Geometrical Model of Relations among Patterns in Iranian Architecture

The relationship between texture, pattern and massing is a fundamental question in architecture. Classical architecture, as Leon Battista Alberti states in De Re Ae dificatoria, is first developed through massing and structure; texture is added afterwards to provide a bold massing and beautiful structure (Rietherand and Baerlecken, 2008: 2). This hierarchy has of course been challenged throughout the history of architecture. Review of the literature shows that most researchers have focused on Islamic ornamentation pattern based on the interior vision, in which the effect of exterior pattern is not considered. This paper will provide a different view of the relationship between massing and texture in Persian architecture through the study of tower tomb in Khorasan, built in Qaznavi and Seljuq era. After that, the effect of ornamental pattern on shaping building structure is considered. Since this research is done based on mathematic and geometric systems, the methodology in this paper is deductive reasoning. One of the main important results of this research is the meaningful relationship between ornamental pattern and structure in Iranian architecture.