IN-PERSON ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

Rapid urbanization in historic cities often prioritizes regulatory compliance, density, and economic efficiency at the expense of cultural meaning and lived experience. These processes produce housing typologies that lack connection to local identity and fail to reflect the cultural foundations of domestic life. This paper examines an alternative approach through the Malek Residential Building in Isfahan, a nationally recognized architectural project that reinterprets traditional spatial models to address the diverse needs of contemporary households. The study incorporates Irwin Altman’s mechanisms of privacy regulation (1975) to translate universal behavioral concepts into spatial and architectural solutions that shape both interior layouts and the building’s relationship to the surrounding neighborhood fabric. Drawing further from the vernacular courtyard and “four-iwan” typologies of central Iran, the project reintroduces transitional and semi-private spaces that mediate between private and communal life. These interstitial zones improve functionality, strengthen cultural compatibility, and facilitate social interaction in ways that contemporary typologies often overlook. The design integrates traditional spatial hierarchies while meeting contemporary urban design guidelines, demonstrating that culturally rooted strategies can effectively coexist with regulatory constraints. By situating a new multi-family housing model within the historic urban fabric of Isfahan, this research illustrates how vernacular urbanism can guide the development of context-sensitive residential architecture. The project offers a replicable framework for reintroducing cultural identity, spatial adaptability, and community-oriented design into housing developments in historic urban centers undergoing rapid change.