Abstract:
Brickwork, upon which architectural building is essentially based in Iran, was initiated
by masons who, all along the Islamic period, made brick art never lagged behind other arts.
In Iran, although the most primary construction materials, bricks soon reached height of
perfection, thanks to the existence of master craftsmen in the country and the favorable
climatic conditions.
Bricks were the principal building materials which gifted master artisans, competing
with one another, came to use in an uninterrupted string of innovation.
Above all, vaults represent one of the masterpieces of local architecture, with peculiar
constructive techniques, never developed abroad. Since in Iran these structures have always
been made almost completely of bricks, they necessarily had to develop closely related to the
material potentialities.
Accordingly, buildings have to possess a configuration suitable with the use of weak
materials and the survival of these buildings proves that they possess to some extent the
potential to resist earthquakes too.
This paper, to understand the characteristics of these elements and their involvement
inside buildings of the vernacular heritage, will focus on the construction and designing
processes. This by means of a few examples and paying attention to the materials used and the
way in which the structure operate to generate a certain form.
The examples selected are inside the bazaar of Tabriz, actually partially considered in
the list of the World Heritage for their prominence.
Thus the aim is to point out the potentialities of a so poor material, as well as the
constraints and the limitations of this architectural heritage, from which we may learn possible
lessons to rehabilitate technologies and designing processes and to try to merge together
tradition and innovation.
