Urban Scape
Faranak Kabiri; Bahador Zamani; alireza khajeh ahmad attari
Abstract
Highlights:Artworks concerning frontages as media of communication among the artwork, the artist, and the public and frameworks for interaction with locationsCommon viewpoint held by untrained observers (citizens), trained observers (visual art specialists), and creators (artists) in the appraisal of ...
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Highlights:Artworks concerning frontages as media of communication among the artwork, the artist, and the public and frameworks for interaction with locationsCommon viewpoint held by untrained observers (citizens), trained observers (visual art specialists), and creators (artists) in the appraisal of the perceptual-visual desirability of muralsCloseness of the citizens’ and artists’ attitudes toward the appraisal of the perceptual-visual desirability of muralsCitizens’ greater appreciation of the use of creative designs with rhythms and formal contrasts in the appraisal of the perceptual-visual desirability of murals IntroductionAs subway stations are regarded as public spaces in cities, their frontages, involving public artworks, especially murals, are taken into account as part of the urban townscape. The artworks on frontages can provide a medium for interaction, functioning as a visual communication system among the artwork, the artist, and the public. Therefore, it is important to identifying the factors influencing the visual preferences of the audience. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of the visual elements of murals on the perceptual-visual desirability of frontages at the Tehran Theater subway station. It seeks to answer the question of how the visual elements of the murals at the station affect the perceptual-visual desirability of the station frontage.Theoretical FrameworkAmong the large number of visual components assumed by various theorists, the main common components taken into account is this research include color, shape, texture, line, tonality, and light (Jansen, 1998: 69). This study investigates element quality, the quality of the relationship between elements, and that for figures and the ground (Pakzad, 2006) to achieve the degree of visual desirability in response to questions about the aesthetic component and the scape quality. The element quality is mural, and the relationship between the murals is considered for appraisal of the quality of the relationship between the elements. Moreover, the relationship between the mural and the wall is considered for appraisal of the quality of the relationship between the figure and the ground. The components related to the quality of the element include intensity, tension, and ingravibility, those pertaining to the quality of the relationship between the elements include balance, symmetry, proportion, dominance, clarity, and density. The components concerning the quality of the relationship between a particular element and others (figure and ground) include contrast, opposition, conformity, advantage, hindrance, emphasis, enclosure, narrowness, openness, sequence, and concentration (ibid.: 121-136)MethodologyFor achievement of the research aim, a mixed method was adopted based on data collection through archives, observations, interviews, and visual preference techniques. Among different cities, Tehran was selected due to its position, and the Tehran Theater subway station was chosen among different stations because of its location in the proximity of Vali-asr Street, Tehran Theater, and Daneshju Park. Then, nine murals were selected from among those available at the station. Given the nature of the data, the methods of regression analysis and correlation analysis were used along with SPSS techniques for analysis of the collected data.Result and DiscussionThe results indicated that perceptual-visual desirability existed in all the three groups: untrained observers (citizens), trained supervisors (visual art experts) and creators of artworks (artists). The findings also demonstrated that tonality (degree of darkness/brightness), shape (design), color, line, and texture exhibited the greatest impacts on perceptual-visual desirability, in that order. The elements of shape, color, tonality, line, and texture played the greatest roles, in order of priority, in the perceptual-visual utility of the station frontage for the citizens, the elements of tonality, shape, line, texture, and color for the specialists, and shape and tonality, color, and line and texture for the artists. The most important reasons for these differences follow. The main reason why tonality was selected as the first priority by the three information sources is the community’s need to observe color diversity at different levels of the society. Unfortunately, this field has been neglected for years. However, its negative effects, such as the increase in the number of patients with depression, are evident. The second priority involved the designs and patterns used in the murals, which demonstrated the significance of form and content and of the choice of subject and consideration of the aspects of visual beauty. In the studied cases, the messages and feelings that the artist tried to convey to the audience had a negative impact on citizens’ perception although understood to a large extent by the audience, as the predicted lighting was not considered properly, the mural lights were used only occasionally, and inappropriate accessions led to visual disturbance. ConclusionThe results indicated perceptual-visual desirability in all the three groups of untrained observers (citizens), trained observers (visual art specialists), and creators (artists). Furthermore, the citizens’ and artists’ opinions were close to each other. The citizens appreciated the use of creative designs with rhythms and formal contrasts, being satisfied both with the location of the murals in terms of visibility and view-shed and with their association with the frontages, but not with the lighting of the works. These were identified as the main perceptual-visual desirability factors in the studied samples.
Urban Planning
boshra mohajer; zahed shafiee; alireza khaje ahmad attari; mohammad taghi toghraee
Abstract
Tourism is an inclusive, public industry that needs to consider all the sectors of the society regardless of age, race, or gender. Tourism and travel must be accessible to all people, including those with disabilities, the elderly, and children. Therefore, it must be an intrinsic part of any responsible, ...
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Tourism is an inclusive, public industry that needs to consider all the sectors of the society regardless of age, race, or gender. Tourism and travel must be accessible to all people, including those with disabilities, the elderly, and children. Therefore, it must be an intrinsic part of any responsible, sustainable tourism policy or strategy. Children are the present and future tourists, who play an important role in destination management. Since they are an important part of the society, it is a requirement to pay attention to the promotion of their creativity, where art can play an important role. Art is a means for creative self-expression. For children, art can be a wonderful emotional outlet that promotes personal reflection, communication skills, and self-esteem. Promotion of creativity and engagement in artistic activities has been shown to stimulate growth in important cognitive areas. On the other hand, tourism has been redirected from cultural tourism, as the second generation, towards creative tourism, as the third generation. Creative tourism has turned away from tangible heritage and sightseeing towards more intangible cultural and authentic experiences. Therefore, it has attracted more attention, as tourists are looking for more authentic, meaningful experiences. Tourist destinations compete to introduce themselves as creative ones in order to meet the needs of travelers, accelerate their economy, and restructure themselves through cultural regeneration. The present paper sought to identify children as emerging markets for creative tourism and specify its key components and to examine the factors effective on child-based creative tourism. Creative tourists are the creators of their own experiences; therefore, they must act as a homogeneous group of producers with creative ideas about their creative experiences. A creative city in the field of crafts, the city of Isfahan, Iran has the potential to become a creative tourism destination based on handicrafts and folk arts, which also seeks to join child-friendly cities. Local authorities believe that tailoring the notion of child-friendly cities with arts and crafts will help Isfahan improve its image, turning the city into an attractive creative destination for children. As playing games and learning are children’s basic expectations from a child-friendly city, they prefer places that afford them opportunities to play and learn actively. Therefore, crafts and folk arts could play an important role in meeting children’s expectations from Isfahan as a creative destination, because the city is a point of reference in Iran and around the world, also nominated the “World City of Handicraft” by the World Crafts Council. As interaction with crafts is acknowledged as an appropriate tool for playing, it can boost children’s creativity, and provide an opportunity for active learning. The main purpose of this study was to obtain a single definition of child-centered creative tourism. The data were collected using snowball sampling and in-depth interviews with 31 tourism, art and handicraft, and children experts. The research used a qualitative method and the thematic theory approach for the identification of the components. The data were categorized based on open, axial, and selective coding. As a result, five distinct components were identified: travel content, children’s needs, creativity, environment, and stakeholders. Each component included several factors that could provide new information on creative tourism for children. This notion and the findings can help destinations to attract children as creative tourists, and their product update will lead to experience and creativity.
