Suggesting a method for preparing the color palette of the place, an approach to conserve the historic urban landscape (Case study: Jolfa neighborhood in Isfahan)

The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) conservation approach is well known as a popular regeneration approach. This approach has developed the historic conservation beyond the immovable heritage area (single buildings and complexes) to all historical and cultural values that may emerge in the historic urban landscape. Landscape color is one of the substantial elements of historical patterns in urban areas, reflecting the local culture in the place’s body. Therefore, it is considered a significant component of the HUL conservation approach. Here, the problem is that the unconscious use of color is neglected in the urban regeneration of historical textures. In addition, the development of the neighboring areas may distort the urban landscape and threaten the character of these unique textures. The historic urban landscape, influenced by the inherent color orders of the local materials, was shaped in compatibility with climatic conditions. However, the HULs are now subject to visual and perceptual damage due to using materials incompatible with natural history. As such, investigating the color studies in different parts of the world and at different scales has been performed considering the specific historical characteristics to decrease these inconsistencies. In recent years, with the development of technology in harvesting, classifying, and preparing, its color palette has also been changed. Regarding the importance of these patterns, as well as the creation of incompatible structures with the local color order, the central question of the current research is how today’s tools can be employed instead of manual and old methods to record and analyze landscape color information, concerning the economic feasibility and reliability in terms of results. Accordingly, this paper aims to introduce a method to prepare the color palette of the place and identify the dominant color codes in the historic urban areas. For this purpose, given the outstanding features of the Jolfa neighborhood in Isfahan, it is chosen as a case study. Located in the historical patterns of Isfahan, having a particular culture, and the existence of unique color patterns, this neighborhood is still considered one of the dynamic neighborhoods in the tourism structure of Isfahan. This neighborhood is different from other parts of Isfahan’s historical textures due to its formed historical characteristics. Even in terms of appropriate samples and patterns of “color orders” and color themes employed in its landscape, it has some noticeable differences from other parts of the historical texture. 

This paper is conducted using a mixed-methods technique, which follows the systemic approach in terms of research strategies due to the multifaceted nature of the color element in the topics of “psychology,” “culture,” and “visual ecology.” The color system used in the study is the CIELab system. The Lab (i.e., L * a * b) model is the most compatible with the range of human color vision among all color systems. The color space L * a * b or CIELab is a global standard to measure the color, adopted in 1967 by the International Commission on Illumination. The process steps include preparing the color samples, extracting the color codes using SPSS and MATLAB software, and classifying them using the Quick Cluster Analysis Model (k-means).

According to the findings, five main color categories were achieved based on all color codes. Ultimately, the color codes of the centers of these clusters were obtained as base colors in the color palette of the Jolfa neighborhood. Therefore, the obtained results indicate that this study contains the potential to be widely utilized for analyzing the landscape color and preparing the proposed palette for historic urban texture to accomplish the aims of the (HUL) approach. Furthermore, it can offer the range of color spectrums and their frequencies for comparing the color landscape of historical textures in different samples and periods.

These studies can go beyond the research format and be available as software for those organizations involved in urban management to analyze any new construction compatible with the existing background color. Moreover, identifying and investigating other significant factors in shaping the historic urban landscape can complete the components of this research. These factors can be studied in resources such as studies related to the structure of the components that shape the landscape, the intuitive landscape of the place, the effect of natural context and climate on the urban landscape, etc.