Identity Crisis in Iranian Countemporary Housing

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IDENTITY CRISIS IN IRANIAN COUNTEMPORARY HOUSING
(ANALAYZING THE EFFECTS OF HOUSING EDUCATION)

NIMA TALEBIAN

Abstract:
Identity as a concept has social and physical connotations. It constitutes a collection of cues recognized by a group of people at a specific time and place. People and places, however, are exposed to change over time. In that sense, identity may change and people may resist this change because they want to feel that they maintain a certain level of continuity. (Mashary Al-Naim, 2008) However, continuity of personal identity in compare with religious and National identity is a very debatable concept. Every unit of society faces a real challenge to maintain its identity for any length of time, especially under conditions of rapid economic and technological change. It is important to understand how the concept of identity is perceived by people, designers, and authors. The role of Art and Architecture in continuity of identity is almost a clear fact, but the importance of architectural education has aroused many debates between the specialists. A lack of identity in contemporary housing architecture in Iran is indicated by many authors (Darab Diba 1982, Kamran Diba, 1989 and Hadi Mirmiran, 1997). This raises the following questions: What do we mean by housing identity? How can architects express the personal and social identities of habitants? Is there any relation between Housing Education and maintaining the individual and social identities? This paper aims to answer these questions. However, the purpose here is to understand why the search for an identity has become an important social and intellectual issue in Iran. We see identity in architecture as a dynamic phenomenon. It can change and reform over time within the frame of the cultural core of society.
This research analyzes two periods of architectural education...