mahdieh zolfaghari tehrani

Indigenous architecture has roots from nature, context and natural archetypes. The main goal of this research is to reframe Persian architecture as biocompatible, biophilic and eco-friendly architecture. It is to extract indicators that highlight biophilic aspects of Persian architecture as a reliable representative of the architecture of MENA region.

The research strategy is logical argumentation and the research method is descriptive-analytical. The theoretical framework of the research is based on highperformance architecture theory. The Delphi method, discipline of anticipation (DoA), and the Shannon algorithm have been adopted to extract effective indicators. For the discussion group, the opinions of twenty experts in the field are referred to. The tools for collecting opinions are in-depth interviews and structured questionnaires.

The quantitative research findings show that there is a meaningful correlation between the principles of Iranian architecture and biophilic architecture. These surveys show that the most dominant criteria might be summarized as: 1- socio-cultural dimensions: the occupant behavior, culture of context, measuring happiness instead of incomes, compatibility with the environment and the life cycle assessment; 2- economic dimensions: Persian culture of contentment, flexibility and design optimization; 3- environmental dimensions: performance-based design, carbon neutrality, and bio-compatible materials.

Persian architecture is an invaluable representative of highperformance architecture theory which might be acclaimed for focusing on nature-based solutions. It is to highlight the "process" more than the product; long-term benefits instead of short-term gains; nature-based value creation to encourage a zero-waste building industry, to reduce carbon footprint and biophilic architecture.