فهرست مطالب parastoo eshrati

In recent years, the desire for studying architectural engineering in Iran has been increased despite the decrease in the mathematics-physics volunteers. This article seeks to analyze the change in attitudes and perceptions towards selecting architecture as a major before and after graduation. To achieve the purpose of the research, qualitative research method and semi-structured interview tools with students in different levels, professional architects and university professors are used to collect data. The results of the study show that almost all the interviewers had chosen this major intentionally and not randomly based on their “interest". "Having both scientific-artistic dimensions", "growing in the artistic family context" and "gaining social prestige" have been the other main reasons for selecting this major. However, most graduates do not recommend selecting this major due to market downturn, lack of job opportunities, and low income. Meanwhile, the income issue was not generally considered when selecting the major. In this study, selecting architecture major for the second time was questioned in case of going back to the past, and a significant difference was observed between the students’ group and the graduates. According to the results, while the majority of graduates, including postgraduate and doctoral students, professional architects and instructors, did not select architecture again due to the undesirable market and conditions for studying or working abroad, the majority of the student group will select architecture again. The results of this study indicate that students had selected architecture major by interest and with sufficient knowledge about the nature of the major, but still there is no accurate picture of the realities in professional market and for continuing education abroad. Therefore, it is necessary to provide more detailed knowledge for students interested in architecture with focus on income, professional market in the country and abroad and also chances for continuing education abroad.

Extended Abstract The demand for employment upon graduation has heightened the significance of essential job market skills more than before. The main skills for entering any profession include soft skills and hard skills. Hard skills include the technical and scientific knowledge. Both skills are necessary for the profession. The purpose of this paper is to determine hard and soft skills required for the employment of new architecture graduates and assess the significance of each skill. The research questions aim to ascertain the significance ratios of these skills, identify the most and least important skills, and establish a correlation between company size (small, medium, and large) and the importance of these skills. Initially, following a comprehensive literature review, soft skills were classified into seven distinct categories. Simultaneously, the requisite hard skills for architecture graduates were extracted from the Ministry of Science and Technology-approved bachelor’s and master’s degree curricula in architecture, resulting in the presentation of a seven-category list of hard skills. Subsequently, a questionnaire based on the identified soft and hard skills was developed and administered to the study’s sample group, comprising managers from small, medium, and large companies. Companies were categorized based on the number of full-time employees, with “small” companies having 7 or fewer employees, “medium” companies having 7 to 12 employees, and “large” companies having 13 to 50 employees. Non-parametric tests were used for hypothesis testing. Given the nature of the hypotheses, which involve the comparison of three independent groups (small, medium, and large companies), the “Kruskal-Wallis test” was chosen to analyze the data collected from the questionnaires. Based on results of papers in the field of statistical analysis of small populations, a minimum sample size of 9 individuals is required to conduct the Kruskal-Wallis test for three groups. However, in this study, data collection exceeded this minimum requirement to the greatest extent possible for the authors. Subsequently, the data was quantitatively analyzed using SPSS software. The quantitative analysis conducted using SPSS software reveals that, according to company managers, hard skills hold a 44.38% level of importance, while soft skills account for 55.62%. However, the results of the Kruskal-Wallis test indicate that there is no correlation between the company size and the level of importance of hard and soft skills. Regarding the research findings, the hard skills in order of importance are: software, design, work experience, theoretical knowledge, free-hand drawing, legal regulation, and type of degree. In contrast, the order of importance for soft skills is as follows: professional ethics, analysis and problem-solving, self-management, leadership, project management, communication skills, and research. Furthermore, the study’s results demonstrate a significant relationship between a company size and the specific type of soft and hard skills required by that company.  The findings of this study indicate that soft skills are more important than hard skills for hiring fresh architecture graduates but there is no correlation between the company size and the importance level of hard and soft skills in general. When considering hard skills, software is the most important in small companies, while regulation is the least significant. In medium-sized companies, work experience and design rank highest, whereas the type of degree is considered the least important. In larger companies, software stands out as the most crucial, while university rank is perceived as the least important. Among soft skills, in small companies, the most important skills are professional ethics and three skills including research, project management and communication are the least important ones; in medium size companies the most important skill is professional ethics and the least is project management; and in large companies the most important ones is professional ethics and the least is research. Regardless of the level of companies and the division of skills, the most important skill is professional ethics and the least important one is university rank. Analysis of interviews with company managers conducted in a qualitative manner also reveals the necessary changes required in the architecture education system to enhance students’ employability and offered suggestions for students. In light of the study findings, it is advisable to consider incorporating a course focused on developing soft skills into architecture curricula, particularly at the undergraduate level.

Visual pollution is one of the problems of urban appearance that great negative influence on the quality of life of citizens. Some elements such as billboards and advertisements on building facades, canals and shafts for air conditioning, electricity and telephone cables, and gas pipes, façade deterioration, heterogeneity of new constructions, disruption of the historical skyline, extensions to balconies and roofs for the increasing usable area of buildings, disruption of the originality of materials due to facade pollution repairs, and furniture disorder including the scattering of lighting elements and lighting are the causes of disorder in urban facades and visual pollution. The purpose of urban rehabilitation projects is to enhance the urbanscapes and reduce visual pollution in urban facades, especially in historical contexts. Also of urban rehabilitation projects create the opportunity for the appearance of the historic city to be a more visible reflection of the historical period that has passed by reducing the disturbances and pollution of the street wall. Although rehabilitation projects have been implemented in some Iranian cities in the last decade, including Tehran, a comprehensive understanding of the issue and the purposes that such projects should pursue has not yet been achieved. Enghelab Street is one of the most important east-west streets of Tehran, which was built during the Pahlavi period. This street is located in the middle of Tehran and since the middle urban fabric of the city is the narrator of a part of the city's history that, if lost, would jeopardize the sequence of the city's story in the future, it is very important to conserve this fabric. Enghelab Street has always played an important role in the political, cultural, and social history of Tehran. The section in front of the University of Tehran, with the gathering of bookstores, has its audience, which has led to the formation of galleries, art stores, book cafes, and socio-cultural exchange spaces. Although all these factors have led to the social and economic prosperity of this part of Enghelab Street, it has also increased visual pollution. Enghelab street rehabilitation & elimination of visual pollution project was presented by the Tehran Beautification Organization in 2015-2016 to preserve historical and cultural values. They wanted to restore authenticity to this street by elimination of visual pollution, improving the facades of buildings, and organizing the billboards and advertisements on building facades. The purpose of this study is to develop the theoretical framework of urban rehabilitation projects based on the historical, identity, physical, perceptual, social, and economic aspects and components of each, and evaluate "Enghelab street rehabilitation & elimination of visual pollution project" in the city of Tehran. It should be noted that the six aspects presented in this article are not completely separate from each other, but have an inseparable interaction. The separation of them in this article is only for the purpose of making it possible to review and evaluate "Enghelab street rehabilitation & elimination of visual pollution project". This study relies on the qualitative approach. This research has two main steps in which a research method was used in each step: The first step is to use content analysis to extract the aspects of urban rehabilitation and develop the theoretical framework of the research by logical reasoning. The second step is analyzing opinions and impressions of the two groups of business owners and pedestrians and codification of interviews by Strauss and Corbin's qualitative analysis method. Through the results of the field study and interviews, the research shows that this project is more successful in "perceptual" and then "physical" aspects than other aspects based on the residents’ perspective. "Increasing legibility", "establishing visual order", and "reducing visual and light pollution" are the most important of its effects, respectively. But in the "social" aspect, especially the interaction with the business owners is less successful. The results of this study show that it is necessary to consider the six aspects of historical, identity, physical, perceptual, social, and economic aspects in urban rehabilitation project. This study also reveals that sometimes a low level of public awareness of the historical and identity aspects of the city can lead to a conflict between citizens' views and the purposes of urban planning in the field of conservation and promotion of historical and identity values. Therefore, in both "historical" and "identity" aspects, cannot rely solely on the residents’ perspective, and the use of the opinion of experts is necessary for these projects. The general agreement of the interviewees to remove all the old billboards of shops of Enghelab street without considering their historical values shows that rehabilitation projects without the use of the opinion of experts can become a threat to values, especially the physical signs of political and social memories, and rust. It should also be noted that future research is proposed to accurately assess the economic impact of this project.

This study aims to extract parameters defining neighborhoods from the residents’ points of view and compare them to those understood by experts. Experts’ proposed parameters and factors were extracted from the literature review, and residents’ parameters were obtained from conducting in-depth interviews analyzed by the Grounded theory method. Comparing experts’ and residents’ parameters shows weak, medium, and strong conformity between their parameters. Also, their factors, which are defining parameters, are different. Thus, parameters defining neighborhoods are not generalizable and cultural characteristics and local values of residents need to be considered in planning and policymaking for neighborhoods

Observance of National Building Codes in design, calculation, implementation, operation, repair, and maintenance of architectural buildings to ensure the minimum level of safety, comfort, health, proper utilization, and economic efficiency of the individual and society is essential. After graduating, architecture students must follow building codes in their professional work. To ensure their competence, they need to be familiar with these codes and their application in the university.This study aims to investigate the importance and ways of teaching National Building Codes (NBCs) in the undergraduate program of architectural engineering in Iranian universities. The study uses a qualitative research method and semi-structured interview tools. The statistical population of the study is derived from Targeted Sampling from architects with the following characteristics: 1) Having experience in the profession of architecture continuously, 2) having experience in architecture academic education continuously, and 3) having a grade in the Construction Engineering Organization and mastery of National Building Codes (NBCs).The results of this study show that the current method of teaching architecture based on the approved program of the University of Tehran, which is implemented in most universities in the country, is not effective in teaching NBCs and needs to be revised. Although the proposed method of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in direct teaching NBCs as a separate course can be considered as an effective step in filling the gap between the profession and university education, but indirect teaching NBCs during theoretical and practical courses should also be considered. To achieve this, it is necessary to revise the course topics and emphasize the teaching of topics related to that course.Due to time limitations in presenting the proposed two-unit course, it is only possible to give a brief introduction of NBCs' topic. Although the proposed course emphasizes teaching 10 of the 22 topics, the results of this study suggest that general familiarity with all topics is required.This study also reveals that some architecture teachers impede the entry of NBCs into university education. Some issues such as revising the curriculum of architecture, requiring the passing of national regulations in all universities in the country, planning to reform and change the architectural education at the Ministry of Science Research and Technology, more emphasis on technical aspects of architecture, and preparing students to enter the professional work can solve some of the problems.The results of this study show that the lack of attention to the teaching of NBCs during various courses, low level of teachers' interest in teaching topics and insufficient emphasis on the observance of NBCs in student projects, are among the main defects of teaching NBCs in Iranian universities.According to the teaching of NBCs in some Iranian universities following the curriculum approved by the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, it is suggested that after a few courses, some research have evaluated it from the perspective of teachers, students, and graduates based on the qualitative method to provide the necessary conditions for revising this curriculum in the future.

The current urban runoff management approach in Tehran is a structural approach which its main purpose is to collect and transfer runoff out of the city. However, nature-based approaches emphasize the maximum absorption as near as the source of runoff and apply interdisciplinary perspectives to achieve it. This research pursues two main goals in order to provide the basis for the application of nature-based approaches in the local streets of city of Tehran, Iran: 1) identifying of disciplines and main variables of the nature-based urban drainage approaches, and 2) identifying the role each variable plays in implementing these approaches in Tehran in the current situation. First, a theoretical model of the disciplines and variables has been develops based on literature review. Second, the role of each variable from the point of view of experts was investigated by using Cross Impact Analysis (CIA) method with the tool of MicMac software. The results show that in the current situation, ‘runoff speed and volume’ as an influential variable has the most important role on implementation of these new approaches in urban runoff management in Tehran local streets. And variables of ‘street profile’, ‘land use’, ‘activities’, and ‘planting’ as well as ‘economic feasibility’ are linkage variables. Other variables are either dependent or do not have high priority in the current situation. The results of the research place special emphasis on interdisciplinary teamwork between the specialties of water sciences and urban landscape as well as economics to provide the basis for the application of these approaches.IntroductionFlash Floods are intensified in Tehran and the change of natural permeable surfaces to impervious constructed areas is one of the main reasons. So, nature-base approaches investigated in this research. There are some different terms that represent nature-based approaches: Alternative Technique (AT), Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), Low Impact Development (LID), Best Management Practices (BMPs), Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), Green Infrastructure (GI), Sponge City. Investigating show that although each of them pursue different objectives but all of them are the same in these two aspects: a) applying interdisciplinary viewpoint and b) trying to runoff usage in place it produced. Regarding to these, the research is focused to maximize runoff penetration in local streets as a place that its flow start from there. Two main goals of this paper are: 1) identifying of disciplines and main variables of the nature-based urban drainage approaches, and 2) identifying the role each variable plays in implementing these approaches in Tehran in the current situation. Figure 1 shows the research structure diagram.Figure 1Research Structure Diagram, Source: (Authors)Materials and MethodsIdentifying of disciplines and main variables of the nature-based urban drainage approaches by Expert Panel MethodDisciplines and main variables of the nature-based urban runoff management approaches were extracted from literature review of new approaches and guidelines and finalized by Expert Panel Method as follow:• Urban landscape: Street Profile, Adjacent Land Use, Activity, Planting;• Facility: Underground Utilities, Overhead Utilities;• Soil: Surface Permeability, Ground Sinkhole;• Water: Runoff Pathway, Runoff Speed and Volume;• Environment : Runoff Purification, Garbage; and• Socio-economy: Social Acceptance, Social Participation, Social Behavior, Security, Economic Feasibility.Then a theoretical model of the disciplines and variables was developed. (Figure 2)Figure 2Proposed theoretical model of the disciplines and variables of implementing nature-based urban drainage approachesCross Impact Analysis with MicMac To identifying of disciplines and main variables of the nature-based urban drainage approaches, and the role each variable plays in implementing these approaches in Tehran in the current situation, a questionnaire was designed based on the proposed theoretical model. To test the content validity of the questionnaire, Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was used. The formula of content validity ratio is CVR=(Ne - N/2)/(N/2), in which the Ne is the number of panelists indicating "essential" and N is the total number of panelists. The numeric value of content validity ratio is determined by Lawshe Table. In this research CVR=0.75 and the panel size was 8. Therefore, the questionnaire had face validity. 16 urban runoff drainage specialist from different disciplines answered the questionnaire. Then collected data analyzed by Cross Impact Analysis (CIA) method using MicMac software tool. Hence, the research approach of this paper is mixed qualitative and quantitative. Discussion of ResultsUsing MicMac software, the runoff management variables have been categorized into four quarters based on their influential and dependence power, as shown in Figure 3.Figure 3Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MicMac) analysis of variables of implementation of landscape-based urban runoff management approach in local streets of TehranAnalyzing figure 3 indicates: • Influential variable (top left quarter): runoff speed and volume;• Linkage variables (top right quarter): street profile, land use, activities, planting, and economic feasibility;• Dependence variables (bottom right): Social Behavior, Security, and Surface Permeability;• Autonomous variables (bottom left): Ground Sinkhole, Underground Utilities, Overhead Utilities, Runoff Pathway, and Runoff Purification; and• Regulative variables (center): Garbage, Social Acceptance, and Social Participation.ConclusionThe cross impact analizing results which taken by use of experts viewpoints and technically derived by MicMac, shown that ‘runoff speed and volume’ as influential variable with other five variables ‘street profile’, ‘land use’, ‘activities’, ‘planting’, and ‘economic feasibility’ as linkage variables that play important role in functionality and stability of nature-based methods, are the main variables which should be attended for runoff management in Tehran’s local streets. The results asserted the other variables are not determinant and priority and don’t play and important role in present situation. Overlapping the result of cross impact analyze and presented theoretical model in this research shows that water science discipline, because of runoff speed and volume defined as influential variable, and urban landscape discipline, according to determinant role of its variables on stability and function of nature-based approach, are two core disciplines which play an important role in implementation of nature based approach in local streets urban drainage. Also the results emphasis on use of economical knowledge for feasibility study of applying the mentioned methods. However should be considered that the result of research is just embraced the local streets of Tehran and could not be generalized for other type of streets and roads and for other cities.

Buildings have a wide range of impacts on the environment in their life cycle. The negative effects of buildings, such as waste generation and using about 40% of energy resources, have led to take new approaches which One of them is the concept of green building in architecture. Currently, the construction industry in Iran accounts for one third of the country's energy consumption. Therefore, considering the principles of green building design and construction can play an important role in solving energy and reducing environmental problems. Although university education is one of the opportunities to guide and motivate architecture students to apply the principles of green architectural design, currently this issue has received less attention in undergraduate architecture education in Iran. Research question: The main question of this article is seeking to find out the importance of green building criteria in evaluation of design courses in architecture undergraduate course from the perspective of professors.

Therefore, this article aims to investigate the contribution of green building criteria in evaluation of design courses in architecture undergraduate course in Iran from the perspective of professors. Furthermore, this article seeks to determine the best design courses, which are most suitable for teaching green building criteria. Another goal of this article is finding the most effective obstecles in teaching green building criteria in universities of Iran. The mothod of the present study was conducted using descriptive research and statistical analysis. In the first step, the criteria and indicators in LEED and BREEAM systems are extracted as a criterion for measuring green buildings. In the second step, the importance of each criteria in the evaluation of student projects have been conducted using a questionnaire, from professors’ points of view in architecture design courses in different Iranian universities. The proposed method for teaching green architecture standards in design courses in the undergraduate course of architecture and limitations of teaching green architecture in Iranian university were collected. In the third step, the data were analysed using Shannon entropy method.

The findings of the analysis show that the priority of the criteria based on the average weight of the category is as follows one) water efficiency, two) site, three) transportation, four) energy and materials and resources with equal points in the fourth rank, and five) indoor air quality The results of this study show that assigning one of the architectural projects, especially the final design to teaching the principles of green building can be a good way to increase students' awareness of this issue. However, insufficient attention to green architecture in the curriculum and courses of undergraduate design is the most important obstacle to green architecture education and it is necessary to reconsider it revising the course curriculum. In this article, the hierarchy of criteria and indicators is extracted based on the current situation of architecture education in Iran which is not necessarily in line with the real needs of the country. Therefore, it is suggested that in future research, contribution of criteria and indicators of green buildings should be considered based on the real needs of the country to move towards achieving sustainable development goals.

This paper examines the level of attention to water sensitive urban design approach in Iran, leading to two questions: a) What are the objectives of WSUD? b) To what extent is attention paid to the objectives of WSUD in teaching landscape architecture and urban design fields? The research methodology of this research is combined (qualitative-quantitative). In the first step of the research, the qualitative strategy and content analysis method were used to extract the main and secondary objectives of WSUD from resources. Then, the extracted objectives were examined as measured components, based on the opinions of the panel of experts. In the second step, in order to evaluate the level of attention to the objectives of WSUD in the academic education in landscape architecture and urban design fields, the opinions of academicians in landscape architecture and urban design were collected. In the third step of the research, Shannon quantitative entropy strategy was used to analyze the answers to the questionnaires. Shannon entropy is one of the quantitative methods based on multi-criteria decision making and has an important role in information theory for data processing in content analysis. The analysis of the answers to the questionnaires using Entropy Method shows that among the five main components of WSUD, in urban design and landscape architecture education, the performance component is much more important than other components and the two components of water amenity and water supply are in second rank, water quality is in third place and water quantity is in the fourth position. Among the 20 sub-components, the weight of 14 components (equivalent to 70% of the components) is the same and insignificant, which shows that little attention is paid to them in the process of landscape architecture and urban design education in Iran. The results indicate that the components with quantitative nature have a low position in landscape architecture and urban design education, while many of the qualitative components had attained higher weight than the quantitative components. This shows that the education of landscape architecture and urban design in Iran, especially in water field, is mainly based on theoretical concepts and qualitative issues, and is not successful in preparing graduates of these fields to face the challenges in real projects. To close this gap, it is recommended to review the course descriptions of these two fields and determine how to enhance the knowledge of the teachers about the importance of water for further studies.

In this paper, a quantitative-qualitative methodology has been used through the Futures Study approach in order to identify the factors affecting tourism development in Iran. Four main steps have been taken to this end. These steps are: (1) extracting factors from written sources, (2) holding expert panels to analyze factors, (3) identifying interactions between factors by experts, and (4) software analysis to determine factor interactions. The findings of this study show that "statistics and information" and "zoning" are factors affecting tourism development and "organization" and "management" have a regulatory role in tourism development. In order to achieve a balanced development in the field of tourism and carry out zoning and determining the capability of each area of the country in the field of tourism at different national and international scales, statistics and information should be updated and efficient. Accordingly, serious attention to management structures and, if necessary, their modification and improvement can help Iran develop its tourism industry.

The purpose of this paper is investigating the effectiveness of the two current Bachelor Architecture’s Curricula (presented by the University of Tehran and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad) based on the views of graduates. ​The main question examines the degree of satisfaction of graduates with the quantity and quality of three main areas of courses including "design", "history and theoretical foundations" and "building technology".

To achieve the purpose of the research, a qualitative approach and a questionnaire and semi-structured interview methods were used. The statistical population of the study consist of 76 graduates in architecture, from 18 universities in the country, 1999 to 2014.

According to the results, in terms of quantity, the fields of "design" and "construction technology" have the highest (with a high score of 27.8%) and the lowest (with a high score of 24.04%) scores, respectively, and the "history and theoretical foundations" field is in the middle, having a high score of 24.75%. In terms of quality, the "design" field with a score of 32.65%, has the highest degree of desirability, and the fields of "construction technology" and "history and theoretical foundations" with scores of 18.42 and 15.95%, respectively, are the next. Therefore, the highest score of quantity and quality together, is gained by the courses in the field of "design", and the score of the other two fields is almost similar to each other.

The results showed that there are the highest and lowest levels of satisfaction in the area of "architectural design" and "building technology", respectively. Based on the revelation of the Null curriculum as the missed subjects in the courses “Application of Computer in Architectural Design", "Cartography" and "Building Cost Estimation", their removal from the curriculum of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad is open to question. But it seems that the transfer of the "Historic Conservation" course from the main courses to the optional one in this curriculum was a right decision. ​This study reveals that regardless of which curricula is implemented, it is necessary to change the approach in architectural education and integrate the teaching of the three mentioned areas to improve the quality

In the Architecture of Iran, the vernacular architecture of Bushehr’s historic city is distinctive since it is both introverted and extroverted and has different semi-open interior and exterior spaces. Tarameh is one of these semi-open spaces. Using a qualitative research method, conducting desk and field studies and reviewing the technical documents of the historic buildings of Bushehr, this paper collected the information of historic buildings of this city that has Tarameh to study their typology. According to the study of 29 buildings, it was revealed that Taramehs fall into three categories based on their location in the building. These types include exterior, middle, and interior, among which interior is the most widely used. Moreover, Taramehs are either enclosed on three sides, two sides, or one side. Interior Taramehs are mostly enclosed on two sides, exterior ones are enclosed on three sides, and all middle Taramehs are enclosed on two sides. In terms of shape, Taramehs of Bushehr are of four types, including linear (rectangular, trapezoidal and irregular), L-shaped, U-shaped and four-sided, among which rectangular linear is the most prevailing type. Moreover, it was revealed that most Taramehs are southward and westward, and at least one Tarameh is seaward in the buildings that are along the coast. In the end, according to the typology of Taramehs based on their location in the building, enclosure, type of plan, and whether they are roofed or not, this research provides a modified and complete definition of Bushehr’s Taramehs.
Tarmeh, Historic fabric of Bushehr, Semi-open spaces, Vernacular architecture, Architectural typology.

The current paper attempted to recognize the historical city of Isfahan based on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach to investigate the key foundations of the formation and continuity of this city over time. The qualitative approach was used to achieve this purpose. Also, the historical-interpretive method was utilized to reread the evolution of Isfahan overtime by written resources based on its natural and cultural foundations. Indigenous knowledge, religion and faith, mysticism, and philosophy were investigated as the constituent components of the culture to analyze the foundation of culture. The research results indicated that nature and religion were two main foundations in the HUL of Isfahan that must be the center of each conservation measure or plan to achieve holistic conservation. Also, external cultural attraction and internal cultural repulsion were revealed as two influential factors in a HUL. Accordingly, it was explained that each conservation and development plan in the city must be implemented in accordance with its main constituent cultural and natural foundations to overcome the possible conservation and development challenges effectively. Based on the results of this paper, it was revealed that the planning in the conservation of the historical city of Isfahan must be based on the conservation of religion and nature. It requires that the atomistic approach to the constituent elements of the city, such as historical monuments and urban spaces, which is currently the main paradigm in the conservation and development strategies, must be directed to the conservation of its main constituent foundations.

The advent of the Industrial Revolution in Iran has led to extensive changes in residential architecture, such as the unprecedented growth of apartment life, the mass construction of pre-designed complexes, and the vertical expansion of housing. Significant parts of architectural spaces formed to supply human beings' individual and social needs and improve the quality of their residential environment throughout history have changed during these developments. At this time, semi-open private spaces were among the most significant spaces that lost many of their features due to this attitude. Semi-open space is an Iranian architecture feature and has played a specific role in the architecture and urbanism in warm and humid areas. Although using a variety of semi-open spaces has a rich history in the architecture of Bushehr city, its role in the new construction of this city has diminished. It has lost many of its physical and functional aspects. The present study aims to investigate the effect of outdoor semi-open spaces on the quality of the residential environment in contemporary apartments in Bushehr city by using mixed research methods. Research literature includes the contents on semi-open spaces as the independent variable and the quality of the residential environment as the dependent variable.

Therefore, four aspects and their components are extracted and evaluated to assess semi-open residential space quality using the content analysis method in the following aspects: 1. Environmental aspects (thermal conditions and air quality, and visual and sound features); 2. Physical aspects (design and architecture type, aesthetic issues, accesses, and contact with the natural environment and green space); 3. Human aspect (individual and psychological characteristics, desires and needs, cultural characteristics and lifestyle, and social relations); and 4. Functional aspects (facilities and capabilities, activities, and services). In order to survey the residents' opinion about these aspects and their components, a questionnaire was designed based on a Likert scale using two different experimental methods, including the purposive approach (i.e. to express people's expectations and needs in the current living conditions), and the ideal and dream approach (i.e. to have a quantitative or qualitative ideal standard based on people's experiences and aspirations. The validity of the questionnaire is evaluated and confirmed based on the Delphi method, by seven experts in the three areas of residential environment quality, semi-open space, and architecture of Bushehr city. The research reliability is investigated using Cronbach's alpha (=0.93). The data are analyzed using a quantitative research method, R software, the Fisher's exact tests (to investigate the independence of two nominal variables), Mann-Whitney U test (a non-parametric test, which is used to investigate two independent subgroups such as gender), and Kruskal Wallis sum-rank test (to investigate variables with more than two subgroups). In the Kruskal Wallis test, wherever the test result is significant (P value less than 0.05), it is concluded that different categories of auxiliary variables have different results. The Dunn's test is used to determine which categories are statistically significantly different in answering the question. Then, those categories that are significantly different from each other are extracted.

This study results show that the spatial aspect has the greatest impact on women's satisfaction, and the functional aspect has the most significant impact on men's satisfaction. The human aspect had the least impact on both genders. Then, the role of components and their related indicators were questioned by genders. In the physical aspect, according to men and women, the index of visual harmony has the greatest impact on the aesthetic components, and the indices of dimensions and type of architecture have the least impact. This result reveals that despite the importance of physical features of terraces, they have been neglected in the design of Bushehr apartments. In the case of the functional aspect, the indices of contact with nature and privacy have provided the highest and lowest level of satisfaction with the component of facilities, respectively. This result emphasizes the need to consider the proper design of terraces to maintain residents' privacy. Concerning the environmental aspect for both genders, the residents' culture plays the most significant role. For this component, the highest and lowest scores are attributed to lifestyle and air quality indices, respectively. Regarding the human aspect, according to both genders, the psychological aspect component plays the most significant role. The highest and lowest priorities are attributed to the indices of attachment to place and family interactions, respectively.

The results of this study reveal that, among the components, women have more tendency to the spatial component, and men pay more attention to the functional component. The impact of human and environmental components was also the next priority for the residents, respectively. Among the subcomponents of the terrace, from the women's perspective, the residents' culture, and from the men's perspective, the aesthetics had the greatest impact on the satisfaction of the residents of Bushehr apartments. The effect of the terrace on improving social interactions has received the lowest score from the perspective of both groups. Also, the visual harmony index had the highest, and family interactions had the least impact on the residential environment quality among both genders. According to the results of this study on the importance of terrace spatial features in improving the quality of Bushehr contemporary apartment housing, providing physical criteria to achieve the appropriate design pattern for this type of space, and also recognizing related problems in the form of competent authorities such as municipalities, can be a suitable topic for future research.

Conservation and development are the significant challenges in the field of cultural heritage which exist in every conservation practice on any scales, including interior architecture. In this regard, the main challenge is that how much the interior architect has the right to interfere with the components of the interior in the process of reuse of the heritage. This article is intended to provide a functional answer to the concept of managing the change in the process of interior architecture redesign. Then the concept of value is studied. Because it is in fact the value which specifies what kind and amount of changes can be made to the interior architecture in the building and what changes should not be made. This reveals that the task of the interior architect, after determining the extent and modifications of the interior architecture based on the values of the building, is to manage the changes to maintain and enhance the meaning of building. To achieve this goal, the qualitative research method is selected. In the first step, with the strategy of logical argumentation and content analysis technique, the main documents and theories are analyzed in the subject of value; in the second step, a theoretical framework for recognizing the values of a building on the scale of interior architecture is suggested that has the potential to be used in the evaluation of the redesigns.Accordingly, the values of a building in eight types are "Age", "symbolic", "narrative", "spiritual-religious", "Aesthetic", "spatial characteristics", "activity - Use," " Evidential" and space The interior architecture was described in three categories of "fixed-Feature Space", "Semi-fixed Feature Space " and "Informal Space". The purpose of this theoretical framework was to provide the values and spaces of interior architecture with the shortest path to the design language, and, as far as possible, the path to various interpretations. In addition to helping the design team to recognize values, this provides a framework for evaluating changes in user experience in terms of success rate in maintaining and improving the values of the building on the scale of interior architecture. On this basis, we can evaluate the approach to them in terms of the weight of each of the values. In the following, the proposed framework was evaluated in a case study in the Garden of the Qasr Prison Museum by qualitative method.The evaluation of the case study of this paper showed that with the help of this theoretical framework it is possible to take into account all the values of the work and to reveal how much they have been considered and promoted to each other. On the other hand, it is possible to examine all the spatial capacities of the manifestation of values. The study also revealed that the focus on Informal Space, including human activities and relationships, as part of the interior architecture of the project, has remained largely neglected. The application of this theoretical framework will assist in the process of regeneration of the interior architecture of the reuse of valuable monuments.

The city of Rey was one of the most prominent and prosperous cities of the Islamic world during the early to middle centuries of the Islamic period. Several factors had influenced this prosperity and importance. The main objective of this research is to find out the specific factors, among others, which had affected the prosperity of roads and the relationship between roads, economics, and the spatial structure of Rey. For this, the reasons for the significance of the roads of Rey in the early centuries of Islam up to the Mongol invasion are identified from historical texts. Then, the development of the city from an architectural and urban perspective is examined through a comparative study of numerous historical texts as well as historical and archaeological studies of contemporary scholars. Based on the results, the mutual relationship between the road network and the spatial structure of the city is drawn in the given period. Based on the findings of this research, adequate security, ample water resources, as well as the centrality and importance of the city from a commercial and religious point of view had led to the constant presence of merchants and caravans in Rey. The beauty, cleanliness, and the existence of numerous caravansaries, baths, and high-quality markets, added to the welfare of travelers and merchants. In addition, a number of goods produced in Rey were largely popular and easily sold in the markets of other lands. These factors increased the affluence of the city and market stability due to numerous commercial exchanges besides the safety and welfare of travelers and merchants. In the end, the relationships between the natural and the spatial structure of the city and its roads are seen as reciprocal within a cycle.

The historical urban landscape is a new approach towards the historical city as the product of human interaction with micro ecosystem over the passage of time that has recently gained a special position in urban conservation. This paper begins with raising the question that how this approach can be used to solve the challenges of conservation and development of historical cities. Exploring the conservation documents indicate that viewpoint to historical city has shifted from ‘the atomistic perspective to holistic’, ‘static to dynamic’, ‘product-oriented to process-oriented’, ‘conflict with micro-ecosystem to interact with micro-ecosystem’, and ‘the contrast of conservation and development’ to the integration of them. The purpose of this paper is to review the northern Safavi Chahar-Bagh street of shiraz in the city master plan to find out how the street conservation and development is based on historical urban landscape. The data for this research were collected through observations and documents review and were analyzed qualitatively. The survey results show that the new doctrines of urban conservation seek to integrate conservation and development based on historical urban landscape; however, the definition of the Historical city boundary in the master plan of shiraz is still based on static and atomistic doctrines that consider historical cities limited to the historical wall. This is while the northern Chahar-Bagh street of shiraz which was the main historical axis of the city during the Safavi period was located outside the historical wall of the city. Not paying attention to this street has caused the gradual destruction of this historical urban landscape, despite the individual protection of some of its elements. Reviewing the case study based on the historical urban landscape approach reveals the need for a reconsideration and revision of the developments urban plans.

The concept of cultural landscape, as the product of the interaction between culture and micro-ecosystem over the passage of time, have been formed with the aim of bridging the gap between the concept of culture and nature in modern atomistic perspective and re-linking these two concepts in an approach called "holistic" in this paper. Over the passage of time, this concept attracted the special attention of conservation organizations as a form of human cultural heritage. However, the boundaries between the natural and cultural landscapes deriving from atomistic viewpoint still exists. The purpose of this paper is to examine the challenges of making these boundaries and develop a holistic model for recognition and classification of cultural landscapes based on the proportion of culture and nature of cultural landscapes. The key question is what elements are included in the explanation of culture and nature proportion in cultural landscape and how the logical relationships between them can be explained. Given the general approach of the paper that is making theory and analytical model, the qualitative research method is used; and case study is applied in order to explain the model resulted from qualitative analysis. In this paper, an analytical model is presented in order to recognize and classify cultural landscapes based on the proportion of culture and nature. This model suggests that the recognition of a cultural landscape is subject to the identification of three main factors shaping each cultural landscape, including “the human intervention in nature”, “the type of this intervention regarding being tangible or intangible”, and “the time of formation and existence continuity of that landscape”. Comprehensive coverage of the different types of cultural landscapes and identification of the main factors shaping each cultural landscape; as well as solving the problem of demarcation of cultural and natural landscapes can be mentioned as the results of this analytical model.
Following that, using the proposed model, the interaction of man and nature in the urban landscape of Bam in three scales of small (garden-house), medium (garden-alley), and large (garden- city) are identified and analyzed. Secondary outcome is revealing the importance of “the cause of interventions” in identification of cultural landscapes; so that the main interventions shaping the cultural landscape of Bam are divided into three groups of tangible interventions based on economy, housing and social relations. The cause of interventions, in addition to helping Bam Cultural Landscape recognition, reveals the importance of economy in the formation and continuity of cultural landscape, and defines the type and extent of man's relationship with nature and social relations of the city residents. This importance is such that the sustainability of life in the city of Bam without the balance of economic cycle based on horticulture and cultivation of palm trees seems impossible. By explaining the proposed analytical model of this research in “Bam Cultural Landscape”, the efficiency of the model holism in covering the identification and analysis of cultural landscapes in different contexts and scales can be concluded.

Islamic architecture in different territories has taken on various representations in harmony with natural and cultural contexts. Vernacular architecture of Bushehr Port is one the representations which encompasses features distinguished from those of other cities in the northern coastline of the Persian Gulf. Due to the special geographical position of this port and connection with other countries, one of the features is the existence of an element called “Shanashir" in the building facades, which has contributed to the interior-exterior architectural pattern of Bushehr Port, as well as privacy fulfilment.

Shanashir is generally known as a wooden element appended to the interior and exterior façade of the building. As a semi-open space, it provides a view from interior space to the exterior space of yard or urban space and is regarded as a modifying element of climatic conditions in hot and humid climate of Bushehr. This research used qualitative method and case study strategy with the aim of finding typology of this element, so as to find which types of Shanashir are important in the architecture of Bushehr Port in terms of form, what function this element serves, what types are predominant in this regard, what factors contribute in Shanashir placement, and what direction Shanashirs mostly have. In this regard, first the literature of the history of Shanashir was reviewed using library resources for data collection. Second, aiming at studying functions of Shanashir and its physical components, essential data were collected by reviewing library documents and field study. For field study, non-participatory observation was used so as to extract functions of this element by watching people’s living manner in Shanashir-included houses and behavior of Shanashir users. Moreover, oral interview with the users contributed to the scrutiny of the functions. Photography, sketch, and note taking were other tools used in this phase. Third, in order to approach the typology of Shanashir, written and visual resources regarding Bushehr buildings that have Shanashir were scrutinized and data were classified, and then all Shanashir-included buildings located in the historical texture of Bushehr were visited and the required information for the research was classified.

The historical texture of Bushehr covers an area of 4.5 hectare, which encompasses four historic neighborhoods. To approach the typology, it was needed to study the texture. One of the research limitations at this point is destruction of some buildings in the east coast of the historical texture of Bushehr during Pahlavi era because of construction and development of the Bushehr Port Organization, and that of other buildings with the construction of the north-south Street passing through the texture. These two parts probably had remarkable Shanashir-included monuments particularly in the eastern part of the texture, as apart from a few famous monuments the remaining were destructed and there is no information but few pictures with indistinctive location. In addition to the large-scale destructions, a number of buildings were demolished due to the lack of attention and timely restoration, and there is little information on them. Moreover, some owners did not allow us to enter their buildings in order to visit the interior Shanashirs, and some monuments were demolished to such an extent that it was impossible to collect date about the existing situation of Shanashir. In the Comprehensive Plan of the Old Texture of Bushehr, 1013 buildings are specified within the historic barrier. Based on this map, field study was initiated and every single building specified in the map was visited and photographed. According to the field study, out of 1013 buildings a number of 565 buildings were demolished and new buildings with different plans were replaced with historical plans. Moreover, a number of 86 buildings were dilapidated and impossible to be seen. Thus, a number of 362 buildings remained in the second phase were investigated more precisely, among which a number of 29 buildings had Shanashir.

Analysis of available Shanshir showed that 48 percent of Shanashir-included buildings are located in Koti Neighborhood, 42 percent in Behbahani Neighborhood, 7 percent in Shanbandi Neighborhood, and 3 percent in Dehdashti Neighborhood. Furthermore, 45 percent of exterior Shanashirs were seen in monuments adjacent to the seashore, and 24 percent of the remaining were near square, 17 percent near the plaza, and 14 percent were located in within-texture passages. The results of the analyzing Shanashirs placement in buildings indicated that two major types of Shanashir namely interior and exterior Shanshir exist in Bushehr vernacular architecture, which are classified into semi-open and closed classes based on the level of closeness. Closed Shanshir were used in few numbers and only in exterior façade. Form typology of exterior Shanashir can be classified into two main classes; linear and bi-directional (L-shaped) Shanashir. The latter can entail 90 degree or more angle or curve intersection. Interior Shanashirs can be classified into four main classes; unidirectional (linear), bi-directional (L-shaped), three-directional (U-shaped) and four-directional. Based on the place of Shanashir, inside or outside of buildings, some differences exist in their functions and components. This research shows that the dominant type of exterior Shanashir is semi-open unidirectional (linear) type and the dominant type of interior Shanashir is probably three-directional type. By studying the location of exterior Shanashirs, it is concluded that adjacency to the seashore or having a spatial opening to urban spaces such as a square or a plaza play an important role in the place of Shanashir establishment.

The concept of integrity, as a factor of sustaining values and significance of cultural heritage, is considered to be a key element in the process of urban heritage conservation. Review and analysis of documents, conventions and theories concerning the role of integrity in urban heritage conservation shows that in recent decades, the concept of integrity has attracted attention worldwide in the process of selection, assessment, and codification of the comprehensive conservation and management plan of urban heritage, particularly in the World Heritage sites. Currently, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has a unique role among other scientific associations. In recent years, the World Heritage Center has put efforts into developing a conceptual framework in order to offer the criteria for evaluation, conservation and management of various types of heritage including the urban heritage. This research is carried with the aim of developing a conceptual framework for integrity in urban heritage conservation by determining the concepts related to integrity. The main question of this paper is that what are the dimensions, aspects, components and criteria of integrity within the domain of urban heritage conservation? Documents and related theories of integrity highlight the importance of conserving the integrity and stability of the cultural dimensions, besides natural dimensions, tangible and intangible aspects and intactness and wholeness components in the process of recognizing and conserving the integrity of place which are possible to be measured and evaluated by structural-historical integrity, functional-social integrity and visual-aesthetic integrity. The major contribution of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for urban heritage conservation, applying all the above mentioned issues.

Vernacular architecture is the product of the interaction between local residents and the nature in geographical area which results in unique achievements in providing physical, mental and intellectual needs of human. Vernacular architecture of Bushehr has provided considerable strategies in accordance with the micro ecosystem in its multilayers cultural link. Understanding these strategies can provide ideas for applying in architectural design. One of the ideas was formed intimation  in the hot and humid climate of this city. This principle was very important in some architectural places like Girls› schools. Having contact to the outdoor area, especially for the girl students, who have a low contact because of living in apartment, is very effective in terms of physical, mental and intellectual growth. Therefore, intimation, through increasing the feeling of belonging to the environment, can improve the satisfaction level of girl students to the school which finally improve their creativity. Intimation of schools is considered as providing conditions through architecture and regulations, so that girl students can study in open, semi-open, semi-closed and closed areas of the school more freely and in accordance to the Islamic dress code. This has been considered in the document of fundamental transformation of education and here it has been emphasized on the observance of intimation sentences in the considered area. The purpose of this study is to show the manner of intimating in the schools of Bushehr regarding to the four psychological, cultural, religious, and educational needs. So this study, with emphasizing on intimation in vernacular architecture of Bushehr, and achieving cultural strategies of intimation in climatic architecture of Bushehr, proposes this question: How intimation is manifested in the vernacular architecture of the city of Bushehr? The main strategy for answering this question is a qualitative investigation which has been used for developing the framework of the research; for collecting data it has been used from literature studies, scientific databases and observation methods, and, qualitative analysis has been used for analyzing the data.
Findings of this study shows that intimation in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr has been provided in three scales of micro, middle and macro scales. Intimation in micro-scale refers to the single elements of the building in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr which has been manifested either in the internal aspect (internal space) or in the external aspect (space); these elements in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr include «Shanashir», «Tarmeh», «roof and pre-roof», «sashes and openings», «Parasol», «shelter balcony» and «windows». Each of these elements, in addition to their main function, has been applied in design, components, and connections so that they help for making intimation of internal spaces. Intimation in the middle scale refers to the plan typology and combining of the mass and the space; this study shows that, based on the combination of mass and space (the building and the yard) in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr, and regarding to the position of the building to the historic walls of the city, and also regarding to the introvert and extrovert aspects, two main kinds of floor plan arrangements can be identified: the first kind is the buildings enclosing courtyard: introvert-extrovert (within the historical walls of the city); the second one is building without courtyard including row building(s) inside the yard: extrovert (outside the historical walls of the city). In the macro-scale, forming intimation in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr was affected by the location of the building which has considered the opportunities, threats, strength and weakness points of the building regarding creating intimation; this factor has been considered in terms of adjacency. In another words, based on the neighborhood, it has been determined that at the first stage which plan arrangements including extrovert-introvert and extrovert types, and also which plan types including courtyard, or row buildings, or combination of them, should be applied, and in the second stage, the manner of combining the mass and the space has been determined.
Furthermore, the methods of applying the strategies of intimation in the vernacular architecture of Bushehr have been provided in three scales of micro, middle and macro. It seems that updating the historical patterns, which has been considered and proposed in text and image through this study, can be a proper and referable model for planners and architects of schools, especially of city of Bushehr. Therefore, it is suggested that planners of education spaces on the one hand, and architects on the other hand, through studying considered patterns in this study, to create multi-functions and flexible spaces in accordance with climate desirability to provide refreshing and productive spaces for the education of the next generation of the country in accordance with the Islamic-Iranian patterns, in addition to rehabilitate and to continue historical patterns. Achievements obtained through this study can be a good ground for the next researches with the purpose of extracting intimation patterns of schools in other areas, especially with similar climate to Bushehr. It is hoped that a comprehensive guide for creating intimate schools will be provided.

Following development and qualitative and quantitative changes in communities, that have made substantial changes in historic environments, the authenticity concept has attracted attention in order to strike a balance between conservation and development approaches. The concept of authenticity as the transmitter of values and significance of cultural heritage, is regarded as a key criterion in the process of conservation and thus, the need for clarification of its factors has been emphasized in the international documents. This paper aims to refine the prioritization of authenticity factors in the plans and measures of the revitalization project of Atique Square in Isfahan, Iran. To achieve this, firstly the conventions and the international documents related to authenticity are reviewed using qualitative research methods and content analysis strategy consequently the effective factors in measuring authenticity have been selected in three main categories: ‘historical-evidential values’, ‘artistic values and creativity’, and ‘socio-cultural values’. After that, prioritizing these factors in the Atique Square revitalization, is analyzed by quantitative research method and correlation strategy. The findings indicate that the ‘historic- evidential values’, ‘socio-cultural values’ of the context and ‘artistic values and creativity’, in descending order, have the highest to the lowest contribution in explaining the concept of authenticity in the measures taken for the project of the Atique Square revitalization.

Early people had made groups on the world and formed the first basis for group life in this way. The interactions of groups with nature occurred separately from the personal ones. Therefore, not only groups of people got affected by nature; but also the untouched nature recorded some footprints of peoples› lifestyles and was not anymore untouched. This interaction between indigenous people and nature over time shaped the cultural landscape as a secondary phenomenon. Although lots of definitions have been presented for this concept, there has not been any inclusive and exclusive definition based on culturallandscape formation process and being regardless of time and geographical and culturalcontext in order to bring attention to the many and complex aspects of this concept. Therefore, by reviewing and analyzing documents and theories as well as using qualitative research method and content analysis strategy, this paper seeks to achieve a level of understanding about this concept to determine thealphabet forcultural landscape recognition in order to present a new definition for it. To approach the main objective of this paper, redefining the cultural landscape; two main components affecting the formation of cultural landscapes, nature and culture, should be taken into consideration. Having a precise look at cultural landscape literature, it is indicated that two components, in different approaches and as a result with various terms; have formed the basis for cultural landscape definition. Inspite of many applicable definitions in geographical and cultural contexts; the necessity for presenting a redefinition for cultural landscapes that have the capacity to be generalized based on their formation processes has been understood. In order to approach the proposed definition, refining the basic concepts in formation processes of cultural landscapes and choosing the most comprehensive key words are investigated. Cultural landscape is known as the result of interaction between people and nature. But the question is that which nature? The initial untouched nature? Or the touched one? And the more important question is that what is called as nature? Is it the environment? Or the ecosystem? Or something else? Having a brief look at cultural landscape definitions and explanations, it can be understood that many words used as synonyms with regards to this issue; are not in fact synonyms; and this occurs due to lack of fixed and correct definitions and consensus on them. By examining the words used as equivalents of the word nature in current definitions of cultural landscape and analyzing them from the point of view of this paper, considering the fact the word “nature” is believed to be untouched from human being interventions, emphasizing on the influence of human in the word “landscape”, not using the phrase “geographical context” widely and colloquially, and the ambiguity of the phrase “environment” regarding the amount of human intervention; in this paper, applying these words and phrases are avoided. The word “ecosystem” owning to its comprehensiveness in covering universe phenomenon and offering a clearer position of human being, has been chosen as the alternative for the word nature. On the other hand, with putting emphasis on the fact that cultural landscape resulted from group interaction, and not individual ones with nature; the need for paying attention to the issue of culture becomes obvious. Having highlighted that the aim of this paper is not presenting a definition of culture; the four channels of knowledge of ecosystems, including science, philosophy, mysticism, and religion as the four main components of culture formation are introduced. After that, the position of the four channels of ecosystem recognition in the culture is defined. Thus, the formation process of cultural landscape based on the four channels of knowledge is refined in a scheme that becomes as the underlying layer for redefining cultural landscape based on its formation process.In this paper, science refers to “ethnic knowledge”. Ethnic knowledge is referred to those kind of information that have been achieved by indigenous people of a specific area about their ecosystem or have gained from other ethnic groups and nationalities. The indigenous people have applied them in their practical knowledge during filtration, which has its own process and does not fit in the range ofthe question of thisresearch. The indigenous knowledge is used in order to enable or facilitate the possibility of inhabitancyin the geographic environment for that people, with certain beliefs and traditions, andtherefore it can be called “indigenous applied knowledge”.The second channel is philosophy. It refers to that of indigenous people rather thangreat philosophers’ opinions; as in science, indigenous knowledge attracted more attention than great theatrical breakthroughs.The third component is mysticism. The purpose of mysticism is “to recognize the quality of human life” and as two quantitative and qualitative dimensions used to be and are integral; so, whether it is paid attention to or not, mysticism exists in every moment of human life. Religion is the fourth component. Religion refers to a set of rules and orders that have been revealed through revelation for the divine prophets. These rules have had a great role in shaping cultural landscape of societies. Thus, the formation process of each cultural landscape is presented on a scheme that its key components are the four channels of knowledge toward the ecosystem, the ecosystem and culture. Considering theproposed scheme, cultural landscape is redefined in this paper as followed: culturallandscape refers tothat part of the gregarious interaction of indigenous people of a micro-ecosystem withit;those people have gained a common understanding toward the entire ecosystem and the micro ecosystem over thepassage of time and consequently have established a common culture. Moreover, they have left objective (tangible) or subjective (intangible) signs in that micro-ecosystem as a result of their interaction that can be recognized by being subjected to careful scrutiny. The main advantage of the proposed scheme and the definition of cultural landscape of this paper is the ability to produce diverse outputs and thus the identification of cultural landscape products in different natural and cultural contexts.

Following the development and the qualitative and quantitative changes in communities, that have made substantial changes in historic environments; the authenticity concept has attracted attention in order to strike a balance between conservation and development approaches. The concept of authenticity has a fundamental role in balancing the plans and measures of historic urban heritage revitalization. Thus, the more consistent the new developments are with the concept of authenticity, the more integrated and balanced they will be with conservation. Authenticity possesses abstract origin and roots of the significance and value of the property and is as a transmitter of values and significance of cultural heritage has played the major role in the process of registration, conservation and management of cultural heritage. Authenticity as a multi-layered concept which has the role of transmitting values and significance of cultural heritage has found a special position in the process of recognition and conservation of heritage. As a result, developing a conceptual framework and following that, determining criteria for its evaluation in international documents and theories have been particularly emphasised. Thus, this paper; related to identification of authenticity, recognition components in cultural heritage conservation, poses its main question and works toward its main goal which is to develop a conceptual framework by determining the effective components in authenticity recognition based on analysis of international documents, conventions, and experts’ opinions. In this regard, this paper begins with reading and analysing international documents and conventions and theories related to the concept of authenticity in the field of cultural heritage, and then determines the aspects and dimensions explaining the concept of authenticity. Based on research questions and goals, the qualitative research methodology is chosen and with applying logical reasoning strategy as well as “content analysis” and “logical inference”; Moreover, reading and evidential observation based on books, papers and authentic documents are used as research tools.This paper aims to analyze the content by recognizing and categorizing international documents, conventions and theories. So, by determining the effective components in authenticity concept recognition; based on the literature review, the context for developing an authenticity conceptual framework in cultural heritage is provided. Based on the conducted analysis, five main components in authenticity, recognition are deduced that can be presented as two Tangible and Intangible aspects, as well as three dimensions of Stability, Continuity and Change. In addition, the evolution of heritage concept, from a solo monument to complexes, urban contexts, and beyond that to Cultural Landscape and Historic Urban Landscape, reveals that the more the scale of the view towards heritage changes from small to large; on one hand the more importance the intangible aspect gains. On the other hand, change and transformation which are inherent in heritage authenticity; beside the continuity of a stable condition, are more paid attention and discussed. Therefore, the current level of understanding of authenticity can be approached to develop a conceptual framework on the condition that the presented dual aspects and triple dimensions are considered in a complementary and consistent relation as an intertwined phenomena.

Persian Garden is a cultural landscape which has been made from an interaction between Iranians minds and the nature of geographical context over a long period of time. Lack of continuity in using Persian Garden Pattern for contemporary landscape design in Iran was like a danger bell, which first rang when Naser al-Din Shah ruled as the king of Iran, by starting construction of parks. In fact the sound of that bell is being heard louder nowadays. Although it was a decade ago when the degree “Master of Art” (M.A.) has established for a discipline called “the landscape architecture” in Iran relying on understanding and appreciating the importance of Iranian nature as well as the cultural characteristics, the process of using imported design patterns and lack of continuity in using the pattern of Persian garden is still in progress. The process is a serious threat for Persian Gardens. The first step, in this paper, is the introduction of Persian Garden as a cultural landscape, and the second one is emphasizing the role of architecture education in speeding up the process of switching from “gardens” to “parks”. The consequences of new architecture education system, which is the gap between “academic education” and “practical jobs”, are among the main reasons of this change. Among lots of reasons for lacking the continuity in using the mentioned pattern and with regard to degree of M.A. in landscape architecture in Iran and the quantitative method, in this paper, understanding Persian Garden by landscape architecture students and designers as well as the experts identified as the key point of landscape architecture education. The results of this research show that academic education has led to raise awareness and increase in understanding Persian Garden by landscape architecture students, designers and experts. However, raising awareness was not fair to everyone. The level of awareness and understanding Persian Garden pattern is higher among designers and experts in comparison with landscape architecture students or newly-graduated students who may not have many practical experiences. This means that the process of raising awareness for understanding the pattern should not be stopped by graduation, and practical experience may provide opportunities to answer the questions which might not have answered or even brought up during academic education. Other results of the investigation demonstrate that the difference in level of awareness does not directly result in desires to use the pattern of Persian Gardens in landscapes. Among the students, raising the awareness results in using the pattern more; and it is not so necessarily among the professionals. This shows the existence of other factors in practical experience. In other words, even though the issue of education is still remained, and finding a solution for the problem has great importance, it may not lead to boost the use of Persian Garden pattern. In this paper, firstly the necessity of revising the subjects studied in this field in universities of Iran is exposed in order to fill gaps. Secondly, it identifies the importance of many factors which do not guarantee the use of Persian Garden pattern as a result education. Recognizing these factors may be the beginning of another research.

Although nearly a century ago, for emphasizing on interaction between people and nature over time, the term ‘’Cultural Landscape’’ was used for the first time. The first appearance of this term in conservation context was about 18 years ago. In 1992, by adding cultural landscapes representing the “combined works of nature and of man”, the World Heritage Convention became the first international legal institution to recognize and protect cultural landscapes of outstanding universal value. Their inscriptions, on the World Heritage List were important steps toward revealing and sustaining the great diversity of interactions between humans and their environment, protecting living traditional cultures and preserving the traces of those which have disappeared. This paper, following presentation the historical background of cultural landscape concept and its definitions, looks in particular at cultural landscape in UNESCO World Heritage Center between 1992 to 2010. It includes the definitions, the changes that cultural landscape concept brought into the application of the Convention, the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the meetings of experts, where the most important issues were raised and suggested. During the last eighteen years, UNESCO World Heritage Center has attracted many critical issues on cultural landscape. Making attempts to resolve them has load to some positive effects on revising the process of recognition, assessment, and management of world heritage cultural landscape, and consequently a clearer concept for cultural landscape, in World Heritage Convention, came to agreement. However, with a closer look at cultural landscape in the Center some fundamental criticisms could be raise which if the the Convention wants to remain as the most important international legal institution to recognize and protect cultural landscape, it should find worldwide acceptable answers for them. In this paper, the three main challenges are discussed as follows: (a) imbalances in World Heritage List; (b) inefficiency of strict division between the cultural landscapes and the natural ones; and (c) adopting elitist approaches. Investigating the first challenge, imbalance in world heritage list, discovered the weakness of current definitions and categories of cultural landscape as one of the agents of this imbalance. Analyzing the second raised challenge discovered that the strict division between cultural and natural landscape was not applicable to recognition and conservation of heritage. Therefore, the necessity of reviewing the definitions and categories of cultural landscape for purpose of overcoming this challenge was appeared. The final focus of this paper was on elitist and site-oriented approaches of UNESCO World Heritage Center, providing an artificial distinction between such landscapes and the ordinary ones. Analyzing the consequences of this approach discovered a paradox between the definitions and categories of cultural landscapes and World Heritage operational guidelines. Hence, reviewing the definitions and guidelines is required. Therefore, the paper brings three fundamental challenges of cultural landscape concept to light by focusing on analysis of eighteen-year experience of this concept in UNESCO World Heritage Center. In addition to these challenges it explores issues associated with the necessity of reviewing cultural landscape definition, categories, and Operational Guidelines for Implementation of the World Heritage Convention toward answering these challenges as well as ones will be risen in future.