The architectural role of monuments in the social sustainability of urban spaces; Case study: the historical texture of Abyaneh village

Abstract

Turbulence and inconsistency of urban physical system in the physical structure of Iran contemporary cities is one of the instances of identity crisis; the weakness of the educational system in the faculties of architecture and urban planning, the promotion of foreign culture in the domestic press, the weakness of the infrastructures of native culture education, the interference of experts from other scientific fields in architecture and urban planning, the weakness of urban management strategies, high expense housing and the necessity to supply housing for the needy people have created a turbulent city with eclectic culture and it made the native culture less prominent than before. The present research introduced the concept of “urban architecture". The main presupposition of research is that the architecture of monuments in the historical texture has sufficient capabilities in the quality of physical structure of city and architects concurrently paid attention to the architectural characteristics of monuments and urban space quality. The purpose of present research is that to investigate the effective architectural factors to improve the social life of urban spaces thus the research question is that “how to architect while constructing architectural structures to shape an urban space with social quality?" The necessity of the study is the role of urban spaces to shape the social life and the significance of the study is the possibility to clarify a “bottom-up" design procedure to consider the concept of “urban architecture", and also to institutionalize qualifications for urban spaces through architectures. The present qualitative research has been conducted with the logical argumentation and causal- interpretative strategies and through documentary- field study in the case study of Abyaneh village. Research findings, while paying attention to the qualitative components of urban spaces resulting from monuments architecture, have proposed strategies to realize the concept of “urban architecture" consistent with the components of social sustainability.