With the continuing advancement in material technology and construction techniques, architects face a greater set of options and challenges when it comes to designing in historic settings. In the meantime after the ICOMOS agreement, every country adapted the policy according to their own culture and settings, therefore every architect in their respective country started interpreting the charters, and the design review processes in their own way. Working on the new addition to historic context gave rise to familiar characteristics in design, especially in the infill designs, which is “Replication and Contrast”, which in turn sparked the question, how to evaluate whether a building is properly fitting in its context with whatever approach employed. This paper aims to answer this question by conducting a literature review covering First, the qualitative evaluation approach which compromises of surveys and pre-visualization in order to identify the main visual properties that improve the contextual compatibility of the new designs in the historical context, and quantitative techniques focused more on the mathematical scientific cognitive results of all aspects of the architectural elements within historic settings. A comparison has been made on each result achieved and an assessment of their reliance or authenticity has been tested in order to find and bridge the gap between tangible and intangible values when judging “fit” in a historic setting. The results showed that the qualitative evaluation if followed properly it could be very promising, but it always leaves room for skepticism as the result is expected to change based on the size and the characteristics of the participants. The quantitative evaluation provided a more tangible evidence of the contextual fit in terms of architectural elements like size, proportion, and scale. Finally, a suggestion was made in order to provide a better, and a more comprehensive technique merging both methods together and trying to incorporate more of three-dimensional aspects of the building instead of the two dimensionality of the current assessment techniques.

Finding a favorable trade-off between saving the architectural heritage, and assuring the development of modern architecture is a delicate and precise task, due to the lack of knowledge in the original criteria for the re-thinking of traditional architecture. As a tentative answer to this challenge, this paper attempts to shed light on Mashrabiya (traditional Arab oriel window) as a powerful environmental element in modern architecture, with regard to the important functions that it provides, such as light control, airflow regulation, humidity control, temperature regulation and visual privacy. Due to these functions, Mashrabiya achieved widespread popularity around the old world and it has been revived again in many contemporary projects by different modern versions. The objective of this study also is presenting a general evaluation for the modern Mashrabiya to observe the misconceptions of using the Mashrabiya and to call for stop ignoring of the proper standards of Mashrabiya design and to preserve the original name of this element "Mashrabiya".

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The City of Nicosia contains cultural heritage from different periods of history. Over time, due to user damage, illegal constructions, and abandonment, Nicosia has faced the danger of deterioration in its morphology and the loss of its original identity. With the recent strategic planning, the city of Nicosia has started to be revived. Within the scope of revitalization works, original or re-functional use projects are carried out on existing structures. Revitalization projects in historical cities should be implemented within the framework of sustainable development. In this study, the Arabahmet and Karamanzade regions of Nicosia were selected as the focus of the research. The research aims to assess revitalization works in selected zones within the framework of sustainable development. Three methodologies were followed in the research process: Theoretical, analytical, and practical approaches. As the first step in the theoretical approach, sustainable development was emphasized in historical cities and Nicosia City. Through an analytical approach, a current analysis of Nicosia city was made. In addition, in the practical approach, data highlighting the physical condition and architectural heritage of the regions were collected. In the practical assessment stage, data obtained within the scope of sustainable development and the revitalization works that can be applied in historical cities have been evaluated for the city of Nicosia. Analysis was made according to the data for the regions selected in line with the social, cultural, environmental, and economic criteria, which are the four pillars of sustainable development. In the last stage, the findings and discussion section, the direction of the revitalization works in the regions was assessed. Research reveals that the revitalization works carried out in the region are not fully addressed within the scope of sustainable development. The study reveals that it is essential for the sustainability of the conservation process of the local community.

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