Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

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Immovable inscriptions are considered as one of the most important works and among the historical documents in cultural assets of our dear country, which were installed on selected parts of historical buildings and outstanding monuments and were always noticeable. The role of inscriptions as the basic and effective tools is important in terms of manifesting and implication of educational and educative also the identity, construction date, founder, names of masters and artists of the building, especially its architect, and other information that may change based on the importance and situation of the building. The inscriptions show an integration of other arts, the most important of which is calligraphy and we can find its importance in the verses descended to our prophet (Muhammad, peace be upon him) -the first in Alagh Chapter the first chapter descended to prophet- that reminds the human that from whom has he learned writing and the second in Ghalam Chapter, swear to pen and what it writes. In this study, we intend to have a research about immovable inscription documents of Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex using descriptive- analytical method documented by field studies and have a review on importance and characteristics of script and calligraphy in bringing inscription art to its highest peak and decipher the contents hidden in them. Here, Tabriz Historic Bazaar with the area of more than 27 hectares and more than 160 architectural elements is the greatest national registered work and the largest brick conjunct roofed historical complex of the world (registered in World Heritage List of UNESCO as “Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex” in 2010). Tabriz Bazaar as a complete urban block (with different commercial, religious, cultural, educational, health, sport and residential complexes) is a unique sample of urban development elements of Islamic era. As most of famous historians and tourists have described it and told. Marco Polo reports on variation of goods and commodities made in Tabriz in the second half of Hijri century (1271) and mentions the great hidden wealth in Tabriz Bazaar and continues the residents of Tabriz made their living through trading and providing of different commodities. Beside the historical documents we witness the stone, plaster and tile inscriptive documents in different parts of Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex that prove the identity and authenticity and existence of the complex with their different contents. These inscriptive documents have an important role in saving of information and communication of thoughts, ideas and human civilization from previous generations to the present generation. So, the described importance of deciphering of inscription documents’ contents as immovable documents in Tabriz Historic Bazaar resulted in making a research on them in order to analyze their contents and concepts beside documentation of their shapes. On the whole, the thing that expresses the contents and concepts of an inscriptive document is detected through an intermediate art called “script”, which is in fact an art or tool to register and write the mentalities and thoughts using the signs that are familiar to eyes. In fact, from the moment that human attempted to draw what he thinks, he took steps to the world of script and writing, from the paintings on the walls of caves up to Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic lines and its evolution during the history until invention of script and calligraphy and transferring it on inscription documents. The scripts used on Iranian inscription documents are divided into two categories: script in pre-Islamic era and script after accepting Islam by Iranians. The inscript documents studies here are relevant to the second type of script (script after accepting Islam). This study deals with deciphering of the shape and contents of inscript documents and their concepts and a description of the building, place of installation of inscript documents and deciphering of their contents are hinted in this study and the results obtained from analysis are mentioned. The present research is a field study and deciphering of forms are conducted using “Charmebardari” -a technique for primary sampling of designs and scripts of inscriptive documents and architectural decorations- at the end using computer software. At the end the results obtained from interpreted concepts of inscriptive documents’ deciphering contained very important and valuable information about the society at the time of creating that inscription document which can be categorized in two groups: the first group encompasses the spiritual concepts and the second group encompasses the applied concepts and each group is divided into subgroups and components (diagram1). Drawing the analytical diagram of the mentioned concepts we can clearly understand the existence of precise principles and order, which are intelligently applied in management of cities during Islamic era and have shown the society a transcendental way with wisely integration (in spiritual and applied concepts) of world and other worldly issues in order for accomplishment of those objectives taking advantages of the primary and basic principles of Islam. Here, the religious architecture, as a whole, and inscriptive documents, as a part of it, have been able to be a manifestation of God in the space of Islamic architecture with their dual application both in their own nature and with words contained in them.

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Tabriz has an old history that thanks to its proper geographical and climatical condition. This geographical situation has been made Tabriz to a permanent habitat center. This city in the early centuries of Islam has extended on the central mosque, bazaar, square and government palace. In the year 663 A.H, Abagha Khan has moved the capital from Maragheh to Tabriz. In the Ilkhanid era except for a short time at the time of the monarchy Oljaito (Mohammad Khodabandeh) since the 703-716 A.H that Tabriz and Soltaniyeh were the capital simultaneously, at other times, Tabriz has been capital and the seat of government. At the time of Ghazan Khan has have the most architectural and urban changes. After Ilkhanids in the early of 8^th century, Jalayerian was also ruled this city and governed some parts of Iran. In the late 8^th century that Teimorian was ruled out Samarkand and Bokhara, Tabriz was continually important city and important political-cultural center And after that in the 9^th and 10^th A.H centuries and also in the Qoyunlus era till mid government of Shah Tahmasb (Safavid era) in the year of 962 A.H. Tabriz was the genuine capital city of Iran. Therefore with transferring the capital city from Maraghe by Abagha Khan to Tabriz in the Ilkhanid era, it becomes more than ever attractive for mystics, poets, saints and ministers from different parts of Iran and also neighbor countries. Also during these eras many travelers has visited Tabriz and have presented many useful information in the form of itineraries. These important people during their lives time caused to creation of some novel architectural spaces like: Khangah and Zavieh in the city that after the death of them we are witnessing the formation of the tombs and Hazireh as new urban spaces after Islam. We know that in different cultures, different approaches has taken to the deads And Iran after Islam, is the place that in which deals to burial and the death, tomb and in the following the cemetery has a special importance. In addition, cemeteries depending on the people who are buried there, take different spatial qualities and since the “undoubtedly the tomb is the most important monument after mosque in the Islamic era which has been seen in the most cities of Iran.” These novel spaces in many cases had an essential role in development or city construction. This process goes-on until the middle of Safavid government and reputation of Tabriz city as the capital has continued. According to thesis of this article the tombs of mystics, poets, saints and ministers could have significant effect in the development of urban structure of Tabriz city. Proving the thesis of this research, in addition to the existence of multiple tombs of these people that have been buried in different parts of this city, there are many reliable books like Rozat al-jinan by Hafez Hossein Kabalayi in the year 975 A.H, Rozat al-Athar by Molla-Hashri in the year 1101 A.H, Olad al-Athar by Seyyed-Mohammad Sadegh Tabatabayi Tabrizi in the year 1300 A.H and Manzar al-Oliya by Mohammad Tabrizi in the year 1315 A.H. We can present a rigorous classification from mystics, poets, saints and ministers according to a study of mentioned books to fit the 5 periods between 7^th to 10^th centuries. Also to ensure more, other small studies about the research subject is investigated named literature. Now the question of this article arises that: whether the Tombs of mystics, poets, saints and ministers have the effect in the development of urban structure of Tabriz city in the capital times of this city that’s Ilkhanid Era to Safavid Era? Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate the effect of cemeteries in the development of urban structure of Tabriz city since seventh century to tenth century of hegira that coincides with Ilkhanid government to Safavid in Tabriz. For doing so, introducing books including Rozat al-jinan, Rozat al-Athar, Olad al-Athar and Manzar al-Oliya seems necessary. For fulfilling the research main goal, the data were collected by descriptive method using the liberary and field approach (implement) also the collected data were analyzed in analytical and comparative way. In order to respond to the research question, a method involving four steps was used: 1.classification of the people and cemeteries, 2.using manner of introducing the cemeteries in order to identify the Tabriz architectural and urban elements in the past, 3-referring to the travel books subjects in different periods and 4-adaptation of the former steps findings and responding to the research question.

The findings of this research revealed that cemeteries were effective factors in construction of Ghazanid fort in Ilkhanid period. Also, cemeteries of the famous people had a significant impact on development of some routes such as the connective route of the two complexes of Rabe Rashidi and Shanb Ghazan in the eastern and western parts of the city and location of some architectural outstanding elements like Dameshqiye building, Shah Hossein Valy shrine and Kamal Khojandi’s convent and consequently urban spaces such as Seyyed Hamzeh complex which is known as Magbarat al-Shoara. In addition, existence of Hazireh and aggregation of tombs have been led to the formation of famous cemeteries like Sorkhab, Gajil, Charandab and Qolle in the city of Tabriz.

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Paying attention to the importance of square can be seen in architecture and organization of physical space of Iranian cities in the past, before Islam and also after that in Islamic urbanization. Saheb-Abad square of Tabriz, Shah square og Qazvin and Naghsh_e_Jahan square of Isfahan are samples of past squares which present power of governments and subtlety of governmental kings that build them. Based on recent researches theories,  Naghsh_e_Jahan square of Isfahan was built (at the age of first Abbas of Safavi kings, i.e. (998-1038 AH.), according to Saheb-Abad square of Tabriz which is built before Safavieh era and during Aq-Qounlou era (870-896 AH) and it was influenced by architecture of Saheb-Abad square of Tabriz and because remaining physical structure of Saheb-Abad complex of Tabriz is mainly related to buildings that were made during age of Qajar kings on the buildings of governmental complex of previous eras, acceptance of this assumption resulted in proposing renewing projects of Saheb-Abad with full imitation of now a days physical structure of Naghsh-e-Jahan which is exists now and without paying attention to original structure of Saheb-Abad and when it came to existence and when it was on its tip-top, in the past. Then in this research, based on both Saheb-Abad and Naghsh-e-Jahan research which are studied based on content analyzes historical-comparative guideline appearance, and step by step transformation, in the past. Finally, according to comparative study of mapped schema, recognize of similarities and differences of these two complex were found, both physically and functionally, in four time periods. The results indicate that there are the most common similarities in the history before the construction of the two square and the most differentials in their current state. In the course of historical evolution, two square are very similar in terms of functional and the types of uses than the physical dimensions. Also, the greatest point of physical distinction is the uncertainties of the Sahib Abad field, which has led to many changes and further decline of this collection up to the present.the complete acceptance of this assumption which Naghsh-e-Jahan of Isfahan is a similarity of Saheb Abad complexes of Tabriz, both functionally and physically, cannot be correct and it can be said that the overall structure of the Saheb Abad complex in the peak of its glory (the period of Shah Tahmasb Safavid) could have been the pattern of an urban space with various governmental-political, socio-cultural, religious, and sporting activities for the construction of the Naghsh-e-Jahan of Isfahan.

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Tabriz Blue Mosque is a valuable historical monument from the 9th century AH, which has been built during the Kara - Koyunlu of Turkomans rule on northwestern Iran and about 35 years before the beginning of the Safavid Iranian government. This building has some features that make it to be distinguished from other monuments of the Azerbaijan region and even Iran. These features have attracted the attention of many researchers in the field of ‘historic studies’ and ‘art studies’ and as well as have led to the publication of various sources about it; the approach of which are mainly to introduce the historical and artistic aspects of the mosque. But, little research has established about its architectural design and discovering its environmental relations. Therefore, there is a gap of knowledge in the understanding of architectural norms of this building that need to be addressed by some systematic and targeted researches. Understanding this fact, the present paper examines some of the ambiguities about this building; such as the way of its interaction with the natural environment. Accordingly, this paper aims at investigating the quality of interaction between the nature and architecture in the process of planning and architectural design of the Tabriz Blue Mosque. The mentioned aim is based on this hypothesis: the interaction of “natural environment” and “artificial environment” in the architecture of Tabriz Blue Mosque is based on a systematic approach that in its regulative foundations, the component of politics is dominated other components, especially the component of nature. The necessity underlying this research is to point out this fact that the architect of Tabriz Blue Mosque along with the exciting beauty that created in this building, did he/she also pay attention to natural and climatic aspects? Drawing on what has been said, this research has been done by descriptive - analytical method and data collection was via field study, direct observation, corpus analysis in order to answer the following questions: 1. What are the requirements and necessities of naturalistic architecture in Tabriz's environmental and climatic conditions? 2. To what extent did architect of the Tabriz Blue Mosque, in the architecture of this building, adhere the principles of convergence and harmony with the nature and climate of the region? 3. What is the reason for the existence of some incompatibility between the architectural design of the mosque and the system of nature and environment? The result of this paper shows that the architectural design of Tabriz Blue Mosque was based on the ambitious desires and motives of a social climber king. The desires required some specific necessities, some of whom was contradicted the natural and climatic requirements of region. These contradictions create some incompatibilities between the architectural design of the building and natural environment. Accordingly, in the architecture system of Tabriz Blue Mosque, political considerations and government accreditation were prior to other components of design, especially the component of nature.

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Problem statement: The concept of resilience has long been published to explain how different types of systems respond to unexpected shocks, and research on resilience of environments to abnormal hazards has just begun, requiring extensive reflection and consideration. Spatial resilience thinking is as one of the new dimensions in the field of resilience and architecture. This dimension seeks to address the issue of the vitality and dynamics of the architectural space by preserving identity and function through attention to specific characteristics and capabilities of the space over time versus gradual and slow disturbances. resilient space as the appropriate context for possiblity continued vitality provides dynamic while maintaining performance; It shows little vulnerability in the face of crises over time by the spatial capabilities, and responds to changing conditions through adaptation to the needs and demands of the society, and satisfies spatial users' satisfaction with different tastes and guarantees and sustains the vital system of space. But most of the newly constructed spaces are vulnerable to crises and lose their efficiency quickly and the users of space leave and vacate; Therefore, the historical bazaars of Iran, as one of the valuable spaces that have continued to operate despite changes in different periods and have been able to meet and provide the suitable body for the needs of the day, are remarkable. Therefore, to resolve part of this epistemic vacuum, the present study focuses on the limited domain of the Amir complex in the historical bazzar of Tabriz, considering its position and role in the life of the Bazzar Tabriz has paid off to the rooting of the resilience of this space and examining its spatial capabilities. So this research seeks to answer the question of how resilience has been achieved in the historical space of Iranian bazaars? And how has the resilience of the Amir complex in the historical bazzar of Tabriz come about in light of the changes in recent years?
 

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In the present study, in order to explain the desirability of the soundscapes of the Timchehs of Tabriz Bazaar, Sound Pressure Level (SPL) and Reverberation Time (RT) have been measured as objective variables of acoustic behavior. Using descriptive questionnaire, subjective assessments were used to determine the quality of soundscape. The research seeks to answer the question of how the spatial characteristics of Tabriz Bazaar Timchehs affect their acoustic behavior and what factors are involved in the desirability of their soundscapes. Findings show that small-scale domes act as cavities with the retention of sound waves and have a good effect in reducing RT. Glass surfaces with sound reflection increase the echo of the environment and reduce the acoustic quality of the space. The materials used in Timcheh wall, brick with gypsum bonding, by diffusing sound waves play a positive role in acoustic quality. The results show that although the values of SPL and RT, which indicate the acoustical behavior of space, are somehow involved in the perception of people from the soundscape, but alone cannot be the basis for assessing the quality of the soundscape. The environmental characteristics and qualities of the spaces such as geometric proportions, dynamics or statics and the amount of congestion have a direct effect on the pleasantness of the urban soundscape in three Timches of Amir-e Shomali, Amir and Mozaffarieh. These three timches are part of tranquil spaces, and for this reason, the sudden appearance of some sounds, due to the difference in SPL, directly has a negative effect on the quality of the soundscape. Therefore, it is suggested that a component called Urban Soundscape Clarity be added to the studies in this field and be considered in the evaluation of soundscapes of tranquil urban spaces

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