still not clear, and an effective tool is necessary for measuring the extended service of Muslim-friendly hotels. Providing assurance of accommodations for halal in the hotel business and alleviating the doubts of Muslim tourists are elements that require standardization. Standardization is vital in managing various challenges, preparing businesses for Muslim-friendly service, and attracting more visitors and guests. To date, to the written standard of halal hotel indicators remains limited and ambiguous; even in the Middle East, where the halal industry is far more developed. The most-considered principle in formulating standardization of Muslim-friendly hotels is the spiritual value that suits the needs of Muslim guests, namely, comfort and tranquility without neglect of Islamic values.
Materials and Methods; The strategies of this research are qualitative and quantitative in terms of purpose, development and application and in terms of approach (characteristics and nature of data) and in terms of nature and method, it is a descriptive content analysis and survey. The main theoretical approach and research paradigm of the principle of "Sharia" as the basic rules of Islam and its purpose is to explain the hotel in accordance with Sharia, so in extracting the main features of the research, a research strategy will be used.
Discussion and Results; In order to analyze the current situation of hotel rooms in shariah compliant hotels, typology of the samplings is narrowed down starting from the number of shariah compliant hotels. There are a few shariah compliant elements that should be considered when designing a hotel room that are often overlooked that may lead to discomfort of Muslim users in conventional design. The demands for Islamic friendly hotels are high and a lot of hotels and investors are improving their services to provide better service to the guests. Apart from that both Islamic concept of living and indoor environment quality promotes the same values and can benefit a lot of people and potential economy boosters into creating a more environmentally friendly development in the future.
When planning a room with a shariah-compliant concept in mind, there are more aspects than just showing the direction of mecca, although that is also an important part of ensuring a well-designed room that compliments the need of the Muslim guests. With the checklist discussed in the criteria of shariah compliant hotels category, the rooms are appraised accordingly.
The concept of gender segregation is also suggested for the use of toilet, recreational, and fitness facilities. But, in practice, some hotels may not do so for reasons of space and cost-efficiency. The options could include providing a separate area or dividing the set times of use between men and women. For space and cost-limited hotels, the option of differentiating service hours based on gender might be the most rational and efficient option. Therefore, MATEL put the concept of gender separation at a higher score among other indicators, without eliminating the Muslim-friendly eligibility of hotels that do not segregate their facility.
Another important factor of a shariah compliant hotel room is the permeability between the public area, hallway, and the room, in other words, privacy. Privacy of guests needs to be protected to ensure a healthy social interaction between guests and hotel staff.
Due to the importance of the characteristics of the Islamic hotel, the following components were selected in this article: 1) gender segregation in recreational facilities, 2) safety and moral security, 3) privacy space, and 4) Islamic design and architecture for these hotels.
Conclusions; The findings also generate other theoretical implications for halal hospitality research, in the form of emphasis that includes not only halal elements in drafting Muslim-friendly attributes but also a method for assessing the degree of absorption of those elements. Previous studies mostly determine the types of halal attributes; very few discuss how the elements should be applied by considering different conditions, cultures, and managerial and regulatory policies in certain countries or regions. The effectiveness of halal implementation may vary, particularly in non-Muslim majority areas. Pars chain hotels are in a good position in terms of compliance with Sharia in the components of Islamic design and gender segregation, but in the components of privacy, safety and moral security, more attention needs to be paid.

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One of the most important issues and human needs in the field of architectural design is "housing". From the past to the present, there have always been different principles for housing design that have been used due to the user’s needs. The set of needs and lifestyles of humans has shown that some characteristics are the same in all designed houses. These important features had been collected in many scholarly and professional architectural references that had been addressed as principles, criteria and indicators of housing design and had been used by designers and researchers who works in this field. Therefore, various references can be found that, each had studied hosing topic from a specific point of view. Some of these sources list the general characteristics of an appropriate and desirable house, and others introduce specific principles for its design. In this article, while reviewing those references, we would rank those principles on the basis of importance. The main question is how these principles can be ranked and consider in design in base on their importance. Therefore, our goal is surveying the scholarly and professional architectural references about housing to analyze and evaluate the principles of residential architecture. Results of this research collected from data analyses and data description, which obtain from the references and based on logical reasoning. Therefore, the main method is determining quantitative valuation for qualitative data, and housing design criteria in scholarly and professional architectural references had been ranked in such a way that their importance is defined. so, the general approach of the research was selected as a quantitative comparison and then data collection, classification and analysis were performed based on first step. Finally, the research results represent and rank housing design criteria based on the priority of their importance in form of tables and charts.

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