The Aesthetic of Modern Brickwork Facades of Residential Apartments in Tehran in the Last Two Decades from the Perspective of Critical Regionalism

Document Type : Paper

Authors

1 M.A., Research in Art History, Faculty of Art, Tarbiat Modares University

2 M.A., Research in Art History, Faculty of Art, Shahed University

3 Associate Professor, Faculty of Art, Tarbiat Modares University

Abstract

Mid-rise apartments are currently the most common type of residential buildings in Tehran. In the last two decades, brick facades with unconventional designs and modern patterns can be seen in residential apartments. This paper claims that this trend is a response to the prevailing residential facades and is thus a Regionalist endeavor. Therefore, this study aims to identify key examples of this trend in modern brickwork facades of residential apartments and to examine their responses to factors such as local climate and nature, sustainable architecture, architectural heritage, and regional conditions and limitations. The institutional factor, i.e., approved city ordinances, was also studied to clarify the position of Regionalism. In this descriptive-analytical study, four examples of the urban fabric of different areas of Tehran from the south to the north of the city were selected and analyzed. Qeytariyeh Residential  Building from the 2000s, 40 Knots House, Villa Apartments, and Kahrizak Apartments from the 2010s were described and analyzed with respect to their position in Iranian contemporary architecture and the aesthetic quality of their facade designs. During the last two decades, aesthetic changes can be observed in the expanding trend of modern brickwork facades, which aside from alignment with the three-dimensional modern brickwork in Tehran, bear a critical response to typical residential apartment facades regarding design and execution. In addition to its aesthetic function, the brick in these residential buildings also fulfills climatic and cultural functions. In the construction of these apartments, advanced structural technology and hand-made and machine-made bricks are used to create Regional architectural works conforming to the aesthetics of modern world architecture. From an institutional point of view, the approval of a small exemption from city taxes for brick facades and the attempt to influence facade designs have had some impact on the growth of modern brickwork facades in Tehran.

Keywords

References

پیله‌چی‌ها، پیمان، احسان حیدری‌زادی، و سید بدرالدین احمدی. 1397. ظرفیت‌سنجی پوسته‌های نوین آجری در بازخوانی نقوش بومی با رویکرد گذار به پارامترهای کمی. در آجرستان؛ مجموعه مقالات اولین همایش آجر و آجرکاری در هنر و معماری ایران؛ جلد سوم. ویراستاران مهدی مکی‌نژاد و اعظم حاجی‌علی‌اکبر. 309ـ330. تهران: مؤسسۀ انتشاراتی متن.
جانی‌پور، بهروز. 1385. تأثیرپذیری دوره‌ای نمای ساختمان‌ها از مد و مصالح رایج در معماری معاصر تهران. فصلنامۀ آبادی 16 (52): 40ـ43.
شهابیان، پویان. 1397. اولین همایش ملی نمای ساختمان و سیمای شهر، منتخبی از مقالات. تهران: آذرخش.
طرح جامع تهران. 1385. طرح راهبردی-ساختاری توسعۀ شهر تهران. ویرایش اول. تهران: مدیریت و برنامه‌ریزی تهیۀ طرح‌های توسعۀ شهر تهران.
فرجی، مرجان. 1397. آسیب‌شناسی آجر در ساختمان‌های امروزی. در آجرستان؛ مجموعه مقالات اولین همایش آجر و آجرکاری در هنر و معماری ایران؛ جلد سوم. ویراستاران: مهدی مکی‌نژاد و اعظم حاجی‌علی‌اکبر، 273ـ283. تهران: مؤسسۀ انتشاراتی متن.
کیانی، مصطفی. 1392. جایگاه هنر آجرکاری تزیینی در معماری دورۀ پهلوی اول. نشریۀ هنرهای زیبا-‌معماری و شهرسازی 18 (1): 15ـ28.
گروه شهری همشهری. 1390. تخفیف ویژه برای ساختمان‌های نما آجری. همشهری آنلاین، 24 اردیبهشت 1390. https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/x39dG (دسترسی در 3/6/1399).
محمدی، میترا، و منصور یگانه. 1397. عوامل ارتقاء دهنده کیفیت بصری در آجرچینی پارامتریک نماهای معاصر. در آجرستان؛ مجموعه مقالات اولین همایش آجر و آجرکاری در هنر و معماری ایران؛ جلد سوم. ویراستاران: مهدی مکی‌نژاد و اعظم حاجی‌علی‌اکبر، 87ـ108. تهران: مؤسسه انتشاراتی متن.
مصدقی راد، الهام، 1395. آجر جای خود را در نمای ساختمان‌ها باز کرد. همشهری آنلاین، 27 مهر 1395. https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/349737 (دسترسی در 20/9/1400).
مصوبات شورای اسلامی شهر تهران. 1391. سامان‌دهی طراحی مساجد و ساختمان‌های شهرداری تهران و اصلاح نماسازی ابنیه در شهر تهران. مصوب 03/11/1391. http://laws.tehran.ir/Law/TreeT9ext/180 (دسترسی در 3/6/1399).
مهاجرمیلانی، آزاده، و علیرضا عینی‌فر. 1398. بازشناسی سازمان فضایی مسکن متداول تهران. نشریۀ هنرهای زیبا-‌معماری و شهرسازی 24 (1): 45ـ56.
نوری جمشیدی، زینب، نیما ولی ‌بیگ، و مصطفی کیانی. 1398. مطالعۀ مقایسه‌ای نقوش آجری شهرهای اصفهان و تهران دورۀ پهلوی اول در گسترۀ نمای شهری. نشریۀ هنرهای زیبا-‌معماری و شهرسازی 24 (4): 49ـ59.
Arsh4d-studio: Projects. 2015. Villa Residential. http://arsh4d-studio.com/ (May 8, 2020)
Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten. 2010. Is Critical Regionalist Philosophy Possible? Some Meta-Philosophical Considerations. Comparative and Continental Philosophy 2(1): 11-25. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/ccp.v2i1.11
ـ Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten. 2015. Transcultural Architecture: The Limits and Opportunities of Critical Regionalism. USA: Ashgate.
ـ Caat Studio Projects. 2015. Kahrizak Residential, Building No 01. http://www.caatstudio.com/ (May 8, 2020)
Canizaro, Vincent B. 2007. Architectural Regionalism: Collected Writings on Place, Identity, Modernity, and Tradition. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Dehbashi, Mozayan and Darab Diba. 2004. Trends in Modern Iranian Architecture. In Iran: Architecture for Changing Societies, ed. Ph. Jodidio, 31-37. Torino: Umberto Allemandi & C.
ـDiba, Darab. 2012. Contemporary Architecture of Iran. Architectural Design, 82(3): 70-79.
ـ Frampton, Kenneth. 1983a. Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance. In The Anti-aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture, ed. Hal Foster, 16-30. Washington: Bay Press.
ـ Frampton, Kenneth. 1983b. Prospects for a Critical Regionalism. Perspecta, 20: 147-162.
Frampton, Kenneth. 1995. Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
ـ Frampton, Kenneth. 2007a. Ten Points on an Architecture of Regionalism: A Provisional Polemic. In Architectural Regionalism, ed. V. B. Canizaro, 374-385. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
ـ Frampton, Kenneth. 2007b. The Evolution of 20th Century Architecture: A Synoptic Account. Wien: Springer.
ـ Frampton, Kenneth. 2008. Technoscience and Environmental Culture, A Provisional Critique. In Writing Urbanism, eds. D. Kelbaugh and K. McCullough, 333-44. London: Routledge.
Frampton, Kenneth. 2015. Critical Regionalism Revisited. In Local Architecture: Building Place, Craft, and Community, eds. B. MacKay-Lyons and R. McCarter, 23-30. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
ـ Frampton, Kenneth. 2020. Modern Architecture: A Critical History. 5th Edition. UK: Thames & Hudson.
ـ Giamarelos, Stylianos. 2016. Intersecting Itineraries Beyond the Strada Novissima: The Converging Authorship of Critical Regionalism. Architectural Histories 4(1): 1-18. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/ah.192
ـ Habibeh Madjdabadi: Projects. 2014. 40 Knots House. http://www.habibehmadjdabadi.com/ (May 4, 2020)
ـ Karimi, Pamela. 2013. Domesticity and Consumer Culture in Iran: interior revolutions of the modern era. New York: Routledge.
Karimi, Pamela. 2014. Old Sites, New Frontiers: Modern and Contemporary Architecture in Iran. In A Critical History of Contemporary Architecture: 1960-2010, eds. E. G. Haddad and D. Rifkind, 339-358. Burlington: Ashgate.
Lefaivre, Liane. 2003. Critical regionalism: A Facet of Modern Architecture Since 1945. In Critical Regionalism: Architecture and Identity in a Globalized World, eds. Liane Lefaivre and Alexander Tzonis, 22-55. Munich: Prestel.
Mashhadimirza, Alireza. 2016. Effects of Sounds and Lyrics in Brick Tile Installation; Innovative Methods of Architectural Education. APJ, Article 17, 23(2): 1-11.
Shirazi, M. R. 2018. Contemporary Architectureand Urbanism in Iran: Tradition, Modernity, and the Production of ‘Space-in-Between’. Switzerland: Springer.
Schwartz, Chad. 2016. Introducing Architectural Tectonics: Exploring the Intersection of Design and Construction. UK: Taylor & Francis.
Mostafavi, Mohsen. 2016. Architecture and Plurality. Zurich: Lars Muller Publishers.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture. 2011. Qeytarieh Apartment House. https://archnet.org/sites/6685 (May 4, 2020).
Tzonis, Alexander. 2003. Introducing an Architecture of the Present: Critical Regionalism and the Design of Identity. In Critical Regionalism: Architecture and Identity in a Globalized World, eds. Liane Lefaivre and Alexander Tzonis, 8-21. Munich: Prestel.
Tzonis, Alexander and Liane Lefaivre. 1997. Architecture in Europe since 1968: Memory and Invention. London: Thames & Hudson.
Tzonis, Alexander and Liane Lefaivre. 2012. Architecture of Regionalism in the Age of Globalization: Peaks and Valleys in the Flat World. 1st Edition. London: Routledge.
Tzonis, Alexander and Liane Lefaivre. 2017. Times of Creative Destruction: Shaping Buildings and Cities in the Late C20th. London: Routledge.
https://archnet.org/
Journal of Iranian Architecture Studies
Volume 12, Issue 24
April 2024
Pages 243-261

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics