سید غلامرضا اسلامی

The present article is intended to analyze the status of architectural education during two periods before and after Cultural Revolution in Iran and in order to interpret approaches and paradigms, methods, and way of its development thereby, it deals with criticism of current situation in the field of architectural education. For this purpose, it has been tried to separate different fields of quantitative and qualitative development of the discussed subject with historical review on formation of architectural academic schools during recent period. The methodology of current research is based on using the relevant information about structure of architectural education in Iran during two major periods, which have been subjected to data- mining by taking an interpretative- historical approach. In addition, the present condition has been criticized with review on the existing theories in this field and afterwards in order to achieve the given result and for conclusion of the contemporary attitudes in Iranian architectural education. Findings have been analyzed according to strategic analysis to disambiguate the process of planning for the future based on internal strong and weak point as well as external opportunities and threats (SWOT) in educational structure of architecture and eventually following to evaluation of today status and position becomes available for access in the future.

Nowadays, huge tendency to fashion and consumerism could be assumed as the origin of identity crisis among women and in their houses. This phenomenon is like a veil between man and the fact of his human being. Given that the physical properties of man-made environments (house) are influenced by human properties and, in return, have an important role in giving identity to their audience, identification of different dimensions of these properties can be useful in the creation of physical environment with the goal of overwhelming such a crisis. In this study, the roots and effects of the tendency toward fashion and consumerism were explored. It is believed that modernism and materialism are the main causes for the current crisis. At the second stage, to understand the nature of relationship between humans and their environments, theories from semiotics, phenomenology, and semantics were studied. After reviewing many sources, it was found out that self awareness is the only way to promote women and their houses’ identities. Finally, using a logical reasoning method, among all reviewed approaches, Endogenous Development Model was confirmed as the best approach to getting out of the kind of crisis explained above. According to the findings, this approach can pave the ground for inhabitants’ growth in addition to creating valuable places with their unique identity.

Different world views and philosophies in defining development problems and their solutions derive currently from different disciplines. They refer in many respects to the principle of cause-effect as a fundamental relationship between phenomena. The history of differing values and attitudes presented in management and design indicates the importance of this relationship. This sort of knowledge and some of the values and attitudes needed by built environment professionals can be explored by the Endogenous Development Model and its associated internal paradigms of production-process and supply-demand relationships. The first is responsible for the evolution of thought in a diachronous space-time dimension and the second causes the generation of typologies created in a synchronous three-dimensional space. Particular emphasis is placed on the meaning of development in the context of endogenous people-centred development. The paper addresses the fact that the means of production and the associated supply-demand mechanism are generated in the west. Indeed, for some today, what is seen as the historical process of “Westernization” may well be rejected outright as a goal for developing countries.

Technology affected human life in many ways in different eras of mankind history. Today, the information and telecommunication technology has revolutionized basic structures of human life. Changes are from the whole to the parts and vice versa, which include family and society too. Family lost its former structure in the information age and differentiated from patriarchy family. Societies have been formed based on logic of networking and new network societies are predominant form of our societies with their advantages and flaws comparing with the traditional societies. Basic concepts of the life i.e. space and time also have been transformed and living in space of flows and concurrency of functions require a special structure or body. Architecture constitutes the body of our societies which must meet physical and mental needs of humankind. In a transforming world, architecture is connecting ring between society and surrounding environment, previous traditions and future world, which its borders between reality and virtuality are very close. Architecture with a global-local approach can assist human who is wondering in the virtual world to redefine its own identity and finds its position in labyrinth of global networks and also safeguards his survival via respecting nature and paying attention to sense of place as one of the principles of vernacular and traditional architecture. Technology has affected on the architectural design, leading to creation of new shapes and distinct erections. Architectural design by employing networks and collective intelligence, overcome temporal and spatial limits and became a collective activity. Architecture by creating spaces according to global, regional and local considerations and emphasis on principles of design supported by collective intelligence and strengthening bonds among the human, nature and technology, will act as a panacea which will heal crisis of identity and cultural multitude; the crisis that storm out human body and soul in our present stressful world.

In recent decades, the theory of Sustainable Development has been introduced to several strands of science. This theory and its special view to communities (Sustainable Community Development) as the cell of urban life, demonstrates the solution to urban problems by highlighting the meaning of city neighborhoods. In the local scale, it is essential to use a collaborative process of development, which is based on the active participation of local people as social capital. In this way, the perception of local residents of a collaborative process is what makes this process successful or otherwise. This article identifies the perception of local residents towards the collaborative process and its positive and negative aspects. This is done using the “Deep Interview” and “Focus Group Discussion” techniques, deployed within the Jolfa Mahalla community, as a sample urban neighborhood in Tehran, with a rich historical background and strong social networks. This paper aims to argue that the lack of participatory culture between people and local residents can lead to the breakdown of relationship and communication between them, but more importantly, the absence of local urban spaces in neighborhoods further augments this problem. Thus, making suitable local spaces encourages people to participate in local development projects.