Formalistic References to the Architectural Background of Iran to Assign Identity to Contemporary Housing

With the emergence of extroversion and new construction techniques and styles such as apartments, villas and residential complexes during the contemporary era, housing architecture in Iran did not materialize properly as in the past. Thus, it no longer thoroughly reflected the identity and cultural background of society and it gradually suffered from an identity crisis. In this regard, several identity trends (from first Pahlavi period) started in the contemporary era and architects with different points of view referred to Iran historical architecture and tried to revive its identity through various adaptations. Some of these references were made with formalist approaches, whereas shape and form are always one of the prominent aspects of architecture. In order to specify and explain all types of form-oriented approaches in reference to Iranian architecture, a number of contemporary residential buildings that have been designed and implemented with identity concerns were selected in this research. The evaluation of the buildings was conducted through observation, literature review, and using the theories of its architects and critics, in a descriptive-analytical manner and from a formalistic perspective. Thus, the types of formalist approaches that appeared in the body of works to identify the Iranian architectural features of the building were extracted and explained. Explaining the various aspects and features of the formalist approaches taken from real examples, shows the physical manifestation of architects' identity-seeking thoughts, provides the opportunity to compare the different actions of architects in giving identity to housing from a formalist perspective, and provides the possibility of improving the weaknesses and enhancing the strengths. This is an important step in evaluating the identity of housing in contemporary architecture of Iran and is a necessity that can lead to the continuation of Iranian architecture. Various types of form-oriented approaches that have been used in the contemporary residential buildings in order to revive the architectural identity of Iran, can be divided into several groups, including the use of "spatial patterns", "space organizing ideas", "physical elements and components”, “indigenous materials", "common geometric order and shapes and patterns" and "conventional colors" in Iranian architecture. By examining and analyzing these subsets two different approaches in formalistic references to historic architecture were identified namely, "subjectivist" and "objectivist". It also revealed the extent to which each of the subjectivist and objectivist viewpoints was able to revive Iranian architectural identity in contemporary housing, and explained the ability of each approach to make connections with people to represent different manifestations of Iranian architecture. It pointed out that if the revival of Iranian architectural identity in the contemporary era is attended by referring to the formative aspects of historic architecture, it requires a thoughtful interaction between objectivism and subjectivism in the formative approaches, to meet the emerging needs and lifestyles of people. In addition to its appearance, the main application of historic architectural forms should also be considered.