Diasporic Culture: Appearance of Identity in Visual Elements

Abstract

Immigration has affected the identity of Afghan settlers; however, it might be possible to arrange the environment so that their identity needs could be satisfied. Afghan settlers in Iran need a space with appropriate cultural function to mitigate the existing lack of cultural identity. It is expected that an architectural design compliant with or inspired by Afghani culture could facilitate the process of social integration of them in Iran’s culture. In doing so, in a first step the key elements of Afghani architecture that can help the objective of social integration of the aforementioned settlers should be identified. In this regard, the question is whether a suitable architectural form of the building that represents the country of origin (of the settlers) should be inspired by the history of that country or the immigrants should seek an amendment and innovation in their historical architectural heritage. Presence of Afghan symbols in the design of cultural buildings can alleviate the identity crisis that affects the lives of Afghan settlers. They will be proud of buildings that feature key elements from their history and culture and the presence of Iranian citizens in those cultural spaces furnishes a forum with a unique opportunity for the cultural interactions. To prove the premises, a field poll is required to be cast in similar cultural complexes to survey the preferences of both settlers and hosts. Additionally, such poll can determine the priorities of side-products of such cultural complexes and individualize the identity features which are most effective in Afghan settlers. In doing so, questionnaires depicted by contemporary and ancient Afghan architecture will be handed to Iranians and Afghans. The results show that Afghans approve modernized traditional Afghani architectural forms.