Traditional Gardens in Iran; a potential subject for study

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, 2006

In investigating or designing urban public green spaces, the first step is paying critical attention to historic background, cultural values, ideological principles and aesthetics criteria of the society. In different cultures people may have different perceptions of and feelings to some natural phenomenon such as wind, water, fire, trees, sun, moon and examples of these sorts. Respect and reverence for water and trees have been institutionalized in many ancient civilizations due to their different socio-cultural traditions, values and beliefs. In this research work we try to investigate on the art of ancient Iranian gardening and at the same time different elements of Iranian old gardens are considered.

Bagh-e Nazar, 2021

Problem statement: Persian gardens which are registered on UNESCO heritage list share similar patterns and design characteristics. Enjoying a geometrical design, enclosure, order, visual symmetry, axial order and centrality are among the main characteristics of every Persian garden. The Persian gardens are always divided into four sectors, with water playing an important role for both irrigation and ornamentation. The Persian garden, as a metaphor of paradise, is usually known as the tradition of arid zones and hot and dry climates; while due to the greenery and rich natural environment of mild and humid climate, this kind of design is not considered a necessity in such areas. Research objective: This paper, however, rejects such inclusivity and discusses that the Persian garden design principles have also been employed in other climatic regions of Iran as well. Accordingly, the current paper introduces a number of historical gardens in mild and humid climatic zone of Iran, which have applied the same design principles as Persian gardens. Research method: The paper seeks to clarify if Persian gardens can be exclusively found in hot and arid parts of Iran; and if not, what are the ways in which one can design a Persian garden in the mild and humid parts of Iran. The paper uses a qualitative method to explore the understanding and interpretation of users about the notion of garden in the studied area, and to identify the mutual characteristics of designing garden in central and northern parts of Iran. Conclusion: The paper further discusses if application of Persian garden design principles is responsive in northern Iran. "Dar Al-Hokoumah of Guilan", "Safa Garden" and "Nasseriye Gardens" in Rasht, "Abbasabad Garden" in Behshar as well as several historical houses in Amlash are among the cases to approve the adaptability of Persian garden design principles in a different climate than hot arid central part of Iran.

2012

""Iranian garden is the original output of Iranian life and mental interaction in their natural environment. Zand dynasty, commenced in Iran after overthrowing of Safavid and Afsharieh, is a short period from 1750 to 1794. Yet, not so much studies have been done in Zand architecture and urban planning. In this article, the gardens of Zand dynasty in Shiraz will be functionally, geometrically and structurally analyzed, and in this way the typology of gardens during this period is presented. General speaking, Zandiyeh gardens can be divided into two classes of "state gardens" (e.g., Jahan-Nama, Nazar, Divankhane Gardens) and "graveyard gardens" (e.g., Chehel-Tanan and Haft-Tanan Gardens). Not that Zandiyeh gardens are of ample variety and complexity from viewpoint of form or shape. Pergolas are oblongs of extended length to the northern side of the land or possibly as octagons. The building materials are mostly plain bricks with tiling ornamentations in a minimal. As compared with the Safavid dynasty gardens, the Zandiyeh's are generally of smaller size not to mention their being of more humanitarian scales collated with the Safavid's. The aim in building those gardens had not been amusement of the ruling clause but, rather, focusing on national-urban-state needs.""

journal of Art and Civilization of the Orient (JACO), 2014

Assistant professor of architecture faculty at the University of Zanjan, Iran [email protected] Iranian Garden can be considered as one of the greatest achievements of Iranian culture and civilization which over the years presented the view of Iranian human towards the world around, and formed a part of its ontology. Iranian garden is genuine product of the interaction of mind and Iranians life in their natural environment (Mansouri, 2005). Iranian human’s perception of Garden is its understanding of nature, and contains its aestheticism taste toward elements of this world and their concepts. Cultural and political interactions that governing human society, has made this unparalleled product to be considered by many governors and artists from other civilizations for centuries. Hence, different levels of effects of such garden-building can be seen in landscaping arts of various ethnicities and civilizations across the world. By conflicts of Timur’s offspring, Timurids government in Iran was declined, but Timur’s descendants formed a new government in India that Europeans called it the Great Mugal (Ansari, 2011). Timur and his successors were interested to the Iranian Garden and Gardens of Samarkand are proof of this claim. Therefore, after dominance of Goorkani dynasty on Indian subcontinent, Iranian garden was entered in India as a perfect product along with new governors. yet, by accepting the fact that Iranian garden is a phenomenon of mixed nature and culture, this issue arises that existence of major differences between the new and former host regarding components such as: worldview, culture, art and particularly continent has led to changes in concept of Iranian garden. Basically, the new host had different perception about Iranian garden and its components. Research trip to India provided an opportunity that researcher investigating different aspects of the constructed Iranian gardens and also to evaluating the domain of changes created in concepts and the shape of the garden by adjustment comparison with domestic samples. Accordingly, instances of Iranian garden existed in India and their components were studied separately in a series of parallel studies, as a result new thinking and perception of garden can be identified. The obtained results from initial research lead to the formation of a general theory, based on this theory the general attitude towards Iranian garden in India considering the Iranian garden not only as Naturalistic landscaping but an architectural construction which regulate and organizes India’s unorganized background. Then, after completion of the studies which are on the basis of written sources, the obtained results would be investigated and analyzed with a single view until clearer aspects about changes in Iranian garden concepts in India’s background achieved.

The purpose of this study is to explore the dimensions and attributes of productive and agricultural landscape in the Persian gardens. The methodology of conducting this study is descriptive-analytical. The data is gathered through library research and interviews, as well as field studies in the six Persian Gardens (Akbariyeh, Rahim Abad, Amir Abad, Bahlgerd, Pahlavanpur, and Shahzadeh). The results, which show the need to provide recreational services for owners, guests and in some cases people, has led to the significant presence of fruitful greenery, even in the governmental gardens. There are various fruit trees in the gardens of Shahzadeh, Amirabad and Pahlavanpur which demonstrate the importance of targeted food products for human consumption as well as animals in the system of designing the traditional green spaces. Promotion the quality of the beauty of inner green scenery of the gardens is other characteristics of agricultural landscape, specifically in Birjand's gardens which the visual landscape system has been created by composition of fruitful and ornamental species. Additionally, attitudes into increasing the efficiency, profitability and self-sufficiency of landscape have been ordered the planting of multipurpose plant species in the Iranian garden design. There are varieties of vegetables and herbs in the garden of Shahzadeh, and fragrant flowers, saffron, plum, pomegranate and fig trees representing in Birjand's garden proving the medicinal properties of productive scenery in addition to their appropriateness to the climate and scarce resources. Throughout history the structural importance of the edible landscape in Persian garden is due to the knowledgeable use of green spaces and landscaping. The combination of ornamental horticulture and fruit farming results in a multi-functional garden. Therefore, the agricultural landscape can be introduced as an indicator to assess the quality of garden management, an efficient tool for assessing the status of agricultural knowledge, gardens health assessment, as well as evaluating the lifestyle and the natural-cultural continuity of a garden to its context which should be considered more by the researchers.

The garden is essentially an extensive open space that can include various types of closed spaces within. However, in some cases, there are various types of open space combined in the garden according to defined arrangements. This poses a new form and a variation in the structure of the classical Persian Garden, which is the subject of the present investigation. The general scheme of a Persian Garden is a wide and open space, and in the case of gardens of Birjand, garden space that is integrated with other types of smaller scale open spaces to create new combinations. These gardens are similar in structure, composed in an orderly yet simple layout and integrated with smaller open spaces. These auxiliary spaces range in scale from a small yard to an extensive area like a garden itself. They can even be the size of a bay of a mahtabi in front of the main building which overlooks the whole garden or can be the size of a stone-paved roof that looks out on its surrounding plains. These open spaces attach to the garden space in a number of ways, each with a distinct function. They include the andaruni courtyard, open courtyard, loading area, entrance yard, mahtabi, roof, soffeh, sharemi, meydan-cheh, jelo-khan, and orchard. The main function of these spaces relates to the residential aspect of a garden, i.e., they either form a private andarun area, or grow larger to house different activities pertaining to residential life in a garden, and important enough to be landscaped. Moreover, other types of these spaces provide special views to the garden, contributing to the recreational aspect of a garden. In addition, there are other spaces that create hierarchy and provide the possibility of extension of the garden space, or define a zone around which buildings can be arranged, all of which relate to the geometric structure of a garden. These spaces denote a special way of life which is investigated and categorized in this paper. Examination of gardens of Birjand is the clue to further research on Persian Gardens, and essential to determining whether other not-yet-studied gardens of Iran pose the same spatial combinations.

Manzar Journal, 2020

The traditional Qazvin gardens were generally fruitful gardens that were located far away from the city of Qazvin. These gardens are more than a thousand years old and two thousand five hundred acres of Qazvin's area are located in three directions east, south and west. One of the references to written history is Nasser Khosrow's travelogue, which represents the history of this garden complex In the past decades, the proliferation of Qazvin has caused great damage to the identity and domain of traditional Qazvin gardens and has endangered the traditional Qazvin gardens. Factors such as urban development, population growth, rising land levels, social and economic changes, rising land prices, the construction of a landfill site and, of course, mismanagement of urban management have caused this devastation. Lack of consistent and contemporary implementation of the people's lives and lack of a comprehensive plan for defining a variety of functions for these parts of the city that caused the destruction, drying, alteration and dismantling of this green and vital infrastructure of Qazvin. Mullah Khalila Park in the traditional garden garden of Qazvin is one of the few efforts that the Qazvin municipality aimed at reviving the traditional gardens and freshening them to the modern life of the citizens of Qazvin with the needs of their modern life. This park was opened in 2015 and now it is used by people of Qazvin on a daily basis. The present research tries to increase the level of continuity and loyalty of the park's design to the traditional Qazvin gardens, which today serve as a pilot example for live livelihoods. Qazvin gardens are considered, to be analyzed in traditional gardens' structures and patterns.

NAZAR Research Center (NRC), 2022

Persian garden is a well-known gardening style in the world. This style is distinguished from its other counterparts due to its special features. Many experts believe the Persian garden has undergone changes during different periods of evolution. Presently, the spatial desirability of the Persian garden is not seen in urban parks. Numerous reasons such as westernization and imitation in the late Qajar period and the use of Western designers in the Pahlavi period have created urban parks that not only their appearance has nothing to do with this land’s past but also the basic principles of communication between man and nature in Iranian culture are ignored in them. Many of the Persian garden’s perks have remained constant in different periods of its development, which shows its mental and spiritual value among Iranians. In this article, with an overview of some historical gardens of Iran and contemporary parks in Tehran, it has been shown that the fear of using the features and elements of Persian gardens due to their strong geometry, has caused the obscurity of urban parks. The results of this study indicate that Persian gardens, contrary to the prevailing perception of having dry and rectangular geometry in whole and in part, have shown a high degree of flexibility throughout history and have changed according to function or time. Ignoring this feature or not updating the concepts of the Persian garden has led to less use of this style in the design of urban parks, which has had a significant impact on citizens' relationship with urban green spaces as a part of nature they respect.

Manzar the scientific journal of landscape, 2016

| " The Persian garden of Dampezeshki (veterinary)" is the second experience of Nazzar Consulting Co. in the design of urban parks based on the principles of Persian garden .In this project, the design group were in search for a new reading of the Persian garden, so while using a variety of patterns from it and emphasizing on historical perception, they will offer a new model adapted to the social dimension of the plan. In this paper, different policies and principles that have been considered in the design of the garden are noted and described in detail and the influential design principles of Landscape architecture is described in the design of Dampezeshki Persian garden.

Cultural landscape represents different meanings such as the interaction between people and the environment, evolution through time, cultural tangible and intangible values and vernacular traditions. The term " culture " represents people's relationship with their inhabited environment to gain a livelihood and presence of tangible or intangible values. These values are the common notion between cultural landscapes and cultural properties. This research aims to study one of the registered sites of Iran's cultural heritage, the Qazvin's Traditional Gardens with the cultural landscape approach; The research hypothesis is to discover common notions between cultural landscape and the Gardens such as evidences of mutual relationship between the Qazvinians and the natural environment of the region and management of water resources throughout history which will be investigated by referring to national and international documents. For example, the inhabitants as the gardeners have used the annual flood of seasonal rivers and have implemented a special irrigation system for the Gardens named floating agriculture in the submerged area once a year. The Garden trees such as pistachio, almond, apricot and grape are resistant to harsh weather and have produced precious fruits throughout history. Two major characteristics of the Gardens, that means historic continuity and vernacular characteristics can categorize them under " continuing landscape " or " vernacular historic landscape " according to the upper level classifications. The major contribution of the research is an analysis of the Garden's features or elements according to the documents of WHC or NPS. These multifaceted features are studied specifically in three categories of natural resources, plantation, and ecological systems; built environment consisting of spatial organization, circulation paths, irrigation systems and objects and structures; and human factors and management systems of traditional gardening. These wisely interconnected features are evidences of mutual interaction between people and the environment. As a paper in the field of architecture the research has studied physical elements such as land patterns, spatial organization, structures, site furnishings and objects in more detail. Conclusively, the research shows an integrated interrelated relationship between elements of the cultural landscape of Qazvin's Traditional Gardens. The research emphasizes on a comprehensive approach toward preservation of different interconnected built and natural elements of the Gardens and human factors to ensure a sustainable relationship between people, environment and economy of Qazvin's city over the centuries. This work is an applied research with descriptive and analytic method of information gathering and retrieval. Its data type is qualitative.

2020

Fath-Abad Garden in Kerman, in the central desert of Iran, is one of the considerable examples of Persian garden in the Qajar period. The garden strictly responds to the original factors of the Persian garden, while represents some contradictions with classic structure of the Persian garden. After decades of neglect, this garden was renovated in 2015 and opened to the public. Today, when we visit this garden it is difficult to redefine it as a Persian Garden. By referring to the previous on the structural indicators of the Persian gardens, this paper compares Fath-Abad garden, before and after renovation, with original characters of Persian Garden as a unique identity. To achieve this goal, aerial photos as and general photos of the garden before and after renovation were the basic resources of this research. Considering the garden’s structure before and after renovation, this paper argues that the neglect of two main structural indicators of the Persian gardens, which has disturbed the perception of this garden as a Persian garden. The results show that the ignorance of two important indicators of Persian garden including being enclosed with walls, the position of the main entrance and its relation with main axis and pavilion, have disturbed the perception of this garden as the Persian garden and as a complex of three detached garden.

2014

Love for life and nature has deep roots in history and culture of Iranian people. The relationship between quality and quantity i.e. connection between restriction and prominence and subsequently this mentality, has taught the Iranian gardener that the holy quadruple elements as limited elements in light combinations have led to multitudinous and immortal creation. Garden designers, with accurate knowledge of natural components and set of qualities and their relationship and by using material elements manage to create a spiritual space. In this calm and content-laden space which man himself creates he becomes an integral part and explores secrets and realities. Considering Iranian garden structure, more than anything its comprehensive pattern is considered. In terms of function and design, it could be accepted that Iranian garden has a unique methodology, which has remained unchanged as of 2500 years ago till early Qajar era. Despite changing life conditions, garden has remained, with political and social conditions throughout the history creating different practices and various paradigms of garden (of course, this does not mean change in comprehensive pattern, but alteration of parts of the garden). In a general classification, we see garden in three scales of " architecture " , " part of nature " , or " city ". However, we have returned to Iranian garden in our contemporary experiences a couple of times. In urban scale, Jamshidieh Park is known to us, which is not necessarily a comprehensive pattern of garden, but there are subtleties observed in design of water flow, sound, etc., or the outer wall of

2019

This paper is an attempt to present a general view of the current status of the agricultural landscapes in seven Persian gardens, which all have been registered by UNESCO as the World Heritage property (cultural landscape). The cases studies are Abbas Abad garden (Behshahr), Fin garden (Kashan), Akbariyeh garden (Birjand), Dolat Abad garden (Yazd), Pahlavanpour garden (Mehriz), Chehelsotun garden (Isfahan), and Shazadeh garden (Mahan).The findings of this study show there is not sufficient attention toward the conservation and restoration of productive greenery in Persian gardens. In Fin and Chehelsotun gardens the agricultural landscape has completely devastated and converted to the non-original decorative green spaces. In the same way, the visitors of Abbas Abad garden do not observe any productive areas in the garden periphery. On the other hand, the fruit-bearing greeneries in Akbariyeh, Shahzadeh, and Pahlavanpour gardens have been preserved. Nevertheless, the serious and pursuant actions should be taken for revitalizing the productive sceneries of these historical gardens. Finally, the agricultural lands of Dolat Abad garden have fortunately not yet been converted, but do not have the active and vivid condition. In conclusion, beyond conserving the architectural features of Persian gardens, it is also vital to be revived their agricultural landscapes. Finally, it should be mentioned that revitalization and rehabilitation the productive greeneries in historical gardens is a fundamental way to demonstrate the genuine Persian garden.