The Effect of the Mechanisms of Directing the Recipient to Perceive Uniqueness on the Production of Unique Forms in the Urban Context -Mosul as a Case Study-

Abstract

Architecture as a human production is considered as the principal source of distinguished elements within the city; such elements give the city its own identity. The progress of achieving such unique pieces is regarded as an urban design strategy which requires a particular methodology, depending not only on the designer but also on the perception of these elements. This paper concentrates on exploring the most important perceptual mechanisms that affect the recipient in making him distinguish the unique elements-particularly building- within an urban context. The study is spatially limited to the city of Mosul. The problem of the current study is constituted in the lack of a comprehensive vision about the mechanisms affecting the direction of the recipient to realize the unique output, so that the designer can follow clear mechanisms to reach the realization of a unique building within its context. This study aims to explore the mechanisms of guiding the recipient to realize uniqueness and the steps involved, within the different design practices, that affect obtaining a unique building. To achieve this goal, the research is defined by building the theoretical framework represented by the mechanisms of guiding the recipient to realize uniqueness, which includes two secondary axes: the first is the mechanisms of realizing uniqueness at the personal level of the recipient, and the second is the effectiveness of perceiving uniqueness at the level of urban structure. The practical side of the study is conducted in two parts; The first is to nominate a number of unique local products based on the mental image of the users of that urban environment, and the second includes the application of the learned mechanisms to a number of unique local architectural products according to the mechanisms of guiding the recipient to realize the uniqueness. The results show a great variation in the mechanisms that affect the realization of the unique building, which include the effectiveness of attracting attention, the element of surprise and mystery, the privacy of the building site, the available field of view and stimulation of the property of perception, and the size of the building in terms of distinguishing its height or size in its context, contrast with the background, through the type, color and properties of packaging materials that affect the realization of the unique building. The study concluded that there is a significant role for the perception mechanisms followed by the recipient in achieving the uniqueness of the architectural production, as variables that contribute to the visual assessment of the output among users of the urban environment. These mechanisms vary in the extent of their impact on directing the perception of the recipient, in addition to the possibility of the influence of more than one mechanism in achieving the uniqueness of the same production within the urban context.