Sustainable Architecture

The use of cisterns in Iran has been diminishing rapidly due to the widespread use of piped water and household refrigerators. Except for a few cases still in use, most of these cisterns so-called "Ab-Anbar" have either given way to new developments or have been re-modeled as tourist attractions. Ab anbar (?? ?????) means 'water storage' in Persian. An ab-anbar is a traditional type of reservoir that was commonly built in pre-modern Iran. As the modern life and technology dominated the region, water pipeline system replaced cisterns. Supplying potable water in hot arid regions has always been a challenge for the residents. In central and eastern deserts of Iran, where poor rainfall and seasonal rivers cause extreme conditions in supplying water, a creative traditional solution has been a unique kind of water reservoirs (cisterns) called “Ab-Anabr”. These structures typically consist of an underground cube or cylindrical reservoir with a massive covering dome and one or more wind towers for ventilation and a staircase for taking water. Ab-Anbars were often constructed by first digging a cylindrical or sometimes rectangular tank deep into the ground--sometimes as far as twenty meters. The walls of the tank were lined with bricks using a special type of mortar called sarooj that was considered to be completely impermeable to water. The tank was then covered with a dome that protected the water in the tank from evaporation and contamination from windborne dust and bird droppings. The windcatchers that projected from the dome allowed for dry desert air to flow into and out of the dome, performing the dual functions of cooling the water and preventing condensation from forming on the inside of the dome, which could potentially lead to mildew and other hygenic concerns. Purity of the water was further maintained by isolating the main tank entirely from human contact. Water could only be obtained from the cistern by descending a series of steps runnning adjacent to the tank. Taps near the top of the stairs provided warmer water, while the coolest water could be obtained by descending to the bottom of the stairs and extracting water from taps at the base. Ab-anbars were so important to life in desert regions that they often became integrated into structures built atop them, such as caravanserais or mosques.

Born in Tehran in 1937, Tanavoli benefited from Reza Shah Pahlavi’s quest for modernization/westernization. After Western-style art education had been introduced to Iran, Tanavoli graduated as the first student from the new sculpture programme at the Tehran School of Arts in 1956. Subsequently he went to Italy in order to study under the well-known sculptor Marino Marini (1901–1980). Marini’s awareness of the past traditions of his native country, and their incorporation into his contemporary work, led Tanavoli to explore his own cultural heritage and to search for a style suitable to express Persia’s past achievements in a modern way. Recurring themes in Tanavoli’s sculpture consistently contain references to the human figure, evident both in the upright sculptural forms and their titles. Tanavoli progressively replaces any descriptive figurative features with cultural symbols. This fusion of human and cultural emblems is an enduring characteristic of Tanavoli’s powerful sculptural statements. Each work imbues special meaning like Persian poetry, which is more concerned with subjective interpretation of reality than with its external manifestations. It is this quality that is embraced in a wide range of works and revealed in Lovers, Beloved, Prophet and Poets. His signature series 'Heech' has found its place in various prestigious museums and galleries worldwide. Red Heech (below) is in the British Museum, London. Tanavoli, at 74, is as productive as ever. The exhibition is drawn entirely from the artist’s collection and features a number of works never seen before. He has taken part in several international group exhibitions and is one of the most popular artists at auctions.

This article aims to make a better understanding of the effective construction techniques in Iranian sustainable and historical water monuments and to present their efficient functions, which utilizes natural resources without the consumption of additional power. This is indeed important as energy saving and sustainability concealed in such constructions are significant issues in contemporary architecture. The present article targets at studying the Iranian artisanship involved in the construction of the structures which utilize the power of water as well as the cultural aspects of a traditional architecture that incorporates an understanding of constructions that date back centuries. Expanding the existing knowledge of these heritage properties and explaining their current condition in order to express the need for the preservation of ancient artisanship as part of a sustainable conservation future are the other prominent concerns of this work. Iran is located in an arid, semi-arid region. Due to the unfavorable distribution of surface water, to full water demands and fluctuation of yearly seasonal streams, Iranian people have tried to provide a better condition for utilization of water as a vital matter. This paper intends to acquaint the readers with some of the famous Iranian historical water monuments.

This paper is built upon studies of defining an aesthetic philosophy and criteria of Timeless architecture, and using it to enhance building effect on users. After an argument was made for the justification of the concepts manifested for a timeless architectural aesthetic over the continuation of the current paradigm. As principles of a timeless aesthetic architecture are established: that timelessness represents a practical philosophy, that timelessness serves as the concept generator in the design process, and that timeless architecture is universally specific to the constraints of its concepts and style. three case studies are thereby examined in relation to these principles as well as more qualitative and quantitative evaluation factors, and criteria for built environment. The objective hereby is to analyze the selected buildings [to determine presence of timelessness quality. The results is evaluated according to the table of analysis developed in the Comprehensive Theoretical Foundation that resulted in the set of criteria for timeless buildings. Thus, the buildings are subjected in a comparative analysis to the checklist produced in the study to prove whether its timelessness complies with the study or not.

This paper reviews the importance of physical urban form and urban design in directing citizens’ behavioral patterns. It is of great interest for new urbanism theoreticians. Due to growing internal travels in the cities, their environmental repercussions, reaching stable travel patterns and travel demands’ management, urban design tools can be used in the neighborhoods of the city. previous studies in this focus on the key roles of residential density, professional density, accessibility, physical design of the neighbourhood, and etc. Neighbourhood design in dense form with mixed applications and visual and space quality for walking can be effective in reducing car travels and the amount of crossed distance by the citizens. The extent to which physical design of the neighbourhood and urban design affects citizens’ behavioral patterns is the concern of this paper.

Groundwater management, particularly in arid regions, should be viewed holistically and linked to the sustainable management of the ecosystem. Only through consideration of the interaction between the groundwater and other environmental components can it be possible to elaborate a long-term program for rational groundwater use and protection. Ancient methods of groundwater management, such as the qanats system, provide an excellent demonstration of human ingenuity to cope with water scarcity. To make a qanat, one needs a source of water, which may be a real well, but can also be an underground reservoir (e.g., a cave with a lake) or a water-bearing geological layer, which can be recognized as a damp area in an otherwise arid region. When one has identified this source, a tunnel is cut to the farm or village that needs the water. Shafts are added for three reasons: as air supply, to remove sand and dirt, and to prevent the tunnels from becoming dangerously long. The shafts are not very far apart, and as a result, a qanat seen from the air gives the impression of a long, straight line of holes in the ground - as if the land has been subjected to a bombing run. Typically, the qanat becomes a ditch near its destination; in other words, the water is brought to the surface by leading it out of the slope. In fact, one creates an artificial artesian well and an oasis. There are about 22000 qanats in Iran with 274000 kilometers of underground conduits all built by manual labor. The amount of water of the usable qanats of Iran produce is altogether 750 to 1000 cubic meter per second. Qanats have been an ancient, sustainable system facilitating the harvesting of water for centuries in Iran, and more than 35 additional countries of the world such as India, Arabia, Egypt, North Africa, Spain and even to New world.

Perceiving an environment is the first step linking people to a place. The emergence of this perception which is achieved through a mental and sensory process depends on several factors. In this study, different theories regarding the perception of the environment are investigated as the research objectives. The aim of this study is to measure the individuals’ perception paradigm of traditional housing style in Iran compared to modern housing style. Thus, it compares the perception of citizens of the two housing styles. The traditional style consists of a group of traditional houses from Zand and Qajar era in Shiraz while the modern style consists of modern houses in the same city. Accordingly, after a review of literature, the theoretical framework of the research was developed and a questionnaire and interviews were prepared during a month period. Finally, the quantitative data was analyzed with the help of SPSS Software and the qualitative data was analyzed based on the interviews. The results showed that there is a significant difference among different dimensions of home perception, including cognitive, emotional, interpretive and evaluative perception in both traditional and modern Iranian houses. In this relation, essential items such as stimulating the sense of smell in the yard, injecting the smell of humidity and soil, making physical and emotional bonds with residents show the conceptual differences between the traditional and modern houses in Iran.

Bhubaneswar before becoming the capital of Orissa in 1948 had been a temple town with series of ancient sandstone temples, heritage ponds and water tanks. Now Bhubaneswar is one of the modern well-planned cities with broad avenues, planned habitation, institutional, commercial and industrial areas. But still it gets the prestige of the temple town due to large number of temples and natural lakes located in the old town area. The old town area has tremendous architectural, historical and cultural values which need to be protected Now-a-days the process of urbanization and socio-cultural change started with increase in population. Here the question is how to conserve the historical area and its natural heritage. Bindusagar is one of the natural heritage and holy lakes in Old Bhubaneswar. The lake is surrounded by many temples and monuments. The lake receives wastewater and sewage from the surrounding buildings, flowers and offerings from the temples, and other wastes from the ghats. The lake is highly degraded and its water is unsuitable for pilgrims and local residents for bathing or any other religious activity. This paper highlights the proposal for conservation and rejuvenation of the Bindusagar Lake located near the famous Lingaraja Temple of Old Bhubaneswar.

This study has examined the effects of place attachment and its impacts on sustainable development. To perform this, the components of place identity including emotional attachment, place attachment and social bonding which totally constitute theoutput of place attachment, by means ofthe standardized questionnaireconsistingof22questions, measure place attachment in threedomains of(cognitive) the place identity, (affective) emotional attachment and (behavioral) place attachment and social bonding. The relationship between the results of independent variable of place attachment on the sustainable development is visiblein terms of descriptive and inferential. Byelicitingthe responses' results of the present situation of the site on theattachment variables'meanit has been shown low attachment, also, ithas been observed that attachment rates in women aremore than men. However, the result of proposal has shown that the mean of attachment variables represents high attachment, also it has been observed that attachmen trates in women aremore than men. The abover esults confirm the relationship between place attachment and sustainable development.

The aim of this study is to offer a commentary on the sustainability of sustainable design science. After a brief introduction on the subject, key concepts of sustainability are presented and then discussed from the viewpoint of management. Although sustainability may survive in the theory domain, we argue that it is impossible for the concept to survive as a practice under current circumstances. It is vital to draw the attention of top-level leaders to this subject; development can only be realised if the issue is placed on the agenda of top-level decision makers.