JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES IN ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
Year:2018 | Volume:6 | Issue:1 (18) |Papers Count:5

Arg-e Bam complex is considered as one of the most important ancient Iranian-Islamic cities. This complex is the historical axis of Bam city and is located in the east of Kerman province. Abundant research has been carried out on the urban structure of the Bam so far, and each of these studies has achieved significant results, but some parts of it have been rarely considered by researchers. One of these urban elements is a neighborhood called "Konari" or "Konari Mahalle", which has not comprehensively been studied in any research. What has been written about this neighborhood in some studies is not based on any exact research, for the same reason they have been constantly associated with speculation. Hence, some questions are raised on the function and antiquity of the neighborhood that have never been clearly answered. On the other hand, the 2003 earthquake, in spite of its devastating effects, made it possible to reveal some of the hidden layers of this neighborhood in particular and the historical complex of Arg-e Bam in general. Leading research has also studied the neighborhood through historical approaches and data collection by field and library studies. The results show that construction time of the neighborhood’ s rampart on the northern and western fronts has been simultaneous with the first period of the formation of Arg-e Bam wall in the late Seleucid era and the first half of the Parthian period, i. e. the middle of the fourth century (BC) until the early part of the first century (BC) and contemporaneous with other parts of the rampart, other layers were added to it during the Sassanid period and the first century of the Islamic era, i. e. it is specifically considered as part of the continuous Sharestan (city center) of the complex. Architectural evidence, archaeological findings, and historical evidence suggest that in the sixth century AH, Konari Mahalle was separated from the main body of Sharestan by creating a southern separating wall. This event occurred at the time of Sabesgh Ali command (563-580 AH), a veteran colonel and agent of Bahram Shah, the ninth Atabak of Kerman. The continuous use of this neighborhood, as the other parts of Sharestan, has led to the redevelopment of the spatial and architectural elements of the units inside it, in such a way that, like most parts of Sharestan, few units can be identified that date back beyond a few centuries ago. The network of passages in this neighborhood is clustered, so that its main body starts from the historic entrance and ends in the square of the northern half. Subsidiary passages that are branched out of it provide access to various parts of the neighborhood. The water source of Konari has been a large and famous Chiefdom residence (Hakem Neshin) well. Its water was supplied through a system whose starting point has been the main branch of the water duct of the ruler’ s bath. The water supply system of the neighborhood, some of which is preserved as pottery water pipes, shows that it has been one of the few parts of Sharestan, which had been fed in this manner using the water of the Chiefdom residence well. The historic entrance of the neighborhood and the architectural structures providing access to the neighborhood, indicate that the entry and exit to and from Konari have been continuously under security protection during its lifetime. On the other hand, the spatial composition of the architectural units is also distinctly different from other units of Sharestan’ s architecture and lacks their structural complexity. By comparing these units with military forts and historical garrisons and taking into account the way they are located in the context of the neighborhood, a significant structural similarity is revealed. On the other hand, architectural and archaeological evidence show that what is now known as barracks inside the third rampart is an additional structure; and a traveler's report also shows that in 1225 AH, the whole of this collection was exclusively held by its ruler; According to this issue, along with the similarity of the architectural units of Konari Mahalle with the barracks and the special safeguards applied to the entrance and exit during its lifetime, it can be assumed that it may have been a place for garrisons/barracks of Arg-e Bam before the construction of a new barrack. Many troops who were possessed by Sabegh Ali, and their number has been sometimes recorded as three thousand horsemen and infantries, made it necessary to have an organized barrack. Architectural evidence suggests that there has been a certain link between the neighborhood and a building called state stable; this connection has been made through a mardgerd (aisle /hallway) whose beginning part is located beside the entrance of the mezzanine above the large architectural unit outside the neighborhood. Similarity of the materials used in this urban element with some of the materials used in the construction of the southern rampart of Konari, indicates the fact that the stables were built at the same time as the old barracks were built. This space was in fact a response to the need felt by Sabegh Ali’ s cavalry at the place where their horses were kept. The noticeable proximity of the location of this space to Konari Mahalle and the easy access made possible by the establishment of a military leader had increased the security power of this military system. These conditions, along with the passive defense systems of Arg-e Bam complex, which had been provided through wide ramparts and deep ditches for centuries, enabled the establishment of a stable government in the late sixth century AH by Sabegh Ali. Konari Mahalle was used until the ending years of the sixth decade in the 13th century AH, i. e. from 1258 to 1260 AH; From this time onwards, this neighborhood like the entire Arg-e Bam complex, was eventually evacuated by the central and local government of Kerman forever, and replaced by a new barrack whose position was located within the third barrack or Chiefdom residence; however, the relationship between the government stables, that the construction of another building similar to it was impossible, continued to maintain its function and was connected to the latter barrack through a new mardgerd. In a comprehensive look, the existence of this neighborhood and its vast and impervious wall, has been one of the smart ideas of passive defense considered by the designers and builders of Arg-e Bam complex, because by creating this neighborhood, the blind and vulnerable point of the city, which was close to the ruler's headquarters, was removed.

Introduction: The Transparency is a basic principle in Iranian architecture that has reached prosperity during the time. Isfahan is an important city in architecture because it has been as the political capital in the two important periods. So many valuable buildings have been built in these periods that the houses are more important between them. Literature review: The architecture was more transparent until the Qajar era but after that in Pahlavi era and contemporary architecture, it be used in different way and has lost the Iranian Islamic patterns. Unfortunately, this principle that has been improved fundamental and theoretical principles of Iranian architecture today will be ignored or less used in design and architecture. If these principles are also applied, its concept and appearance in architecture has changed and has been forgotten Iranian Islamic models. The authors try to answer these questions: How the transparency become manifest in the form of Isfahan traditional houses? How the transparency has been manifested in different era and in which era it has been more evident? Thus, due to this point that the Isfahan homes architecture has become more transparent during the time and different eras, this article studied the transparency principle in the houses forms of two important Isfahan eras. Methodology: This paper contains the parts are as follows: the theory part that introduces and defines the fundamental of transparency, and the field part that reviewing the principals that make the buildings more transparent in two different periods. So the theoretical part of paper, accomplished by using the library resources and the field studies is done by using authentic maps, direct observation of these houses and interview with experts. Numerous of significant historical houses related to Safavid and Qajar era has been reviewed because the transparency in Isfahan’ s architecture is more manifested in these two eras. This comparison between these houses shows the difference of transparency in different periods. The collection of historic homes that have been registered with the National Monuments insist of 83 houses of the Qajar period, 38 houses related to the Safavid period, five houses related to Safavid-Qajar era and 12 houses from the Qajar-Pahlavi era. Among these houses, the buildings those are more impressive in architecture and their plans and map are existed, has selected to review. So 14 houses were evaluated. Discussion: So this paper has studied and compared the principle of transparency in the design of Safavid and Qajar's homes to recognize and reuse the transparency principle in the contemporary residential architecture. Reviewing different opinion and studies have been done about transparency; show that there are different aspects about this issue. The transparency in Europe and Islamic architecture is different but there are common in some concepts and factors. So it is necessary to set a clear definition. In this article transparency is a kind of design that contains “ Reducing the Materials and Lightness” , “ Opening the Space” , " Permeability and Reflection", "Fluidity and Dynamism ", " Hierarchy and Sequence” and “ Visual Continuity” . Results: The transparency is appeared in Isfahan historical houses as the concepts such as “ Reducing the Materials and Lightness” , “ Opening the Space” , " Permeability and Reflection", "Fluidity and Dynamism ", " Hierarchy and Sequence” and “ Visual Continuity” . Different strategies applied in designing the forms and body of building during the Qajar and Safavid period to create the transparency. So the transparency as a Basic and effective principle in Isfahan architecture, has become more obvious during the time and different periods Conclusion: The design of the historical houses of Isfahan becomes more and more transparent during the time. Models and strategies that are used in each period are derived from the previous strategies. But these strategies will be completed and more visible in the next period. An obvious example can be seen in the porch (Eivan) of these houses. During Safavid period the porch in addition to climate issues, has been created to opening the space, visual continuity, fluidity and dynamism and lightness in the building. This space applied and with small size in some walls of Safavid houses. But in Qajar houses, these patterns are more completed and developed than previous periods. The size, number of columns, width, height and even decoration of these spaces has increased and become more developed in Qajar houses. These two eras are common in some strategies that applied to make the building transparent. Some of these solutions are: using multiple courtyards, Eivancheh, Mahtabi, Hozkhaneh, and numerous vaults. Finally; if the transparency is defined as “ Reducing the Materials and Lightness” , “ Opening the Space” , " Permeability and Reflection", "Fluidity and dynamism ", " Hierarchy and Sequence” and “ Visual Continuity” , the Qajar architecture is considered as the evolved architecture. So it can be said that, Qajar architecture has improved the theories and patterns that applied in the design of Safavid houses and even in some cases has been created innovation in the forms of buildings.

Human beings, as a social creature, need others to get their peace of mind and safety. Such needs encourage or force the idea of cooperation and partnership with others, while the formation of interpersonal relations in a society affects people to use a common environment. Today, urban planners and designers, in the form of professional specialists, are trying to engage their users through collaborative design approaches to identify the underlying aspects of the problem, highlighting those aspects, and proposing practical solutions to get public views. Nowadays, it could be said that the designers choose the middle path of independence and its opposite point being conservatism in design; in other words, they knock themselves out of their power position. A good number of studies have demonstrated that the use of user requirements increases the chance of success in the environment as people in the community know more about the needs and requirements of their environment than specialists. Hence, in recent years, popular participation has received considerable attention from theoretical and practical aspects. The present article was aimed at exploring the concept of participation and determining the criteria for attracting participation in the environment by reference to Western and authentic Islamic sources in order to achieve the principles and desirable criteria for participation in the environment while taking into account the shared values, beliefs, and common needs of the ideal society. In this regard, some questions were raised including the differences and the implications of the concept of participation in the environment from the two perspectives of Islamic and Western thoughts. Considering the fundamental-theoretical nature and the qualitative research approach, a collection of data was compiled through an interpretive-analytical method based on documentary studies to answer the question and collecting data and reviewing the literature of the subject. In the first step, the process of participation in Western literature was defined and applied. Then, the application of participation in various areas of environmental design and indicators influencing the participation of individuals in the environment were examined. In the second step, we tried to inspect the concept of participation in the environment from the perspective of Islamic thought. First, issues related to Islamic ethics, ethical principles that are social (not individual), and especially those related to participation in the environment were scrutinized. The available sources of Islamic sciences, especially the Holy Qur'an, hadiths, narrations, and sayings of Islamic scholars were used in this regard. The principles, criteria, and the results were then obtained by studying the verses and hadiths along with the study of the characteristics and manifestations of participation in the environment with a multi-faceted view. In the third step, these principles were determined in a comparative manner to identify commonalities and distinctions by combining the two previously examined categories. The findings indicated that in Western thought, the level of participation in the viewpoint of theorists involves a spectrum of non-participation to spontaneous participation. Besides, many views are formulated in a general way solely with regard to the background of individual mentality and the consideration of the ideals of intellectual and architectural institutions without considering the culture and social beliefs of various societies. Originality aims at the individual dimension and the consent of the parties while individual preferences are prioritized. In Islamic thought, one of the ethical principles of Islam in society for realizing a united nation is participation which has been emphasized abundantly. The principle of participation also has secondary ethics each of which has complementary components in itself that leads to the mixing of the spectra and levels. It could be said that all categorizations and principles were a subset of spontaneous participation and one can achieve the desired participation in the environment by observing them. The results of the adaptation of concepts and manifestations in both Islamic and Western thoughts provided different criteria for participation in the environment. The comparison of the principles pointed out that Western theories differ from the Islamic method in terms of participation of the environment in a fundamental element that is the importance of sensing and reasoning as the sole source of knowledge along with neglecting divine resources as unitary and complete resources. Contrary to the western-oriented view that focuses on individual dimension and satisfaction, the Islamic perspective emphasizes components such as cooperation, endowment spirit, jihad, and charity as high levels of participation. Numerous references to the symbolic crystallization of Islamic values in the physical form of the recommended architecture testify to the claim that the Islamic viewpoints lay down the basis of all works in the reverence of God and in the spiritual dimension of man. This clearly shows that religious and cultural values are preferable to all minor or short-term needs and ideals and norms derived from Islamic values are beyond individual and group needs and preferences.

The traditional Iranian bazaar is considered as a great example of Iranian art and architecture with a rich cultural heritage. This phenomenon of outstanding architecture, self-sustaining and coherent with the surrounding urban landscape, like other urban texture, has not been immune from the consequences of the transformation of modern life in its internal and peripheral arena. On the other hand, the transformation and creation of new structures for the survival of life of historical textures is essential. The concept of contextualism and its purpose in the historical context, based on the qualitative concepts of the creation of a living, coherent and dynamic, is based on the need to recognize and emphasize the extraction of the texture pattern language for structural and functional cohesion in peripheral development. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the degree of coherence of new structures on the continuation of the traditional texture life of the traditional bazaar in order to analyze the heterogeneity of infill buildings in the historical context of the Iranian-Islamic city and criticize the existing context, first, with a descriptive-analytical method, on traditional Ardabil bazaar as a case study. Then, in order to answer the question of the extent of the infill coherence effect as a context-oriented parameter on the continuity of the pattern language as a characteristic of context survival, field survey, as well as the questionnaire as a tool for collecting information and SPSS software as an analysis tool, and data evaluation were used. By developing the hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between the amount of context-oriented contemporary infills and the survival of the traditional bazaar context, the research begins qualitatively and to test, the continuation of the traditional bazaar is dependent variable and the degree of contextualism between the infills is the independent variable. First, qualitative studies are conducted based on deductive reasoning and field studies, and then the results are quantified by presenting a questionnaire and examining the views of the resident business people who have at least two generations of bazaar presence, as well as those of contemporary merchants and experts. The findings in the first section show that the powerful functional-physical centersare of scale that create the pattern of the life of different structures. In the case of the traditional Ardebil bazaar, it is in accordance with the three macro, middle and macro scales, indicate the highest quality of life and it brings forth the semantic coherence of the unified and dynamic Islamic worldview in the structure of the traditional bazaar. The findings in the second part indicate a general lack of coherence between contemporary infills in the 2 nd grade zone of the traditional Ardebil bazaar. Also, it shows that structural integrity, visual coherence and spatial integrity variables have a direct and significant effect on the dependent variable of the physical life of the traditional bazaar, and the activity coherence variable and the cognitive integration of the new building as a predictor variable on the functional life of the traditional bazaart. Therefore, dealing with concepts such as scaling and scale distribution, necessity to go beyond the strictly limited use of the brick and the limited height of the building and the window frame in the traditional bazaar becomes vital to consider, so that deep concepts of the language of the texture pattern can be continued and the new recommendations for design identity in the historical context can be created for designers to emphasize "modeling" rather than "formalism".

Existing approaches to inscriptions tend often to regard various literary aspects, some considerations on the text content, historical importance, and tendency to the past events illustrated in the inscriptions, and this has led to the typology and classification of inscriptions in terms of endowment, decree, memorial, and construction themes, and in another way, the recognition of stuffs and materials. In the meantime, it has been underestimated the artistic aspects of the inscriptions in terms of high-value calligraphy. An important part of this failing goes back to the lack of fundamentals and methods for the critique of inscriptions based on calligraphic considerations and its principles and rules. Although such principles and rules are regarded as an important source and criterion for understanding beauty, recognizing and analyzing calligraphy works, however this measure has been applied in non-engraving forms, piecewriting, chalipa, scribing manuscripts, book binding, but neglected in the practice of inscription. The purpose of this study is to provide theoretical and analytical bases and fundamentals on how to benefit from the principles and rules of calligraphy in inscription from the perspective of calligraphic art. The study is conducted in an analytical and descriptive method based on library studies and field data on inscriptions. Answering to the main question and issue of the research, i. e. how to analyze the inscriptions in terms of the principles and rules of calligraphy, an referring to the treatises and related researches on calligraphy, the findings of the study indicate that It is possible to use the principles and rules contained in the calligraphy treatises, with special considerations on inscription and architectural requirements with some necessary modifications and bearing in mind the degree of adaptation of some of them in the inscription. The principles of proportion (alignment), composition (coordination), and seat are of more value. And the principles of Safa (succulence) and Shaan (pleasant) and the rule of the theoretical and practical writing are at the next importance. The way of recognition of the style and method as an essential component in the analysis of inscription, given the quality and quantity of inscriptions, is also important. It is obvious that the proposed principles, along with other methods and typologies of inscription studies, can lead to a more systematic understanding of the values of inscriptions, and provide a more fresh perspective for assessment and analysis of aesthetic aspects of the inscriptions.