Ali Pourahmad Ghalejough; Farzin Haghparast; Mohammad Taghi Pirbabaei
Abstract
Extended Abstract Background and Objectives: Media has always been a platform for activities related to the human intellect. It has become an integral part of human life in various ...
Read More
Extended Abstract Background and Objectives: Media has always been a platform for activities related to the human intellect. It has become an integral part of human life in various forms and contexts by the supporting role of technology. On the other hand, many thinkers and theorists have introduced architecture as a physical media that can be perceived and analyzed at different theoretical levels. Despite these interpretations that recognize buildings with intrinsic mediating factors, a clear theoretical framework of such relationships and the interaction between architecture and media has not yet been identified. This study seeks to answer two main questions: what indicators affect the procedure in which architecture turns into a media? And, how can a model of the affecting factors and categories be identified to explain the connection between architecture and media clearly? Therefore, this study aims to identify and prioritize the effective factors for mediating the quality of architecture. Finally, it tries to present a model for recognizing architecture as media based on a case study, the historical building of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Tabriz Islamic Art University, as an example of adaptive reuse in historic buildings.Methods: This research is fundamental-experimental in terms of purpose, and descriptive survey in terms of entity and method, using a case study. According to the related literature, 12 faculty members of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at Tabriz Islamic Art University constituted the Delphi panel of experts. All the panel members were among the recognized experts in specific fields of architecture. In the first round of Delphi, indicators and brainstorming were conceptualized through semi-structured interviews with panel members in person and virtually. After analyzing the content of the interviews, by combining the factors obtained from the literature and the achieved indicators from experts’ opinions, 34 indicators effective in improving the mediating quality of architecture were extracted in four categories. In the second round of Delphi, the validity and reliability of the research tools were approved by the faculty members and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Then, the experts scored the factors in close-ended questionnaires and 5-point Likert scale, and the data were analyzed using TOPSIS technique. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to assess the consensus among the experts, and the prioritized factors were also introduced along with the descriptive statistics components such as the average indices presented in tables and plots. Finally, by comparing the results of the TOPSIS technique with the results extracted from the descriptive statistics, the accuracy of the results and their validity were ensured.Findings: The ratings and findings obtained from the average index differed slightly from the results extracted from the TOPSIS technique. The reason can be stated in the higher accuracy of this technique in prioritizing and presenting rankings and closeness indeces of each factor in the research. The factors of “Indicator of the art of technology and crafting in time” with the closeness index of 0.610652, “Reflector of the culture of people in the society” with the closeness index of 0.579874, “Creator of new sensory perceptions” with the closeness index of 0.561471, “Being a benchmark in the city context” with the closeness index of 0.560705, and “Represents the evolution of history” with the closeness index of 0.558936 were among the highest priorities in the factors affecting the mediating quality in architecture. Also, the factors of “A communicator” with the closeness index of 0.436028, and “The presence of a power in creating the message” with the closeness index of 0.457395 were recognized as the minor priorities. By calculating the averages of closeness indeces in each category, the most effective categories in improving the mediating quality in architecture are “Factors relating to the application of media”, “Factors relating to the impacts of media”, “Factors relating to the message”, and “Factors relating to the intrinsic characteristics of media”, that were introduced with the mean averages of 0.544508, 0.503928, 0.495541 and 0.491413, respectively.Conclusion: The final model of architecture as a media and factors affecting the enhancement of mediating quality were presented as the research conclusion. Hence, if architecture is not considered a physical media and does not have a mediating role, it can no longer be called architecture and will no longer differentiate its nature from a structure. Architecture continuously transmits its character, ideas, thoughts, mindsets, approaches, history, time, and specifically its message to the future and performs as a meta-media concept. Also, the body and audience of architecture change its media nature, and its mediating quality causes various spatial reproductions in the minds of the people and a wide range of users.
