Ardakan: Housing on the Edge of the Desert

Taghi, Fatima Azam (1990) Ardakan: Housing on the Edge of the Desert. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This study concentrates on the city of Ardakan which lies in the edge of the Kavir-i Seiah Kuh Desert in central Iran. The city is relatively isolated which has meant that its ancient architecture has had the opportunity to develop in a continuous line of evolution for about a thousand years. This evolution has produced an architecture that represents as perfect a fit between climate culture and available resources as one can expect to find. It also represents the essence of the beautiful quality of the normal, standard nature of venacular building. This study only covers housing in detail as again this reperesents the standard building type as apposed to special buildings such as mosque, hammam etc. The study examines in detail various standard features of the houses and then examines a variety of individual houses from poor farmer to rich merchant. This is complimented by consideration of the materials available and the resultant techniques of construction in particular the vault. This examination exposes the intense fit between all the requirements laid on the house and the resultant buildings are a classic case of "form following function". But it is function given its fullest richest meaning, this when coupled with a respect for the simple laws of symmetry and some restrained decoration has resulted in a memorable architecture produced with apparently great ease. Finally a question is posed: does this tradition still apply today? The answer given is - in many aspects-yes.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Architecture, Urban planning, Middle Eastern studies
• Date of Award: 1990
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1990-78210
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 30 Jan 2020 15:36
• Last Modified: 30 Jan 2020 15:36
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/78210