Yazd

Integration and coherence within a city’s physical structure have become an issue for towns and cities as they rapidly expand, incorporate new elements, and undergo incessant changes. At present, we are facing an extensive accumulation of signs and traits in modern urban patterns; many unaccustomed to and incongruous are affecting the socio-cultural and physical characters of cities. Here, we will be discussing whether it would be feasible to create a system of domestic signs which would reflect domestic social values and mental images held and entertained by citizens, and thus to re-create the sign system of cities. We will also discuss factors involved in interpretation of signs and symbols within a city structure. To prevent emergence or exacerbation of contradiction and disunity within syntagmatic urban structures which have been formed through centuries, we must acquire the knowledge and skill necessary to contain the newly adopted elements and assimilate them into a meaningful and coherent whole. In line with this goal, we have conducted a study of changes of physical structures of the city of Yazd through time (a diachronic analysis) with the aim of identifying sustainable parts of the city’s sign system and with an emphasis on the extent in which it has been formed. The questions which were the motivations behind this work and which we will be trying to answer are: Can the sign system within a city be used as a means for creating an alternative structure within the city’s physicality? Is the sign system (as a tool) characterized by specific patterns on whose identification the coherence of the physical structure of a city depends? How can we achieve an appropriate paradigm within an urban sign system? Here we will try to identify processes of integration of modern urban structures into a city structure, and we will do it through combining views held by semiologists with the ideas of urban incongruity and contradiction, which arise as a result of introduction of modern structures into old cities. To transform the medley into a coherent entity, we need to be aware that cities possess markedness. To this end, we have employed the structuralist analytical method with an emphasis on identification of syntagmatic structures (identifying the structural elements and their relative positions within a city) and of paradigmatic patterns (the ways in which elements substitute for or replace one another). Our main aim here is to extend the scope of studies of urban semiology and introduce analytical tools including the use of structuralism theory in the analysis of urban patterns. We have conducted an in-depth analysis of subjective and objective causes of appearance of signs within cities. We have then conducted case discussions as well as discussions about backgrounds and have tried to establish past and current trends of these signs and symbols in Yazd. Extended data were analyzed based on theoretical notions, paradigms and principles governing systems of signs and symbols have been sought.

This paper investigates the function of windcatchers in dry regions in Middle East and compares them in different fields in two areas including Yazd-Iran, and Egypt. The study exامینes windcatchers in these areas in terms of cooling system and forms, with different plans, forms, constituent components and decorations.Reassessment of windcatchers in these areas can shed light on these differences. Survey was carried out by systematic comparison sampling. Comparison of windcatcher components and performance in two areas of the Middle East can result in a comprehensive understanding of the differences in these two areas. However, to keep factors affecting windcatcher components constant, two windcatchers in two similar regions are investigated.Case comparison between windcatchers in Iran and Egypt in terms of the constituent components can be informative about the windcatcher architecture in two regions with similar climates and different cultures and can give us general knowledge of the issue. Findings of the research have shown that windcatchers have formed a cooling system in the Middle East traditional buildings and their primary function is conditioning using the wind renewable energy. The cooling system works in two ways: through displacement and displacement and evaporation. The latter has been particularly used for hot and dry climate. In hot and arid regions of the Middle East, the windcatcher shapes were determined according to the prevailing wind direction.

Given more than seven thousand years of urbanization and highly diverse topographic and geographical conditions, Iran is one of the treasures through the world's architectural history. Climatic diversity, on the one hand, and long history of living, on the other hand, has led to noteworthy and valuable achievement in architecture and urbanization within this country. However, these elements are less utilized in today architecture. Urban life, technological advances and excessive economical demands have extremely made people apart from the nature and formed their mind within an iterative mechanized order. Furthermore, human being is a part of nature and his/ her close relationship to the nature provides him/her with survival and longevity. In Iranian houses, a space indicating relationship between human and nature is courtyard. Central courtyards within vernacular houses in Yazd provided inhabitants with terrific living conditions and enhanced their living quality by utilizing natural elements such as water, wind, light, and plants. Today, due to providing more houses regardless of their quality, not only are natural elements ignored in human life; but also in many cases, buildings do not have essential features of living. This paper attempts to explore how to create and enter natural elements in apartments. This paper aims to investigate natural elements on vernacular houses in Yazd. A descriptive, analytic methodology along with a case study (vernacular houses in Yazd) were employed and data was collected through library and field research.

INTRODUCTION: The development and application of new firefighting technologies are inevitable considering an increase in the number of smart technologies, the widespread use of technologies in various industries and all domains of human societies, utilization of polymeric materials in the tools and infrastructure of societies, as well as the production of new structures with diverse uses, and their aggregation together. The occurrence of massive disasters due to the lack of development and application of safety along with technology is the result of neglecting safety in the development process and social progress. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the implementation of smart fire management using the fuzzy approach. METHODS: This descriptive-analytical study was designed based on an applied research method. Initially, all factors influencing the implementation of smart fire management were extracted from the literature. They were then evaluated based on experts and university professors' opinions. Following that, three types of questionnaires were distributed among the experts. The study population included 15 university experts and managers in the Fire Organization in Yazd, Iran. FINDINGS: The results showed that "command and operations", "integration of smart firefighting systems", "clear business plan and vision", "effective change management", "equipment", "cooperation between the business association and information technology" and "management support" obtained positive D-R and were considered causes. CONCLUSION: The "integration of smart firefighting systems" was regarded as the most effective factor, followed by "organizational resource planning", "exchange system", and "communication system" that ensure the success of these systems. This improves information flow and decision-making process, especially in a crisis.