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Traditional Persian residential architecture is the architecture employed by builders and craftsmen in Greater Iran and the surrounding regions influenced by Persian culture to construct vernacular houses. The art draws from various eras and elements of Persia.

Persian residential architecture

Being farmers meant great calls, such as having hot summers, and cold winters. Iran’s traditional architecture is designed in proportion to its climatic conditions. The continued design and existence of traditional homes amidst the preponderance of mid-rise apartments in Iran's ongoing modernisation projects is testament to a strong connection and identification with Persian architectural heritage.

Iran's old city fabric is composed of narrow winding streets called koocheh with high walls of adobe and brick, often roofed at various intervals. This form of urban design, which used to be commonplace in Iran, is an optimal form of architecture that minimizes the expansion of arid regions and the effects of storms. It also maximizes daytime shades, and insulates the urban fabric from severe winter temperatures of the Iranian Plateau.

Religious beliefs coupled with the necessity to defend cities against frequent foreign invasions encouraged traditional Persian residential architects to create inward seeking designs amidst these narrow complicated koochehs, weaving tightly knit residential neighborhoods. Thus, the house becomes the container as opposed to the contained. These houses possess an innate system of protection: they all have enclosed gardens with maximum privacy, preventing any view into the house from the outside world. Hence residential architecture in Persia was designed in a way to provide maximum protection to the inhabitants during times of tension and danger, while furnishing a microcosm of tranquillity that protected this inner Persian "paradise garden".

Neighborhoods in old Persian cities often formed around shrines of popular saints. All public facilities such as baths, houses of mourning (takyehs), teahouses, administration offices, and schools were to be found within the neighborhood itself. In addition to the main bazaar of the city, each neighborhood often had its own bazaar-cheh as well (i.e. “little bazaar”), as well as its own ab anbar (or public water reservoir), which provided the neighborhood with clean water.^[1] Qazvin, for example had over 100 such reservoirs before being modernized with city plumbing in modern times.

A roofscape of a traditional neighborhood in Kashan. The roof in the foreground belongs to a Qajar era bath-house.
Stucco reliefs from Borujerdi-ha House, Kashan.
Koochehs provided relief from storms. This was an efficient and ancient form of urban design in Persia. Photograph is from Nain.
Borujerdi-ha House, 1857, Kashan, a masterpiece of design.

When visiting Kashan in 1993, the chairman of UNESCO remarked: “Kashani architects are the greatest alchemists of history. They could make gold out of dust”. Indeed, almost all of Kashan's masterpieces, as in many other parts of Iran are made of humble, local, earth.

Like many other cities throughout Iran, stucco was the most widespread method of ornamentation in Persian houses. One reason was the relatively cheap price of the materials used (like gypsum for example) that don't require a high temperature to be transformed into plaster. This is an important consideration in places like central Iran where wood is relatively scarce. Another reason is that it is easily shaped, molded, or carved. Thanks to stucco, a wall of crudely fashioned stone blocks or raw brick, gives an impression of great luxury. Thus stucco owes its luxurious appearance to the skill of the craftsman. And with a tradition of stucco technique going back to pre-Islamic Iran, this is an art fully mastered by Persian craftsmen, as seen here.

Earthquakes in Iran leave massive destruction. Most of Iran's remaining traditional houses date from the post-quake eras during the Qajar period. Despite this, the efforts of Persiam architects to build resistance to earthquakes into their works let to many buildings remaining such as the spectacular Safavid Persian palaces as recounted by French and British explorers in many parts of Persia.

Characteristics of traditional Persian residential architecture

Almost all traditional Persian houses were designed in order to satisfy the following essential features:

Hashti and Dalan-e-vorudi: Entering the doorway one steps into a small enclosed transitional space called Hashti. Here one is forced to redirect one's steps away from the street and into the hallway, called Dalan e Vorudi. In mosques, the Hashti enables the architect to turn the steps of the believer to the correct orientation for prayer hence giving the opportunity to purify oneself before entering the mosque.
Convenient access to all parts of the house.
A central pool (howz) with surrounding gardens containing trees of figs, pomegranates, and grape vines.
Important partitionings such as the biruni (exterior) and the andaruni (interior).
Specific orientation facing toward and away from Mecca.

Furthermore, Persian houses in central Iran were designed to make use of an ingenious systems of wind catchers that create unusually cool temperatures in the lower levels of the building. Thick massive walls were designed to keep the sun's heat out in the summertime while retaining the internal heat in the winters.

The courtyard of the Lari House in Yazd.
The Tabatabaei residence, Kashan, mid-1800s.

Persia's distinctive artistic heritage with efficient yet ancient technical know-how thus created houses and spaces whose features were aesthetic talars and roofscapes with intriguing light wells, as well as intricate window and mirror works, paintings, reliefs, and a beautifully crafted iwan amidst comfortable residential spaces in hot arid regions.

Whereas the geometrical rigor seen in the works such as those in Safavid era Isfahan invoke the perfect order of the celestial world, the vegetal ornamentation realized in the interiors of houses, testify to the Persian love of gardens. And the stucco carvings, frescoes, and paintings executed by royal craftsmen, exemplify the level of Persian aesthetics.

Elements

Samples

Notes

^ Sharifi, Ayyoob; Murayama, Akito (31 March 2013). "Changes in the traditional urban form and the social sustainability of contemporary cities: A case study of Iranian cities". Habitat International. 38: 126–134. doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.007.

[1] Sharifi, Ayyoob; Murayama, Akito (31 March 2013). "Changes in the traditional urban form and the social sustainability of contemporary cities: A case study of Iranian cities". Habitat International. 38: 126–134. doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.007.

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Refimprove|date=April 2013}}
+{{More citations needed|date=April 2013}}
-'''Traditional Persian residential architecture''', is the architecture employed by builders and craftsmen in the cultural [[Greater Iran]] and the surrounding regions to construct vernacular houses. The art  draws from various cultures and elements from both Islamic and pre-Islamic times.
+'''Traditional Persian residential architecture''' is the architecture employed by builders and craftsmen in [[Greater Iran]] and the surrounding regions influenced by [[Culture of Iran|Persian culture]] to construct vernacular houses. The art draws from various eras and elements of Persia.
+== Persian residential architecture ==
-==Background and formation==
-Being situated on the edge of deserts and arid regions, Persian (Iranian) cities typically have hot summers, and cold, dry winters. Thus [[Iran]]’s traditional architecture is designed in proportion to its climatic conditions, and more than often, the unique fabled artistic background of Persia makes up for the seemingly lack of natural resources and beauty. The existence of hundreds of traditional houses with handsome designs even today amidst ugly apartments in Iran's hasty modernization projects is testament to a deep heritage of Architecture.
+Being farmers meant great calls, such as having hot summers, and cold winters. [[Iran]]’s traditional architecture is designed in proportion to its climatic conditions. The continued design and existence of traditional homes amidst the preponderance of mid-rise apartments in Iran's ongoing modernisation projects is testament to a strong connection and identification with Persian architectural heritage.
-[[Iran]]'s old city fabric is composed of narrow winding streets called '''''[[koocheh]]''''' with high walls of adobe and brick, often roofed at various intervals. This form of urban design, which used to be commonplace in Iran, is an optimal form of desert architecture that minimizes desert expansion and the effects of dust storms. It also maximizes daytime shades, and insulates the “fabric” from severe winter temperatures.
+[[Iran]]'s old city fabric is composed of narrow winding streets called [[koocheh]] with high walls of adobe and brick, often roofed at various intervals. This form of urban design, which used to be commonplace in Iran, is an optimal form of architecture that minimizes the expansion of arid regions and the effects of storms. It also maximizes daytime shades, and insulates the urban fabric from severe winter temperatures of the [[Iranian plateau|Iranian Plateau]].
-Islamic beliefs coupled with the necessity to defend cities against frequent foreign invasions encouraged traditional Persian residential architects to create inward seeking designs amidst these narrow complicated koochehs, weaving tightly knit residential neighborhoods. Thus the house becomes the container as opposed to the contained. These houses possess an innate system of protection; they all have enclosed gardens with maximum privacy, preventing any view into the house from the outside world. Hence residential architecture in Persia was designed in a way so as to provide maximum protection to the inhabitants during times of tension and danger, while furnishing a microcosm of tranquility that protected this inner “paradise garden”.
+Religious beliefs coupled with the necessity to defend cities against frequent foreign invasions encouraged traditional Persian residential architects to create inward seeking designs amidst these narrow complicated koochehs, weaving tightly knit residential neighborhoods. Thus, the house becomes the container as opposed to the contained. These houses possess an innate system of protection: they all have enclosed gardens with maximum privacy, preventing any view into the house from the outside world. Hence residential architecture in Persia was designed in a way to provide maximum protection to the inhabitants during times of tension and danger, while furnishing a microcosm of tranquillity that protected this inner Persian "[[paradise garden]]".
-Neighborhoods in old Persian cities often formed around shrines of popular saints. All public facilities such as baths, houses of mourning ([[Tekyeh]]s), teahouses, administration offices, and schools were to be found within the neighborhood itself. In addition to the main bazaar of the city, each neighborhood often had its own bazaar-cheh as well (i.e. “little bazaar”), as well as its own ab anbar (or public water reservoir), which provided the neighborhood with clean water.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sharifi|first=Ayyoob|author2=Murayama, Akito |title=Changes in the traditional urban form and the social sustainability of contemporary cities: A case study of Iranian cities|journal=Habitat International|date=31 March 2013|volume=38|pages=126–134|doi=10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.007}}</ref> [[Qazvin]], for example had over 100 such reservoirs before being modernized with city plumbing in modern times.
+Neighborhoods in old Persian cities often formed around shrines of popular saints. All public facilities such as baths, houses of mourning ([[takyeh]]s), teahouses, administration offices, and schools were to be found within the neighborhood itself. In addition to the main bazaar of the city, each neighborhood often had its own bazaar-cheh as well (i.e. “little bazaar”), as well as its own ab anbar (or public water reservoir), which provided the neighborhood with clean water.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sharifi|first=Ayyoob|author2=Murayama, Akito |title=Changes in the traditional urban form and the social sustainability of contemporary cities: A case study of Iranian cities|journal=Habitat International|date=31 March 2013|volume=38|pages=126–134|doi=10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.05.007}}</ref> [[Qazvin]], for example had over 100 such reservoirs before being modernized with city plumbing in modern times.
-<center>
+<gallery class="center">
-<gallery>
 image:Architecture125.JPG|A roofscape of a traditional neighborhood in [[Kashan]]. The roof in the foreground belongs to a [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]] era bath-house.
 Image:Architecture121.JPG|[[Stucco]] reliefs from [[Khaneh Borujerdi ha|Borujerdi-ha House]], [[Kashan]].
-image:Architecture58.JPG|[[Koocheh]]s provided relief from sand storms. This was an efficient and ancient form of urban design in Persia. Photograph is from [[Nain, Iran|Nain]].
+image:Architecture58.JPG|[[Koocheh]]s provided relief from storms. This was an efficient and ancient form of urban design in Persia. Photograph is from [[Nain, Iran|Nain]].
 Image:Borujerdiha.jpg|[[Khaneh Borujerdi ha|Borujerdi-ha House]], 1857, [[Kashan]], a masterpiece of design.
 </gallery>
-</center>
-When visiting [[Kashan]] in 1993, the chairman of UNESCO remarked: “Kashani architects are the greatest alchemists of history. They could make gold out of dust”. Indeed, almost all of Kashan’s masterpieces, as in many other parts in Iran are made of humble, local, earth.
+When visiting [[Kashan]] in 1993, the chairman of UNESCO remarked: “Kashani architects are the greatest alchemists of history. They could make gold out of dust”. Indeed, almost all of Kashan's masterpieces, as in many other parts of Iran are made of humble, local, earth.
-Like many other cities throughout [[Iran]], stucco was the most widespread method of ornamentation in Persian houses. One reason was the relatively cheap price of the materials used (like gypsum for example) that don’t require a high temperature to be transformed into plaster. This is an important consideration in places like central Iran where wood is relatively scarce. Another reason is that it is easily shaped, molded, or carved. Thanks to stucco, a wall of crudely fashioned stone blocks or raw brick, gives an impression of great luxury. Thus stucco owes its luxurious appearance to the skill of the craftsman. And with a tradition of stucco technique going back to pre-Islamic Iran, this is an art fully mastered by Persian craftsmen, as seen here.
+Like many other cities throughout [[Iran]], stucco was the most widespread method of ornamentation in Persian houses. One reason was the relatively cheap price of the materials used (like gypsum for example) that don't require a high temperature to be transformed into plaster. This is an important consideration in places like central Iran where wood is relatively scarce. Another reason is that it is easily shaped, molded, or carved. Thanks to stucco, a wall of crudely fashioned stone blocks or raw brick, gives an impression of great luxury. Thus stucco owes its luxurious appearance to the skill of the craftsman. And with a tradition of stucco technique going back to pre-Islamic Iran, this is an art fully mastered by Persian craftsmen, as seen here.
-Earthquakes in Iran leave massive destruction. Most of Iran’s remaining traditional houses date from the post-quake eras during the Qajar period. Despite the efforts of architects to build resistance to earthquakes into their works, hardly anything remains from the spectacular Safavi palaces or anything prior to those as recounted by French and British explorers in many parts of Persia.
+Earthquakes in Iran leave massive destruction. Most of Iran's remaining traditional houses date from the post-quake eras during the Qajar period. Despite this, the efforts of Persiam architects to build resistance to earthquakes into their works let to many buildings remaining such as the spectacular Safavid Persian palaces as recounted by French and British explorers in many parts of Persia.
 ==Characteristics of traditional Persian residential architecture==
 Almost all traditional Persian houses were designed in order to satisfy the following essential features:
-# Hashti and Dalan-e-vorudi: Entering the doorway one steps into a small enclosed transitional space called ''Hashti''. Here one is forced to redirect one’s steps away from the street and into the hallway, called ''Dalan e Vorudi''. In mosques, the Hashti enables the architect to turn the steps of the believer to the correct orientation for prayer hence giving the opportunity to purify oneself before entering the mosque.
+# Hashti and [[Dalan-e-vorudi]]: Entering the doorway one steps into a small enclosed transitional space called ''Hashti''. Here one is forced to redirect one's steps away from the street and into the hallway, called ''Dalan e Vorudi''. In mosques, the Hashti enables the architect to turn the steps of the believer to the correct orientation for prayer hence giving the opportunity to purify oneself before entering the mosque.
 # Convenient access to all parts of the house.
-# A central pool with surrounding gardens containing trees of figs, pomegranates, and grape vines.
+# A central pool ([[howz]]) with surrounding gardens containing trees of figs, pomegranates, and grape vines.
-# Important partitionings such as the ''biruni'' (exterior) and the ''andaruni'' (interior).
+# Important partitionings such as the ''biruni'' (exterior) and the ''[[andaruni]]'' (interior).
 # Specific orientation facing toward and away from [[Mecca]].
-Furthermore, Persian houses in central Iran were designed to make use of an ingenious systems of [[Badgeer|wind catchers]] that create unusually cool temperatures in the lower levels of the building. Thick massive walls were designed to keep the sun’s heat out in the summertime while retaining the internal heat in the winters.
+Furthermore, Persian houses in central Iran were designed to make use of an ingenious systems of [[Badgeer|wind catchers]] that create unusually cool temperatures in the lower levels of the building. Thick massive walls were designed to keep the sun's heat out in the summertime while retaining the internal heat in the winters.
-<center>
+<gallery class="center">
-<gallery>
 Image:Hayat-howz Khuneh Lari Yazd.jpg|The courtyard of the Lari House in [[Yazd]].
 Image:Tabatabaei2.jpg|The [[Khaneh Tabatabaei ha|Tabatabaei residence]], Kashan, mid-1800s.
 </gallery>
-</center>
-Persia's distinctive artistic heritage with efficient yet ancient technical know-how thus created houses and spaces whose features were aesthetic talars and roofscapes with intriguing light wells, as well as intricate window and mirror works, paintings, reliefs, and a beautifully crafted [[iwan]] amidst comfortable residential spaces in hot desert regions.
+Persia's distinctive artistic heritage with efficient yet ancient technical know-how thus created houses and spaces whose features were aesthetic talars and roofscapes with intriguing light wells, as well as intricate window and mirror works, paintings, reliefs, and a beautifully crafted [[iwan]] amidst comfortable residential spaces in hot arid regions.
-Whereas the geometrical rigor seen in the works such as those in Safavi era [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]] invoke the perfect order of the celestial world, the vegetal ornamentation realized in the interiors of houses, testify to the Persian love of gardens. And the [[stucco]] carvings, [[fresco]]es, and paintings executed by royal craftsmen, exemplify the level of Persian [[aesthetics]].
+Whereas the geometrical rigor seen in the works such as those in Safavid era [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]] invoke the perfect order of the celestial world, the vegetal ornamentation realized in the interiors of houses, testify to the Persian love of gardens. And the [[stucco]] carvings, [[fresco]]es, and paintings executed by royal craftsmen, exemplify the level of Persian [[aesthetics]].
 ==Elements==
+{{colbegin}}
 *[[Talar]]
 *[[Iwan]]
-*[[Dalan e Vorudi]]
+*[[Dalan-e vorudi]]
 *[[Badgir]]
 *[[Qanat]]
+*Kariz
-*[[Kariz]]{{clarify|date=April 2014}}
 *[[Gonbad]]
-*[[Persian gardens|The Persian Garden (hayāt)]]
+*[[Persian gardens|Garden (hayāt)]]
 *[[Shabestan]]
 *[[Kucheh]]
@@ Line 62: / Line 59: @@
 *[[Hashti]]
 *[[Andaruni]]
-*[[Biruni (persian architecture)]]
+*[[Biruni (Persian architecture)|Biruni]]
 *[[Ab anbar]]
 *[[Yakhchal]]
-* '''Burj''' (Towers)
 *[[Howz]]
+{{colend}}
 ==Samples==
@@ Line 74: / Line 71: @@
 *[[Borujerdi ha House]]
 *[[House of Qavam]]
+*[[Tiznoo House]]
-* Tizno house in dezful (dezfil)
-{{Iranian Architecture}}
 == Notes==
 {{reflist}}
+{{Iranian Architecture}}
+{{Islamic architecture}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Traditional Persian Residential Architecture}}
-[[Category:Iranian architecture]]
+[[Category:Architecture in Iran]]
 [[Category:Persian gardens]]
 [[Category:Houses in Iran|*]]