2

ISBN: 978-972-99101-6-6

Editors: Vítor Oliveira, Paulo Pinho, Luisa Mendes Batista, Tiago Patatas, Cláudia Monteiro

Cover Design by Cláudia Monteiro

The present volume contains the full papers presented at the 21st International Seminar on Urban

Form, held in Porto, from 3 to 6 July, 2014. Authors alone are responsible for options expressed in

the book.

Cite as: Oliveira V, Pinho P, Batista L, Patatas T and Monteiro C (eds.) (2014) Our common future

in Urban Morphology, FEUP, Porto.

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The Middle Eastern Cities and Isfahan School of

Urban Morphology

Isfahan School of urban design: a morphological perspective

Fatemeh (Farnaz) Arefian1, Hassan Estaji

2, Mona Jabbari

3, Anna Koledova

4,

Mahya Fatemi4

1 Silk Cities, University College London.

2 Silk Cities; University of Applied Arts

Vienna. 3 Silk Cities; Universidade do Minho. Silk Cities;

4 The Bartlett Development

Planning Unit. 5 Silk Cities; The Bartlett Development Planning Unit-

E-mail: f.arefian@silkcities.org, estaji@student.uni-ak.ac.at, monajabbari@yahoo.com,

anna.koledova.12@alumni.ucl.ac.uk, mahya.fatemi@gmail.com.

Abstract. Urban morphology of cities in the Middle East and Central Asia has been of great interests to

academics from various disciplines. Through centuries of development Iranian (Persian) art and

architecture contributed to what is called now Islamic cities. Isfahan school of urban design has

particularly played a significant role in creating to be highly influential in development of Islamic cities

in the region. We discuss how establishment of this new school of thought on Islamic cities in 16th

century (concurrent with Renaissance) influenced the way we think about cities in the Middle East and

Central Asia today. Using content analysis and direct observation as our research methodology we

investigate urban fabric of Isfahan- the capital of the Isfahan region in Iran and once its most largest and

glorious city in order to extract the conceptual and practical lessons about traditional urban morphology

and advocate their importance and relevance for the contemporary urban development practices in

Islamic cities.

Key Words: Urban Morphology, Isfahan, Urban Design, Islamic Cities, Morphological Integration,

Iranian Art and Architecture, Samarkand.

Overview to Isfahan Urban Transformation from a Medieval City towards an Avant-

garde Metropolis

It can be argued that Isfahan's central position in Iran preconditioned it to become the capital of

two major dynasties, the Seljuk (1037–1157) and the Safavid (1502–1736) dynasties. Its dual

function as an emporium and as a capital manifested in Bazaars and in the courtly buildings that

gave Isfahan the reputation of an oriental Versailles (Jayyusi et al., 2008). Given the

geographical position of Isfahan at the center of the Iranian plateau, it has been known as one of

the most important trade centres of Iran. This position occasionally makes it the bridge between

the East, West, South, and North. According to Golombek (1974) Isfahan's urban development

shows three phases from the early history of Isfahan to the contemporary era:

Late Sasanid to early Islamic (7th-8th centuries): the satellite villages. During the first Islamic

century Isfahan consisted of two small settlements (Jayy and Yahudiyyah) and a large number

of villages around the Zayandeh-Rud. The pattern of Isfahan city, like other Iranian desert cities,

was based on the transformation of farming lots into urban residential spaces. The irrigation

network kept its form as a network of public spaces running through the streets and alleys.

Although the primary function of the irrigation systems was to supply water for agriculture, it

has also defined the city layout and its urban evolution.. Privately owned farms were divided

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into smaller lots of land for residential buildings (Estaji and Raith, 2012). Mehryar (2007)

believes that the city of Isfahan was originally the result of the amalgamation of fifteen villages.

From 8th to 15th centuries (early Abbasid to Safavid) the villages eventually amalgamated

and Isfahan became a walled town: The next major physical development happened during the

Buyids when Isfahan was walled. The exact date of the construction of the defensive wall and

its citadel is unknown. However, Muqaddasi, writing in 985, describes Isfahan as a walled city

with twelve gates”. As soon as the city was limited to its surrounding walls, it was socially and

physically divided to several neighbourhoods called Mahalleh (Golombek, 1974, Sarraf, 2010).

Mosque (religious space) and Bazaar (economic space) were the two main urban elements for

the formation and direction the growth of the city, similar to other Islamic cities. The first

mosque, in the mid-seventh century, served a symbol of victory and Islam, within the Jayy’s

walls (old Isfahan). The mosque was the central urban space, as the city formed and expanded

around it; it sparked the development of Isfahan into an early Islamic metropolis. In the early

Islamic cities the mosque was not only a place for religious purposes, it served functions of a

court, a school, a place for discussing and debating, and a place for announcing the Islamic

governmental orders. In other words, it was a political, social and religious centre and

consequently the centre of the city.

The main mosque of Islamic city was usually located near a large plaza (Meydan), main

routes were connected the main meydan to the city gates. Commercial spaces were usually

located on the sides of those routes near the city centre and around the main Meydan

(Kheirabadi, 2000). Figure 1 presents a schematic model of Islamic cities.

Figure 1. A schematic model of Islamic city (Kheirabadi, 2000).

In Isfahan, the complex of mosque and surrounding spaces and bazaar formed the main

structure of Isfahan city during the centuries. The Isfahan bazaar had three major developmental

steps after the advent of Islam in Iran: First is the formation the old Meydan and surrounding

bazaar that connected the Jayy and Yahudiyyah (Two initial nucleuses of old Isfahan) together.

The bazaar organically grew around the old meydan and the Friday mosque (Pourjafar et al.,

2014). From 11th century Isfahan evolves towards becoming a prominent Islamic city. Saljuqid

was a brilliant period for Art and Architecture in Isfahan, when Isfahan became the capital of

Persia (Iran) for the first time. Many of the most important monuments in Isfahan such as the

great dome of the Grand Mosque and some important Minarets were erected during this era. The

main streets of old Isfahan usually connected the city centre (old meydan) to the gates. These

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covered routes had another function; they were bazaar as a structure of Isfahan urban in Saljuqid

era. The form of City wall and bazaars followed the organic form of topography and water

routes. In the Timurid period the city organically developed further; the city wall expanded

southwards, the Isfahan bazaars grew and some new neighbourhoods were formed (Pakzad,

2011). This period sees Isfahan as well developed and quite prominent on the map of the

medieval cities of Asia (Babaei, 2008) reflecting blossoming Iranian art and architecture of the

time.

From the 15th century, from Safavid era, Isfahan emerged as an avant-garde metropolis

became the capital for the second time during Safavid. Shah Abbas the Great (1587-1629)

moved his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan and developed Isfahan for its new role. In general

Safavid’s strong central governments had plans for their capitals, for example, Qazvin shows

some examples of new urban interventions. But Shah Abbas’s ambitious plans for developing

Isfahan were realised in form of large-scale urban public places, new boulevards and

architectural monuments. Naqsh-e Jahan meydan and its surrounding buildings were erected for

the governmental function and the straight Chahar-Bagh Street connected the old city to the

royal palaces (Hezar Jarib) on the other side of the Zayande-Rud. Isfahan’s development before

Safavid was organic and slow during centuries of organic growth but it changed during Safavids

rule as the city developed according to a planned urban design based on the new Cartesian

geometry. Development of art and architecture in the city of Isfahan reached its peak and set

examples for other cities in the region. Complementary to large-scale urban plans , at this time a

new period in Persian architecture emerges bringing rich, sensationally coloured and

imaginative details developed by the predecessors into meaningful ensembles of immense

scale and grandeur (Pope, 1965) that was later referred to as the Isfahan School of thought by

researchers such as Habibi and Ahari. Figure 2 presents the morphological development of

Isfahan.

Perspectives on Isfahan School of Urban Design

Architecture was always a physical symbol of philosophical thought of men. The Art and

architecture of Iran was being developed from centuries ago had its mark on the Middle Eastern

cities. For example, Samarkand city, the former capital of Uzbekistan repeats a particular city-

form and conceptual underpinning of Isfahan, and is ultimately called “the Isfahan of Central

Asia (Shea, 1995).This school is important in the field of urbanism because related

achievements formed earlier than Renaissance and Baroque in Europe. The famous practice of

Iranian art and architecture only reaches its climax in Safavid era, during which their capital,

Isfahan, became a city-scale scene for statesmen and artists to exercise their ideas,

religious, philosophical and mystic beliefs in architecture and urbanism, supported by a strong

central government that also was a religious leader. Architecture/urban planning was more than

a mere aesthetic experience and indeed was symbolic of greater truth of the relation between

human and God (Shakiba, 2013; Ardalan, 1973). In fact, the Isfahan School started before

Isfahan became the capital and in other Iranian cities such as Qazvin and Tabriz. Shah Hassan in

Tabriz and in Qazvin by Shah Tahmaseb (two processors of Shah Abbas in Safavid ear) built

Friday Mosque, meydan, bazaar and new boulevard in order to boast their governments’ power,

economic, social and culture of in their capitals, which were Tabriz and Qazvin respectively.

Iran’s traditional architecture and art originated from monotheism and accepting divine

unity. God created the world based on discipline, order and beauty. Iranian architecture was

inspired by order. Architecture tries to restore order in environment; the traditional architecture

aims to place human being in God presence by creating order in space. These Islam Gnostic

aspects establish Islamic art foundation. Clearly, harmony, proportionate and continuity in

spaces are pleasurable and chaos, disorder and visual disorganization are inconvenient

(Tavassoli, 1992& Ardalan, 1973). The city form represented a composite of world views and

cultural idioms and nevertheless expressed an idea about the city as 'the face of the earth’, 'the

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mirror of the world', 'the garden of souls' etc. Statements as such are compared to the poems of

the Sufy mystics that reveal conceptual essence of the Islamic art and architecture that addresses

the search for order and harmony in the natural world, the intangible world, the human soul and

the city. Such principles are repeated in cities that either are part of Iran or influenced by the

Iranian culture, art and architecture. For example Samarkand that represents the same principles

(Shea, 1995). Concepts of unity-pluralism and order-chaos are of the common fundamental

characteristics in art and architecture that can be seen as of the architectural tools for forming

cities, buildings and gardens that are the mirror of god on the earth. Both are manifested by

geometric patterns. Figure 3 presents examples of geometric patterns for creating totality and

unity in Islamic art and architecture.

Figure 2. Development of urban form in Isfahan during centuries (matched on the

contemporary streets map) (source: Pakzad (2011)).

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Figure 3. Examples of using geometry in art and architecture (source: Stierlin, 2011).

The concept of unity in art and architecture has resulted from Sufism spiritual thinking,

where the unity of one (God) and his beloved is celebrated and plural details all mirror the one.

The relationship between detail and totality is considered as an Iranian urbanism branch related

to unity and pluralism issue; every element and form is comprehensive, individually and

combined. While market stalls are independent and complete structured in a combination they

create the totality of bazaar (Shakiba, 2013; Tavassoli, 1992; Ardalan, 1973). Order is synonym

of geometry in Iranian architecture. Mathematics and geometry played a deterministic role in

visual arts and architecture besides organic and natural structures geometrical patterns.

Symmetry is a powerful tendency in Iranian architecture at the time. There is a difference

between organic expansion and Euclidean geometry but it is similar to fractal geometry,

while in static buildings an independent, individual and geometrical order is seen. Even in

bazaar, although the pathway creates an organic spiral form without classic geometry in total

arcades, architectural modules and nodal junctions offer the sense of geometry and continuity.

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Moreover, caravanserais, schools, inns and bathrooms are the extensions of bazaar and all

follow strong order and geometries. They present static and independent well-defined

geometrical order like leaves on stems (Shakiba, 2013; Tavassoli, 1992; Ardalan, 1973). Figure

4 shows this.

Figure 4. Details of Isfahan Bazaar (source: Ardalan & Bakhtiar (1973)). Importantly also, the mystical epistemology of Iranian art and architecture was mirrored in

Safavid era by Shah Abbas the Great (16 AD) ambitions, exceptional capacity and artistic sense,

and was aided by the wealth, security and strong central government that his able government

had fostered. Therefore, not surprisingly, the Shah is treated as the world ruler and the rules'

palace is at the centre of the world. The palace precincts represent the spiritual head, while the

mosque is the symbolic heart of the city's body. At this time a new period in Persian architecture

emerges where in rich, sensationally coloured and imaginative details developed by his

predecessors become unified into meaningful ensembles of immense scale and grandeur (Pope,

1965) and was later referred to as Isfahan School of thought. Divine school of Isfahan

flourished in philosophy and theosophy which eventually influenced architecture, urban design

and other arts. It resulted in formation of patterns which determined not only architectural and

urban forms in Isfahan city but also served as a model for urban development throughout Iran

and the neighbouring countries and cities as it was in Samarkand. The period is known as the

period of unity in formal language of urban design. This language is known as Isfahan school of

urban design.

Innovative but Integrating Urban Structure in Isfahan

When Isfahan had become the capital of Safavid dynasty it was already well developed and

quite prominent on the map of the medieval cities of Asia. The morphology of Isfahan

developed organically over centuries. However, the early Safavid (400 years ago) refashioning

of the city as their capital was not shaped by the same gradual integration of the new urban

elements into the old fabric of the city as were, for example, Istanbul, Madrid, Paris, and

London. Isfahan fundamentally transformed at this time through large scale pre-designed urban

expansions which granted the principal patterns for its later developments up to this time

(Babaie, 2008). It was, indeed, under the Safavids that Isfahan was transformed into one of the

greatest capitals in the world of that time.

The new transformations happened in the south of the old city, extending the city towards

the Zayande-Rud River. The structure of the city in this period was based on bazaar and a large

organic square, called Meydan-e-Kohneh (the Old Meydan) and the grand mosque nearby. This

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organically shaped meydan was located where the major roads converged in the centre of the

city (Browne 1976b). The main routes leading from outside to inside of the city transform into

to the major branches of the bazaar, a pattern which has preserved its major characteristics until

now. This urban expansion (took place two centuries before the famous Housman’s works in

the 19th century’s Paris) included a large geometric urban space at the south-end of the bazaar, a

counterpoint for the Old Meydan. The new urban space or Naqsh-e Jahan Meydan was a joint

for connecting the older parts of the city to the new extensions of Isfahan. Its surrounding

buildings were erected for the Royal functions, e.g. new palace and royal mosque. Naghsh-e-

Jahan was also connected to a wide park-way style boulevard, Chahar-Bagh Street that means

Four-Gardens in Persian. Stretching from north to south Chahar-Bagh was established as one of

the main axes for the city extension program and connected other royal palaces (Hezar Jarib) on

the other side of the Zayande -Rud to the old city. This pre-designed geometric urban expansion

resembles contemporary urban development projects. As Ardalan and Bakhtiar (1979)

highlight, Shah Abbas the Great achieved his ambitious plans for Isfahan by appropriating an

innovative relationship between the new and old parts of the city. This relationship was

manifested particularly in the Linear bazaar system (Sarraf, 2010). Figure 5 shows the Isfahan

expansion and its connectivity to the older organic parts of the city.

Figure 5. Pre-planned urban expansions in Isfahan (source: Habibi, 2008).

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Isfahan urban structure and main elements

According to Piaget (1971) urban structure is a complex of places and streets interconnected. It

joins the whole of city and unites all of the city's main components. Traditionally, bazaar was in

the basis of the spiral structure of Iranian cities and of what is called Islamic cities. However,

the great urban transformation of Isfahan gave rise to and emphasised other significant elements

in the urban structure and morphology of Isfahan. Figure 6 presents the Isfahan city after the

great urban expansion.

Figure 6. Isfahan after urbanexpansion (source: Sarraf, 2010).

While the urban form consistent of different elements comprises a unified totality, it is still

possible to discuss its components separately. The following four elements of the urban

structure that together can be identified as the “central design structure” of a city and present the

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city's identity. These include: bazaar, Naqsh-e Jahan (the main public Meydan-plaza- of the

city), Chahar-Bagh Boulevard, and Zayande-Rud River.

They hold the city structure together over centuries and preserve areas that are now

recognized as the World Heritage Sites:

Naghsh-Jahan: According to Hillenbrand (1999, p. 230) a prominent art historian, the

expansion of Isfahan masterplan for its expansion almost 400 years ago is one of the most

ambitious and novel schemes of town planning in Islamic history. One of the greatest

monuments that came out of it is the great central meydan, Naghsh-e Jahan, which, with its

measurements of 512 * 159 m (1680 * 523 ft), is perhaps the largest plaza in the world. The

great central meydan was designed as the heart of the new city and served as a stage for military

manoeuvres, public processions and games, especially polo. . It is surrounded by two story

arcades which focus on the recessed portal of Masjid-e-Shah (Royal Mosque). Opposite at the

north end of the meydan, is the royal caravanserai and the bazaar. At the middle of the west side

is Alighapu- the government seat and the private oratory of Shah Abbas, the mosque of Sheikh

Lutfollaah. Each side of the Naghsh-e Jahan is defined by a certain function and architectural

dominance of the building. The northern side shapes the entrance of the bazaar, linking it with

the older parts. The royal palace overlooking the Meydan sits at another side and is connected

with the Chahar-Bagh Boulevard through its gardens. The fourth side is identified by another

mosque-the Shah Mosque (Masjed-e Shah) which is the new grand Mosque of the city (Pope,

1965).

Moving the Friday mosque from the older part of Isfahan to the site of its urban expansion is

an evidence of the Shah Abbas’s decision to move the city life to the new planned areas. In fact,

a Friday mosque is celebrated as the most important building in the Islamic cities. Any decision

or proposed suggestion about the design and structure of this building should be made by the

caliph, king or the delegated powers (Sarraf, 2010).

Interestingly, the Naghsh-e-Jahan meydan itself is also known as a positive space. The large

size facades of the meydan are divided by the two story arcades, which size is proportionate to

the commercial architectural modules in the Isfahan bazaar. The meydan is conveying the sense

of place through the surrounding architectural monuments with each one being an architectural

masterpiece of Iranian art and architecture. For example, as Pope (1965) describes the Masjid

Sheikh Lutf Allaah as a culmination of a thousand of years of mosque building in Persia and

refers to the whole mosque as of majestic proportions. The Naghsh-e-Jahan meydan becomes an

urban courtyard that connects prominent functions and city life together. It is a designed place

of integration between the old and new, the organic and geometric, and finally, between delicate

smaller scale and large scale architectural elements in an urban scene. It is a designed public

place and a meeting point of religion, power and commerce. Figure 7 shows a facade of the

Naghsh-Jahan meydan with an overview to the Masjid Sheikh Lutf Allaah.

Figure 7. Naghsh-e-Jahan meydan, source: Silk Cities archive.

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Bazaar: Despite the sudden expansion of the city, the Isfahan bazaar was kept as the main

urban structures for the new visionary city. Isfahan bazaar remains one of the best examples of

the Eastern bazaars, in terms of character, size and architecture. The high levels of spatial

integration extend from the Old meydan through different branches of the bazaar and reach the

gates. The main thoroughfares shape, at the same time, residential quarters around them are

joined by some secondary routes (Karimi, 2003). Isfahan bazaar also underpins the material and

spiritual aspects of the city; it does not make distinctions between the urban quarters, and forms

an integrated and unified complex with links to the different areas of the city. When Isfahan

reached the peak of its prosperity in the Safavid era, the bazaar connected the old and new cities

and ensured the survival and well-being of the city. Bazaars are never static because cities

continue to live and grow around their significant axes and they offer unique scientific values so

that anyone can find the city's identity through it (Pourjafar, 2014).

Ardalan and Bakhtiar (1979, p. 97) describe the bazaar of Isfahan as a strong movement

under the shade that stretches from the Khawju Bridge on the southeast to the northern

gateway, encompassing, in its course, the primary commercial, religious, and governmental

activities of the city.” All the different senses of hierarchy, unity, concentration, privacy and

publicity, solitude and togetherness, mobility and immobility, connection and proportion,

simplicity and complexity, and dimension and domain are implied in the complex of the bazaar

and its public spaces. According to them, the bazaar is the primary movement system in the

fabric of the city, while the residential pathways are the secondary and the Madi are the tertiary

one. Pedestrian crossings are like ribs feeding into the backbone of the city and the vital organs

are placed in close proximity to each other; the schools, the baths houses, the granaries, the

bakeries; tea houses and stores of craftsmen and of merchants (Shea, 1995).

Chahar-Bagh: Chahar-Bagh Boulevard or as its Persian name means "Four-Gardens", refers

to a popular garden typology consisting of four plots divided by waterways or paths forming a

cruciform plan. The original public boulevard is 1,650 meters long and consists of four

quadripartite gardens arranged along a north-south axis that slopes towards the south. Each

quadripartite unit is composed of two square and two rectangular plots separated by pathways

and is located slightly lower than the preceding unit. Together, they are experienced as a single

boulevard with a central promenade flanked by axial garden plots. The gardens have since been

converted into roadways, with plane trees lining either side. Running along the centre of the

promenade was a water channel with cascades; the promenade now only features circular flower

beds and light posts (Blake, 1999; Blunt, 1966; Ope, 1977; Katouzian, 1986; Alemi, 1986).

Water channel also contributes to creating a natural axis that directed further urban development

towards the south of the city.

Zayandeh Rud: The Zayandeh Rud River was considered as a natural southern border of

Isfahan; a natural element that directed the urban expansion during Safavid (Pourmoghaddas,

2006). Access to the south point of this river was provided with several bridges over it that were

constructed at different times. Although the river has always served as a sustainable water

source, being located outside the city it never influenced the socio-spatial relationship of Isfahan

to a large extent. However, during the Safavids era the Zayandeh Rud River and its bridges

played an important role for channelling commercial activities all over the city. Celebrations

were also conducted on the Zayandeh Rud River bank (Agha Ebrahimi Samani, 2012). The

river is on the main elements for creating natural axis in the city. This “combined natural axis”

is the main element that has led the urban growth of Isfahan during its past four centuries. This

axis consists of Naqsh-e- Jahan, Chahar-Bagh Promenade, Si-o-se-pol Bridge, and Chahar-Bagh

Bala - which is the contemporary extension of the historic Chahar-Bagh towards the south of

Isfahan. This axis connects the Zayande-Rud River to the city life with the nature and nature

and it ends in the agricultural fields beautifully (Habibi, 2008).

Encountering Modernisation

Since the 20th century, the new universal ideals shaped by the unfolding free market

economy, advanced technology and a nuclear family model at the micro-level have promped the

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relationship between architecture and modernisation (Ricouer cited in Foster, 1982:16). Like

anywhere in the world, desires for having modern cities have negatively affected historic cities

across the Middle East and Central Asia region. For example, following fashionable mindset of

becoming modern at the time (1925 onward) Pahlavi dynasty did not pay attention to the

existing urban structure and form. While Safavid ambitious plans for Isfahan included urban

expansion in the continuity with existing urban structure and morphology, the period of

modernisation cut through traditional urban fabric and changed the existing physical patterns

and relevant socio-spatial relationship. As Sarraf (2010) points out, although the Safavid urban

transformation is considered as a successful large-scale urban development initiative in the

history of Isfahan, there are strong criticisms about the urban renewal programs implemented in

20th century, in Pahlavi’s era in attempt to modernise Isfahan. The urban growth of Isfahan,

akin to many historic cities, was the outcome of a centuries long process. The modernisation

programmes of Reza Shah (1925-1941) gave the city a modern-looking face . Radical

modernism entailed more than urban expansion but also imposition of automobile as the

principal mean of transportation throughout the city and. hence, the cure for all the ills of the

compact, integrated urban fabric. Straight streets cut the compact, integrated fabric of the

Isfahan bazaar next to the Friday Mosque, as it was the case in many other cities in Iran in the

1930s-70s. Easy access by car to the city centre as its commercial/cultural heart became

prominent with automobiles being prioritised over pedestrians. Figure 8 shows how the urban

fabric and Isfahan bazaar was cut in order to provide transport solution for automobile

accessibility.

Figure 8. Cutting established urban structures to allow cars enter the commercial heart

of the city (source: Sarraf, 2010).

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Another example is Samarkand; during Russian and Soviet presence in Samarkand most of

the significant urban forms were destroyed or/and transformed for different uses. The rest of

city was re-planned by the soviet architects using the same model as in other Eastern European

towns and given none consideration to the concepts that shaped the city's archetypal forms.

Wide roads were built with long vistas cut through the fabric of the traditional courtyard

housing, and raptured of a traditional concept of settlement. Traditional urban neighbourhoods

(Mahalleh) were retreated from the principle avenues along which Soviet style apartment blocks

and administrative buildings occupied the cleared, open space. Multi storied apartment blocks,

hitherto unknown here before, supplanted the traditional courtyard houses and became

Samarkand's predominant building types transforming certain parts of the city (Oosterman,

2009).

Moreover, the superimposition of a pattern of straight streets onto many of the historic cities

was not only cutting the physical structure it violated the socio-spatial order which were

implanted in those urban structures over centuries of incremental growth. For example the

commercial connections in bazaar and the traditional residential neighbourhood patterns

(Mahalleh), which used to fill the urban fabric in the continuity with the main urban structure

and the holistic urban form. The first masterplan for Isfahan envisioned an imposed Cartesian

grid network of roads throughout the city. Fortunately the plan was never implemented and

some historic parts of Isfahan, e.g. Naghsh-e Jahan meydan were preserved as the World

Heritage site. However, as Sarraf (2010) highlights, today’s urban development programmes are

deeply rooted in the urban renewal strategies of the 1930s that consider the physical form of

cities apart from their social aspects.

Conclusion

Traditionally the built environment in the Middle East and Central Asia grew from people's

dedication to Islamic thoughts and actions. Isfahan city is an exemplary case of the Isfahan

school of thought Iranian Art and architecture that is rooted in the spiritual philosophy of

Sufism and harmony between the physical form of the city and its socio-cultural milieu and

expressed through geometric forms, squares, circles, domes and four-iwans courts. The Safavid

era provided support, prosperity and security for Iranian art and architecture and serve ambitious

urban expansions. Thus, Isfahan can be seen as an avant-garde case of urban development for its

time that generated values and lessons relevant for the contemporary cases .The morphological

integration between the pre designed Isfahan urban expansion and its existing organic urban

structure makes Isfahan a masterpiece of Islamic urbanism.

The traditional bazaar in Isfahan with its socio-economic and architectural values was an

integral part for urban morphology. Furthermore, the Iranian art and architecture, which

influenced the Middle East and Central Asia and developed over centuries, served a significant

role to create a morphological integration between the old and the new. Architectural harmony

and sense of place were created through architectural modality and excellence in monumental

buildings in the Naghsh-e Jahan meydan. However, such richness and inherited values in

Isfahan school of thought and the city itself was ignored, while encountering modernism that

prioritised automobile and cut through parts of the integrated fabric around the bazaar in order

to facilitate car accessibility. While the Safavid urban development plans were to complete the

existing structures, the modernistic approach tried to impose a new order regardless of what it

was in the ground, cutting through socio-spatial morphological patterns of the city.

Given the lessons from Isfahan School of urban design and exemplary case of the Isfahan

city itself, the question therefore, is how the future urban morphology as a determinant for

socio-spatial relationships of a city can be in harmony with the traditional morphological

pattern of a city. This question exists not only for the historic Islamic cities in the Middle East

and Central Asia that evolved during many centuries but also for all cities that regardless of

their age represent a specific morphological identity.

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Engineering (IJTPE) 4. 122-127.

Alemi, M. (1986) ‘Chahar Bagh Environmental Design’, Journal of the Islamic Environmental Design

Research Centre I., 38-45.

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