Archetypes of iranian public space between tradition and innovation

The call for vision New Public Space for Contemporary Iranian Cities: Challenges Between Tradition and Innovation has prompted a comprehensive reflection on the social role that public space plays in Iran’s contemporary cities. Specifically, it is intriguing to delve into how tradition continues to influence and shape the forms and functions, while also exploring how today's Iranian designers reconcile tradition and innovation in response to the new challenges of contemporaneity. The submitted projects have provided valuable insights, highlighting three recurring archetypes (courtyards, gardens, and rooftops) across all the proposals. These elements, following a brief historical, social, and cultural contextualization regarding the origins of public space in Iran, were used as a framework for a critical analysis. Furthermore, it was unavoidable to initially consider similarities and differences concerning the role that Iranian and Italian cultures have played in the relationship, use, and evolution of public space – intended as a physical manifestation of cultures and social practices. This highlighted how both cultures have contributed to the formation of distinct ideas of cities, both strongly rooted in tradition by reimagining highly identifying and iconic elements. The proposed reflection starts with a brief overview of the origins of public space in Italy, serving as a basis for drawing a parallel with the Iranian context. This comparison identifies the three archetypes as traditional and identifying elements of the Iranian urban landscape. These archetypes then serve as a categorization framework for the submitted design proposals.