A conceptual model for designing of the city central squares,with the approach for identity (case study:Taleqani square in Qaemshahr)
Sedighe Alereza Amiri
1
(
فارغ التحصیل دانشگاه علوم تحقیقات تهران
)
Farah Habib
2
(
Associate Professor, Department of Art and Architecture, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University.
)
Keywords: Self-recognition, Architecture design, phenomenology, Symbolism, Settlement,
Abstract :
City centers are as the cultural assets for the country; looking at them, we remember our past history and the life style of our ancestors. In the past, the city center was the initial point that the city was formed around it and it was known as the symbol of the identity for the city. Nowadays, city centers are transformed to the busiest and the noisiest place in the city which have an uncoordinated architecture; so, the affiliations to the city centers are fading day by day and they are losing their identity gradually. The Identity is the main factor for characterization and discrimination of everything.The identity generally and the place's identity particularly are two important subjects which have the main role for the persons, the objects, the communities and the places characterization.City center is one of the main elements of the city identity and because of its role in the city formation; the historical city centers have a special effect on the city identity. The goal of the present article is to obtain a conceptual model for design of city centers with the identity approach. In the present research the theoretical principles related to three subjects of the city center, the main square and the identity are investigated. The methods of librarian studies, field studies, interviewing and questionnaire distribution are used for this research. Accordingly the designing principles for the city centers and main squares and the urban identity are introduced.The theories of some intellectuals such as K. Lynch, I. Bently, A. Rapoport and J. Jacobs are studied.According to the above theories, the five components of the urban spaces identity are: activity, physics, meaning, culture and environment. Two internal samples (including Imam Ali square in Isfahan and Shohada square in Arak) and three overseas samples (including Detroit city center- USA, Piazza del Campo in Siena- Italy, Baghdad city center- Iraq ) are investigated. Finally a conceptual model is proposed based on the identity approach for designing of a city center. Based on the proposed model, as the case study, some strategies are suggested for designing of the city center of Qaemshahr. The center of Qaemshahr was constructed at the first Pahlavi's time and actually this city center was the initial kernel for the city formation. The consequent developments of Qaemshahr reformed the city center to the current shape. On the other hand, there is a high potential for reclamation and organization in the central region of Qaemshahr. This city center confronts with various problems including traffic, destroying the historical and harmonic facade of the Main Square, unimportant or disorder land usages, and inadequate space for traffic of pedestrians and cyclists. City center could be the remembrance of a beautiful portrait of the city, so its design could make a special identity for the city on the citizens’ mind. More over, a good design has the potential to attract many tourists from everywhere in the country and it leads to the cultural and the economic growth of the city.
