Peng Chang

Historically, the urban situation in the cities and towns of Persia and Algeria was highly specific. The hot dry climate contributed to a street network, which was protected from the sun as much as possible. Climate conditions determined the appearance of houses with flat roofs, small windows and white walls. The entire urban planning system had the main centre - the city (town) mosque. There were smaller mosques in the structure of residential areas, densely surrounded by houses. Just as under the influence of climate a certain type of residential building took shape, these same factors formed a characteristic type of mosque in the housing environment.

Globalist trends have affected even such a conservative sphere as Islamic religious architecture, as it gradually toned down striking regional features, which is explained by the typicality of modern building materials and structures and the international activity of various architectural and construction firms in different corners of the world. Over the centuries, two opposing images of the mosque have emerged - the pointedly magnificent Persian and the fortress-type of Maghreb (typical for Algeria) types. This paper reviews how specific climatic conditions and historical processes influenced the use of building materials, structures and decoration in the mosques of Persia’s and Algeria’s different regions.

Today we observe an erosion of regional features in the form and layout of modern mosques, which are analysed on the basis of the examples given. On the basis of a comparison of authentic mosques and erected by foreigners, it is proved how local features are gradually being eliminated and what this leads to.

This paper discusses the analysis of modern landscaping trends. Today’s challenges and environmental issues that reduce landscaping area in large cities force us to search for new landscaping trends. Amid global environmental problems, the popularity of green areas attached to private homes is increasing. Despite avant-garde trends, there is a growing interest in traditional oriental gardens, both Chinese and Japanese, based on the principles of harmony between human and nature. At the same time, the arrangement of modern Chinese-style private gardens in Ukraine and other Post-Soviet territories, without a deep understanding of fundamental methods, including ‘one lake, three mountains’, ‘garden in a garden’, ‘mountains–water’, sets such gardens apart from true Chinese design. By comparing the historical Chinese pavilions and modern Chinese-style arbours, their non-conformity has been proven, and it recommended to arrange modern Chinese-style gardens based on the use of time-honoured traditions.