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Ice houses Background
Opposite page YC·125 Amrani fortress
Vernacular architecture Vernacular language is that spoken by the people; vernacular building is that built by the people. Architecture without drawings might be another way of describing it (Beazley, E., and M. Harverson 1982: 11). Ice houses, cisterns and water mills combine two skills in which the Iranians excel. First, the design and execution of domes and vaults in mud-brick, which result in beautiful buildings, often constructed for mundane purposes. Secondly, the Persian imagination and ingenuity, which is unrivalled in making the best use of water in a hostile desert environment. In this the Iranian contribution to the world’s technology is probably unique (Beazley 1977: 89). Until 40-50 years ago a huge legacy of fascinating and beautiful vernacular buildings – not only ice houses - still existed on the Iranian Plateau. The list of Iranian vernacular architecture is very long: water cisterns, wind towers, bazaars, dwellings, hunting lodges, bath houses, water-cooled rooms and cellars, windmills, watermills, lodging hou ses, fortresses, pigeon towers and, of course, ice houses. These structures represented the combination of creative building and structures adapted to the climate. Most of them occurred in villages, but some were found on a larger scale in and around the towns. Vernacular architecture as design is timeless. Yet, the sad fact is that since then many of these beautiful buildings have crumbled and disappeared completely. In the first instance, many mud-built dwellings and villages were abandoned because – despite their indisputable thermal properties – it was no longer fashionable to live in old-style buildings considered synonymous with lack of development, and often with poverty. A “normal” building, made of stone or baked bricks in a temperate climate, will survive for many years, even as a ruin. But the Iranian vernacular
ICE HOUSES – BACKGROUND
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