Athar

ICOMOS – IFLA Principles Concerning Rural Landscapes as Heritage – Delhi 2017

Media Shokrani

Rural landscapes are a vital component of the heritage of humanity that contain a complex lattice of tangible and intangible cultural heritage and have a strong connection with their surrounding nature and environment. As a result, they can be named the rural landscapes. Since the living rural landscapes are one of the most common types of cultural landscapes in existence, their conservation is of special importance. Identifying the various dimensions and values of these landscapes can help the betterment of understanding of the adaptation of people to their land and production methods based on the cultural and natural foundations. At a time that we are facing serious challenges in terms of weakening of the cultures, and destruction and exploitation of the natural resources, and the problems of clean water, air, food and healthy products are being raised in scientific communities as serious challenges of the future, it is important to focus on living rural landscapes to upgrade and understand them. Effective support and principled safeguarding of these landscapes and sustainable changes, using the experience at hand and their appropriate transmission to future generations also becomes doubly important. That way, an appropriate balance could be struck between various economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects. As a result, the present document was produced and adopted by ICOMOS-IFLA International Scientific Committee on Cultural Landscapes in the symposium held as part of the 19^th ICOMOS General Assembly in New Delhi in 2019. This document tries to raise awareness on various production methods, via agriculture, animal husbandry and pastoralism, fishing and aquaculture, forestry, wild food gathering, hunting, and extraction of other resources, which are necessary for sustaining human life and to highlight the ever increasing interaction between human and nature which encompasses the technical, scientific and experience based human knowledge. While treating the definitions and necessities in tending to the living rural landscapes, this document explains the threats and challenges that exist in today’s world for rural landscapes which result in their loss and/or abandonment or radical change. Also, the benefits of these landscapes as natural and cultural resources essential for life to be transmitted for future generations is considered. The necessity of sustainable conservation of these landscapes are also treated. This document considers the identification of values and transmission of the accumulated knowledge and cultural meanings to the future generations as the condition for sustainable preservation of these landscapes. Finally some criteria are suggested to achieve this sustainability.

The Types and Usage of Building materials in the West Iwan of Takht-e Soleymān

Reza Taghavi Gharehbolagh

The western iwan of the Takht-e Soleymān is one of the most important buildings in this area. Based on some accounts, this iwan was constructed during the Sāssānid period and the Ilkhanate kings restored it after 700 years. This unique structure is statically unstable and needs strengthening. To this end, becoming familiar with the building materials and their use in this structure are important. The aim of this research is examining the building materials used in the western iwan of Takht-e Soleymān in the two significant architectural periods of Takht-e Soleymān (Sāssānid and Ilkhānid), with focus on the use of the building materials and their positioning. This research has been conducted using the field study method. The research results show that the building materials used in the construction of the western iwan are stone, brick, and half baked, half worked plaster. Smoothed stone is used in the first architectural period following the style of all the other structures built in the area. Using the excavations near the iwan abutment, and comparing with the northern and sudden supports, it was revealed that the abutment of the iwan are rows of smoothed stone in stretcher bond formation. The main body of the abutment, up to the brickwork, is also built from smoothed stone to a height of 5.2 meters. The remarkable point in this regard is the gradual change of the stretcher brickwork to the stretcher-header brickwork (similar to the method used in the perimeter wall). This is done in such a way that the lower rows are stretcher brickwork and the higher rows are stretcher header. On the top part and the top of the smoothed masonry, square bricks are used with sides of 29 centimetres and thickness of 7 centimetres. The brickwork is stretcher with a one third overlap. By observing the similar buildings to the iwan in the area, it seems that the barrel vault was also made of bricks. The mortar used in the construction of stone and brick part in this architectural period was half baked, half worked plaster. In the second architectural period in which the Ilkhanate reconstructed the parts fallen down since the first architectural period, stone rubble and plaster were the main building materials. The top parts and some of the parts which had been separated from the body of the iwan as a whole layer were reconstructed. A cover of ornamental tiles [qashani] and from the inside and muqarnas in the apex of the iwan. The stone rubble used in the western iwan in this period was the remnants of the building materials used in the first period which differed in dimension and was placed in horizontal rows. The impost of the vault is evident by a 10 cm projection of the building materials. The mortar used is half baked half worked plaster as was revealed using chemical analysis. Another remarkable element in this period is the qashani covering the inside of the abutments which is a remarkable ornamental element of the Ilkhanate period in this location. The eastern front and the sides of the iwan entrance, there are remnants of plaster muqarnas in three rows.

Depictions of Fruit in the Tiles of Golestān Palace

Samineh Khobi

Golestān Palace is the remnant of the historic citadel of Tehran, which dates back to the Safavid period, and the Zandiyeh and Fatḥ-Ali Shah Qajar. But because of extensive repairs by Nasser al-Din Shah in 1905, most of the buildings in this complex are regarded to be from the Nasseri era. Golestān Palace was the residence of the Qajar kings and the country’s administrative heart whose architectural decorations had formed in connection with traditional cultural concepts, as well as a mixture of traditional and western and fully western concepts. To decorate the palaces and government buildings in this era, some religious, national and traditional concepts, such as common tales, were used and building pictorial backgrounds using natural scenery, structures, depicting animals, plants, and inanimate objects became popular. Painting fruit was a new concept which appeared in the Haft Rang [seven colour] tiles used on the outside walls of the Golestān Palace. These tiles were painted with depictions of bunches of flowers, and fruit such as pomegranates, grapes, cucumbers, Persian melons, apples, pears, and watermelons. Given the importance of food among Iranians, the fruit paintings can be considered alongside the cultural and social changes during the Qajar era which have been reflected in travelogues and photographs remaining of that time; foreign tourists have mentioned the welcoming of guests by various types of food and fruit and have described the Iranian food spreads and their culinary traditions. The main question of this research is to do with the method of depicting fruit in the tiles of the Golestān Palace and the general aim of this article is understanding how the cultural evolution and changes in artistic depictions have been reflected in the Qajar era. This research considers raw food to be a cultural element, and uses a descriptive-analytical approach, gathering information from libraries, making use of photographs, and travelogues related to the Qajar era. The history of depicting fruit in Iranian Architectural ornamentation is considered to go back to the Afshar era and the Indian masons which has remained as expanded decorative paintings. In the painted tiles of the Qajar era, fruit types appeared which have never been used as ornamentation before. For example, apart from the common fruit, vegetables and fruit such as cherries, sour-cherries, and corn were painted on the tiles of the Golestān Palace. The corn with large yellow kernels, and some red cherries have been depicted alongside other fruit. What is remarkable about the depiction of the fruit, is the ornamental arrangement of the fruit with leaves and flowers; most of the fruit are seen as individual or bunches in arrangements that includes a framework of leaves and flowers. The frames are not uniform and sometimes are accompanied by architectural elements such as pillars or sometimes with green vines and trestles of greenery. The fruit are depicted freely using different colour shading, colour bordering using lines, and cross hatching which has been copied form imported post cards and magazine pictures. Plants and fruit have had a legendary, symbolic and ritualistic place in the Iranian psyche since the ancient times; but, in the Qajar era, they have appeared in a realistic style and as one of the main concepts of depictions, rivalling the European still life paintings. The findings in this research show that, although the fruits depictions in the Golestān Palace are a continuation of the previous eras, but the cultural evolution of the Qajar era has had an effect on them and has changed a lot in relation to the Iranian culinary culture.

Examination of reasons of variance in earthquake damage rates in earthen buildings of the historic village of Esfahak post Tabas earthquake

Vahid Zat Akram

Earthen building materials have been in common use as cheap, available, and practical construction materials in hot and dry areas for a long time. Earthen buildings exist in Iran, especially in villages, because of the large and numerous areas that have the same climate. Given that Iran is highly earthquake prone and the importance of paying attention to the possible vulnerability of all the indigenous buildings, endeavours for identifying the possible weak points of the earthen village buildings in an earthquake situation become doubly important. Especially to save human life. On the other hand traditional building methods and life patterns related to village earthen buildings are an important part of the Iranian architectural history in using local building materials that need conservation. One of the collections of earthen buildings that has been damaged and has suffered various degradation during the Tabas earthquake of 1979 is the village of Esfahak located 38 kilometres south-east of the Tabas county, which has also been inscribed in the National Heritage List of Iran. After the aforementioned earthquake and the damage and destruction of the earthen houses in this region, the survivors left these buildings and started constructing buildings using new materials and building styles that clashed with their old architecture just a short distance away. But currently, with the focus on indigenous heritage and the development of the indigenous tourism sector, the residents in this area are asking for the repair and restoration of these buildings. In this respect and before any action is taken on strengthening the above-mentioned buildings, it is essential to study the earthquake damage in these buildings. A remarkable point related to the earthen buildings, is the different rates of damage in these buildings during the earthquake. Some of the buildings have suffered serious damage while other others have only minor damage or are completely unharmed. The existence of possible difference in the architectural template and the implementation method for these buildings is a possible factor in the variance in the rate of damage in the buildings and better performance of some of these structures during the earthquake. Examining the validity of this matter and a study on the existence of other factors influencing the difference in performance of some of these earthen structures have been done in this research. In this research, a field study of the different rates of damage in the earthen structures has been used as a basis to perform diagnostic studies in attaining the reasons for the structural failures of the earthen buildings in this village. Apart from endeavouring to reach a correct understanding of the seismic behaviour and the damage in these structures form the earthquake, such research is a precursor for any type of seismic improvement of these structures. This research is descriptive-analytical and the required information has been gathered using academic and field studies. The results of this research show that the passing of the Qanat underneath some of the homes has resulted in the increase in the damages. Also the different building patterns used for the structures (troglodytic, strata, moulded mud brick), has a direct impact on the seismic performance of these structures.
The low implementation quality, and not using the appropriate structural strengthening methods to increase the seismic resistance of these buildings by the builders is another reason for the different rates of damage in these buildings.

Tol-e Ājori, a new monumental building in Pārsa, a multidiscipline approach to Persepolis and Pārsa

Alireza Askari Chaverdi

The Bāgh-e Fīrūzi area spreads over 130 ha and includes 10 known Achaemenid sites: seven with stone architectural elements, one with baked bricks on the surface, and two corresponding to 3 m-high rounded tepes. Tol-e Ājori is located on the eastern fringe of Bāgh-e Fīrūzi, on a border defined by Bāgh-e Fīrūzi located 300 m to the SE and Tol-e Jangī B located 400 m to the NW. This area was studied and excavated over 8 years. Comprehensive study of Tol-e Ājori, located 3 km west of the Persepolis Terrace, must be approached by taking into account former research on Pārsa. Like various scholars before us, we think that the Bāgh-e Fīrūzi area should be seen as a part of the city linked to the royal residence of Persepolis. Remains of Achaemenid occupation near the village of Fīrūzi have gradually been brought to light by archaeologists surveying the vicinity of the Terrace in the attempt to place it within the perspective of wider town planning.
The archaeological excavation results in this part of the city of Pārsa showed that in both historical and functionality sense, the discovered building in Tol-e Ājori in the area known as Bāgh-e Fīrūzi, can go back to the early phases or even before the construction of the Persepolis terrace. The Tol-e Ājori is one of the valuable archaeological finds that fills the gap in the formation of the city of Pārsa before Darius I. Paying attention to the glazed bricks and the figurative imagery of fantastical animals used in this building, the building in Tol-e Ājori goes back to before the construction of Āpādānā in Susa and Persepolis, and it resembles the Ishtar gate in Babylon at the beginning of the sixth century BC. In this regard, the comparison of the construction method; architectural trend; and analytical archaeological information with regards to the construction methods; and identification of the the materials used for glazed bricks from the three areas of Tol-e Ājori, Susa and Babylon will have a critical role in understanding the history and the cultural connections of this era in South-Western Iran. The Tol-e Ājori building and the surrounding structures are located 3.5 kilometres from Persepolis, and they highlight the importance of the cityscape in this part as the oldest urban area within Pārsa. This research is conducted for the first time after new archaeological discoveries by using multidisciplinary research studies of the joint Iranian-Italian archaeological teams in the Pārsa city of Persepolis , and within the framework of the cooperation agreement between University of Bologna, Archaeology Research Centre, cooperation of Cultural Heritage Organisation, Shiraz University, and Persepolis World Heritage site.

Two Documents Related to the Architecture of Estarabad Village Baths

Mehrdad Qayyoomi Bidhendi

Written sources on Iranian pre-modern architecture in Islamic middle ages are very scarce. The material that is scattered in literary and historic texts is normally limited to monumental architecture, and mostly related to the architectural works and not to the process and the agents. Moreover, there is not much material on people's and vernacular architecture. However, there are surviving documents related to the Iranian's general life and social interactions which are full of architectural information. Over millennia, ordinary people have built thousands of buildings and villages. They also had to make written records for various social matters; especially when religion encouraged them to keep written records: in waqf (Islamic endowment), inheritance and trades. Waqf, inheritance and trade documens are often ignored but information-rich Iranian architecture, especially the people's architecture. Some of these documents, especially the royal and court documents are kept in governmental archives; but thousands of documents are in the possession of individuals, families and sometimes private archives. One example of these is the family documents collection of the Gorgāni (Estarabadi) families. This article is written based on two documents form the Estarabad family collection using the descriptive-analytical method. In this article we introduce two documents, going back to the end of the Qajar era, both of which are related to the construction of baths in two villages of Ganareh and Qoroq, located in Estarabad. Haj Mohammad Mehdi Kabir, one of the important merchants of the city of Estarabad, decided to build baths in two villages which probably belonged to him family in 1916. He employed builders and architects and made a contract with them. The dates of the two documents are one month and five days apart. The document texts and even their paper type are similar. From the handwritings it can be surmised that the scribe is the same for both document. The architect for the Ganareh bath is Ostad Hossein Banna and the architect for the Qoroq is Aqa Seyyed Mohammad Jafar Banna. It is remarkable that both of these architects are from Tehran. The length and remuneration terms for both the contracts are the same. Various parts and space units (compartments) of the bath as well as some of their physical features are mentioned in these documents. Some information can be also inferred with regards to the general composition of the bath spaces. The description of these spaces are nearly similar and have the same dimensions. Like most other historical texts, these documents give more information between their lines. For example, the documents do not give a description of each of the places they name. It is apparent that merely using the name of spaces such as central courtyard or platform was enough to let the patron, the architect and the witnesses know what the description is and how it should look physically. Or for example, there are no mentions of innovations by the architects. It was not the job of the architects to innovate and to use these innovations in constructing baths for fame in Estarabad, Tehran, Iran or the world. Their intention was to serve; their intention was to erect bath houses which were functional for the Qoroq and Ganareh villages to the best of their ability and meet the physical and emotional needs of the people.

Physical and Functional Aspects of Boshrūyeh Mills

Hanife Karagari

Water can be considered to be the reason for existence and the main factor in formation of some of the traditional Iranian architectural structures. Innovative technologies such as [water] mills and water reservoirs etc. can be placed in this category. These structures are the result of the interaction of the previous generations with nature and utilising its various elements. The human of the past has managed to provide one of his main food staples by using water in mills and grinding grains into flour. The mills and other water related structures can be considered as physical manifestations of the interaction between man and nature. Therefore, these structures, as an existing element, possess remarkable physical aspects. The [water] mills in Boshrūyeh are no exception. Examination and studying their physical and functional aspects will result in greater knowledge of this technology. Becoming familiar with these mills can be considered as the first step in their preservation. Introducing these structures can bring about more activity, attention and interest in these structures. As evidence of the ingenuity of the ancients, these structures have values which justifies more detailed study. In fact, by introducing these structures, the human of today will understand the interaction between the ancient man and nature. Examining the studies conducted in this subject shows that the researchers have chosen three study approaches, namely historical, physical and functional. With respect to Boshrūyeh mills there are no detailed studies conducted and only one article has given a brief explanation about the water circulation through these mills and the rest of the explanation is related to the milling profession. The present article examines the mills, including the study of micro spaces, building materials, and their location in the Boshrūyeh region, and tries to gain knowledge in their architecture as well as their technical functions. The primary information is gathered using a literature review and then a field study has been conducted that includes photography, interviewing the millers, and visiting the mills to complete the information gathered. Finally, the gathered data has been assessed using descriptive-analytical approach. To that end, first the location of the mills has been examined, and then the Boshrūyeh qanat has been introduced. The final step is the examination of physical and functional aspects, and the building materials. The findings are that these buildings have a lot of similarity in physical and functional aspects. Physically, all the mills have complementary spaces for the mill and the main spaces are the turret, entrance, corridor and hall. Since the mills all have turrets, their technical functions are also similar. The water enters the turret via the entry channel and after turning the paddles, leaves the mill and enters the next mill. This is repeated seven times. The building materials used for these mills are also very similar. The use of stones, bricks, mud bricks, cob, lime mortar and plaster is seen in all the mills.

A Glance on Architectural Particularities of Watermills in Town of Birjan

Zabihollah Mas’oudi

Human being has always endeavored to keep a balance between his needs, demands, latent and active facilities in the environment since millennia. Watermill has, as an environmental hydraulic structure, played a vital role in the man’s socio-economic life even in arid areas where it was temporarily constructed for being used in certain seasons and or specific measures were devised to supply water. In the south of Khorasan especially in Birjand where water is noticeably scarce, solid dikes and qanats, that their relics are accessible, were used to satisfy the needs of a developing city through its circulation. The investigations which were carried out in Birjand region revealed that in addition to watermills, some windmills had been around the town. As Birjand has been located in a closed region, a number of its windmills is less than any other areas of Khorasan. Due to a better climate and more accessibility to water in Bāgherān Mountain range in comparison with its neighboring regions, the locals mostly made watermills. Omar Shāh Dike and Band-e Darreh (Dareh Dike) supplied water for a majority of watermills in Birjand. The nearest watermill to the dyke was equipped with an instrument to return water, and other watermills which were in a lower position than the first one regarding height used consecutively used the same water-returning instrument, and there was no need for a new water-returning device. The largest parts of theses watermills have been constructed in the ground, and the light needed for such structure is supplied through the entrance and openings which have been installed in the ceiling. In terms of age, the structures under study like the ones that are in Birjand date back to the Safavid era which their capital was Qahestan Region. From the Qajar period, as this region was across the south-north commercial route, commercial activities have been on upswing. Due to heavy traffic of traders and their needs for necessary materials especially for bread, a large number of watermills have been constructed around Bāgherān Mountain range.
For the same reason, most of these watermills belong to the period mentioned above. The present paper tries to study different aspects of watermills of Birjand through descriptive-analytic method. In doing so, the authors examined the followings issues: architectural points, indoor details, water supply method, dimensions, size and geographical situation. Library studies and field work provided data. The critical question of this research is: “What are the main architectural components of this type of architecture? Is there any variety in architectural components of the watermills?” The studies show these structures are similar in terms of architecture, aqueduct, headrace, wheat mill chamber, its annexes as well as the materials used for their construction. Although there exist some minor changes in some spaces like guard cabinet, storage house concerning area and size which depend on the owner’s budget for the development of such structures.