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*Corresponding author E-mail:gitybeh@yahoo.com

Received 13 July 2008; Revised 19 March 2009; Accepted 26 March 2009

The Vertical Transmutation Knowledge Through Act of ReadingTraditional Architecture

Baradaran Mohajeri, Sh.1, and Irani Behbehani, H.2*

1 Department of Architecture, Texas A&M University, USA2Graduate Faculty of Environmental, Department of Environmental Planning, University

of Tehran, P. O. Box 14155-6135, Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT: The architectural education along the way of creativity has often involved with theformal and physical aspects of design as an effort to read architectural artifacts through its mereexternal appearances. This article, however, aims to step beyond the manifestation of conventionalperspectives on visual aspects of built environment. That is, an act of interpreting the architecturalspaces through representing the hidden dimensions that lead us towards a critical knowledgeperceived by the spontaneous conscience pertained to the past. The approach toward history inthis research is not a mere historical description; rather it is aimed to discover a methodology ofdesign on the basis of contextual reflections. Accordingly, the process of architectural transmutationhas been analyzed through reading the Persian historical city of Kashan in successive urban scalesso that the continuity of design process correlating the virtual times of past, present and futurewould be conceived as a methodology distinct from the prevailing innovational preoccupations.

Key words: Design education, Visual code, Critical conscience, Spontaneous conscience, Kashan, traditional, architecture

INTRODUCTIONThe book of history has always been a

reference for architects even when they regard itas something undesirable.Modern art andarchitecture was an effort to be liberated andsurpassed the limitations of the past. However,Modern architecture acquired its very essencefrom the Classical form and concept, somethingthat is evident in Le Corbusier’s earlier sketchesand his preoccupations with platonic volumes.

In his Cities of Artificial Excavation, PeterEisenman acquired the modernity of his timethrough studying historical elements. Thesuperposition technique was applied to combinehistorical readings of the site into material thatforms the basis of his design. In this way, Eisenmanwas looking for complexity in material related tothe history of the site; he regards the site as a‘palimpsest’ – an old parchment with traces ofprevious texts (Achten, 2003). These texts provide

an important reading into the building and itsconfiguration. Eisenman believes that theintroduction of past images and the extension ofdistant grids into the site provide a ground for thebuilding to occur (Bédard & Balfour, 1994). Intra-city natural structures have always had a key rolein creating sustainable urban greenspaces.Adapting to natural features and relating the intra-city greenspaces to such natural structures asriver-valleys, hillsides, lakes and forests, guaranteethe endurance, sustainability and longevity of thenatural quality of city(Irani Behbahani and Shafie,2007).

The essential role of tradition is well recognizedin Hassan Fathy’s beliefs being illustrated primarilyin his gouaches paintings: walls and gardens aswell as walkways and pools shown in plan andelevation at the same time to assist the viewer ina total understanding of the work. These surrealistpaintings express the utilization of an Ancient

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Egyptian technique of multiple perspectives withina single painting, subsequently configured Fathy’sarchitectural concepts which meant nothing lessthan a whole new architecture.In this regard, thecontextual potentialities and complexities fromwhich the meanings are revealed have beeninterpreted constantly by architects in order toapply in current architectural debates. The conceptof innovation in the process of design is, then,supersede by the act of interpretation.

Over the last decades, design educationmethods can be seen as a challenge betweenformal/ physical design-based approaches andintangible/ nonphysical design-based approaches.The latter have been principally developed in thecontext of virtual reality and imagination, whilethe former have been mostly applied in tangibledomains. Both approaches share a basicconception of innovational design strategy in whichvisual features are essential interactingcomponent.This study, however, tries to introducea progressive version of the tangible/intangibledesign approach in which the imaginal existencewould be transmuted on the vertical level ofcognition as the educatees, namely theinterpreters, enter the space of horizontal propertiesin order to conceive the coexisting complexitiesof the physical and virtual domains.

Therefore, the historical city of Kashan hasbeen adopted, as it is still an objective placeencompassing the virtuality of the society, withthe aim of attaining a thoroughgoing recognitionin the fields of natural, cultural and spatial, beingrich in the temporal sources of generations. Thus,in order to represent the essence of architecturein the city, an appropriate visual code has beenexploited. As the Persian architectural spaces arenot complying with the Modern representationaltools, the search for visual codes has initiated withinthe empirical spaces of Kashan with a specialconcern to the art of miniature.

The Act of Interpreting Art ObjectInterpretation, according to Jacque Derrida,

is the manner of oscillating among multivalentcontexts including time and space, a dialecticalvacillation of past and present. Through thistransition the present interpreter constantlyexperience the origins in the past via his

contemporary standpoint. The interpreter, then,reads the past in order to represent the dynamismof the society in its internal equilibrium or as asign of image rather than reproducing a model.Thus, contemporary interpretation is believed tobe an approach trying to uncover the meaningswithin a context on the way towards creation.

For Heideggeran hermeneutics, the wholecontext and its parts must constantly oscillate in ahermeneutical circle in which wholes and partsare constantly and mutually interrogated andreconciled. This notion has its prolonged historyin Eastern cognitive methodology on which theparts are consummately inspires the whole: Onein all and all in one. In this respect, the subjectivedomain of the parts spiraling the whole objectively,a seemingly vertical ascending with asimultaneous, constant focusing on the internalgoal, appeared as an invisible entity encompassingthe whole and the parts in every round of ascent.Thus, the internal meaning is attained through beingimmersed into the coiling movements inside thespiral of truth (Fig.1).

The process of interpretation as a subtlemeditation in whatever existed is considered as asearch for discontinuities and respites having longbeen disregarded for many reasons. To take areversed journey from present to past would seemto be an alternative introduced by Michel Foucaultas a cognitive methodology of interpreting the past.This method does not search for unvaryingessence of tradition; in turn, it seeks for those gapsand openings that seemingly would lead theinterpreter towards the realm of essential spiritsand inconsistent paradigms of present era.

On the immutable way of transforming imagesinto words, followed by the transition of languagethrough the passage of though, the art-object issuperseded by the active mind of the interpreterwho is determined to go beyond the boundaries ofthe creator’s mind. In search of an interactionamong living context of the artwork and theinterpreter, the primary concept on which the workis brought forth is overlooked. The presupposedconceptions and prejudgments are, then, replacedby the invented meanings, establishing a freeinteractive realm on which the following critiqueswould be founded. Therefore, the act ofinterpretation does not speak of the preceding

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Fig. 1. A Hermeneutical Circle of Whole & Parts

experiences, but it is a process of perpetualexperience in essence. This is well illustrated inPersian art of miniature in which the hermeneuticof painting and literature is translated into imageand word creating a virtual space purposelydesigned by the Persian artist to welcome theinterpreter in a suspended aura of form and colorrather than merely conveying his idiosyncraticsensations to the observers.

Every interpretation is a moment of acquiringknowledge, as it is based on the cultural beliefs,desires and intentions and last but not the leastthe unconscious mind of the interpreter. This kindof knowledge, though, has a relative, opencharacteristic and never seeks to confine itself tothe ultimate core of the internal meaning. AsNietzsche posited, there is no absolute truth, butonly is there infinite interpretation. Therefore, thecontext as an active entity interferes with theprocess of reading since the context of the artworkis not supposed to be a closed, complete existenceready for disclosing. Yet, despite its inflexiblephysical appearance, architectural edifice remainsstill alive. Thus, on the continuing process ofcreating new implications, the context of builtstructures would turn into a dynamic internal

stimulus proceeding towards innovation.In searchof the interrelation between architectural theoryand practical knowledge of the past in the contextof Persia, the present interpreter aims to attain anapproach through addressing the architectureitself. Since the sustainable values and patternsseem to be dependent on the outlook of theinterpreter, a comprehensive model or theorywould not be prescribed, as long as the designprocess deals with the individual sense of revealingin order to discover the timeless values of theirown. Therefore, it has been tried to interpret theperception of traditional architecture through visualrepresentation as a basis for universal educationalmethodology.

Design ProcessThe architectural design has to be conceived

as a process of revealing rather than the instantculmination of a creative mind. In view of the factthat design process requires a reflective knowledgeat the initial stage, it seems highly significant tounderstand the mutual presence of the designeras a thinker and the environment as a studiedsubject. This initial knowledge is genuinely acquiredfrom act of practical reading of the previous

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experiences as a basis of the designer’s book ofhistory for succeeding efforts in designing.

The process-oriented concept is derived fromthe contextual mind in postmodern philosophy thatemphasizes on contextualism for construction ofmeaning, as opposed to the result-oriented notionascribed to modernists. As there are diverseinterpretations for a single phenomenon in thiscontent, there exist different routes needs to beexamined; that creates a fluid situation ofintersubjectivity- the state of being within subjects-leads to a domain of multiple perspectives.

In this context, the designer disappearsgradually in between, as his mental imageries startto be activated. Therefore, the absence of thedesigner coincides with the presence ofconceptions creating a sense of dynamic,multidimensional existence. The artisan, in fact,having abandoned himself to the virtual mediumsof the unconscious faculties which was exaltedwith the meanings revealed through interpretingexperienced spaces, consciously establishes adesign method having its root in traditionalstructures.

Having considered the sources ofuncertainties on the way of designing, one isencountered with a contradiction in branches ofknowledge. Context, external demands and internaldesires, existing along with envisaged possibilitiesand history as an instrument for recognition oforiginal patterns are among diverse parametersmanaged to define the domain of decision making.This domain would orient the entire factors in subtlerelation to each other; besides, it contributes tothe realm of creativity as a mediator to consciouslyanalyze and determine the extent of theunconscious intervention on the designprocess.Therefore, the designer as a presentinterpreter is simultaneously immersed in theprocess of context-content interaction, perpetuallymoves through the passage of reticulated relationsready to be unconcealed. In this respect, thecontextual features of culture and tradition wouldcultivate the essence of architecture that is not aspontaneous act anymore. In fact, the role ofinterpretation is to encompass the existingheterogeneous entities in the context fromcollective memories of the inhabitants along withtheir imaginative desires to the natural and physical

attributes of the environment in order to enliventhe design process. Probing into the communalactivities and behaviors, the designer establishesa relation with the context from which theconceptual images comes forth.

As long as the representational instrumentsare being invented to critically interpret theacquired images, the expression of individualisticfeatures is coming to broach. That’s the time whenthe logical critical thinking stage is initiated so thatthe engendered images arisen from contextualqualities find their way toward principles, patternsand meanings in the process of decision making.

The Changing Outlook: VerticalTransmutation

When it comes to previous cultures andtraditions in the field of architecture, oneineluctably gets involved with the horizontal layersof cognitive relations pertained to the past as wellas a simultaneous inquiry into the futuristicknowledge along the way of unveiling the truth(Heidegger, 1971). That will certainly lead to adomain of inter-subjective mind seeking to enterthe inter-layered of interpretation, a postmodernconception that tries to define the meanings whichare beyond its realization. Thus, it is the time toaccede to the appearance of a vert icaltransmutation as a clear rupture on the horizontallevel of our cognitive domain rising beyond thestolid imageries, as the concept of time and placeis inversely transmuted. As a result, the verticalstate becomes a genuine way of seeing the hiddenentities in general and global perspective alongwith the contemporary horizontal method ofnetworking those combinatory values originatingfrom the local cultural context. In fact, the in-between concept transforming the horizontal tovertical state becomes the matter of consideration.The transposition occurred from the horizontal tovertical state is wholly emphasized in Persiancognitive domain which is thought to be as an inter-space encompassing contrasting viewpoints in anascending order. Constant change is the maincharacteristic of this state in every level, so asthe perpetual unveiling of the invisibles in thetransparent field of tonalities subtly interwoven.This is well interpreted in Eastern Ontology as awinding spiral or another recent illustration, themobius strip, enabling the dual transference of

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internal and external qualities in time and spacereconciling the different states of events andpresence lately introduced as simultaneity incurrent architectural debates; the events that,according to Derrida, have immersed in the domainof creativity.

Therefore, in the space of vert icaltransmutation diverging interpretations, as thesubjective spirit of our age, are conventional, andconsequently the essential cause of art-objectinvention. As Bernard Tschumi states, thearchitecture, as a form of artwork has nothing todo with the hierarchical order of spatial eventsjuxtaposed anymore, yet it should imply thesimultaneous, complex conceptions overlapped andsuperposed (Tschumi, 1996). Thus, the inchoativeprojection of the vertical state could be recognizedprimarily in the theory of superposition introducedto relinquish the concept of classical hierarchy inarchitecture, even though the theory is stillassociated with the horizontal method of layering.The contemporary architecture, then, seems toapproach a multivalent entity; however, it has justtaken off from those qualities cohered to thehorizontal level of networked relations.

It has also to be considered that the act ofinterpreting the architectural space in a certainhistorical era is time-free, although thecontemporary mediums adopted by the interpreterare time dependent. What we learn from thehistory of architecture, according toManfredoTafuri, is not its internal function, butrather it is thought to be as a probe into the newhorizons capable of exalting the essence ofarchitecture (Tafuri, 1980). Therefore, the morewe plunge into the ocean of valuable patterns ofthe past, the more we grasp the future far-reachingimplications, as though past and future meet at anunknown point of infinite.

Thusly indicated, it seems necessary to initiatethe design process through studying the culturalvalues pertained to the context, for diving into thepast would ascertain the attainment of horizontalknowledge. Historical sense, according toT.S.Elliot, does not merely embedded in theperception of the past, but also requires individualpresence in the past which its sense oftimelessness and transience shall inform theinterpreter about his standpoint in future.

Therefore, the horizontal contemplation related tothe natural and cultural aspects would contexualizethe design process on its way toward ascendingwith recourse to the imaginal concepts and thespiritual potentialities of the designer.

Critical Methodology Versus SpontaneousConscience

The shift away from the art-object towards adiscourse about art is not to replace art with theory,and to reduce the objects of art merely to instancesof theory, yet the design process is a matter ofweaving through the subjects of theory andpractice simultaneously. It is the main purpose ofthis research to emphasize on the horizontalknowledge as a basis for creative implementationwhile setting out to the space of vert icaltransmutations. In this case, both stages would beinitiated at the same time, provided that theyreceive immediate and appropriate feedbacksnecessary for their mutual development.

Since the transition from a paradigm towardthe other shall exalt the inner qualities of both, thearchitectural domain, likewise, get influenced fromthe other domains, as far as the interpretation isconcerned. Strangifiction is an idea proposed byWallner, which means taking a scientificproposition system out of its context and putting itin another context to see the implicitpresuppositions of the given proposition systemby means of the new understanding arising out ofthe application of this procedure (Wallner, 1998).Besides, it is also supposed that the concept ofStrangifiction can be translated into the perpetualjourneys from the horizontal toward the verticalregions within the design process itself. The shiftwill broaden the interpreter’s perspective alongwith the structural change occurring within thesystem conceived as a live phenomenon. Thus,the horizontal level of conscience encompassingthe contextual layers of physical, natural,technological and cultural issues reconciles theinterpreter to the origins, so as his imageries andintuitional perception unite him to the preeminentglobal and critical conscience.

The spontaneous conscience, as it is defined,has been originally adopted by the traditionaldesigner as a behavioral method compatible withhis natural and cultural environment. In this case,the possible choices and alternatives were not his

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concern. The architectural elements werecomparable to words in language suffices for anycreative combination and consequently theprevailing communication. There was no need forregenerating new definitions, as the recognizedpatterns developed through centuries formed thecontinuous chain of every civilization. Thetraditional designer knew well what to choose andwhere to apply. Every thing was prepared in theframework of tradition. Through establishing arelationship with his cultural context, the designerexperienced a spontaneous and syntheticcomprehension while constructing an edifice.Traditional habitat designs used to be organizedwith no regard to any school of thought; instead,they behaved according to their cultural and naturalcontext in a specific historical moment. It was onlyafter the crisis of civilization that man dissociatedwith his internal, self-generated structural designs.From 15th to 17th century a crisis initiated incollective memory of the society. Meanwhile, thearchitecture of innovation brought forth; theindividual was made to choose. This kind of choice,though, was not a sign of intellectual maturity, butrather a kind of uncertainty of what is true or false.The contemporary architecture, in fact, is theconfrontation of our critical conscience withspontaneous conscience of the tradition. Thecritical knowledge has to perceive the continualmechanism of the spontaneous consciencepertained to the culture (Caniggia& Maffei, 1979).Thus, in order to enliven the latent collectivebehaviors in actual art-objects known asarchitecture, the present interpretation shall enteran in-between process, which correlates thehorizontal layers of the context with the criticalknowledge related to the interpreter’s visionaries.Therefore, the phenomenon of innovation inarchitecture will receive a more lofty conceptionproviding a ubiquitous identity colligating past,present and future in a multivalent process. Then,the architecture will not assumed to be createdfrom nothing; on the contrary, it is accredited toruminate on the immutable values, norms andpatterns of the tradition with the fluid, chromaticcritical vision of the interpreter.

The Unveiling Process of Visual CodesThe act of interpreting architectural spaces

requires a methodology of reading, embedded in

the nature of the space. In this process, theinterpreter comes across the represented spaceas a sequence of imaginal screens. Meanwhile,there seems to exist infinite relations among thescreens, as long as the interpreter engages withthe process. Since the architectural space activelyinterferes the process of reading by illuminatingthe course, it implicitly conveys the inner qualitiesof self, affecting the interpreter’s act of thinking.Therefore, the interpreter would enter a domainof interrelations among spatials and imageries,subjective and objectives, and subsequentlybetween the presents and invisibles. As a result,the inter-space from which the contradictions ariseis the field of outstanding artistic creativity. Withinthe suspension of qualities in an in-between space,the interpreter experiences the similitude ofvirtualization, the very feature of contemporaryera (Shayegan, 2001). That is the space ofrevealed qualities proceeds towards the realm ofcreative perception.

As soon as the interpreter, in the architecturedomain, perceives the spatial qualities of thesequential, fluid imaginal screens, he beginsmapping them in accordance with certainmethodology of representation. It is of greatsignificance to distinguish the representationalinstruments indicating the end product from theinvention of such instruments during the process.While the latter emphasizes on the innovationconcept along the process-oriented act of reading,the former follows the prevailing idea ofrepresentation as an ultimate way of illustratingthe attained object. According to Walter Benjamin,the drawings and illustrations are part of an openprocess, a process of production. As a result, themost appropriate approach towards the applicationof representational instruments in the course ofinnovative reading is to adjoin to the mode ofthinking in a particular context.

It is well recognized that mapping inarchitecture shall transform the conceived spatialqualities into the measurable quantities. Theinterpreter, then, tries to map the infinite relationsamong the spatial screens, which are in perpetualsuspension. There appears the role of theinterpreter in merging the represented space withthe world of his imageries, ideas and conceptsrelated to the context.

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Considering the overall effect of philosophicalframework pertained to a context on the branchesof knowledge, it is pertinent to coalesce theinterdisciplinary fields of art and architecture, sincethere is a common spirit among different methodsof artistic revelation. Art is a symbolic language,which reveals the philosophical foundations of acivilization (Nasr, 1987).Accordingly, in order toread the traditional architecture of Persia it looksplausible to conceive an interface betweenarchitectural space and the art of miniature sincethey would seem to have features in common. Infact, the broad understanding of Persian art ofminiature would come forth the architectural visualcodes (Fig.2).

In point of fact, the Persian architectural spaceis organized as a progression of two-dimensionalscreens in a labyrinthine network of complexrelations; the continual challenge of imaginal

Fig. 2. Two-Dimensional Screens of the Miniature:Khosro & Shirin

spaces with reality. Miniature, likewise, follow thesame route in order to represent synchronousimages in constant motion.Persian architecturevalues the space from the observer’s point of view,in that, his perceptual experience inside the spacewould gradually unveils the secrets of unknownregions, as he moves within the labyrinth. Thereis no absolute visual point of reference for thebeholder in which the unbounded imaginal screensare constantly overlapped and juxtaposed, so theobserver is free to pursue his intuitional promenadewithin the space.It goes without saying that theart of miniature would attain representationalmethodology eminently translatable into the domainof architecture. Not only does it lead to a newapproach to the representation of architecturalspaces, but also it would pave the way towardsthe invention of visual codes within a process. Thespatial perception of Persian architecture on thebasis of intuitional discovery properly complies withthe two dimensional dynamic approach inminiature.

Interaction between Nature, Architectureand city in Kashan

Now that a methodology of representation hasbeen defined in the realm of traditionalarchitecture, the act of critical reading should beinitiated through introducing the structure of thestudied context and its long tradition of philosophicalreflection on the interrelation between the builtenvironment and the nature. The representation,then, would articulate the concept with the contextthrough spatial sectioning from which themeanings in the space would be illuminated. Thatcertainly leads the way to innovational ideasrequired for prospective design strategies.

Therefore, the historical city of Kashan hasbeen adopted regarding its unequalled features ofinner complexity in different urban scales pertinentfor pursuing design methodology. However,Kashan’s internal urban continuity has beenundermined due to a number of radicalinappropriate planning decisions at the advent ofmodernization in the country. Whereas theprevious developments occurred mainly incontinuity with the traditional structure of the city,the 20th century changes have been in total conflictwith the past.

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As a matter of fact, the organic urban texture ofKashan experienced numerous straight cuts withinitself as a major network of new streets suitablefor vehicular traffic, regardless of the fact thatthe city had preserved its persistence duringcenturies. Therefore, the dynamism and the spiritof life in the city are thoroughly dependent on therecognition of those sustainable patterns of valueby the act of reading.

Integration and Disintegration in natural-cultural structure of Kashan

Kashan is the first of the large oases, whichruns along the edge of the Great Desert. Its charmis, therefore, mainly due to the contrast betweenthe parched immensities of the desert land andthe greenery of the well-tended oasis enclosed bythe Karkas mountain ranges. However, Kashanis being opened at the two sides toward the gloriousmountain of Damavand into the far distance. Infact, the natural and environmental context ofKashan has provided a basis for spatial structuringof the urban fabric.The original spatial structureof the city dates back to 6th millennium B.C., inSialk hills as the cradle of Persian civilization. Thecity progressed and developed during Islamicperiod especially in Seljuk and Safavid eras. Themain nucleus of the city formed in a linear structuretypical of Islamic urban organization (Fig.3).

The construction of elliptical enclosure wallsfor defense purposes, the extension of the mainbazaar and the square as well as the erection ofmonumentally structures of shrines are among theessential elements that determined the mainscheme of the city during Seljuk period (11-12th

cent.), a pattern which has preserved its majorcharacteristics until now (Fig.4).

However, it was only during Safavid period(16-17th cent.) that Kashan experienced its goldenepoch, when the harmonious relation between manand nature reached its highest perfection (Fig.5).The spontaneous conscience of the traditional manin accordance with his natural environmentbrought about the notion of cultivating the natureas a way for regenerating the city. Actually, thecity developed enormously while it wascomplementing its great old structure. Accordingly,the spatial integration of the city reached its highestpoint, since a preconceived comprehensive master

Fig. 3. Nature-Culture Integration and Disintegra-tion through Time

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plan prepared to enhance the city far beyond itsold borders through creation of a new street,Chaharbagh (Four Gardens), a typical Persianboulevard (Fig.6). Unlike most of the old street inKashan, this avenue was a wide, straightboulevard with four rows of large trees and astream in the middle. However, unlike most of theHaussmann style boulevards in Paris,Chaharbagh was not cut through the fabric ofthe old city. Yet, it was created as a north-southextension of the old city, continuing to the north,where an extensive complex of Safavid gardensexisted (Karimi, 2002).

Furthermore, the interaction of cultural andnatural forces in this era best revealed in theenhancement of “Qanat” technology - thesubterranean aqueduct canals carrying water frommountains to the city- which made the emergenceof Persian garden conceivable as a manifestationof this hybridization in the middle of the desert.Therefore, a futuristic vision of Safavid urbanplanners is realized in the interrelation of the oldand the new.Since the route of these undergroundcanals determined the outgrowth of the city, it playsa significant role in organizing the spatial identityof Kashan. Its paths and movement flow life intothe vein of the city inevitably had a clearmorphological effect on the urban structure of

Fig. 4. Kashan General View Looking toward Ancient Citadel (Source: Ghasemi, 1996)

Fig. 5. Mountain, Spring, Garden and City (Source:Pechere, 1973)

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Fig. 6. Chaharbagh & Persian Garden, Safavid Period, 16-17th cent. (Source: Javaherian, 2004)

Kashan (Fig.7). Thus, the inner potentialities ofthe natural context perfectly harmonized with thecritical knowledge of the man, creating a culturalenvironment at the horizontal level. Then, the

stratified layers of horizontal cognition are bestrealized in the interwoven matrix of invisible layerof water movement under the tangible layer ofurban fabric.

Fig. 7. Natural-Cultural Interaction (Source: Javaherian, 2004)

On the other hand, the spatial qualities of aPersian city is only gained through consecutivescreens perceived by being present within thespace, so as internality is the major essence ofPersian architecture. There appears the imaginalexistence in the vertical level interferes with theprocess of spatial perception. As a result, themorphological, spatial and functional attributes ofthe city adjoin the vertical process of imaginaltransmutation providing a dynamic everlastingvision for the interpreter. The intuitional perceptionachieved through recognition of a spatialcomplexity inside the Persian space would leadthe interpreter toward a minimal silence ofperpetual creative discovery.

Therefore, only the imaginary urban sectionswould represent the inner quality of the city as anillustration of the homogeneity of city in differenturban scales. The very first feature that isrecognized in the section is the recurrence of thevoids. Indeed, the deep concern to the voids inPersian architecture is for diminishing the effectof materiality. The void is configured, as the virtualforces of culture and technology intermingle withthe natural forces of water and greenery, creatinga paradise inside the hot and dry climate of theland. Actually, the lively atmosphere of this almostcompulsory halt, the restful shade and its coolnessmake it as a garden miniature inside the habitats.This internal courtyard, namely the little paradise,has become a sustainable element of urban design.Through the act of sectioning, anothercharacteristic of the Kashan urban spaces comeforth that is the three interlocking geometry in thevertical level. The Euclidean geometry of the voidsand its surrounding spaces, the non- Euclideangeometry of the urban roof structures, and finallythe organic geometry of the mountain ranges atthe background.As a matter of fact, the city ofKashan would reveal those sustainable patternsof values and meanings, which are the subject ofinquiry for the adventurous interpreter. Theexistence of void, indeed, as an essentialcharacteristic of design in different scales, hasbeen recognized through the act of interpretation.

The Architectural Promenade in DifferentUrban Scales

Thus, in search of hidden features in an urbanfragment, above its physical appearance, an

architectural promenade has been devised insidethe historical layers of Kashan. The chosen urbanfragment is the place of historical dwellingscomposing of residential complexes and fewcelebrated single unit houses. In fact, the urbanfabric of the organic genre has lost its integritythrough the modern implementations resulted infragmented architectural edifices. To reunite theaforementioned spatial disintegrity necessitatesreading the preexisting traditional architecture byimmersing into the context.

Through this journey, the simultaneity of eventsconveying spatial images will accompany theinterpreter, as he enters a new space. Thepreeminent concepts and imaginals provide anatmosphere of perpetual discovery during the actof perceiving the space. The prevailing perceptionin a Persian space is well demonstrated tangiblyin the art of miniature as overlapping imaginalscreens at the flash of emotion. That is exactlywhy the representation of Persian space isinconceivable through the separated layouts ofplans, sections or even a single perspective view.Miniature, from a broader perspective, has beenconsidered to introduce ubiquitous character forthe interpreter to experience the spatiality of thepicture through being present in every position ata time. That’s why there exists the simultaneityof places form roof view and facades to floor plansand surprisingly the sections as an uncoveringprocess of inward illustration. Therefore, thesimultaneous presence of two- dimensional planesfades away the concept of time intervals andspatial distances in the picture. This mode ofperception could converge with the essentialcharacter of Kashan architecture as internalcontinuity that prepares the implicit presence insidethe space. Each spatial field is a threshold for thenext, since it beckons the interpreter of thefollowing event (Fig.8).

The art of miniature, indeed, simplifies theworld and its many dimensions into merely twodimensions contoured by lines and colors, devoidof atmosphere, depth and shadows. Thus, it placesa high value on the issue of surface (Ardalan&Bakhtiar, 1979). Miniature, as an art of surfacegenerator, finely relates to the spatial arrangementof architecture in Kashan, which is renderedthrough imaginal planes free from time and place,as though they reflected well upon a mirror (Fig.9).

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Fig. 8. Architectural Promenade in AbbasianMansion, Kashan

Fig. 9. Spatial Screens within Screens in Suspen-sion (Pavilion, Fin Garden, Kashan)

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The simultaneousness of imaginal screens isperceived and then illustrated in a series ofconceptual representations of the city and thehouse (Fig.10-11). The co-occurrence of theimages in mind and on the paper resulted in acontinuous creation of such screens in aseemingly endless process. As the images areengendered by a sudden simultaneous force, theexistence of place is dismissed. That’s the maincause for the uninterrupted production of spatialrepresentations.

Suddenly the images transforms into noble,spatial existences, when the interpreter attemptsto control his unconscious faculty. Then, theimaginal screens merge with material-likephenomenon like light, water, greenery, wind orother noble spaces: the material embraces the non-material. The place is reconceived and thecontextual properties begin to intermingle with thedomain of interpreter’s imagination. Through theprocess of unification, the non-material forms thematerial. The spatial distance vanishes, as thoughthey have stuck together while they haveapparent, isolated identity.Therefore, the processof reading the space will produce infinite qualitiesnecessary for rejoining the dispersed fragment.

The horizontal layers articulate with the verticalscreating design conceptions. Actually, theproposed conceptual design is only one fromhundreds of interpretations made at a time.

Fig. 10. Spatial Images through the Act of Reading in Abbasian Mansion

CONCLUSIONSThrough act of interpreting the traditional

knowledge, namely the spontaneous conscience, acritical framework is constructed upon which thedesign process would be oriented. Once themethodology of traditional recognition is acquired,the futuristic knowledge toward the spatialdevelopment starts to be configured with the goalof responding to the contemporary life requirementin its vision. Along this process, the model acquisitionis not an objective; however, it is the methodologyof reading that is decisive in perceiving the spatialcomplexities of the designated context. Thus, thespatial properties being perceived would beillustrated on the basis of the representational codesreceived from the context.

Since the images are the essential core of therepresentation, they generate an in-betweenexistence of materia ls and non-mater ialstransforming the process of reading. The infiniteinterpretations, and consequently the endlessrepresentations would heighten the quality of the

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Fig. 11. Act of Reading In Urban Fabric, Kashan

process. Therefore, a methodological frameworkis required for design educatees to be oriented ontheir own chosen realm. Then, an individualdiscovery is intended rather than following apredefined route. Finally, the design process is amatter of discovery rather than innovation, aprocess of revealing not an instant creation.

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