Current World Environment

Introduction

Persian garden is the visualize from Iranian beliefs. Iranian always tried to create different gardens base on function or forms and elements.¹³ On Safavid powerful period, transmission the capital of reign from Qazvin to Isfahan, shaped Isfahan as a garden city and formed the axis named Chaharbagh with Tajir gardens.(gardens that closed with grid walls). Safavid, by creating political and economical security²⁰ shows their power to people and travelers. Persian garden structural elements like walls save the garden from warm and dry climate³ and also by creating sense of place show the perfectionism idea.¹⁴ In this case the word of Tajir, Tajir garden history and sense of place will be described. Tajir word used as a thick curtains. Dehkhoda dictionary define Tajir as a wall or curtain⁹ and in other dictionaries define as a mat that closed surrounding that has shown on Figure 1.some other words like Paras, Parvis, Parsin⁷ (a grid brick wall with Fakhr-i-Madin shape which is semi-transparent)²⁴ have near meaning to Tajir word. Tajir garden history refer to 10th AH century when Safavid defeated Timurid and made Shia as an official religion in Iran.³⁰ Safavid Shah Abbas made Isfahan as a capital for his empire²³ and designed the axis Chaharbagh political and economical security were the cause of creation Tajir garden with grid walls. These grid walls enclosed gardens but did not close the view of Chaharbagh axis landscape from inside the gardens.³¹ In Timurid period cause of use the gardens temporary, they used portable walls.Documents from Clavijo itinerary about Timurid gardens described that the garden enclosed with Tajir curtain and it was about 300 step length and height of a man head who ride a horse and had a gate of curtain which could be locked.⁸ In other place referred that Timurid women residential place designed with white and red grid strings. The important part of Clavijo description was about curtain walls that people may have seen through the gardens gates.⁸ Security is an important requisite for doing activities, understanding the environment and spending time in gardens. disclaimer security divided in two human and environmental parts.

Figure 1: Fakhr-i-Madin, Souce:Athors Click here to View figure

-environmental involves limitation of water, lands, hot winds, unbearable heat and cold, earthquakes, floods, wild animals and etc.

-human disclaimer involves class differences, beliefs, religious differences, avarice of some tribes and etc that make worse and killing.²

in creation of gardens, walls and gates plays an important role against disclaimer elements. increasing the security in Isfahan was one of the reasons to create grid walls at Chaharbagh surrounding.

Table 1: Tajir word in itinerary, Source:Authors

Methodology

Based on wall differences two kind of gardens that shaped cause of their walls will be compared and the sense of place elements that walls create them will be described.

-castle garden(thick walls):Persian gardens from creation to now have walls. Manouchehr Pishdadi created a garden that had four walls in surrounded and plants inside. Thick walls in this garden protected inside against warm and dry wind, retain moisture, creating shade and also protect garden against wild animals and enemies.²¹ Marco Polo itinerary described that an old man who named Hasan Sabah created the garden parables of Heaven and had move the Fadaian Ismaili after anesthesia to his garden and gave them great things so they do all of his order to reach that garden again.²

-Tajir garden(grid walls):from past years to now gardens are the place for superior social classes. in Safavid period cause of economical and political security, there were no evidence of tower and fortification. royal gardens of Isfahan had harem and the privacy of each gardens depended on religious beliefs. Chaharbagh allocation to women on Wednesday reduced great privacy. integration of private and public functions and new definition of Persian garden were the reasons for creating the gardens with grid walls.² The other reason of creating grid walls, surrounding the gardens, was climate aspects, for instance in Bushehr cause of architecture tissue density, high humidity and heat, they create aperture like Fakhr-i- madin which connect the yard to walls and used them as an artificial drafts and for see the landscape better.¹⁷ -Table 2

Table 2: Comparison between castle garden and Tajir garden, Source: Authors

The relation between man, nature, garden location :Iranian from past like to create yard and garden. they created gardens in building surrounded and called Paradise.⁵ Schultz describe gardens as a cultural outlook that ram natural forces and emerges as an organized system. the human image of heaven is enclosed garden. in cultural outlook, human create the garden, organize it and give the garden parables of Heaven.²⁹ The condition to reach the place spirit is to create garden on a desert nature that it likes Prince Mahan garden. Figure2.²⁷ In fact, the concept of man-made garden in Persian garden, reflects the spirit of place cause it creates a spatial structure of the garden that emphasizes on directions( four main direction), extension and abstraction of nature spirit of place.⁴ Perception the environment causes of the sense of place²⁵ in the Persian garden, so the garden creating infinite space that uses all human senses.⁷ Most of the researchers emphasizes that in Persian garden, the material is extremely spiritual upgrade and there were no ambiguity in relation between human and space.¹⁸

Figure 2: Prince Mahan garden Click here to View figure

The effect of concentration on feeling of enclosed garden: in Persian garden, man moves in the main axis of garden, not very often can see the surrounding walls. It is not cause of distance but cause of the axis motion are visual axis not corridors.¹⁶ The voice of water, birds creates hearing fence, smell and taste. move on soft earth creates sense of touch and cause of that Persian garden has sensory richness.²⁸

In creation of Persian garden lots of factors like lands, plants, space are so important.^1,10 But creating spaces can be made by the connection of outside and inside, closed space and border territory.

-connection of outside and inside: There are lots of beliefs about hierarchy of entrance to space from the gates.⁶ In Persian garden the packing order started from building entrance that invited people inside but leave the garden, is gradual and people first go to Hashti then they exit.¹⁵ These connection is also showed at Fin garden of Kashan.¹¹ The Fakhr-i-Madin which used in this garden, give people a semi-transparent view and curiosity that has shown on Figure 3 and Figure 4.

Figure 3: Fin Garden plan and entrance, Source:[15] Click here to View figure

Figure 4: Parsin of prince Mahan garden, Source:[7] Click here to View figure

-Border territory: enclosed space define with borders.as we have introversion in Persian garden, enclosed space played an important role in creation of garden.²² Pirnia described introversion of Persian garden as a place that it is a closed land, no one could see inside.²⁴ These walls that made place to be closed could be thick and strong like Fin garden or could be semi-transparent as we have in Prince Mahan kerman garden.

-Closed space: define as a specified range that separated the borders.²⁷ In ancient Persian language the word Paradise means as a fence that later replaced with the word of garden.²⁶ Heidegger, states garden walls as a border that separated outside and inside of garden and also connect them together.¹² When people faces the garden walls, they will ask themselves will be another world behind the walls?

Use of grid walls from itinerary description:

Wilbur described Chaharbagh avenue of Isfahan with semi-transparent walls that people could see the inside of gardens and the flowers on fountain.³¹

Sharden talked about garden pavilions surrounding Chaharbagh that they could see them from semi-transparent walls.¹⁹

Conclusions

In this study, lots of semi-transparent walls used at Safavid period on Chaharbagh gardens and the transparency emphasized that Safavid wanted to showetheir strong and power by creating public spaces and made the connection between public and private place.

From survey on Tajir gardens, we find that Tajir as a curtain founded on Timurid period but the use of Tajir for shaping the gardens came from Safavid period.these grid walls by giving curiosity create sense of place, visualize the garden as parables of Heaven and made people to request visiting the garden.

in this study the use of Tajir as a kind of curtain wall has proven and we understand that in Safavid period by giving visual sense we can increase the other human senses and made people to have memory of what they seen and would like to recreate their memory by using the place again.the aim of these walls is giving security and privacy but not force people to be in closed space that made them not to use place is also have been understand.

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