Although many environmental problems such as pollution, shortage of natural resources and damages to the environment are apparently results of man’s unplanned and wrong use of nature, the root of the problems should be sought from neglecting the spirituality and (symbolic) meaning of nature and its elements which have been considered in all traditional cultures. The quantitative thought predominated over the modern era (like modern architecture which considers buildings and cities as machines) approaches the nature as a machine from which the maximum economic and material efficiency is the final aim.
Researching the hypothesis which considers effects of promotion and revitalization of spiritual culture on protecting environment and elements deals with three main components. “culture”, “natural elements” and “geographical place”. In this research, “Iranian culture”, “water” and “Iran” are respectively selected as justifications of the above mentioned components. The mechanical school of thought takes into water as a part of the machine of existence by which human physiological and material needs can be responded. Whereas by paying attention to different degrees of human life (spiritual, mental and material) and by considering the importance of spiritual and mental aspects of human life, everything in the world is meaningful. Being awar of the fact that nature and natural elements have (symbolic and spiritual) meanings will help straighten and enrich in addition to being a guide in the quantitative field in relation to nature.
Basic subjects in Iranian culture will be considered in this paper. Moreover the paper endeavors to investigate the ways of getting benefits from historical experiments by which besides solving material problems, human life will be meaningful. The main titles (subjects) of the paper are as follows: “introduction and generalities”, “spiritual aspects of water in Iranian culture”, “water in Iranian architectural and urban spaces”, “water and its related architectural elements”, “present situation” and “conclusion and suggestions”.
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