Shahab Abbaszadeh - Department Of Architecture, Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra Malaysia
Mohd. Nasir Baharuddin
Rahinah Ibrahim
Azizah Salim

Advanced technology is permitting architects to create complicated and convoluted materials and forms impossible for building decades ago. While acknowledging the new feats, we also question how much these products actually meet the users’ requirements particularly when concerning their psychological needs. Our concern is the increasing duplication of Western high-rise residential buildings (HRBs) in metropolises of Iran. By stacking houses, the home has now become mere physical shelter but lacking the social and psychological meaning that Persian traditional home has provided. The socio-cultural values of traditional homes that support the households’ life quality by supporting their psycho-social needs are lost in today’s modern residences. This is a position paper about those missing features with the intent of reinforcing the rich socio-cultural connections and spirituals aspects that are endeared by traditional Persian households in new HRBs. It describes the socio-cultural context of Persian traditional homes that are embedded in the home design process, specifically regarding their psychological aspects. The socio-cultural context in Persian homes emphasizes the behavioral needs at two different social levels: 1) personal space and privacy requirements within the private and semi-private boundary (e.g., family territory of a home), and 2) semipublic and public spaces related to the home environment (e.g., neighborhood communities surrounding the home). Through extrapolation of the Persian social-cultural features, the paper will present recommendations on how architects could advance the traditional features in the design of new HRBs, hence contributing towards improving the quality of life for Persian communities in HRBs.

Persian Traditional Home, High-rise Design, Socio-cultural Contexts, Neighborhood Communities, Social, and Psychological Meaning