Evaluating the importance and application of natural signs and environmental symbols in contemporary Iranian architecture
Authors
Abstract
Symbols and signs stand out as prominent indicators in Iranian architecture. The present research aimed to investigate the importance and application of natural motifs and environmental symbols in contemporary Iranian architecture. This mixed methods research was conducted by analytical and correlational methods. Data were collected using library surveys, observation, questionnaire and Delphi panel, and were analyzed by analytic hierarchy process and statistical methods. The results showed that the environmental symbols in the traditional architecture of Iran included three categories: four main states of matter (four elements: earth, air, fire and water), plant motifs and animal motifs; four main states of matter have been of special importance in both pre- and post-Islamic eras. In the post-Islamic era, the importance and role of symbols changed so that plant motifs were widely used more than animal motifs. Among the sub-criteria, the symbol “earth” had the highest weight (0.966), followed by the symbols “water” (0.874) and “air” (0.863). The lowest weight (0.318) belonged to the symbol “camel”. In the case study of samples between 1941 and 1981, it was found that four elements and plant motifs were observed in 60% and 30% of the samples, respectively, while animal motifs were not used in any of the studied samples. To conclude, the animal motifs, unlike four elements and plant motifs, have not had an impact on contemporary architecture.
Keywords
- Environmental symbols
- Four main states of matter
- Animal motifs
- Plant motifs
- Contemporary architecture
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