The role of the cultural assets as one of the pillars of sustainable development is undeniably of great significance in the cultural sustainability of cities. Indeed, the way users understand and interpret cultural heritage sites would be highly critical to managing cultural organizations properly. It means by improving users’ perception of these sites, it can expect a fair distribution of comprehensive awareness among generations about the values of cultural assets. Past studies in spatial psychology have demonstrated that environmental properties can positively Influence human emotions. On the other hand, using computational–mathematical methods used to examine spatio-visual properties have rarely been compared to human perceptions. This paper examines the impact of spatio-visual properties on human perception as a clever cultural management strategy to promote cultural sustainability. It is discussed how environmental features in general, and visibility in particular, can shape the way users interpret cultural heritage. Results indicate that not only visibility of users’ paths within cultural heritage sites can be an influential factor for the development of users’ perception, but also the visibility of the entrance of these complexes can change their understanding. This means that decision-makers, architects, and managers of the cultural organizations can apply these findings as cultural management framework by defining predefined paths in these sites in the way that they possess high visibility and visible entrance. Consequently, the distribution of public awareness among generations can be improved to strengthen the role of cultural aspects in sustainable development.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underground levels of a city to explore how vernacular and historic underground urban facilities help traditional cities to be sustainable. Therefore, the authors look at how culture, climate and economy affect those facilities. Design/methodology/approach The paper focuses on vernacular and local underground urban facilities in historic cities to find more sustainable processes of urban development that integrate cultural, climatic and economical concerns into design planning. The paper is based on a case study of the underground infrastructure of Dezful, Iran. Findings There are several vernacular building styles around the world, especially in Iran, with different shapes, materials, arrangements and concepts. Building construction has significant impacts on the environment and natural resources. Dezful is a city in Iran with a lot of potential in terms of its architecture. Vernacular cities possess infrastructure that helped them thrive in harsh climates. For instance, Dezful takes advantage of a systematic infrastructure termed the “Underground City.” Originality/value The traditional architecture of Dezful plays an important role in creating underground spaces, especially urban and architectural elements with thermal isolation properties that can be used as housing and as food storage. In this century, building construction could adopt these environmental properties, which could lead to low energy consumption in urban environments. Considering traditional and contextual elements in urban planning and design could revive sustainable community practices in urban environments.

(1) Background: considering multiple, and somehow conflicting, design objectives can potentially make achieving a high-performance design a complex task to perform. For instance, shading devices can dramatically affect the building performance in various ways, such as energy consumption and daylight. This paper introduces a novel procedure for designing shading devices as an integral part of daylightophil architecture for office buildings by considering daylight and energy performance as objectives to be optimal. (2) Methods: to address the topic, a three-step research method was used. Firstly, three different window shades (fixed and dynamic) were modeled, one of which was inspired by traditional Iranian structures, as the main options for evaluation. Secondly, each option was evaluated for energy performance and daylight-related variables in critical days throughout the year in terms of climatic conditions and daylight situations (equinoxes and solstices including 20 March, 21 June, 22 September, and 21 December). Finally, to achieve a reliable result, apart from the results of the comparison of three options, all possible options for fixed and dynamic shades were analyzed through a multi-objective optimization to compare fixed and dynamic options and to find the optimal condition for dynamic options at different times of the day. (3) Results: through different stages of analysis, the findings suggest that, firstly, dynamic shading devices are more efficient than fixed shading devices in terms of energy efficiency, occupants’ visual comfort, and efficient use of daylight (roughly 10%). Moreover, through analyzing dynamic shading devices in different seasons and different times of the year, the optimal form of this shading device was determined. The results indicate that considering proper shading devices can have a significant improvement on achieving high-performance architecture in office buildings. This implies good potential for daylightophil architecture, but would require further studies to be confirmed as a principle for designing office buildings.

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Historical cemeteries are a reflection of the culture and religion of the community in which they were formed. With the expansion of cities, most of these cemeteries have been abandoned in remote areas, outside the city or in unsuitable protected areas, and no trace of dynamics and currents of urban space can be seen in them. As these cemeteries are a valuable part of tangible and intangible heritage of each society, it is essential to consider their recognition, registration, and conservation measures. Dezful is one of the cities with a unique living historical context and also historical cemeteries. Locating these cemeteries in the urban context has led to be effected by brick and patterns used in the structure of the city, and due to the fact that these cemeteries have been neglected over the years, they have been subject to risks such as complete destruction. This research seeks to investigate the brick designs of graves in Dezful cemeteries named Roudband, Baba Yusef, and Kashefiyeh. The main purpose of this article is studying the brick designs of gravestones located in the historical cemeteries of this city, classifying and identifying these cemeteries as treasures of the ancient architecture of Dezful City. In this regard, the research method used is descriptive and the required data gathered through field and library studies. The results of the research show that the brickwork decorations of the cemeteries in Dezful are divided into three groups: historical graves with glazed brickworks, historical graves with simple brickworks, and historical graves with combined brickworks (the combination of simple and glazed bricks). According to results, brick decorations with glazed bricks had a bigger share in this category, after which brick decorations with simple bricks, and finally the combination decorations. On the other hand, in addition to geometric and plant motifs in the heart of the motifs that are the result of using bricks and its proportions, religious, social, and plant motifs have been used on some graves.