Analysis of Spatial Configuration Factors Affecting the Visit-ability of Historical Places (Case Study: Qazvin Atiq Mosque and Surrounding Context)

Subject Areas : Urban planning

Hosna  Varmaghani ¹ (Department of Architecture, Qazvin Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran)

Received: 2022-09-11 Accepted : 2023-01-08 Published : 2023-01-21

Keywords: Visit-ability, Spatial Configuration, historical places, Atiq Mosque, Qazvin,

Abstract :

         Historical places and areas as urban signs have many capabilities in planning and developing the urban environment. Among them, the knowledge of how the spatial configuration components affect the ability to visit and use them, which will have an effective role in formulating urban tourism strategies in the routes leading to historical places. In this article, with the help of descriptive analytical method by focusing on the physical dimensions affecting the possibility of visiting historical places by tourists, the effective components have been formulated. And then, with the logical reasoning method, the validity of the indicators in the visit-ability of the historical context is analyzed.The aim of the research is to evaluate the factors of spatial configuration affecting the visit-ability of the Atiq Grand Mosque of Qazvin by studying the body of the building and the area of surrounding context.The research question is which physical approaches play a role in increasing the visit-ability of historical contexts and landmark buildings in them.How are the components of visit-ability in the historical context of Qazvin city evaluated within the case study area?The analysis tool is the specialized software of space syntax and also relying on observations and field studies.The results show that the location of the landmark building within the historical context will have the greatest impact on the possibility and ability to visit; and on the other hand, the natural and artificial elements in the body of the building, space furniture and height proportions in the architectural scale have had a greater effect on the tension and visual/movement attraction and the presence and guidance of the observer towards certain destinations.Extended AbstractIntroduction:Urban tourism is a diverse combination of different activities that is created by combining environmental features and the city's capacity in attracting visitors and providing services. The development of tourism in historical contexts is the strategy of many cities for regeneration. Despite having diverse natural, historical and cultural attractions and benefiting from extraordinary talent and potential in tourism development, historical contexts are practically devoid of noteworthy limits of visit-ability. If these textures are paid attention from the visit-ability aspect, the texture development and the possibility of the tourists' presence and movement will be provided. In this regard, today's urban management, in order to respond to the needs and new technologies, must deal with some cases more than the design of buildings and access networks. And think about creating spaces that will make the city more diverse and attractive and have a greater impact on the connection of citizens, urban spaces and places. Based on this, the current research analyzes spatial configuration factors affecting the visit-ability of historical places and in this context, it will examine the ancient Grand Mosque of Qazvin city and its surrounding context as a case study. Visit-ability is aimed at facilitating presence and movement in touristic passages and routes leading to urban landmarks. The present research, in examining the ways of improving the historical context and tourism development, refers to the visit-ability components and in this context, it studies the historical context of Qazvin city from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. The research questions are which physical approaches play a role in increasing the visit-ability of historical contexts and landmark buildings in it? How are visit-ability components evaluated in the historical context of Qazvin city? Answers to these questions will be followed in the research process.Methodology:The current research has been conducted using a combination of analytical descriptive method and logical reasoning method. Data collection has been done using library studies and field survey and data analysis using qualitative and software methods. The analysis tool in part of the research process is UCL Depthmap specialized software and in part it is the adaptation of field observations and library studies. In this way, the visitability was investigated by studying the theories of tourism in the historical context and factors affecting the urban spaces quality in a descriptive analytical method and its indicators were deduced. Then, these components were compared in the analysis of architectural configuration and urban context with spatial layout indicators so that the research theoretical components can be measured through space analysis software by shape simulation and quantitative values. The study case to investigate the visit-ability in comparison of the architecture and urban context scale is the ancient Qazvin Grand Mosque and its surrounding context. In this study, the main theoretical indicators of visit-ability including access, readability and select-ability were identified, which were measured by 6 syntactic indicators. The research findings analyze the physical and spatial elements of the configuration in achieving maximum visit-ability and the way of their spatial arrangement.Results and discussion:The research findings are analyzed in two parts, including the analysis of the visit-ability quality in the spatial arrangement of the context around the Grand Mosque, as well as the building's configuration itself. The software analysis shows that the presence of small differences in the passages' direction and width, as well as the difference in their discontinuity and continuity state, have major effects on the research indicators' values, and in this way, it changes the condition of visiting the texture and the flow of guiding tourists in the passages of it. Also, since some of the existing roads have been formed as a result of urban developments, they have become wider or they have changed their direction compared to the previous roads. Therefore, investigating the effects of changing configuration on the amount and way tourists choose to visit will organize and improve the existing situation and rethink the way of interventions formed in the road network layout. The field survey reveals that in addition to the spatial configuration, the existence of some activity and physical signs such as the mosque's water-reservoir, Sepah Bazaar, the height of the frontage body, and the people presence in front of it are effective on the visit-ability of the building. On the other hand, the lack of appropriateness of some activities (restaurant-repair) and as a result of crowding and noise pollution, despite the desirability of spatial physical indicators in measuring visit-ability, leads to a decrease in attendance and traffic in the space. However, the vastness of the frontage arena partially prevents the adverse effects of conflicting activities. In addition, some physical signs such as the stepped surface of the sub-entrance corridor and the tree element in the open corridor have led to the readability of the entrance path and ease of orientation. Also, readability in the space arrangement can be checked by analyzing the ratio between connectivity and integration.Conclusion:The findings in response to the first research question showed that the high connectivity of the context resulting from the coordination and coherence between the passages of the whole complex and the internal connection of the context's passages, the presence of distribution axes and the favorable connection with the entire configuration will lead to increasing the possibility of presence and movement in the historical context and improving the ability to visit it. In addition, the landmark building's location on the visible distribution axes has an effect on increasing the possibility of visiting and selecting it from the observer. The space expansion compared to the mass in the sign elements' location increases the possibility of guiding observer in the paths leading to them and the probability of the observer's visit due to the effect on the spatial traffic indicator and visibility limits. The legibility of leading axes to the entrance of the destination building and the spatial organization of the entry hierarchy to these destinations will affect the number of visits to them. Also, people presence inside the building is directly related to the level of transparency and spatial openness. The answer to the second question was done through software analysis and field observations, which showed that the landmark buildings' location within the historical context will have the greatest impact on the possibility and ability to visit. And on the other hand, the natural and artificial elements in the body of the building, space furniture and height proportions in the architectural scale have had a greater effect on the visual/movement attraction and the presence and guidance of the observer towards certain destinations.

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