Architecture

Architecture in “Greater Iran“ has a continuous history from at least 5000BCE to the present, with characteristic examples distributed over a vast area from Syria to North India and the borders of China, from the Caucasus to Zanzibar. Persian buildings vary from peasant huts to tea houses, and garden pavilions to “some of the most majestic structures the world has ever seen”.

Iranian architecture displays great variety, both structural and aesthetic, developing gradually and coherently out of prior traditions and experience. Without sudden innovations, and despite the repeated trauma of invasions and cultural shocks, it has achieved “an individuality distinct from that of other Muslim countries”.[2] Its paramount virtues are several: “a marked feeling for form and scale; structural inventiveness, especially in vault and dome construction; a genius for decoration with a freedom and success not rivaled in any other architecture”.

Traditionally, the guiding, formative, motif of Iranian architecture has been its cosmic symbolism “by which man is brought into communication and participation with the powers of heaven”.This theme, shared by virtually all Asia and persisting even into modern times, not only has given unity and continuity to the architecture of Persia, but has been a primary source of its emotional characters as well.

In summary:
“The supreme Iranian art, in the proper meaning of the word, has always been its architecture. The supremacy of architecture applies to both pre-and post-Islamic periods.”

The ruins of Persepolis, approximately 2500 years old. (see 3D modeling)

***

Naqshe Jahan square in Isfahan is the epitome of 16th century Iranian architecture. (see 360 degree view)

***

Interior spaces in Persian architecture make optimal use of techniques for regulating light, temperature, and heat by usage of appropriate design and materials.

***

Architecture of Bridges. Sassanid or Safavid, bridges have a Special place in Iranian architecture. This bridge is “Siyo Seh Pol” in Isfahan

***

Architecture of Persian Gardens. Khalvat-i Karim-khani, in the gardens of the Golestan Palace.

***

 

Architecture of houses: The 18th century Abbasian House, Kashan.

***

Architecture of shrines and monuments. Shrine of Omar Khayyám, Nishapur.

***

Places of worship: mosques and cathedrals. Thaddeus Monastery, 68CE, West Azarbaijan province.

***

Tehran city theater, Pahlavi period.

 ***

Tehran’s Museum of Contemporary Arts is based on traditional Iranian elements such as Badgirs, and yet has a spiraling interior reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim.

***

University of Tehran Entrance