The role of façades in the formation of physical identity in the Iranian cities

Abstract

The physical identity in the urban areas can be considered as a concept which is influenced by the way of arranging the urban body. As a matter of fact, the appropriate coordination and the compatibility of physical components, such as the urban façades, can definitely facilitate the reorganization of the urban environment for being more identifiable; this issue is so obvious in the historical Iranian cities which have proper identities in their physical structures. Nowadays, the dominance of contradictory approaches and the absence of a convenient orientation have unfortunately produced inadequate urban façades and have annihilated the physical identity in Iranian cities. Also, the process of globalization and elimination of the cultural differences have greatly undermined the possibility of creating the traditional and contextual memories. In fact, the Iranian urban developments with the lack of comprehensive, endemic, and contextual plans and actions, increasingly decline the urban identity in any aspect and dimension. These types of flaws have specifically brought severe problems such as poor beauty, weak legibility, lack of unity, inappropriate physical integrity, etc., which eventually result in the non-identifiable and depersonalized urban bodies. Thereupon, this article needs some visual information which can intuitively assist to scrutinize the deterioration factors of the physical identity in the Iranian cities. Hence, by choosing the field study method is tried to reach some empirical investigation in order to collect the required visual information through photography. Moreover, at the end of this article is attempted to offer several solutions and arrangements for promoting the physical identity and also healing the depersonalization in Iranian cities.