Historical vaulted constructions of the Iranian heritage.

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.