Investigating the structure and decorations of Orsi in Qajar period architecture

Academic Dissertation in Master of Handicrafts

Trend of Traditional Arts Research

Abstract:

The art of the Qajar period has a special place among the artistic periods of Iran, which arose due to the special social conditions and the increasing expansion of political and cultural interactions with foreign countries, especially Europe. The remaining works from this period are evident, especially the architecture and related decorations. Orsi is one of the wooden arrays that can be considered as one of the most significant manifestations of traditional Iranian art, which, due to the special place of light and skylights in Iranian buildings, is considered one of the most important functional and decorative elements of architecture in certain periods, and its structure and decorations, according to the prevailing conditions, have undergone changes, which is the subject and process of this thesis in order to identify the above changes. The type of research is fundamental in terms of its purpose and historical-descriptive based on its nature and method. The method of collecting materials was library and field, using existing written sources, as well as visiting the buildings and photographing the works. Investigations indicate that with the expansion of the relations between Iran and Europe, changes in the structure and decoration of these elements have appeared and caused the trend of sash patterns from geometric patterns to Islamic motifs and the use of naturalistic motifs, which is different from the previous periods. With the expansion of European relations with Iran and the occurrence of Iran's conflicts with Russia and England, successive military failures led to the conclusion of contracts to compensate for these failures, which ultimately led to political failures as well. In order to find a solution to this important issue and in pursuit of the acquisition of Western science and technology, we are witnessing the social and cultural influence of Europeans and the creation of extensive changes in the pillars of the political, social and cultural system in Iran. Developments that changed the way of looking at the culture of the past as well as the world ahead, affected the foundations of art in Iran. The dual aspects of culture in the society caused the inner duality of the artist and as a result, the duality of Iranian art. Because on the one hand, he still has a desire for the art of the past and adheres to his traditional norms and standards, and on the other hand, the modern world is very attractive to him, the result of which is a two-way vision for the artist of the Qajar period, which leads to experience, a new art that affects all fields, including architecture, a traditional art whose techniques and achievements were passed from one generation to another before that period, and in other words, it was the architectural heritage of the past.

With the transformation and change in the construction of buildings in terms of physical and appearance, the decorations related to the architecture of the Qajar period also underwent many changes. In the meantime, the transformation in the shape and structure of windows and skylights, including the sashes, whose decorative and practical aspects were simultaneously considered by the architects in the buildings of this period, was inevitable.

The sashes in the architecture of the Qajar period were different from the sashes in the previous periods, i.e. the Safavid and Zandiya periods, both structurally and decoratively. The purpose of this research is to investigate these changes and also to determine their extent in the field of making sashes. Because today's heritage in the field of art is related to the developments of that period and knowing your history and past is the light of the future. The first step in conducting this research was to examine the background of the research, which by collecting and studying the works done in this field, it became clear that the decorations and structure of sashes in this period were generally examined and often in this field, passing references to the influence of the West were made. It is worth mentioning that all these research works have been commendable in their turn and each one has been an effort to clarify an angle of this matter. By conducting this research, an attempt has been made to investigate and identify the influence of the West on the structure and decorations of sashes in this period, although it was a small step in this direction.

This thesis is organized in four chapters:

In the first chapter, the generalities of the research are discussed, which actually clarified the path of the research and made it possible to reach the goal by stating the method and steps of the work.. In the second chapter, the theoretical foundations of the research and the study of the history of the use of wood, as well as the place of light and the history of the use of skylights in Iranian architecture, have been discussed. In the third chapter, which is the main body of this research, in two main parts, the structure and decorations of the sashes in the Qajar period have been investigated, and for a better understanding of the subject and also to document the topics presented, examples of the images of the works left behind have been given. And finally, in the fourth chapter, the summarization of the contents and the conclusion and analysis of the hypotheses have been discussed.

At the end, it is necessary to mention that what is in this research is the result of several months of effort, which has been collected under the supervision and consultation of respected and learned professors, referring to books, theses, articles, various documents, and visiting in person and taking photographs of sashes in historical places, in different places in Iran. But despite all the efforts that have been made, the author does not see this research as free of slips and failures, and as a result, he is not aware of criticism, guidance and learning. He considered it among the most significant manifestations of traditional Iranian art, which, due to the special place of light and skylights in Iranian buildings, in certain periods, was considered one of the most important functional and decorative elements of architecture, and according to the place of use in the building, it had different uses and had diverse and different structures and decorations. The examination of numerous wooden works left from the Qajar period indicates the abundant and special use of sashes in various buildings such as: mosques, palaces, shrines and houses compared to the architecture of previous periods in Iran.

Given the increase in political and social relations, as well as the cultural and artistic interactions between Iran and the Western world in the Qajar period and the influence of Iranian art, including architecture and decorations related to architecture, it is obvious that the use of wooden elements in this period is important from a structural and decorative point of view. It is considered and is associated with variations and developments compared to the past. These developments can be seen in the greater use of wood and the variety of wooden decorations, especially sashes in the buildings of this period.

Taking this into consideration, examining the structural and decorative features of sashes and also finding the causes and factors that caused these arrays to be given special attention in architecture and to be widely used.

1-2- Research objectives:

Existence The numerous sashes left in the Qajar buildings show a lot of attention to this element in the architecture of this period compared to the past historical periods. Therefore, the objectives of this research can be stated as follows: 1- Obtaining the special features, which caused the sash to be highly regarded in the architecture of this period, and also to find the reasons that caused their widespread use. 2- Investigating the effects of the presence of western elements in the structure and decorations of the sash, in the buildings of the Qajar period. 3-1- Key research questions: 1- Structural features What is a sash in the buildings of the Qajar period? 2- What decorations were used to make a sash? 3- What effect did the cultural and artistic conditions of the Qajar period (considering the widespread presence of the West and the influence of Western elements on all aspects of social life, including art) have on the evolution of wooden arrays, including sashes? Sash in architecture, both as a light barrier and as a separator of the interior space of the building and as a side of the wall, this element must have the necessary strength in terms of structure, and it must also be designed and built in such a way that it can ensure the entry of light from the outside into the building.

2- It seems that all the decorations that were used on wooden works, in the same periods as the construction of the sash, were also used in the decoration of this element, and in some cases, special decorations and a special one has been used in sash making.

3- Due to the increasing relationship between Iran and the West during the Qajar period, it seems that the utilization of the sash and its special structural and decorative features have been formed under the influence of the connection with the West.

1-5-Research method:

The type of research is fundamental based on the purpose and historical and descriptive based on the nature and method. has taken