Study of Exterior Facade Decorations Qajar Buildings of Kashan City

Author

PhD Student in Archeology, Department of Archeology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Cultural and natural identity of Iranian has long been evident in the way they live, in other words, entrances are among the most important parts of the buildings that are built in the form of door and façade. Façade is an architectural element showing the beliefs of the person who constructed the building. The Qajar era was a period of innovation and new developments in Iran’s art and architecture and among these developments, we can mention the increased relationship with the West and it had directly affected the art and architecture, especially the decoration of buildings. This period was a manifestation of thoughts and ideas of people who are living in this country. This research considers the decorations and typology of doors and façade of Kashan historic monuments in the era of Qajar. The case study is the Qajar buildings of Kashan. Regarding the aforementioned issue, this research aimed to study the decorations related to the architecture of traditional houses of Kashan city; research information was obtained by the author’s survey and based on the field information (photography) and library studies. The most important research question is that what is the form and type of decoration, façade, and doors of the historic texture of Kashan? Results of the research revealed that among the studies and analysis of the entrance space of 23 historic buildings, three types of decorations such as plant, geometric and animal design are common in buildings decoration. In terms of the typology, buildings are mainly historic houses and architecturally they are two types of traditional and integrated buildings. Considering the political and social developments that happened in Iran in the Qajar era, it is possible to distinguish the construction and design of doors and façade of the historic texture of the city in simple and engraved historic types in which economic and social factors seem to play a significant role. 
Keywords: Qajar Era, Qajar Building of Kashan, Façade and Entrance of Building, Architecture Array.
Introduction
The entrance of a historic building is among the important elements of a building. During the Qajar period (1796- 1925) there have been many changes in different aspects of society. Considering the time proximity of the Qajar period to the contemporary era (Pahlavi), there is more knowledge about the decorations related to Qajar architecture. The decorations have progressed during the ups and downs of the Islamic period in Iran according to the facilities of that time and it is evident that these decorations as a result of special cultural conditions of this period, in particular the effects of the western countries, have got special and different features from the cases of the past era.
Not so long ago, the entrance of a building represented the opinions, beliefs, and traditions of people who are living there. The historic texture of Kashan had an obvious structure in the past. Enclosure and fortification delineated the boundaries of the neighborhood and several gates that were the entrance of this texture and pathways that ended in the city’s economic artery (bazaars) through the neighborhoods. In this article 23 Qajar buildings in different neighborhoods of Kashan were investigated and the purpose of the research is to study the decorations related to the architecture of the buildings of this period (usually traditional houses) in Kashan city.Identifying and recognizing the tradition and identity used in decorations related to the Kashan architecture as one of the most important bases of the Qajar period have required the research in this subject.
The main issue of research is to study the decorations and typology of doors and façade of historic buildings in the Qajar era, therefore the research question is: 1. What are the form and shapes of the façade and frontage decorations and doors of Qajar buildings?  The method and approach of the research are qualitative in terms of examining the decorations related to architecture. So in the first part of the research, the required criteria are suggested as a framework to specify the typology of doors and façade in a historic texture. The second part of the research represents the pictures taken by the author from the entrance of 23 different Qajar building in Kashan city.
Due to the wide scope of the topic, the analytical elements, in addition to the text, were summarized in the table and sometimes in the diagram. Generally, this is “descriptive-analytical” research and some research resources were obtained from documentary (library) sources.
Research Body
Kashan is naturally located in the central part of Iran. The builders of traditional buildings with the power of thinking and recognizing their surroundings were the creators of various forms that, following nature, have shown the individual creativity of their builders (Farrokhyar, 2011:19). Kashan city was highly prospered in the era of Safavid and Qajar. Generally, Qajar houses in Kashan include spaces such as entrance, indoor, outdoor, rooms, courtyard, sub-spaces such as kitchen, and aqueduct.
Every building and construction, as a component of culture and architecture, is responsible to give objectivity to a mentality through its exterior form. And this objectivity must have a message which is called the identity of the building and that’s why architecture is a way to measure cultures (Sheykhi, Najari, 2017:7).
The major decorations of Kashan historic houses can be divided into inscriptions, plant, geometric and animal designs. Unfortunately, among the studied houses, only three of them had inscription and the rest didn’t have and these engraved decorations on the façade of houses are among the common decorations of Islamic art and it uses the plant motifs in various branches of Islamic art.
Types of plant motifs in the decorations of Qajar buildings in Kashan include motifs of shrubbery, four o’clock flower (coneflower), westernization (Golfarang), Islamic motifs, and Toranj, etc. Geometry is one of the sciences that humans have long been familiar with its principles; geometric designs can be observed in Kashan architectural spaces in the form of brickworks, plastering, and so on. Among the geometric designs used in Qajar buildings in Kashan include brandeburg, star motifs, circles, knots, and wick frames. In some buildings, there are motifs related to myths or symbols. Among the historic monuments of Kashan, only in four cases, there have been animals (lion, sun, bird) or mythical (dragon) motifs to decorate the façade or door of the building.
 
Conclusion
Whatever presented here was research on the decoration of the façade, entrance, and doors of buildings remained from the Qajar era in Kashan. According to typology, houses were divided into two types of traditional and integrated. 
 In terms of decorations, out of 23 buildings, only three of them had inscriptions including the phrase “in the name of God” and in one case there was the name and date of construction of the educational building.
 Another group of Kashan building decoration is decorative motifs that are in three forms: plant, geometric, and animal. These motifs adorn the façade or copestone of building from the gable to pediments, or they are in the margins of pilasters.
It seems that both social status and economic conditions play a significant role in the entrance spaces, and households of aristocrats are affected by the flow of the West so they have more decorations than the households of the poor or low-income people of society; for instance, houses in neighborhoods of Sultan Mir Ahmad, Mohtasham, Golchaghaneh, and Sarsang were big, aristocrat or semi-aristocrat neighborhoods and their entrance or façade decorations were far more than the neighborhood such as Posht-Mashhad or Darb-Isfahan whose entrance space was simple or traditional. Also, according to the political and social developments that have occurred in Kashan city, it is possible to separate the construction and design of the doors and entrances of the historic texture of this city in two simple and elaborated historic types.

Keywords

References

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pazhoheshha-ye Bastan shenasi Iran
Volume 11, Issue 30 - Serial Number 30
December 2021
Pages 223-247

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