https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/ Journal of Iranian Architecture Studies en daily 1 Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115236.html Kashan was one of the most important centers for the production of exquisite ceramic mihrabs during the medieval period; consequently, less attention has been paid to other types of mihrabs in this city. Among these are stucco mihrabs, of which only a few examples from the Seljuk and Ilkhanid periods have survived in the region. After a long hiatus, numerous stucco mihrabs from the Qajar era reappear in Kashan, notable both for their abundance and for their decorative features and inscriptions. Thirteen dated examples have been identified, constructed between 1780 and 1859. Ten of these are located within the city of Kashan, and three are in the surrounding areas. A significant observation is that all the mosques examined in Kashan feature a deviated qibla angle. This article, based on field research, examines various aspects, including the analysis of inscriptional content and the formal structure of the mihrabs. The inscriptions contain the names of God, Quranic verses, hadith, poetry, salāwāt-i kabira (blessings upon the fourteen infallibles), and shahādat-i thālitha (Third Testimony). Formal characteristics include the use of Shirazi muqarnas, simple layered stucco carving (found in only four examples), polychrome tile dados, and mineral-pigment painting on plaster surfaces. To resolve the issue of the oblique qibla direction, Kashan’s architects designed the mihrab walls in a pentagonal form. The second side wall, either from the right or left, bears the inscription of the shahādat-i thālitha, indicating the direction of the qibla. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115652.html When Tabaristan was annexed to the Islamic Caliphate, more than a century had passed since Arab domination of Iran, and during this time, social and spatial changes had gradually occurred in the major cities of Iran. Sheltered by the mountains of northern Iran and under the rule of the Espahbadans, Tabaristan remained relatively immune to change despite the conflicts. Most of the information about the situation at this time is understood from the text of historical accounts, and little is known from architectural and archaeological evidence. Natural and human events, and in general, the events of the past, have disturbed the ancient evidence, especially in the plains and cities, and there has been little targeted and extensive research. The city of Amol was the center of Tabaristan and one of its important cities in ancient times and the early centuries after Islam. One of the first actions of the Caliph's agents in Tabaristan was the foundation of the Jame Mosque in the middle of the second century AH. Therefore, it can be assumed that the Jame Mosque is a key point in understanding the transformation of the Sassanid city into a post-Sasanid city. By asking the question, what were the architectural characteristics of the Jame Mosque of Amol in the early centuries of the Hijri and what was its relationship with the city? To answer this question, the research was conducted using the "historical-interpretive" research method and an interdisciplinary approach that enables understanding the intertwined relationship between the mosque and the city. The sources that can be studied and analyzed are historical geography books and local histories such as the History of Tabaristan. The results show that this mosque was probably a pillared Shabestani type with a courtyard in the middle and was transformed some time later by the construction of a Maghsure (dome). The starting point of the transformation of the Sassanid city to the post-Islamic era was the Jame Mosque, which was founded in the inner context of the city, and spread to other parts, including the bazaar with rows around the Jame Mosque. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115256.html Study of vernacular architecture of Iran, due to its connection with cultural, social, climatic features and ways of life, holds an important position in understanding the physical and spatial systems of the country. One of the less-known areas in this field is the architecture of villages and scattered settlements, which, because of the lack of documentation and destruction caused by natural and human factors, has confronted researchers with difficulties. Historical investigations show that, until before the Pahlavi period, socio-political conditions and widespread insecurities led houses in many regions to be constructed in the form of fortified castles. Therefore, the study of historically inhabited castles can serve as a reliable reference for understanding vernacular housing in lesser-known regions, enriching vernacular architectural research. This study, aiming at the typology of historically inhabited castles, analyzes their functional and spatial-physical characteristics. The research method is qualitative and includes description and analysis, comparative examination, and case studies. Findings indicate that the typology of these castles requires attention to two elements of scale (urban, neighborhood, and architectural single-building) and function. Based on this, nine main types were identified. Then, twenty-four case studies of historical castles of Iran were selected to cover all scales and functions. The cases were analyzed according to the spatial-physical components of each scale. Results show that at the urban scale, spatial skeleton, urban morphology, and street network; at the neighborhood scale, geometric form, texture granulation, and street network; and at the architectural scale, spatial-functional organization and hierarchy play determining roles in typology. Finally, all cases were placed in the typology table, and their spatial-physical similarities and differences were examined. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115668.html The Qaysariyyah of Kashan was a luxurious bazaar built during the Safavid period and gradually forgotten by the end of the Qajar period. However, an important area within the Kashan bazaar is known as Qaysariyyah. The aim of the present research is to examine the process of gaining importance of the immediate surrounding area of Qaysariyyah bazaar in the second half of the Qajar period and to identify the new definition that the Qaysariyyah area finds in the city. For this purpose, using a historical approach and employing primary sources, the characteristics and functions of the spaces within the area and the activities of individuals associated with them were examined, and the position of these spaces in the city was determined. The results of this research show that although the Qaysariyyah Bazaar of Kashan did not possess its former grandeur in the Qajar period, the location of the chaharsu of the Qaysariyyah bazaar, at the intersection of two main arteries of the city of Kashan, caused its immediate surrounding area to become increasingly important. In the second half of the Qajar period, the Miyanchal Madrasa was transformed into a religious, ritual and social center, which was administered by prominent clerics from a single family. With the construction of three timchehs, the area was transformed into an important commercial center, especially for the exchange of textiles. The madrasa and the timchehs opened onto the Miyanchal Bazaar and the Bazzazan Bazaar; therefore, these arcades were larger and more orderly than the others. The junction of these two arcades, in the south of the Qaysariyyah bazaar, was so crowded that three inscriptions, containing royal decrees and governmental orders, were mounted on the wall of the Miyanchal Bazaar so as to be in public view. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115359.html Windcatchers, as key climatic and symbolic elements, play a crucial role in shaping the identity of the skyline in desert cities. Despite Qom’s rich architectural heritage, the chronological and physical evolution of its tower-style windcatchers has remained overlooked compared to cities like Yazd and Kashan. Consequently, many of these elements have been destroyed during modern urban development. This study employs a historical-interpretive approach and a case study strategy to reconstruct the emergence and evolution of Qom’s tower windcatchers from the Safavid to the Pahlavi eras. To this end, 68 Iranian and foreign travelogues were reviewed. By meticulously verifying the dates of the authors' presence in Qom, visual documents—including engravings, paintings, and historical photographs—were analyzed using timeline and historical calendaring techniques. Analysis of the documents reveals that during the early Safavid period (the works of Olearius and Chardin), tall tower windcatchers were absent from Qom’s skyline. The first signs of vertical elements resembling windcatchers appeared in the late Safavid era (Bruyn, 1704). They reached their peak in diversity and frequency during the Qajar period (the works of Flandin, Laurens, and Naseri-era photographers). The findings indicate that tall windcatchers were primarily concentrated in the urban fabric surrounding the Holy Shrine. At the same time, the older eastern sectors (Meidan-e Kohneh) lacked these elements. This research demonstrates that tall tower windcatchers in Qom are a relatively late phenomenon compared to the city’s primary core, emerging in the late Safavid and stabilizing during the Qajar era. The innovation of this study lies in providing a visual chronology of Qom’s skyline transformations, illustrating the gradual decline of this element starting from the early Pahlavi era due to the introduction of modern cooling systems and new urban street layout. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115591.html Abductive reasoning is widely recognized as a fundamental core of design thinking; understanding it is therefore essential to the design domain, particularly in relation to how it operates within architectural design practice. Such understanding requires a comprehensive examination of abductive reasoning in terms of its conceptual dimensions and characteristics, as well as its relationship to the processes of design activity. This study aims to identify and organize the key attributes of abductive reasoning and to elucidate its role in architectural design practice. The research adopts a qualitative approach based on thematic analysis and employs a systematic review following a seven stage protocol. The research corpus initially consisted of 46 sources retrieved up to August 2025 from three databases—Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect. After quality appraisal and the removal of duplicates, 14 journal articles and one book chapter were selected for analysis. The data were examined through coding and interpretive thematic analysis. The findings resulted in a cyclical conceptual model comprising five interrelated conceptual clusters: the nature of abductive reasoning; activation contexts and triggers; cognitive mechanisms; operational strategies; and individual characteristics and outcomes. The results indicate that abductive reasoning is activated when designers encounter ambiguity. Through processes such as framing and visualization, it progresses toward conjectural testing and reflective evaluation, ultimately leading to sensemaking, holistic understanding, innovation, and originality in design practice. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115408.html The concept of "living heritage" goes beyond a material- based or constructivist perspective on heritage, emphasizing the continuous relationship between inhabited communities and their heritage. This study introduces the concept of "Inhabited living heritage," aiming to construct a conceptual framework grounded in existing theoretical literature on living heritage, and refining it by utilizing the concepts of "continuity and change," "spatial practice," and "habitus" from Henri Lefebvre and Pierre Bourdieu. This approach seeks to understand how successive generations experience life in historic homes. The findings of this research highlight the role of the inhabited community and the continuity of daily activities in the process of producing and reproducing space and sustaining dwelling in residential heritage. It also introduces examples of historical houses in Iran to illustrate how these concepts can be employed to understand inhabited living heritage. According to this study, the dwelling continuity in inhabited living heritage is achieved when residents, through their daily lives and the repetitive enactment of cultural and familial practices in space, reproduce tangible and intangible heritage and adapt spaces to meet contemporary needs. This ongoing process of change and continuity occurs uniquely in each spatial and temporal context, leading to the preservation and strengthening of heritage. Thus, inhabited living heritage provides a foundation for the continuity of experiences and the manifestation of individual and collective identity, necessitating a bottom-up, inside-out approach to heritage preservation, and participation and active resident involvement in this process. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115608.html Contemporary shopping centers, beyond their economic function, can act as semi-public environments that support presence, staying activities, and social interactions. Although sociability has been widely addressed in previous studies, a considerable part of the literature has either focused on perceptual and behavioral qualities of commercial environments or examined spatial configuration independently through Space Syntax indicators. Accordingly, the relationship between spatial configurational capacities and the physical–functional components of sociability in contemporary shopping centers, particularly in the context of Isfahan, has remained insufficiently explained through a comparative approach.This study aims to assess the sociability of contemporary shopping centers in Isfahan by simultaneously comparing field-observation data and visual spatial-configuration analysis. The research is applied in purpose and adopts a mixed-method approach based on a comparative case-study strategy. Four contemporary shopping centers at the social scale, positioned between neighborhood-scale and regional-scale centers, were selected according to their different spatial-organization patterns. In the first analytical path, the physical and functional components of sociability were extracted from the theoretical literature and evaluated using a field-observation checklist based on a five-point Likert scale. In the second path, visual spatial configuration was analyzed using the Space Syntax method and Depthmap software. The analysis included visual connectivity, visual integration, visual depth, visual entropy, and visibility-related characteristics.The findings indicate that sociability in shopping centers results from the simultaneity of spatial legibility, permeability, visual continuity, opportunities for staying, diversity of activities, and the quality of pause and gathering spaces. The theoretical contribution of the study lies in clarifying that Space Syntax indicators do not directly measure sociability; rather, they reveal the spatial and visual capacities that may support it. When combined with systematic field observation, these indicators provide a more precise framework for analyzing sociable shopping centers. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115409.html Eventification refers to the organization of events in places with the aim of strengthening the bond with places, fostering social interaction, enhancing cultural understanding, and shaping and branding the image of a place. The present study, with an emphasis on the place–time qualities of eventification, examines the impact of events in the Sa’dabad Cultural Complex—one of the historical ensembles that hosts events. Based on the literature, six main objectives of eventification in historical complexes and sites are specifically identified: 1. Changing the mental image, 2. Responding to changing needs and creating experiential opportunities, 3. Strengthening economic and social ties in historical sites, 4. Re-engaging audiences, 5. Transforming experiences into narratable memories, and 6. Enhancing the quality of place.Based on these objectives, through a mixed questionnaire, the events in the Sa’dabad Cultural Complex are evaluated and studied from the viewpoint of event participants (both with prior museum visit experiences and without) as well as site visitors (without experience of attending events). The findings of the study of eventification in the Sa’dabad Cultural Complex indicate that the experience of events has had a significant effect on creating a vivid and strong mental image of the place, fostering curiosity and a desire for deeper knowledge of the site, generating new experiential opportunities, reinforcing stronger economic ties with the community, transforming experiences into narratable phenomena, motivating repeated visits, and increasing the sharing of memories. Regarding the response to changing cultural and social needs, motivation to stay longer and spend extended periods in the place has shown positive changes, though not significantly different from the experiences of those who did not attend events. In addressing human needs and improvements in the experiences of both groups, however, certain shortcomings are perceived. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115420.html The feeling of thermal comfort in religious spaces is one of the key factors affecting the quality of worship and spiritual concentration of worshippers. The presence of temperature and humidity outside the desired range not only leads to thermal dissatisfaction but also leads to a decrease in comfort, creates restlessness, and disrupts the quality of worship. The present study aims to investigate the experimental effect of the levels of humidity variables (50 and 70 percent), the duration of people's presence (20, 40, 60, and 80 minutes), and the amount of carbon dioxide (600 PPM with mechanical ventilation and 1600 PPM without mechanical ventilation) on the feeling of thermal comfort of worshippers in mosques in a laboratory climate chamber. This study was conducted using a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) between groups over four months (December to March 2024) with the participation of 160 men in Ilam city. It was analyzed using SPSS version 27 software. The results of the statistical analysis of this study indicate a significant effect of environmental factors on the feeling of thermal comfort of worshippers in mosques. The findings indicate that relative humidity of the air, as one of the environmental quality components, plays a significant role in determining the thermal comfort of the architectural space (p<0.05). Also, carbon dioxide concentration and the duration of the presence of worshipers, as independent factors, affect the thermal comfort index of worshipers (p<0.05). It is noteworthy that there is a significant interaction between relative humidity and the amount of carbon dioxide (p<0.05), which indicates that the combination of these two factors can change the structure of the thermal comfort balance in the architectural environment. However, other interactions, including the relationship between the duration of presence with relative humidity and carbon dioxide, were not statistically significant and no noticeable effect was observed on the thermal comfort status. The results showed that maintaining humidity at the optimal level of 50% and controlling the concentration of carbon dioxide at 600 ppm, as two key factors, are a necessary condition for creating a desirable environment, especially in the long-term presence of worshipers in mosques. This finding emphasizes the need for coordinated design of ventilation and humidification systems in mosques, such that simultaneous provision of desirable air quality and humidity, especially during longer occupancy hours (such as congregational prayers or religious ceremonies), should be prioritized. Therefore, combining passive solutions (such as appropriate materials and natural ventilation) with active systems controlling humidity and air quality can lead to the design of sustainable religious spaces and enhance the spiritual experience of worshippers. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115450.html The World Heritage site of Persepolis has faced increasing exposure to climate change-related threats over the past few decades, highlighting the urgent need to reassess conservation approaches and develop effective adaptation strategies. This study examines the dimensions and impacts of climate change on the Persepolis site and analyzes the role of local community participation in formulating and implementing adaptation strategies. The main research problem concerns the site’s increasing vulnerability to climate-related hazards, particularly prolonged droughts and intense rainfall events, and their effects on water resources and local livelihoods, especially among farmers in the Marvdasht Plain. These processes have created management challenges and tensions between site authorities and local residents. Methodologically, the research identifies causal links between climate change, groundwater depletion, the persistence of traditional agricultural practices, and the development of hazards such as land subsidence in the region. The study adopts a qualitative, participatory approach and uses the inSIGHT game as the primary tool for collecting social, perceptual, and experiential data. The theoretical framework draws on community-based participation theories, environmental sociology, and climate change risk management, all of which regard local communities as active agents in knowledge production and decision-making processes. The findings show that climate-related hazards, particularly long-term droughts and heavy rainfall events, pose direct threats to the structural stability of the ancient monuments of Persepolis and increase pressure on water resources and local livelihoods. This, in turn, intensifies management conflicts and reduces the effectiveness of conservation measures. The results also show that the vulnerabilities of the heritage site and surrounding communities are closely interconnected and mutually reinforcing, meaning that neglecting either one weakens the sustainability of the other. The study concludes that sustainable adaptation strategies require a comprehensive vulnerability assessment and the active participation of local communities. Accordingly, improved regional infrastructure, sustainable agricultural practices, continuous monitoring systems, and community capacity-building are proposed as key measures. Coordinated collaboration among local communities, governmental bodies, and international organizations is identified as an essential condition for safeguarding cultural heritage, the environment, and local livelihoods in the face of increasing climate change impacts. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115471.html Jundishapour University of Ahvaz, in line with the Pahlavi government’s nationalist policies, was presented as the heir to the Sasanian-era Jundishapour. From its establishment in 1955 until the early 1970s, its development remained limited. However, in the decade before the Islamic Revolution, it expanded rapidly, leading to the establishment of the Jundishapour University Campus in Ahvaz. The architectural requirement for this new campus was defined as design in the “authentic Iranian style” and “according to the traditional principles of Iranian architecture,” which led to the invitation of Mohammad Reza Moghtader, Kamran Diba, and Mozhan Khadem to design its buildings. The result was a rare and valuable example of modern Iranian architecture, offering a setting in which several of Iran’s most experienced architects collaborated to reinterpret and contemporize traditional architectural principles. Using a historical-interpretive approach and newly uncovered archival documents, this study examines each architect’s contribution through a formal analysis framework that includes relationships with neighboring buildings, spatial adjacency, geometry, formal structure, ornament, and symbolism. The architectural approaches are classified as physical, referring to direct formal references to historical architecture; physical-conceptual, referring to the reinterpretation of historical architectural concepts with perceptible fidelity to tradition; and conceptual, referring to the creation of new forms inspired only by historical architectural ideas. Moghtader, Diba, and Khadem represent these three categories, respectively. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115472.html The primary objective of structural education in architecture is to equip students with the ability to meaningfully apply structural knowledge within the architectural design process, thereby improving the quality and performance of architectural outcomes. However, whether current undergraduate architecture curricula in Iranian universities adequately support this objective remains an open question. This study evaluates the extent to which the existing structural education curriculum supports the implementation of structural knowledge in architectural design and identifies its main strengths and shortcomings. The study draws on Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (RBT) and the concept of meaningful learning, which frames cognitive development from basic memorization to higher-order application in complex tasks such as architectural design. A mixed-methods research approach was adopted in three sequential stages: (1) comparative analysis of structural education syllabi across selected undergraduate architecture programs in Iran; (2) data collection through a semi-structured Likert-scale questionnaire administered to experienced architecture faculty members (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.725); and (3) qualitative analysis of interviews and open-ended responses using thematic analysis. The evaluation framework addressed three dimensions of structural knowledge, namely declarative, conceptual, and procedural knowledge, alongside the educational environment and curricular coherence. The findings show that the current curriculum primarily focuses on declarative structural knowledge, with a moderate level of responsiveness in this domain. By contrast, conceptual structural knowledge, which concerns the understanding of structural behavior and form-performance relationships, and procedural structural knowledge, which concerns practical engagement with structural strategies within design processes, receive insufficient attention, despite faculty members identifying both as having a high to very high impact on architectural design. In addition, syllabus analysis shows that direct structural education accounts for less than 6.5% of total curricular credits and remains largely theoretical, while practical and design-oriented components play a marginal role. In response to the research questions, the study concludes that the prevailing imbalance among cognitive levels, favoring lower-order declarative knowledge, significantly limits meaningful structural learning and its implementation in architectural design. However, the provision of foundational structural principles is a relative strength of the curriculum; its main limitations lie in insufficient development of conceptual and procedural knowledge, marginalization of practice-based learning, and weak integration between structural courses and architectural design studios. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115514.html In the field of Islamic architecture, identifying an appropriate position for Islamic principles within the design process requires further investigation. Accordingly, this research explains the process of realizing Islamic architecture by drawing on the findings of theorists in architectural design processes. The concept of a “primary generator” within the design process provides a suitable perspective for receiving initial ideas for architectural creation, through which foundational architectural concepts and issues stressed in Islamic narrative sources are processed and translated into architectural decision-making. Within the subject of housing, this approach introduces the primary generator of “Dar” and that of “Bayt.” The primary generator of Dar focuses on the concept of presence within the house, namely the presence of household members together or with guests, which can be examined at any given moment. The primary generator of Bayt, by contrast, refers to the characteristics of the dwelling and its temporal transformations, which may be affected by changes in household composition. To clarify this perspective, the primary generators of Dar and Bayt are examined through the case of the Rouhani House in Qom. This house was selected because the number of resident families increased and decreased over time, and because information about the house and its inhabitants was available. Under ideal conditions, the primary generator of Bayt changes across different periods, whereas the primary generator of Dar retains relative stability. The responsiveness of the house results from enabling desirable presence for different users and allowing spatial transformation, including the separation or combination of units over time. The study uses logical reasoning in its first section and field research in its second section, including interviews, behavioral observation, and documentation of user activities. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115515.html The revitalization of Tehran’s qanats in the context of water scarcity is a multidimensional phenomenon that has shifted from a purely technical endeavor into a complex arena of power relations. In addition, insufficient attention to the socio-urban dimensions of revitalization has contributed to the failure of rehabilitation projects and deepened stakeholders’ distrust. This qualitative study analyzes the perceptions and experiences of key stakeholders in the revitalization of selected qanats in Tehran, using the theoretical framework of Urban Political Ecology (UPE). The UPE approach allows the study to examine the intersection of politics, economics, and the environment in the formation of urban space. Data were gathered through content analysis of 15 authoritative sources, including speeches, articles, and documents, from experts in qanat systems, urban planning, and academic scholars. The data were analyzed using MAXQDA software, following the systematic methodology of Strauss and Corbin. The findings led to the extraction of three main themes: (1) the governance gap, indicating a disconnection between institutional strategies and local knowledge, community needs, and genuine participation in project implementation; (2) morphological resistance, referring to the passive and structural response of the city’s physical and social fabric to the symbolic revitalization of qanats, reflected in mechanisms such as the destruction of physical boundaries and land-use changes; and (3) the commodification of qanats, denoting their functional shift toward tourism-oriented and symbolic purposes. These three themes show that qanat revitalization in Tehran is not merely a technical or physical issue, but a means of representing spatial contestations and a domain in which tensions within the geography of power, urban policy, and social relations become visible. Therefore, sustainable and effective outcomes in these projects require moving beyond approaches limited to physical restoration toward a comprehensive, participatory, and power-sensitive framework. This approach must place the re-establishment of a living, reciprocal relationship among ecology, community, and the city at its center, while stressing collaboration among all stakeholders. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115416.html In recent decades, urban development, together with growing demographic and functional demands, has significantly transformed the spatial and physical structure of Zavareh. As one of the notable examples of traditional Iranian cities, Zavareh has undergone a gradual transition from its historic fabric toward new, modern urban forms. This process has changed spatial organization, land-use distribution, and patterns of internal connectivity within the urban fabric. This article reviews the existing literature and examines the fundamental differences between the spatial structure of Zavareh’s traditional fabric and its contemporary urban fabric, based on Christopher Alexander’s theory of “A City Is Not a Tree.” It also evaluates the implications of these differences in the transition from the traditional city to the contemporary city. The study aims to explain the spatial structure of the two types of urban fabric, identify traditional spatial patterns, compare them with modern patterns, and propose strategies for incorporating traditional elements into the planning of Zavareh’s new urban fabric. The research adopts a descriptive-analytical method based on library studies and literature review. The main findings from the reviewed sources indicate that the traditional fabric of Zavareh has an organic semi-lattice structure characterized by overlapping functions and high flexibility, which supports sustainability. By contrast, the modern urban fabric follows a tree-like structure with segregated functions, leading to a loss of identity. These differences reflect a transition from human-centered dynamism to isolationist functionalism. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115679.html The configuration, which refers to the mass distribution within the masonry structures that consist of barrel vaults and walls, plays a crucial role in the primary mode of collapse for these structures, specifically the out-of-plane failure. This paper focuses on designing an appropriate configuration for rural structures located in the Mahan area of Kerman, with the objective of enhancing their lateral stability threshold. Initially, the study examines the impact of three traditional stabilization techniques employed by master builders: thickening the haunch of the arch, utilizing inclined piers, and implementing seat platforms, on the lateral stability of the structure.Then, employing these methods and choosing an appropriate angle of embrace for the arch, efforts are made to enhance the lateral stability of current structures, which is below 0. 1 g, to levels of 0. 35g, 0. 5g, and 0. 65g. Additionally, the cross-sectional areas of the structures and their designs are suggested for optimal planning and the selection of fitting architectural styles. The findings indicate that the goals for lateral stability can be realized through the various options presented in this paper. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_115685.html In the hot semi-arid climate of Dezful, controlling solar radiation is essential for improving thermal and visual comfort. The aim of this study is to optimize the performance of brick lattice screens inspired by the vernacular architecture of Dezful in order to enhance visual comfort and reduce the solar radiation load in contemporary buildings. The research method is mixed and based on comparative analysis and quantitative simulation. In this process, twelve samples of brick lattice screens from historic houses in Dezful were identified and redesigned. Four test rooms with dimensions of 120 × 130 × 130 cm were modeled, and the lattice patterns were placed at specified distances from their glass façade. The modeling and simulation process was carried out using AutoCAD, Rhino, and the Grasshopper, Ladybug, and Honeybee plugins. Daylight indices, including DLA and UDI in three ranges, as well as surface radiation, were examined and analyzed for lattice screen distances of 10 to 40 cm from the glass façade. The results showed that the Chlipa-pattern lattice, with a solid-to-void ratio of 67.3%, achieved the best performance among the studied samples, with an average DLA of 29.87% and UDI-100–2000 lux of 39.02%. Furthermore, the 10 cm distance from the glass façade recorded the highest DLA value, at 23.99%, while the 40 cm distance showed the weakest performance, at 16.86%. On the other hand, the square pattern, with a solid-to-void ratio of 97.7%, recorded the highest level of insufficient daylight, or Underlit, at 89.06%, and the lowest surface radiation, with an average value of 58.05 kWh/m². Overall, the Chlipa-pattern lattice at a distance of 20 cm, with a DLA value of 31.44%, provided an appropriate balance between visual comfort and the reduction of solar radiation load.