The Role of Brick and Brickwork in the Formation of Seljuk Vault Architectures in Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran.

2 Master’s Student, Department of Architectural Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Engineering, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

It is almost clear that the style, construction procedure, and design method of Iranian architecture have changed during different historical periods due to the availability of required equipment as well as the amount of knowledge that experts in a specific period owe. One of the important periods that attracted the attention of architecture was the Seljuk period. The current paper investigates the role of brick and brickwork in the formations of Seljuk vaults. Three aspects of structural configuration, decoration, and construction techniques are considered key parameters in which this role should be evaluated. For this purpose, 27 mosques identified as Seljuk were selected as case studies. Assessing the originality of these architectures, it is observed that only 14 mosques among the initial category haven’t been manipulated during the time due to rehabilitation after demolishing or the addition of extra decorations in different afterward periods, so they can be securely dated to Seljuk. Therefore, the resulted 14 pure Seljuk mosques are opted as final case studies. The required information is collected based on previous works and available documents as well as in-site architectural surveys; then, the mentioned criteria are evaluated based on comparative analogy on the comparable and equivalent samples with the use of the analytical method. The obtained results demonstrate that one of the specific features of the Seljuk architecture is the use of bricks in three mentioned aspects. The existing geographic and cultural differences in the selected case studies converged to a similarity in both the configuration and design of their vaults according to the limitations made by the application of bricks. In general, it can be concluded that the utilization of brick modules in the Seljuk period led to the construction of similar architects and the knowledge of the brick behavior and its ability as structural and non-structural material resulted in providing a unique design in both structural and architectural points of view.

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Main Subjects

Journal of Applied Arts
Volume 5, Issue 4 - Serial Number 20
December 2025
Pages 33-47

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History

  • Receive Date: 14 April 2024
  • Revise Date: 24 July 2024
  • Accept Date: 12 August 2024

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