Mendeley  

Zotero  

Khakbaz N, Rahimzadeh M, Foroutan M, Hamzehloo S. Brick Tectonic in Hakim Mosque of Isfahan (13-10AH/19-16AD). CIAUJ 2023; 8 (1) :65-77
URL: http://ciauj-tabriziau.ir/article-1-471-en.html

Tectonics is one of the theoretical concepts and a method of studying the history of architecture that takes into account both technical and artistic dimensions at the same time. A concept in which there are dual concepts of technique and aesthetics. In Islamic architecture of Iran until the end of the Qajar period, this attention to both the structure and the decorative surface was very evident in buildings whose main material was mostly brick, but its principles were not known. With the entry of new materials and construction methods from the end of the Qajar period, tectonic methods and the interaction of art and technique were forgotten and Iranian architecture faced a crisis. The research question of this article is: “What are the technical and artistic tectonic rules of bricks in Hakim mosque of Isfahan in the 10th to (13th AH) centuries?” This research seeks to know the technical and artistic tectonic characteristics of bricks in Isfahan in the 10th to 13th centuries in order to know Islamic architecture of Iran.The researches on the tectonic of bricks in Iranian architecture have not been done, therefore, in order to understand the tectonics of bricks based on the paradigm of interpretive epistemology, and qualitative content analysis with an explanatory orientation and based on the theory of Karl Betticher and Gottfried Semper, and with the method of collecting library information and gathering tools based on referring to documents and field research, the tectonic characteristics of bricks have been studied in Isfahan's Hakim mosque.By analyzing the qualitative content of tectonic bricks in general (shaped and structural structure) the articulation and the decorative surface in Hakim Mosque, it was revealed: The brick architecture of Iran has been formed under the rules of structural and shape principles of tectonics in the whole architecture, articulation of surfaces in intermediate scale and decorative surfaces in  micro scale. These principles show the characteristics of technical and artistic construction in brick architecture. The brick architecture is finished with jagged, domed, smooth and sloping surfaces and with stone and pyramids foundations and coping brick with Moaghali decorations is started and  coping brick above and below the inscriptions and confined brick are used throughout the walls. Also, articulations based on connecting surfaces in intermediate scale (such as wick corners in Jurgir Sardar) and articulations based on surface separator in micro scale (such as border, zigzag and strip, arched border, concave arched, and header brick edging) have been used. On a micro scale, decorative-structural brick surfaces (Jurgir Sardar Moaghali brick work, basket weave,  brickwork and plinth Moaghali brickwork) and decorative (tile surfaces such as: Moaghali, Moarragh, seven colors and linear) with arrangements (striped, raking, alternating, head and straight) are used. In all three scales (general, intermediate and micro) technical and artistic features are related.  These relations under tectonic rules express technical and artistic construction and the culture of Stereotomic construction in Hakim mosque brick architecture. This is the construction culture that appears by adding and subtracting brick material and is a confirmation of Karl Betticher and Gottfried Semper of tectonic theory.