Babak Ashtari - Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Mansour Yegane - Assis tant Professor, Department of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Khosro Daneshjoo - Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Properly inves tigating the potential of nature in the formation of architectural concepts needs a theoretical framework in which its analytical components can explain the methods of utilization of nature. Although some attempts have been made in this regard, considering the missing elements, there is s till a significant gap in the literature and a s tudy for introducing a more comprehensive theoretical framework has yet to be conducted. The aim of this s tudy is, therefore, firs tly, to present a theoretical framework that can explain the role of nature in the creation of architectural concepts by its detailed factors and, secondly, to apply this framework for inves tigating nature-inspired works of Toyo Ito. Accordingly, this documentary paper is based on a theoretical approach supported mainly by the outcomes of a literature review and case s tudy analysis, which utilizes the descriptive-analytical method. For the case s tudy part, projects were selected from various scales and functions to ensure proper evaluation. Both qualitative and quantitative tactics have been used in data analysis. Findings demons trated that the highes t rate in regards to the itemized factors of the Theoretical Framework of the s tudy relates to ‘Integration of natural elements in spatial articulation’ and the lowes t rate corresponds to ‘Usage of material in their raw and brutal s tate’. Moreover, though the highes t level of utilization of nature among the cases, is related to ‘Grin Grin’, a large-scale project, yet considering all the frequencies, it can be argued that the larger scale does not necessarily imply the higher frequency.

Nature, architectural concept, utilization of nature, Theoretical Framework, Toyo Ito's architecture