International Journal of Architectural Engineering & Urban Planning
Volume:26 Issue: 1, Jun 2016

When thinking about traditional Iranian architecture, one imagines extensive ornamental patterns that adorn almost every surface of mosques and other prominent buildings. Yet, many theories of architecture since the beginning of twentieth century have considered ornamentation a superficial and superfluous layer. But, are these ornamental surfaces superficial and can they be removed so easily? This paper uses a qualitative research methodology based on theoretical cross examination and critical analysis to highlight the significance of surface and appearances in architecture and argue that formulating a strategy to adorn architecture is in fact the generating gene of every architectural movement, from Modernism to Postmodernism and even to Parametricism of recent times. By setting up a philosophical and a theoretical discourse about the notion of surface and the various metaphors used in architectural theory, this paper concludes that from the woven walls of first architectural spaces to the clothed walls of modern times, surfaces have played a sacred role in architecture, and rather than being superficial barriers that mask reality, they are indeed the very materials with which architects demarcate space and create new aesthetics.

Daylight in classrooms is a critical factor in school design, in terms of its impact on students’ health, learning and visual performance. Providing adequate amount of evenly distributed daylight and glare prevention are important challenges in classroom design. Window configuration significantly affects the intensity and uniformity of daylight. This paper aims to investigate the effect of window configuration on daylight performance through parametric analysis. Different window configurations such as window to wall ratio, incorporating light shelves and roof monitors have been analyzed on a typical south-east facing classroom in Kashan based on results from DesignBuilder Radiance simulation which has first been validated against field measurements. Daylighting credits of green building rating tools; Leed EQ 8.1 and BREEAM HEA1 have been used as indices for evaluating and comparing different window configurations. Results show that by increasing the window-wall-ratio to 35, 40 and 50% and by installing a roof monitor, the daylight credits of the BREEAM and LEED could be achieved respectively. According to the fact that none of these window configurations have reached the standards required by both rating tools, the authors believe that a combination of installing monitor roof and light shelves and increasing window-wall-ratio may result in enhanced daylight levels.

The quality of the communication between teachers and students and ultimately, of classroom education itself, is closely linked to the acoustic quality of the auditorium. This acoustic quality can be characterized based on the reverberation time (RT), speech transmission index (STI) and the sound insulation. In this context, an acoustic study was conducted in an auditorium located in the Higher Institute of Technological Studies (ISET) of Sfax, south of Tunisia. The investigation used acoustic measurement methods to assess the acoustic quality of the nave and the results were compared with the standards ISO 3382-1 and ISO 3382-2.The results of this work were obtained by measuring the RT values and the sound insulation of auditorium façades. In addition to these parameters obtained by measurements, STI was obtained through the computer simulation (utilizing ODEON ver. 4.2, assuming the occupied case). The results showed that the measured and calculated values were consistent with those proposed by the standards for speech auditoria (RT500Hz = 0.98 s, D50> 50% and STI> 0.45), and are in line with the speech intelligibility requirements.

Current literatures on urban parks and green spaces showed that people’s preference for visiting urban parks in various group users is different. People visit parks for various motives and activities, leading to several patterns of park usability. However, the patterns in urban park use in majority of Iran cities are not yet known. This study presented the preference for activity in urban parks among people in Gorgan city. A survey research was conducted to gain understanding of respondents’ preferences for activity in urban parks. The Data was collected among 300 visitors of two well-known urban parks in Gorgan. Visitors rated preference for four activities: relaxation, socializing, nature involvement, and playing activities. The results revealed that the people of Gorgan chose relaxation and nature involvement as the most preferred activities whilst socializing and playing were the least preferred activities. Furthermore, a significant difference in two variables: relaxation and nature involvement activity was found among marital status and visitor age groups. The results also indicated the role of urban parks on psychological needs of the citizens, which creates urban nature as a valuable urban resource and key component for city sustainability. This result contributes notions towards significantly impacting design of urban parks and their facilities that designers and decision makers should manage those facilities to satisfy the visitors’ needs.

One of the main architectural characteristics in the central area of Iran is the relation between life and climatic conditions; e.g., the four-seasonal house which is a typical kind of the central-yard house. As the climate of Isfahan is more pleasant than other desert regions in the central part of Iran, wind towers are replaced with skylights to ventilate the pool area of hoze-khane. So far, several researches have been carried out to study the stack effect characteristics and to review wind tower performance. In this paper, a case study is carried out to investigate the effect of the skylight of Mosaver-al-Molki house on the flow pattern and natural ventilation. The performance of skylight on the internal air flow patterns as an effective tool in improving the natural ventilation is investigated by using the Ansys Fluent software. Other elements which have been discussed in this paper are the vault and the columns. These elements have a distinguished effect on distribution of inlet streams in different parts of the hoze-khane. Analysis of the simulation results were obtained for wind velocities of 2.5 m/s and 8 m/s. The numerical results show that wind speed of 2.5 m/s has better performance than wind speed of 8 m/s in terms of ventilation.

The numerical investigation of computing the rate of radiated solar-energy requires equations as a function of solar-time according to the radiation angle of the sun (β) in the latitude 37°N and the shape. This paper implements the Lagrange interpolation to obtain the equations of normal diagram of elements based on data obtained from surveying. Also the method of Hann-window equation used to estimate the sun path. Albeit, the solar radiation angle effects on the length of element`s shadow on the ground but it is a function of solar-time too. The parameters of the dome traits did compute using the solar-geometry principles in a coexisted function of time to reach a viable equation. The amount of absorbed and wasted energy is presented by analysing its surfaces in the all sides simultaneously. Every single element of BM has been considered to define its especial equation of geometry to analyse their different reactions while transferring energy. Quantitative method of this paper has based on library method of research to define especial equations and field survey to experiment data analysis. According to the mentioned methodology, around 7,54e(Kcal.h/m2) solar energy radiate on the BM that its value is equal to around 9,43 (lit/h) energy of gasoil. In other word at least 75,44lit/day fossil energy is saved by the Blue-mosque.

As a medium between people and the city, urbanscape makes a mental connection between individuals and their surroundings. It is usually difficult to conceive this mental relationship and its corresponding processes with usual methods. This study seeks to address the mental aspects of urbanscape and highlight its role and importance by using an innovative method.
In this study, map-based methods have been examined as one of the most effective tools for studying citizens’ urbanscape. Indeed, using maps provides a tangible model of the city and its spatial imagination by mapping people’s perceptions. In order to achieve the hidden layers of people’s perceptions, a combination of map-based methods have been examined in the study of Ferdowsi Square in Tehran.
First, 50 questionnaires in which interviewees were asked to draw remarkable element of the area were conducted (Cognitive map). Second, people were asked to mark the places that are meaningful for them in a provided map of the area and describe the reason (narrative map). Finally, the results of the former step as evaluative meaning were measured in investigated area (evaluative map). As the result, collective images completed by narrative maps and 4 categories of meanings attributed to the space have been recognized, collective, individual, physical-functional and sensory-emotional concepts. Moreover, the locations of detailed meanings and the intensity of each meaning or concept have been determined and located on the map. Through analyzing and comparing these maps; it is concluded that by developing map-based methods and combining them with other techniques and methods, deeper layers of individuals’ perception about spaces are revealed. So, spatial distribution of concepts and assessments of individuals that have been provided by these methods in this study seems to be very helpful in analysing mental urbanscape.
In this context, moving from traditional and structured methods to more evaluative and flexible ones that focus on deeper layers of individuals’ perception is extremely useful.

Due to audiences’ diversity, local cultural spaces have the highest share in residents’ mass life. Therefore, these spaces are the necessary environment for social relations and face-to-face communication of residents of urban area. If these are well qualified, welfare would be promoted. This study aims at identifying and evaluating factor influencing quality of local cultural spaces and aims to recognize and prioritize the factor using AHP analytical hierarchical process so as to promote them. This applied study has a descriptive-analytical basis with a population of 75 experts in urban planning and cultural matters and academic staff used as participants. First, the quality criteria of cultural space was determined based on the 4 main criteria and 26 sub-criteria in a hierarchical tree. Then experts were asked to score the major and minor criteria and specify their priorities based on paired comparisons. Applying the Expert Choice which implements the AHP, the weights of each criterion and sub-criterion were estimated respectively. Finally, according to the study’s aim, priorities were determined. The results obtained showed that the physical criteria, weighting 0. 557, got the first priority and it was followed by social (0. 162), economic (0. 148) and environmental (0. 133) criteria which got the second to the fourth rank. The sub-criteria affecting the «quality of cultural spaces» of the physical structure included safety, human scale and availability.

This paper examines the utility of the air pollution Model (TAPM) in simulating meteorology and dispersion of PM10 and wind data in order to assess The Impacts of Wind Variability Function on Urban Heat Island for the day of 25¡ November¡
2012 in Karaj city that experienced severe degradation in air quality. Drawing¡ Skew-T diagrams¡ maps of surface pressure (500hp)¡ omega (850hp) and atmospheric conditions at 300 – 900hp level are used for analysis. Due to wind patterns¡ the air pollution behavior is simulated regarding to resolution of 5 km for output amplitude. Simulations of the PM10 and wind data in ten metric levels from three point of city are prepared according to synoptic conditions. Meteorology and PM10 dispersion results indicate that in spite of prevailed wind direction (West to East) in the mentioned day the effect of wind threshold on the air filtration is reduced and heat island formation is occurred as a result of reduction in air flow speed in urban areas. Therefore¡ it is essential to consider adopted strategies to mitigate urban heat islands such as the principles of bioclimatic architecture¡ urban morphology¡ urban infrastructure-related measures (architecture and land use planning) for urban planning.