2019 Iranica Conference

Mirrors of : A Continuum of Architectural Heritage

PROGRAMME

11.00—11.05am Welcome to SLNSW, Acknowledgement of Country - Oriana Acevedo 11.05—11.10am Chairperson, Opening Remarks. Dr Zahra Taheri: Persian Studies Programme Convenor, Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies, Australian National University (ANU) College of Arts & Social Sciences. Dr Zahra Taheri studied classical and contemporary Persian literature in Iran at Pahlavi () University; received her Master's degree in Persian studies from Research Institute of Persian Culture, Tehran and her PhD from the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. During the last two decades she has taught Persian literature, language, Iranian history and culture, and Gender and Culture courses in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley (USA), the Department of Persian Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan), and ANU. 11.10—11.15am Opening of Conference. Masoud Rowshan: President of the Association of Iranica in Australasia.

11.15—11.50am Professor Miles Lewis - Iranian Vernacular Building Traditions There is a great variety of topography and climate in Iran, and a corresponding variety of vernacular architecture, but it is the architecture of the eastern desert which is most characteristically Iranian, and is the main focus of this paper. It displays ingenuity in dealing with

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the problems of water supply, heat, and the lack of regular building materials such as timber and stone. The oldest known water filtration system in the world has been found at Chogha Zanbil, but not hitherto understood. The is characteristically Iranian, but not in fact an Iranian invention, whereas the ice house possibly is. The badgir or wind tower is also characteristically Iranian, though related to devices such as the malqaf of Afghanistan. The characteristic building material in the east is mud brick (adobe), and it is very difficult to build and roofs in this material without even sufficient timber to support them during construction. This is overcome by means such as the pitched and the gypsum rib. Finally, despite all of these difficulties, a remarkable decorative tradition has evolved, including the colourful tilework which Iran shares with the rest of the Islamic world, and other elements such as multicoloured glazing which are more local. Professor Miles Lewis is an architectural historian with special interests in vernacular architecture and the history of building construction. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Emeritus Professor of the University of Melbourne, and an honorary life member of the Comité International d’Architecture Vernaculaire. He has supervised Iranian PhD students dealing with the relationships between Iranian and European architecture, has lectured at the University of , and was the UNESCO / ICOMOS referee for the World Heritage listing of .

11.50 - 12.25pm Associate Professor Javier Alvarez-Mon - Wisdom from Iran’s Past: Elamite Vernacular Architecture in the Age of Global Warming The study of vernacular architecture, sometimes called “architecture without architects”, focuses on the effect that climate conditions and ecosystems have on the architectural practices of a particular group of people. This lecture takes us back around four thousand years to the ancient city of , the western capital of the Elamite kingdom. Two main problems confronted the Elamite builder in designing and planning for the extremely hot, arid, condition of the south west Iranian plain: to ensure protection against heat and to provide adequate cooling. Here we shall examine large households and the surrounding urban tissue of ancient Susa, defining their characteristics and articulating the degree to which their successful adaptation and responses to a harsh environment offer practical as well as ideological insights to address the most important global challenge of our generation: climate change. Dr. Javier Álvarez-Mon Sánchez, a native of Spain, holds degrees in ancient Near Eastern art and Archaeology from L’ École du Louvre (Paris) and the University of California at Berkeley, and in Religious Studies and Theology from the Graduate Theological Union and Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. A 2003 Fullbright-Hays (DDRA) Fellow and 2014–2018 Future Fellow (Australian Research Council), he has taught at the University of Sydney (Australia) and is presently Associate Professor in Near Eastern Archaeology and Art at Macquarie University, Sydney (Australia). He is author and co-editor of numerous articles dedicated to the ancient Iranian civilizations of Elam and early Achaemenid Persia, as well as several books: The Arjan Tomb (2010, Peeters), Elam and Persia (2011, Eisenbrauns); The Elamite World (2018, Routledge), and Monumental Reliefs of the Elamite Highlands, a Complete Inventory and Analysis, from the 17th to 6th Century BC (2019, Eisenbrauns and Pennsylvania State University Press).

12.25 – 1.00pm Dr Ali Mozaffari - From an uncertain future to an unpredictable past: the search for an architectural response to culture and development. The late Pahlavi Period witnessed growing attention to the past and its use in contemporary development. In architecture and the built environment, the exemplary images of such designs include the work of leading Iranian architects such as Hossein Amanat, Nader Ardalan and Kamran Diba, and their iconic designs, including the Shahyad, the Shushtar New Town and the Iran Center for Management Studies (nowadays the Imam Sadiq University in Tehran). I suggest that in these projects, an architectural heritage is produced and communicated in the hope to mitigate the conditions of a developing, hence modernizing country with that of its cultural traditions. Here I work

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with the idea of heritage as a cultural process that pertains to uses of the past in the present, which is therefore inherently political and dissonant. By dissonant, I mean that it is bound to have competing meanings at any given time. However, resisting the lure of a pure focus onand deconstruction of the political aspects of heritage—a tendency that has at times lead to arid discussions and broad-brush dismissals—I will be examining the co-production of the past and the drive behind it, i.e. development. The exemplary projects of this period are the architectural manifestations of local concerns as well as international debates. To illustrate this point, I will focus on a series of architectural congresses that were held in Iran between 1970 and 1976 and included high-profile international delegates. These were forums for discussing solutions to the country’s need to reconcile development with its tradition(s), the latter an object of enquiry and uncertainty in its own right. The significance of these congresses is twofold: as a continuation of post-war international efforts in finding socially-relevant architecture and as a watershed that influenced architectural debates, thinking, and production inside Iran in the subsequent decades. Dr.Ali Mozaffari is a Fellow of the Australian Research Council (DECRA) in the Alfred Deakin Institute, at Deakin University, Australia and an Adjunct Research Fellow with the Australia-Asia-Pacific Institute, at Curtin University, Australia. The focus of his work is on the politics of heritage, social movements and the making of cultural heritage, heritage and the built environment, and histories and design of architecture in Iran and more broadly in West Asia. His recent work includes ‘Designing a Revolutionary Habitat: Tradition, Heritage and Housing in the Immediate Aftermath of the Iranian Revolution– Continuities and Disruptions’. Fabrications 28, no. 2 (May 2018): 185–211, co-authored with Nigel Westbrook and the edited volume World Heritage in Iran: Perspectives on Pasargadae. Abingdon: Routledge (2016). He is co-editor of Berghahn’s, Explorations in Heritage Studies book series.

1.00 – 1.15pm Q & A - Professor Miles Lewis, Associate Professor Javier Alvarez-Mon, Dr Ali Mozaffari. Moderator – Dr Zahra Taheri

1.15 – 2.05pm LUNCH BREAK

2.05 – 2.20pm LIVE MUSIC - Farrukh Sereshti Ensemble: Siamak Farrukh Sereshti, leader of the ensemble specialises in Santour playing. He was raised in a family of artists and initially learned to play santour from his father, a Master of this instrument. Siamak immigrated to Australia in 2010 and jointly established Madaktu Academy of Music with Jamal Farrukh Seresht as its Manager. This Academy trains musicians and performs throughout Australia. Siamak has a Bachelor degree from the Australian International Conservatory of Music and has been accepted for a Master of Music & Film studies at Macquarie University. He has performed as a Composer and Arranger with a number of well-known singers such as Shahram Nazeri, Ali-Reza Ghorbani, Aziz Shahrukh and others.

Bahádor Ghahramáni – Tanbour & Tár Player. Bahador learnt these instruments in his family environment to a high level of proficiency. He is a respected performer of Mystical and Kurdish Music.

Ali Noralahi – Tombak & Daf Player. He was raised in a musical environment and learnt from family members who were known musicians. He has performed extensively with Madaktu Musical Groups.

Musical Pieces to perform: 1. Sághi Námeh with poem by Sadi: Human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul.

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If one member is afflicted with pain, Other members uneasy will remain.

2. Kurdish Music based on Ferdowsi - Sháhnámeh, , the book of Kings

2.20 – 2.50pm DOCUMENTARY – Taq Kasra. Director – Pejman Akbarzadeh “Taq Kasra: Wonder of Architecture” is the first-ever documentary film on the world’s largest brick vault. The palace is a symbol of the Persian Empire in the Sasanian era (224-651 AD), when a major part of Mesopotamia (modern ) was part of Persia. Taq Kasra was in serious danger of ISIS attacks in 2014-2016 and this was the main motivation for documentary maker Pejman Akbarzadeh, based in the Netherlands, to travel to Iraq twice and film the before it was potentially destroyed. Pejman Akbarzadeh is a documentary maker, journalist, and pianist, based in the Netherlands. His reference book on the 20th-century composers and conductors of Persia (Iran), written when he was just 18, has been used as a source for academic publications including the Encyclopaedia Iranica. He has also performed Persian piano recitals in various European venues such as Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw.

2.50 – 3.05pm Dr. Zahra Ranjbari - Botanic and Poetic Landscapes: A Reading of Two Persian Texts on Early Safavid Gardens Existing scholarship on Persian gardens reveals a pattern of common interest in spatial layout, formal quality, and symbolic meaning. Gardens are often depicted as symmetrically laid out enclosures, as introverted places for hedonistic purposes, as passive spaces for contemplation, and symbolically charged, earthly embodiments of Qur’anic paradise. Such symbolism presents Persian gardens as salubrious oases intended purely for repose and delight. This discourse has oversimplified the history, meaning and function of Persian gardens, which were dynamic venues serving multiple and complex purposes. Against this background, the study attempts to shed new light on Persian gardens and landscapes through a fresh reading of two key Persian texts that provide historically grounded perspectives on the gardens’ botanical functions and poetical meanings. The first text, a late 15th century botanical manual, is offering extensive material on the science of gardening as well as rare agricultural instructions regarding the laying out and planting of formal gardens, taking into account both garden aesthetics and the science of horticulture. The second text is a compilation of five poems composed in 1557 by Shah Tahmāsp’s court poet and historian, Navīdī Shīrāzī, to celebrate the completion of the new imperial garden city of . The new reading of these texts shows how Persian gardens served multiple functions ranging from the most practical to the most poetic, how formal aesthetics and paradise symbolism played only marginal roles in their design and creation, and how different considerations contributed to the creation of desirable garden environments. Dr. Zahra Ranjbari is a recent PhD graduate from the School of Architecture and Built Environment, the University of Adelaide. She is a member of the Centre for Asian and Middle Eastern Architecture (CAMEA) doing research on early sixteenth century Persian gardens and landscapes. Her PhD project is entitled: “Botanic and Poetic Landscapes: A Reading of two Persian Sources on Early Safavid Gardens”.

3.05 – 3.20pm Sarah Abooali - Decoding the Space: A Method to Understand the Representation of Architectural Settings in Persian Miniature Painting. While few medieval architectural structures have remained in Iran, Persian miniature paintings, mainly from Timurid and Safavid eras, illustrate a variety of architectural spaces. In the absence of buildings, these images are suggested as primary references to study . It seems that the lack of acquaintance with the visual language of Persian miniature and the absence of an analytical method are obstacles for decoding the spatial settings of paintings. Persian miniature’s pictorial mode is not based on the linear perspective as standard models for the artistic portrayal of the outer world. To understand

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spatial arrangements of Persian paintings, experts suggest that the observer requires to make specific visual and mental readjustments to a different way of seeing. Despite the valuable discourses addressing Persian miniature’s conceptual and technical aspects, it is still difficult to make that readjustment. The current study contributes to this growing area of research by initiating a method which provides a practical tool to surpass the existing theoretical discussions on the vocabulary of Persian miniature. This method defines different spatial layers in the paintings and delaminates them by cutting and folding, which results in creating pop-up 3D models. Such method has been applied to analyse various architectural settings in certain Persian paintings, including ‘landscape’, ‘urban complex’, ‘palace’, ‘’, and ‘mobile architecture’. The 3D pop-up models decode the spatial arrangements, advance the iconographical analysis of paintings, expedite the historical studies of the architectural elements, and promote a fundamental reorientation in the study of Islamic art and architecture. Keywords: Persian miniature painting, Architectural space, Pop-up model. Sareh Abooali is a final year PhD candidate in the Centre for Asian and Middle Eastern Architecture (CAMEA), the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at the University of Adelaide. Her research project title is“ Space, Gaze and Femineity: the representation of woman in architectural spaces in Persian painting (Timurid to Safavid).” Sareh graduated with a Master’s degree by research in Art History from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia (2015). Her Master’s degree thesis was “A Research on the Representation of Women in Safavid Persian Painting.” Her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, with a focus on Painting from the Sooreh University of Tehran, Iran (2005) helped her to expand practical experience in painting. Some areas of her research interest include Gaze, ways of seeing, space decoding, perspective, Islamic Art, Persian miniature painting, Iconography, Timurid and Safavid art and architecture, femineity in visual arts, gender study.

3.20 – 3.35pm Hamed Tavakoli - Reinstating territorial interdependence in historical cities: Spatial liminality as a guideline for reutilizing dilapidated-abandoned buildings (DABs) The paper develops the theory of spatial liminality in historical Iranian cities as a guideline for reutilising DABs. Since historical cities can be seen as a transitional phenomenon, the theory of liminality is identified as a proper epistemological tool here. It is hypothesized that spatial liminality may be extrapolated to have existed among residents during the medieval epoch in historical cities, used to endow a strong sense of territorial-interdependence on local residents, should have facilitated rites of passage among heterogeneous neighbourhoods. Thus, a sense of belonging to the place, today, can be correlated to spatial liminality, the lack of which has made local residents emigrate from historical areas. The project aims to unfold associations that the lack of a sense of belonging to place amongst local communities could convey to the meaning of spatial liminality. The paper sets up a statistical method based on street surveys and field studies while investigating the correlation between DABs and aspects of spatial liminality in historical Yazd and . The analysis of results demonstrates that DABs are associated with the lack of spatial liminality, the absence of which, amounting to the breakdown of a sense of community identification and place. Thus, DABs can be accompanied by deleterious socio-spatial effects, need to be re-utilized while maintaining their heritage values. The discussion identifies urban elements that used to facilitate spatial liminality in historical Iranian cities, during the medieval epochs. This interpretation demonstrates a guideline that can facilitate morphologically-informed design methods in historical areas, for reutilising DABs. Keywords: Spatial liminality, Territorial interdependence, Dilapidated-abandoned buildings (DABs) Hamed Tavakoli is a PhD Candidate at School of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Adelaide. Hamed is a final year PhD candidate and researcher. He achieved a Master Degrees in Architecture (The University of Science and Technology 2000), Landscape Architecture and Urban Design (The University of Adelaide 2016), and currently is involved in Architectural Training and Practise. He has completed nearly twenty years of professional experience in urban design, architectural design, construction, project management and site supervision, in both Australia and

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overseas. He is a registered architect with experience in the design of high-rise buildings in Iran and a registered building supervisor in Australia. Areas of his research interest include social- environmental sustainability, Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), humanism in architecture, housing affordability, the study of the interaction between vulnerable people and their environs.

3.35 – 3.45pm Q & A - Dr. Zahra Ranjbari, Sareh Abooali, Hamed Tavakoli Moderator: Dr Zahra Taheri 3.45 – 3.55pm Nuran Zorlu - Photographic Images of Historic Monuments Nuran Zorlu is an Australian commercial and advertising photographer with over 20 years of industry experience; an award winning photographer — on two occasions he has received the prestigious AIPP Travel Photographer of the Year (NSW) award and his photographs have been selected as finalists in the ‘Head On’ and Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘Shoot the Chef ’ competitions; a well-respected teacher of photography; and a highly regarded judge of Australian photography competitions. Nuran’s travel photography has featured in many major exhibitions and publications; he has lectured on travel photography and history at the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney University, the Cezayir Cultural Centre in Istanbul and at the 2016 Tehran International Book-fair. His illustrated travel journal/ book, “Persia to Iran”, has been reviewed on ABC radio and also featured in a BBC World Service documentary. He conducts photography workshops in Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, China and Iran.

3.55 – 4.05pm Reza Taghipour – Live Calligraphy Calligraphy serves 2 purposes in Iranian Architecture: Firstly, for decorative beautification and secondly to transfer a message related to the building style or design. Reza presents 2 styles of inscriptions: 1. Koofi style (often represents peace and beauty in the Iranian architectural tradition). 2. Naste-Aliq style (During Qajar period was used for conveying a message and for ornamentation). Reza Taghipour is a Visual Artist, Calligrapher & Graphic Designer. He has a Master of Design degree from Azad University, Iran. His interest in calligraphy began as a teenager and developed through study under prominent calligraphers in Iran. He has exhibited in Iran, Turkey and Australia. His works have been inspired by abstract expressionist paintings, the colours of the Tabriz style in Iranian miniature and by the world of nature. Reza created a new formalism of Iranian calligraphy which reflects the beauty of nature combined with human aesthetic taste. Reza’s work incorporates both aesthetic qualities and conceptual elements.

4.05 – 4.20pm Music Ensemble Finale: 3. Men of God, poem by Foroughi-Bastámi 4. Trembly: Kurdish Folk Music

4.20 – 4.30pm Close of Conference – Dr Zahra Taheri & Masoud Rowshan

Masoud Rowshan is the founder and President of the Association of Iranica in Australasia Inc. (AIA). He is a professional Librarian at TAFE NSW, holds a MA in Science & Technology Studies (STS), MLS in Librarianship, and BA in Social Science. AIA was established in 2004 and is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious and non-partisan organisation dedicated to the promotion of Iranian culture and heritage, as well as related research. It is committed to building public awareness of the vast contribution of Persian civilisation to the collective human experience.

SPECIAL THANKS to our partner – the State Library of New South Wales; our 2019 sponsor – the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering, University of Western Sydney; supporters from the University of Sydney Iranian Student Society and the friends of Iranica Association throughout Australasia.

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