Seyed Amir Mansouri,
Volume 1, Issue 1 (1-2024)
Abstract
Despite 60 years of urban planning education in Iranian universities and 55 years of centralized government planning for cities based on comprehensive urban plans, which brings uniformity to all, there is a lack of satisfaction among almost two-thirds of the population in cities. Traces of reducing the city to a building layout and seeking a solution about their arrangement are evident in the first approved master design of the city, created by “Victor Gruen” in 1969. Restoration efforts in the “damaged parts” of Iranian cities started a few decades after Western modernists dominated the cities. Redefining restoration was done in imitation of the West, whose own cities were damaged by modernist urbanization. Contrary to the systemic and holistic view, originality in the modernist worldview is an element. This process is more precise and original if it can lead to a smaller element, which is ultimately the atom. According to this perspective, only things that are tangible and observable can be quantified as real. Based on this perspective, different degrees of restoration of objects, buildings, textures, and the city have been defined. “Objectivity” and “thingness” are the themes of restoration in all degrees of this classification. The Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran developed restoration guidelines for identifying, defending, and interfering in valuable urban textures. The common features of all guidelines are the importance of the architectural form and the emphasis on the city as a real and external object. The perceptual layer of the city, which is derived from the observer’s interpretation when facing the city, cannot be replaced by the evolution and expansion of layers of knowledge about the city or even the dimensions of intervention in the city. As a result, improving fundamental data and adding more layers contributing to city knowledge cannot make up for mistakes made concerning city knowledge. Therefore, how can restoration preserve the place’s existence and dynamism if it is based on an architectural form-centered approach and depends on the architectural form’s proportions, shape, and historical functions while ignoring values, and semantic textures?
Dr. Eisa Esfanjary Kenari,
Volume 2, Issue 3 (10-2024)
Abstract
The world is grappling with climatic, environmental, social, and civilizational crises. Conserving natural sources, ecosystems, and cultural legacy as a major cornerstone of sustainable development reinforces natural identity and cultural values and plays a key role in the management of nonrenewable resources. The conservation covers a wide range of elements such as mountains, forests, valleys, rivers, farms, historical monuments, archeological sites, places of common interest and contemporary heritage, industrial heritage, urban greenery areas, and cultural landscapes. These elements, as natural and cultural assets of societies, not only preserve their cultural-historical identity but also function as leverage in sustainability development and serve common interests.
The necessity of conservancy, restoration, and revival of places is well established. The major concern is why the principles of conservation and revival of historical places are confined to themselves and have not been generalized to modern developments. The shortened lifespan of new buildings, early expiration of new buildings, and excessive destruction of old and new buildings have inflicted a burden on the environment. The destruction of buildings means the loss of resources and saved energies, resumption of the cycle of resource extraction, and energy consumption, which results in more destruction. This means today’s world needs maintenance, conservation, and restoration of historical heritage and man-made and natural environments more than ever. It also highlights reconsidering current approaches in architecture, house construction, and urban planning. It is time to have a guideline for planning and making policies for sustainable development in different areas such as architecture, urban planning, environmental planning, land use planning, and housing based on the principles of conservation, restoration, and revitalization in global conventions and national and international charters. Such principles highlight the respect for the environment, natural settings, and cultural and social contexts in which they have been shaped. They also encourage the least intervention and maximum efficiency. However, the principles require reversibility and flexibility of plans and place importance on sustainability, integrity, and comprehensiveness. They also underscore originality, simplicity, readability, and the use of vernacular materials and techniques compatible with the environment, respecting the structures and lived experiences of the past for the use of the present and future generations. Additionally, they stress the continuity and management of changes and protect public interests. With the implementation of such principles, it is likely to strike a stable balance between the needs of the present and future generations, preventing the loss of resources and hoping for the preservation of cultural identity, environment, and sustainable development.
It is expected the officials who are in charge of the protection of cultural and natural heritage consider this issue not just as a civil responsibility but as a strategic necessity and adopt suitable policies to protect cultural and natural heritage. To address this issue, several measures can be taken, for instance, establishing laws and regulations, allocating sufficient budgets for the restoration and maintenance of places and contemporary historical landscapes, considering assets with low efficiency and performance, raising the awareness of people, and encouraging them to participate in the protection of the heritage and natural as well as man-made environments.