Papers by Shahead Maghreby
Divergence in Architectural Research, 2025
The paper explores the semantic potential of the Farsi term mandegari (māndigārī) to describe his... more The paper explores the semantic potential of the Farsi term mandegari (māndigārī) to describe historic places within the context of built environment. This word holds significant meaning for characterizing the attributes of different phenomena. To start, a comprehensive review of Farsi literature highlights its utilization in scholarly research, where scholars and researchers have employed this term to express the enduring qualities of historic places. The paper delves into the terminology of mandegari in Farsi dictionaries, exploring its various nuances and associations. The surface definition of mandegari is identified as meaning someone or something who stays in a place, possessing stability and durability. Conventional content analysis is then employed to extract themes and sub-themes from dictionary definitions and examples. In the next step, the research extends to an examination of peer-reviewed Farsi articles on built environment as a case study, using summative content analysis to unearth the semantic dimensions of mandegari. From this analysis, themes of positivityneutrality, objectivity-subjectivity, and perenniality-metamorphosis emerged. While the connotations of mandegari are predominantly positive, the term also contains objective and subjective dimensions. Then, the dual aspects of perenniality and metamorphosis are explored to understand how places evolve over time while maintaining their essential attributes. By illuminating the convergence of these seemingly opposite concepts, the paper shows how they coexist to shape a place's character. The paper also highlights a gap in the literature on built environment concerning a precise understanding of the concept of mandegari in the Farsi language. It aims to encompass shared meanings and experiences of this concept among scholars. By exploring these tensions and providing a thorough exploration of the semantic dimensions of mandegari, the research contributes to the field's theoretical framework. The study aligns with the tradition of introducing new concepts to enrich architectural discourse, like how Christian Norberg-Schulz introduced the concept of genius loci (spirit of the place) from ancient Roman culture. In essence, the research provides a valuable exploration of the nuanced meanings and implications of mandegari in the context of historic places.
Selected Papers of the National Conference of Improving of the Qualitative Appearance & Landscape of Isfahan City, 2011
The historic urban fabrics of Iran, shaped by traditional lifestyles, accessibility, environmenta... more The historic urban fabrics of Iran, shaped by traditional lifestyles, accessibility, environmental conditions, and the need for cohesive living spaces, reflect a harmonious and unified aesthetic. However, the late 19th-century modernization and technological advancements brought shifts in lifestyles and fulfillment of needs, rendering many historic areas less functional and leading to their gradual abandonment, structural decay, and visual decline. Despite this deterioration, these neighborhoods possess undeniable historical, cultural, and identity values, making their preservation and revitalization essential to maintaining Iran's cultural heritage.
This study examines the Ali Gholi Agha Quarter in Isfahan as a case study for understanding the organizational criteria necessary to revitalize these historic landscapes. By tracing the evolution of this quarter’s visual and structural elements over time, this paper presents reversible guidelines for facade and streetscape improvements that balance traditional character with contemporary functional requirements. The proposed criteria emphasize visual continuity with the past while fostering diversity and adaptability to meet modern needs, thus supporting a sustainable approach to the future of Iran’s historic urban landscapes.
Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 2021
Modernization of Iranian cities during the 20th century has radically altered and, in some instan... more Modernization of Iranian cities during the 20th century has radically altered and, in some instances, completely destroyed parts of the historic fabric of cities. Two approaches have dominated efforts to address these impacts: development-driven and conservationdriven. Because both approaches originate outside the complex and fragile contexts of Iran's historic fabric, their respective and collective outcomes have proven neither logical nor practical. Scholars have proposed a third, context-driven option, which urban planners and municipal officials try to restore and preserve urban fabric according to their structure while also maintaining quality of life for residents. Applying the context-driven approach to the spatial structure of the Ali-Gholi-Agha quarter in Isfahan reveals one such discrete element: a semipublic type of space called "sahe-ja." By interrogating whether and to what extent sahe-ja serves as a determinative element in the quarter's historic urban fabric, this paper demonstrates the logic and practicality of the context-driven approach.
Journal of Geography and Regional Planning, 2017
There is widespread urban growth in a new concept with sustainable development in each society; i... more There is widespread urban growth in a new concept with sustainable development in each society; it includes type of housing, mix land use, socio-cultural support and public transit access. This study firstly focuses on analyzing the land use pattern, transportation and cultural accessibility as well as investigating their relationship of smart growth in municipalities’ districts of Isfahan city. Secondly, it develops a framework of historical Iranian cities which aims to evaluate the use of smart growth principles in traditional Islamic culture. The study made use of descriptive-analytic by using secondary data and urban development plan documents. The research population includes 14 regions of Isfahan which is based on political divisions in 2012. The research indicators can be divided into ten groups of social-economic-environment which aims to investigate smart growth principles in Isfahan city. The study used Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method (TOPSIS) to identify the most strategic elements of smart growth in Isfahan municipality districts, which are consider to minimize low density sprawl.
Journal of Conservation and Architecture in Iran (Maremat & Me'mari-e Iran), 2020
The boundary of quarter is among the subjects that have been widely addressed in urban planning a... more The boundary of quarter is among the subjects that have been widely addressed in urban planning and urban design research. Clearly, several studies have examined the issue of “quarter boundaries in the historical fabric of Iranian cities”, but the literature review shows that there are still ambiguities in this regard. There are two contradictory answers to this issue: one group of studies has set clear boundaries for quarters in the historical fabric of Iranian cities, while the other ones consider the boundaries of quarters in these fabrics to be vague and believe that each quarter will reach another quarter gradually. The purpose of this article is identifying the boundary of quarter in these fabrics. In this regard, Ali Gholi Agha quarter in the historical fabric of Isfahan was chosen as a case study and the qualitative research method of conventional content analysis was used. The boundary of Ali Gholi Agha quarter was studied in three ways of historical boundary, quarter boundary based on door-to-door interviews, and subjective boundary drawn by the inhabitants. Among these three ways, the historical boundary discovered based on the historical structure of access and quarter elements, shows the hidden order in the structure and provides a new method to discover the objective boundary of the quarter in the historical fabrics of Iranian cities. Interestingly, the accuracy of the achievements of this method is confirmed by two other boundaries. Finally, it is concluded that there is an objective boundary in some parts of the quarter. This boundary is often in dead ends and darbands (passes through the entrance of the houses in historic fabrics). Also, in the other
parts of the quarter where there is no clear boundary, the boundary can be determined
based on this objective boundary.
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Papers by Shahead Maghreby
This study examines the Ali Gholi Agha Quarter in Isfahan as a case study for understanding the organizational criteria necessary to revitalize these historic landscapes. By tracing the evolution of this quarter’s visual and structural elements over time, this paper presents reversible guidelines for facade and streetscape improvements that balance traditional character with contemporary functional requirements. The proposed criteria emphasize visual continuity with the past while fostering diversity and adaptability to meet modern needs, thus supporting a sustainable approach to the future of Iran’s historic urban landscapes.
parts of the quarter where there is no clear boundary, the boundary can be determined
based on this objective boundary.