From Bazaars to Shopping Centers

Abstract

In every age, one of the main purposes of architects and urban planners is to change and modify architecture in order to improve the social life, and all the different methods of architecture which have been developed by the passing of time cause changes in spaces. Architects have welcomed those changes which have been able to meet people’s needs. However, some other changes have not been able to meet people’s needs. Of the spaces which have been changed is the Iranian bazaar. It has undergone many changes and alterations. Some of these bazaars have been destructed, some have turned into an inactive historical monument, and others have persisted to exist in spite of changes. By the passing of time, changes in bazaar or in any other spaces evidently seems essential and inevitable but since modern shopping centers seem to be inappropriate substitution for bazaars, this paper has investigated the bazaars and shopping centers and their changes with the aim of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of these two places so that finding their advantages and disadvantages can lead to better designs in future. The obtained achievements indicate that the lively atmosphere of bazaars does not exist in the shopping centers and such centers are simply considered as a place to satisfy the material needs of people. The absence of ideas and concepts are evident in most shopping centers of Iran. While nowadays shopping is regarded as a form of entertainment for the modern human, paying greater attention to shopping centers and improving them can significantly cause them to upgrade and they can become a place for entertainment and social interactions of modern human.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p1875