Analysis of the Role of In-Between Spaces in Increasing Social Interactions in the Sangelaj Neighborhood of Tehran City

Abstract

Urban evolutions during the contemporary era of Iran’s history have imposed the most damage and physical changes in the historical neighborhoods of Iran. The introduction of modernity to contemporary architecture which was the beginning of many fundamental changes in architecture and urban development resulted in the rising development of cities, and subsequently the isolation, worn-out, and inefficiency of important historical neighborhoods in Iran. The presence of in-between spaces in historical neighborhoods has led to a functional balance of spaces in the urban zones during their times meeting all mental, psychological, social, and economic needs of citizens based on their implicit and explicit layers. However, the in-between spaces were gradually deleted from the historical neighborhoods and residential buildings or were considerably ignored, which resulted in many consequences for individual of the society. Hence, this research investigates and compares the function of in-between spaces by selecting Sangelaj Neighborhood as one of the most important historical neighborhoods involved in this issue considering its present and past. This investigation is done based on a functional analytical viewpoint to provide a strategy for architectural design in contemporary urban spaces. Therefore, this is applied and qualitative research based on the library and documentary study by adopting a descriptive-analytical method that analyzes Sangelaj's Neighborhood by examining the basics of neighborhood and field observations. The results of this study and carried-out investigations indicate the need for reading the pattern of in-between spaces in the center of neighborhood and residential spaces. For this purpose, this study provides practical strategies in this field to improve and revive these functional spaces.

Keywords: Residential Spaces, In-Between Spaces, Social Interactions, Attendability, Sense of Belonging to Place, Sangelaj Neighborhood