Maremat & memari-e Iran
Year:2016 | Volume:5 | Issue:10|Papers Count:10

Among the many surviving architectural edifices of the pre-Safavid Islamic era in Iran, there are mainly the burial places, religious and public benefit buildings. However, as a matter of fact, throughout a time span of a thousand years, from the beginning of Islam until the Safavids, there is not a considerable number of palaces which belong to the pre-Safavid Iran. Therefore, the main questions here will be how the shape of the Iranian palace has been formed in this period of the Islamic era, and how their architectural and decorative characteristics were. Addressing these question could shed light on our understanding of the non-religious architecture during the Islamic times in Iran. To make this research as precise and limited as possible, investigations will be confined to the edifices belonging to the Ghaznavid period, because even though they were a dynasty of Turkic origin, their Capital, Ghazni was a center in which the Persian culture and language outshone. Therefore, due to the predominance of the Iranian culture, an authentic Iranian architecture could be sought for in this period. Hence, through studying the related works of scholars and the archeological findings of the excavation, we found no evidence of the mentioned palaces in Iran today; however, the studies suggest that within the cultural reach of Persia (Iran), the remains of the two Ghaznavid palaces in the modern day Afghanistan, have previously been excavated. Thus, studying the architectural and decorative features of these two palaces is the aim of this paper. In this manner, we could understand the architecture of the Iranian palace in this part of the Islamic era whose palatial architecture is not known enough; and also decide whether and to what extent they have been inspired by the Iranian Architecture, or if, as some western scholars have suggested, they were built with the influence of the Abbasid palaces of Samarra. The result of this study indicates that because of the four-Iwan plan in these buildings, this form of architecture has been used not only for the mosques, caravansaries and schools, but also in the palaces; in addition, they appears to have had precedence in terms of the construction time, over the other similar examples of four-portico buildings in Iran. Moreover, the comparative analysis between their characteristics and those of the older Sassanid instances as well as the palaces of Samarra, determines that apart from having been inspired by the pre-Islamic architecture of Iran, due to the predominant of Khorasani and Persian culture under the rule of Ghaznavids, the architectural style of the palace in this period has been completely Iranian.

In recent years, particular attention has been given to the principles of sustainable development as a comprehensive approach with the aim of improving the quality of life, in economic, social and environmental aspects. Among these contexts, tourism is one of the fields in which sustainable development can be outspread. In addition, significant proportion of Iran’s area consists of desert region that can be considered to have a potentiality of becoming one of the best tourist destinations across these areas. The recent principles of sustainable development are based on indigenous development and utilization of geospatial diversity. From this point of view, while respecting the natural, cultural and social features as well as the architectural heritage in the desert regions, these areas could be considered as sustainable tourism targets. In addition to the existing natural environment in the desert regions and their strong attraction for the extensive ranges of tourism types, the touristic and residential complexes are necessary not only to support the needs of the local residents, but also to serve as the accommodational choice of the tourists in these areas.Design and construction of such complexes are consisted of several factors, and when considering the essence of the issue and the context of the design, the site selection would be the first and one of the most effective steps towards achieving the final design. Then, the questions of this study are what the logical process of the site selection would be, and eventually, what the most effective factors are in this process; also, how the amount of impact factor in each criterion could be identified. As a consequence, the aim of this study is to propose a logical procedure for a proper site selection for the similar desert resort complexes among the specific choices through a logical comparison. The criteria used in this study are derived from previous studies, along with the expert interviews developed through questionnaires; subsequently, based on the AHP method (Analytic Hierarchy Process), these criteria and their influence on the site selection process have been surveyed. In order to demonstrate the performance of the proposed logic, Khur-o-Biabanak county in Isfahan province, one of the regions which holds the desert tourism potentiality, has been studied as the contextual case study; and finally, amongst the six specified choices in this country, Mesr village has been selected as the final option.

One of the main reasons for the historic leather samples becoming dry and brittle is the degradation of the excess residual fat in their structure; however, this subject has not been well-established so far. Therefore, in order to facilitate the grounds for an optimum conservation encounter, with the aim of understanding the harms imposed on the leather samples, characterizing the degradation process of the leather’s fat, as an important additive compound used in the leather making process, is significant and necessary. Thus, in this research, the excess residual fat in seven historic leather samples, belonging to a leather bag, discovered in Ghayen’s Ghal’e-Kuh historic site and attributed to the Seljuk period, was examined for the structural degradation assessment. For this reason, after having extracted the samples’ excess residual fat by dichloromethane solvent using the Soxhlet extraction apparatus, the structural assessment was done through the Attenuated Total Reflectance- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) technique. This method is useful for investigating the fat’s structural properties and their alterations, because it could demonstrate fat’s structural and molecular features based on the molecular vibrations of the structural bands. In addition, the mutton suet was simultaneously evaluated for its infrared spectrum so that it could be compared with the case study fat samples. According to the results, all samples were oxidized, and this degradation resulted in the fat’s structural alteration and production of the secondary compounds such as ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and carboxylic acids. Moreover, in addition to the oxidation, in some samples the nitration and sulfating of the fat were observed too. Accordingly, oxidation and degradation of the excess residual fat is characterized as the major factors of the severe dryness in the leather samples. More so, the fat oxidation products are also involved in the decay of the protein structures in the leather’s fat and subsequently extend its degradation.

The fourfold division archetype is one of the distinguishing characteristics of Iranian architecture and urbanism in the times prior to and after the Islamic periods. However, its philosophy of existence has so far remained obscure. Therefore, the subject matter in this paper will be searching for its origin as well as analyzing the dimensions of its design. Therefore, the objectives of this research are tracing the most significant monuments and cities in Iran which contain the fourfold division pattern, as well as, knowing the reasons and characteristics of their application. It is, however, clear that examining this subject will be useful in better perceiving some of the ancient Iranian intellectual and philosophical principles underlain in the architecture and urbanism of the past in Iran; and subsequently it is helpful in surmounting the obstacles in the path of rebuilding the elements belonging to the vernacular architecture and urbanism. The methodology of this study is based on the historical and analytical research; in which, while extending an interdisciplinary approach, we have attempted to introduce new concepts of design framework for architecture and urbanism. According to the findings of this study, the fourfold division pattern in pre-Sassanid Iran has been formed under the influence of a sacred orientation, based on the Sun rising in the East and the mithraic cross-shaped symbol. Mithraism, therefore, has had a significant role in this architectural orientation, and subsequently, during the Sassanid period, as people believed in the two celestial deities who were visualized in the form of the Zoroastrian holy stars, also other directions such as the North, South and West, were considered important. In the Islamic era, however, due to the ideological shift and consigning the original philosophy of the fourfold division to total oblivion, this form continued to exist while bearing new symbolic notions, often originated from Quran, Hadith and esoteric sources of Sufism, and eventually became an enduring feature in the architecture and urbanism of Iran.

The urban development of the city of Isfahan during the Safavid period was based on a preconceived plan and was brought to an end in a limited time. The Safavids were able to create valuable urban landscapes in the old city of Isfahan, and in this way, could assert a significant influence on the urbanism of the onward periods. In facing such master plans, as the results of an era which is considered the period of tradition, we have no specific evidence at hand today from the initial plans, urban maps, policies, rules, strategies. Therefore, in order to study and identify the values of the Safavid development plan, we need to examine the following questions: What effect have Isfahan’s geographical features and ecological potentiality had on the Safavid plan? Despite the ground’s sloping constraints and the absence of the topographic features, how were the desired perspectives obtained? In addition, how was the important issue of land ownership managed and how were the enormous costs of the city development plan reimbursed, despite being politically in a state of war. Which executive institutions did partake in the implementation process and how was the model language was manifested in the new capital plan? How could we assess the technical engineering level in the reign of the Safavids, and basically how could this large-scale project be managed? These questions have not been directly and seriously approached in the past. Therefore, while pointing out the executive settings and their role and significance in the finalization of the Safavid master plan, this article will attempt to answer these question to determine parts of the Safavid urban development plan strategies and policies during the eleventh century. This paper, by employing a qualitative method, seeks for the phenomena belonging to the design and engineering knowledge of the Safavid era, and through using the existing evidences arrives at the interpretation of the relationships within the defined systems. Moreover, these systems are explained as the heritage values of the Safavid plan in terms of urban management and urban conservation of historic landscapes.

Finding the effective method for teaching basic courses of architecture is the main problem in this study. Accordingly, the objectives of this research are investigating the impact of a new method for teaching the architectural design basics (module I), entitled “DCIS” (Direct Collaboration of Instructor and Student), and assessing the students’ learning process through evaluating their activities as a validation test. This test method has been derived from the architectural education methods literature. To assess the dependent variable concerning the learning process precisely, its two important components are investigated in this research: the students’ success, as an external aspect, and their satisfaction as an internal one. Therefore, as the main focus of this paper, the question will be what the impact of DCIS on the learning process is among the students of Architectural Design Basics (I). To answer this question, the relationship between DCIS and students’ success and satisfaction has been analyzed. Case Study research is the methodology of this assessment. The results of the involved students' practice exercises were used to assess their success through comparing them to each other; moreover, questionnaires were distributed among the students to survey their satisfaction. Also, the statistical population of this research consisted of two groups of architectural students in the University of Mazandaran participating in the “Architectural Design Basics” course module I. Therefore, DCIS has been applied to one of these two groups. The comparison between the assessment results gained from these groups indicates different conclusions within various contexts. The results show that the students’ satisfaction from their learning process in the test group was more than the control group. In addition, the instructors’ assessment of the students’ exercises present that the students had more success when the DCIS Teaching Method was implemented.

Bazaar of Tehran, once a commercial marketplace and the heart of the city during the Qajar era, still remains Tehran’s leading commercial center in spite of the changes that have been made to its Corporal and functional character. There are various functional and Corporal qualities in this historic bazaar that could as yet be discovered, provided that these qualities are surveyed and classified to achieve a better understanding about this bazaar and its durability in terms of Corporal and functional aspects. In addition to the Corporal and functional durability, the historical and cultural values are esteemed very significantly in relation to the conservation of the objective and conceptual reality belonging to Tehran’s historic bazaar. The aim of this study, therefore, is to assess the attitudes of the local community merchants in the historic bazaar of Tehran concerning the market and the conservation processes; this has to be done in a manner with which we could not only develop a new classification of various Corporal and functional qualities besides the historical and cultural values in this bazaar, but also could discover the reasons for these variations. Hence, the tradespeople were interviewed about their opinions of the underlying causes of the lack of durability in certain domains and regions so that we could arrive at better decisions while getting the historic bazaars prepared to be conserved. The methodology of this study is based on the attitude measurement research through questionnaires. According to the results of the interview surveys, the most significant causes of the current lacking Corporal and functional qualities of Tehran’s historic bazaar could be outlined as: the decrease in the sense of belonging to the Bazaar among the traders, the heightened inclinations towards the renovation in sense of substituting the conventional traditional qualities with the modernized types of elements, the diminishing partnership of the merchants in conservation actions which is resulted from the lack of the working knowledge in the conservational processes, the decline in the tendencies among the traders to continue the cultural qualities of Bazaar as its conventional tradition, reduction in the level of overall satisfaction among the merchants whose workplaces are either situated in the non-intervened parts of Bazaar, or in the places where the interventions have been a mixture of authentic and rudimentary actions, and at last, to the contrary to what has been stated, the satisfaction of those who work in the renewed and modernized parts of the structure of Bazaar.

The Perso-Islamic architectural ornaments have always been of great importance for the scholars of art and architecture. The grand master, Qavam al-Din ibn Zayn al-Din Shirazi (active during 813-842 A.H.), has been one of the most influential architects in this style of architecture and most renowned for his leading prominence in this style, especially its relevant architectural ornamentations. This study explores the designing style of Qavam al-Din Shirazi in the Kufic Mo’aqqali patterns and inscriptions within the “square Kufic motifs, bearing the Ayah 84, Surah 17, Al-Isra” (here briefly called “square motif”), located in the Shrine of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari in Gazirgah, Herat. The aim of this study is to discover the link between this square motif and its sources of inspiration. The question is what underlying design system has been the basis of the square motif in this shrine. Thus, this research follows a descriptive-analytical method. In the process of DATA collection, apart from using the written historical sources and the writings of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, this square motif has been kept under focus as our primary evidence and the first-hand observation source.Therefore, through examining various resources and information on the subject, including the interpretation offered by Khwaja Abdullah Ansari in a chapter from his book, “Maydan-i Iradat” (the field of Willfulness) from the book “Sad Maydan” (The One Hundred Fields), it is understandable that the aforementioned verse alludes towards the significance of the intention in prayers; such an intention which would serve as the spiritual rites of the prayer during an inner journey, beginning with a noble intention; otherwise, if the initial intention is flawed, the entire journey would be considered futile. This seems to be the foundation upon which Qavam al-Din Shirazi has developed the conception of his design. On one hand, considering the quadruple arrangement of the verse on all the four sides of the square motif, and on the other hand, the repetition of the “Namaz’s” (prayer’s) content within the circumscribed Kufic writings, organized in the mo’aqqali design, it is conceived that through circumscribing the content of the square motif by the verse “Qul kullun yaAAmalu AAala shakilatihi” (Say: everyone acts according to his own disposition), he has visually and objectively infused its connotation into the circumscribed textual content; in other words, in this manner, he has actualized a visual interpretation for the concepts introduced by Khwaja Abdullah Ansari in the form of the architectural ornamentation.