A study of the concept of Iranian traditional architecture in bazaars and shopping centres

Technological innovations have changed traditional cities and thrown up new industrial spaces in unforeseen locations. Bazaars or business complexes were among the most important parts of city spaces, and always had great impact on people's lives and their architecture. Due to the expansion of cities, the concept of bazaar has changed, and is replaced by distributed spaces called shopping centres. This study was based on examining the problems and the shortcomings of today's bazaars from the perspective of clients and users and providing solutions to improve practical conditions. To this end, the descriptiveanalytic survey was conducted in Tehran, and 272 questionnaires were distributed and collected randomly among visitors in four shopping malls. To scrutinise the hypothesis, the correlation tests, single variable T-test, and F-test were applied. The results from assessments using SPSS16 software showed that the mere external similarity between an environment and form of an element or meaning cannot represent the properties of desired principles for citizens. Therefore, during the design stage, it is necessary to pay enough attention not only to the concepts of a physical form, but also to the mental picture and psychological aspects that audiences receive from an area.