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The current study investigated the impact of perceived instructional strategies in online design studios on student engagement as a multidimensional construct. Given the rapid shift to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding effective teaching strategies and their impacts on student engagement is crucial for enhancing overall student outcomes. The study also examined the role of learning motivation as a mediator in these relationships. A mixed-methods approach was employed, measuring a second-order construct of student engagement based on three reflective dimensions: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. Qualitative interviews with instructors revealed three main instructional strategies utilized in online design studios: learning by doing, learning with interaction, and learning from feedback. The present study analyzed self-report survey responses from 230 undergraduate architecture students across four major universities in Iran, utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Based on the results, the perceived learning by doing (PLD) and learning with interaction (PLI) significantly improve student engagement. In contrast, the perceived learning from feedback (PLF) fails to influence student engagement directly. Additionally, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation mediated the impact of PLI and PLF on student engagement. These findings highlight the importance of effective instructional strategies in online design studios. Additionally, the results provide valuable insights for future pedagogical practices in online education, offering guidance for instructors aiming to enhance student outcomes in this dynamic learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The golden number has been one of the most important measures of beauty from ancient Greece till now. Although the reason still unclear, it is certain that the golden ratio has a direct correlation with beauty. This nice feeling can come from listening to a musical piece or watching a visual art, which is based on this wondrous number. Although the golden number is more suitable from beauty or harmony’s perspective, for some researches it is a requirement to develop Architectural designs. Therefore, in this article a masterpiece (Shah-mosque Isfahan) was investigated to find its golden relations. This mosque was chosen because of the precise and harmonious proportions. In this research: plan, sections, facade and decorations of ceiling tiles in main dome, were analyzed by Phi-matrix software in which, existence of the golden ratio has been proven undoubtedly.

In recent years, attention has focused on improving the health and satisfaction of employees by enhancing visual comfort in workplaces. This involves providing adequate natural daylight, glare control, and outdoor views. Adaptive facades, leveraging technological advancements, have gained popularity for improving indoor conditions but still face issues like window-area glare and insufficient daylight in rear spaces. Previous research indicates that inclined walls can help control glare and allow larger windows with better light distribution. This study examines the integration of an adaptive facade with an inclined wall to improve efficiency. It analyzes visual comfort in three cities with different latitudes and solar radiation angles: Mogadishu, Tehran, and Moscow. Using Grasshopper in Rhino software, the study evaluates visual comfort indices (UDI, ASE, sDA, DGP) for six employees on December 21 and June 21 at 9:00, 12:00, and 15:00. The results show that the integrated system effectively distributes daylight and controls glare, reducing it to 34% in Mogadishu and 29% in Tehran. However, in Moscow, the system is less effective, requiring facade rotation towards the sky to reduce glare to 25%. The research highlights the need to consider more variables such as window-to-wall ratio, material, and employees' position or other objectives like energy consumption and thermal comfort for further research to improve the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The protected area of Margoon Waterfall is the obvious manifestation of special ecological, environmental, economic, social, cultural and historical features and tourist attractions. Now the lack of compatibility between the capacity of the region and the number of tourists has endangered the area. So, this research has been formed to develop sustainable tourism of this region. In the current research, survey method in descriptive--analytic ways have been applied. In order to access treats, opportunities, weak and strong points of Margoon waterfall, first, reasonable documents such as maps and photos of the region have been studied and analyzed. Then tourist's priorities for the presence in the area have been scrutinized by preparation questionnaire. Finally, compatibility between tourist's priorities and natural attractive of the region has been measured in order to delete incompatible activities from vicinity of natural attraction of the bed and present suggestion for sustainable tourism development patterns of protected landscape of Margoon waterfall. Keywords: Natural Landscape, Sustainable tourism, Protected Areas, 1. Introduction, research validity and methods Bearing in mind the fact that natural landscapes have been the manifestation of culture and civilization as well as a means for the formation [...]

Derived from a research work of the same title, this article aims at recognizing the spiritual characteristics of the concept of dynamism and motion in the Iranian traditional architecture as well as its manifestation in the connector spaces of traditional houses. These valuable buildings represent the diversity of movement and stagnation for reaching eternal concepts through reproduction and variation of their elements. An Iranian architect expresses these two concepts of Islamic transcendental goals by contrasting combinations both in form and space. The key questions arising here are: what are the characteristics of movement and stagnation in Iranian traditional houses? What are the concepts of movement and stagnation in the architecture of the connector spaces in traditional houses? To answer these questions, a case study was conducted by combination methods. The required information was collected by desk and field studies. Ten traditional houses in Qazvin were selected as samples. According to the results, the movement both in the form of physical and sensational movements can be identified in traditional Iranian architecture. Physical movement or criteria such as moving in space and eye movement and sensational movement can be analyzed by influencing the feelings of viewers as well as the rest provided by a pause atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research seeks to identify the indicators of nature's presence methods in housing design to explain a theoretical model concerning their effects on providing residential needs regarding monotheistic worldview and the Islamic lifestyle. The research method is descriptive-analytical. Indicators of the methods of nature's presence in the architecture of traditional Iranian houses have been extracted by investigating the theoretical foundations and case studies, through the qualitative content analysis method and the conceptual model of their effects on accommodating the residential needs has been explained by logical reasoning. To determine the importance of indicators and criteria for accommodating residential needs, the Expert questionnaire and the AHP method were used. The results of the correlation test that has been performed on the data obtained from determining the quality of indicators by a group of experts show the significant relationships between some of the different methods of nature's presence in architecture that were classified into four general factors. According to the results, the presence of the conceptual aspects of nature has had the greatest impact on providing the residential needs. In this context, the possibility of a relationship with the primary appearance of nature and applying indicators related to observing the hierarchical principle about determining spatial structure, access, and decoration application, have the greatest impact on providing a suitable context to apply other qualitative aspects of nature and accommodating residential needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem statement: Originality and authenticity of architectural works have been examined from the legal, artistic, restoration of historical buildings, and architectural theory viewpoints. The issue of originality in the contemporary architecture of Iran has been the focus of many specialized and public journals; however, in scientific research’s discourse, criteria are vague. Therefore, the question is what are the criteria of originality and authenticity in contemporary architecture? To scientifically enrich the discourse of originality, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the most important contemporary projects in Iran, was chosen as the case study based on the proposed criteria Research objective:This research aims to clarify the differences and similarities between the terms authenticity and originality and to propose criteria for measuring them in contemporary architectural works. Research method: This research employs mixed interpretive-historical strategies and logical reasoning through consultation with bibliographic data. Conclusion:The “Original” scheme has exquisite features that have not been seen before. An architectural work can be named “Authentic” if it has the following features: 1- imitation of elements or idea, 2- presentation of creativity and innovation in its composition, 3- alliance with and influence on the context and society, and 4- explicitness and honesty. The comparison of the case studies in terms of aspects of form, spatial organization, circulation, and the materials revealed that Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has not presented its distinguished elements of form for the first time, therefore, it cannot be considered “authentic” work from this point of view. Despite these outward similarities, four other criteria can be identified in the scheme of the museum which can give it eligibility to be considered “creditable”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every phenomenon in the world has various levels of meaning, from material to spiritual meaning, which are known as appearance and inwardness or “form” and “semantic features” and are perceived according to individuals’ worldview. In architecture, buildings indicate the meanings at different levels. So what is of particular importance for designer is to gain an understanding of various ways to express meanings. Allegory is one of the various ways to express meanings in the disciplines of literature and art. The present study aims to explain the role of allegory and its application in architecture. To this end, the conceptual and structural properties of allegory in other fields are investigated to fill the theoretical and epistemological gap of its application in architecture using a comparative study. This is also helpful in paving the way to create magnificent buildings as well as in understanding the meanings latent in buildings more deeply. The present study is descriptive, analytical and qualitative research in which the applications of allegory in literature, art, and architecture are compared to answer the key question of what the role of allegory in the expression of meaning. The results of the analyses showed that the allegory plays a key role in the perception of meanings at different levels by making mental concepts more tangible. In architecture, using objective images, allegory creates the intellectual and mental images of the concepts in the audience’s mind and such images have a long lasting effect on the mind. The findings also suggest that the allegory, with a role different from symbols and signs, which have a more abstract function, objectifies and visualizes deep meanings and thereby enabling individuals to understand the meanings using their reasoning. The most important allegories used in Iranian architecture express the monotheism as the highest level of truth and meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zoorkhaneh (House of Strength) is one of the cultural-sport and original buildings in Iranian architecture and it has been the growth and instruction locus of a great many of heroes who have caused the enhancement of the society’s cultural-ethical level through their moralities. In the heart of the Zoorkhaneh’ architectural context, there are latent symbols and signs that can increase their spatial qualities. The architecture of such a special building has been neglected in the history of Iran’s architecture for many reasons. After the Islamic revolution and imposed war, the attentions were directed once again at the zoorkhaneh-based sports and zoorkhanehs’ physique. This study has been carried out in line with manifesting the importance of the symbols existent in the zoorkhanehs and the necessity for their continuation in designing the zoorkhanehs’ physique; the study is also looking for an answer to the question as to “what are the behavioral properties created in the heroes by the signs and symbols in the zoorkhanehs?” The present study’s research method is qualitative of the descriptive-analytical type. In order to reach an answer to the study question, the chart “the process of the environment’s effect on the residents’ behaviors” and the significations of the signs existent in the zoorkhaneh were used. Then, the extracted information has been matched with the heroes’ behaviors. The study is qualitative research of the analytical type. The investigations show that some of the heroic properties stem from the physical signs and symbols in the zoorkhanehs. The entrance of the zoorkhanehs creates such a characteristic as humbleness in the individuals. The platform reminds attendants of such attributes as respecting the elders, paying more attention to the lower social classes and looking for virtuousness. The pit creates such moralities as humbleness, piety, and religiousness, simple living and unity in the individuals and the booth results in hospitality and paying attention to traditions in the athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, interactive architecture is a process-oriented guide to creating dynamic spaces capable of performing a range of pragmatic and humanistic functions. While this architecture is evolving rapidly, its implementation in some developing countries is not very feasible. Iran is one of the developing countries that is seeking to learn more about use of new technologies in the construction industry to create new ideas for the future of architecture. Tehran as the capital of Iran has the proper capacities for implementing interactive architecture. Due to the main focus of the research on the future of interactive technologies in Tehran and to benefit from expert views, the Delphi method was used to collect the required information. According to the new concept of interactive architecture in Tehran, purposeful sampling was applied and only experts who have sufficient expertise in both interactive architecture and contemporary Iranian architecture were selected to respond. After collecting the responses in the questionnaire, they were converted to numerical scales to analyse the impact of the different factors in the future of Tehran's architecture. Results show that in Tehran, in the three main areas of technology, economy and culture, constraints exist for the implementation of real interactive architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem Definition: Quality of natural landscapes is reduced by unconscious intervention which disrupts ecological process of natural beds. Therefore, to revive the values of natural beds, rectification of disturbed natural landscapes is an important issue. Furthermore, it should be noted that this rectification results in comprehensive restoring the natural landscapes. The landscape ecology is one of the earliest approaches used in conservation of natural capitals and values. Goal: The main goal of the current research is to present a landscape restoration method based on the landscape ecology approach. Research procedure: This research has three steps including expression of the research problem, analysis of theoretical bases of the landscape restoration along with the landscape ecology methods, and selection of the proper methods for intervention of landscape designers in natural landscapes using comments of the related experts. These steps are carried out using the descriptive-analytic and survey methods. Conclusion: Based on findings obtained herein, a landscape restoration method comprising five steps is proposed. These steps include 1) survey and deep observation, 2) assessment in the landscape scale, 3) recognition and ecological perception, 4) design and act, and 5) management and control. The authors briefly name the proposed method as SARDM. The proposed method emphasize on presence of designer at the field. This presence leads to better perception of spatial relation between landscape elements. Moreover, it can be mentioned that the proposed procedure enables landscape assessment in both temporal and spatial dimensions. In addition, it matches the conducted assessment with results obtained in step 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous researches have already revealed that Iranians were the first people who located large green spaces in their cities and used them as parks. Nevertheless, most of these spaces were later used for hunting. Even during the Safavid era, Chaharbagh Street in Esfahan was described by travelogues as one of the greatest public green spaces in the world. A look at the old maps, scripts and records shows that the term park was firstly used during the Qajar dynasty instead of bagh in reference to green spaces. It is notable that Tehran's development was specifically sped up during the reign of Qajari king Nassereddin Shah. Nassereddin Shah, who was the fourth king in the Qajar dynasty, reigned about 50 years and this long term is one of the most important and effective periods in regenerating Iranian new urban life. The development of modern knowledge in Europe and the emergence of new technologies had a significant impact on the Iranian culture and civilization. This later led to great changes to the intact and traditional essence of the Iranian culture. Those changes had been addressed from different points of view by researchers. They accordingly illustrated European cultural effects on Iranian (Persian) architecture and urbanism which is one of the most effective changes in Persian culture. Meanwhile, some Iranian (Persian) gardens which were mainly designed based on Eastern ideologies have changed and obtained new forms over time. The researchers for the first time named these gardens as parks. It is notable that these parks that have been shown in Najmolmolk map of Tehran were not used as public spaces. On the other hand, there were some other green spaces in the city that had the name of Public Gardens and were mostly used as playgrounds. An example of this included Golshan-e-Arg Garden which was generally categorized as Bagh-e-Ammeh or public garden in Persian.The present article later discusses some considerable questions: What are the differences between the ancient Iranian gardens that were called bagh and the green spaces which were named parks? Do these new parks have any relevance to the meaning of parks in European culture (although they have been under the influence of European culture)? What are the differences between new modern Persian parks and the earlier ones that had been built in old Tehran around 150 years ago? Persian gardens which are reputable around the world are studied by both Iranian and foreign researchers. Nevertheless, Iranian parks are not sufficiently been studied. Therefore, the present research is focusing on the first park in Iran's history called Ammin-o-Dolleh park. The park takes its name from Mirza Alikhan Ammin-o-Dolleh who was one of the noble people in Qajar dynasty and was best known for his academic qualifications and intellectuality. In course of time, after he designed the very first park, other honorable people were also inspired to follow suit in designing parks. The present article begins by explaining the type of the cultural diversions that happened during the Qajar dynasty as well as its influences on the common culture and social relations in Iran. Later, the article highlights the history of the park under study. Based on available documents, such spaces had certain elements that they made them to be called parks on the Najmolmolk map of Tehran. Both Qajar gardens and Persian old parks had private owners, high walls and boundaries that separated the indoor and outdoor spaces. Besides, both of them may have had foreign gardeners. To some extent, they also may have been built based on European designs. Furthermore, the parks had some features that were imported from Europe. Therefore, the difference between Qajar gardens and the first Persian parks are in their geometry. The present article shows that the first Persian parks used organic geometry which was the main difference to the Persian Qajar gardens which used symmetric geometry. The geometry of the design was organic with no axis as was customary to Persian gardens. Even the palace or the main building in the king's court which was located next to one of the main roads had a different form and style from the Persian design. In addition, these differences were also seen in a number of trees and the landscape designs around them. Accordingly, unlike the modern parks, the first Persian parks were designed with walls that functioned as the boundary for privacy. Based on researches carried out over this issue, even though the very first parks in Tehran had similar names to the existing ones, they have over time developed changes in terms of character, identity, usage and form. Finally, the analysis of the results show that a part of sudden changes in Persian culture occurred as the result of inspirations from Europe especially in art and architecture. These changes eventually made the Persian culture lose a certain degree of its indigenous elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is necessary to recognize masonry domes' behavior under gravity loads in order to strengthen, restore, and conserve them. The neutral hoop plays a crucial role in identifying the masonry dome's behavior to distinguish between its tensile and compressive regions. When it comes to determining the neutral hoop position in a dome with the same brick material, in addition to determining the dome's curve and thickness, the support condition located on the boundary line is a significant parameter that has received less attention in the past. Therefore, this research aims to comprehensively define masonry dome behaviors based on the support condition's effect on the masonry dome's behavior, in addition to thickness and curve parameters, by determining neutral hoop(s). The method is a graphical and numerical analysis to define the sign-changing positioning in the first principal stress (hoop stress), based on the shell theory and extracted from a finite element method (FEM) Karamba3D analysis of a macro-model. The case studies are in four types of supports: condition fixed, free in the X- and Y-axes, free in all axes (domes placed on a drum), and free in all axes (domes placed on a pendentive and a drum). For each support condition, twelve curves and four varied thicknesses for each curve are considered. Results based on the dome's variables show that, in general, four types of masonry domes behavior can be identified: single-masonry dome behavior with no neutral hoop; double-masonry dome behavior where all hoops are compressive with a single neutral hoop; double-masonry dome behavior where hoops are compressive and tensile with a single neutral hoop; and treble-masonry dome behavior with double neutral hoops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]