The Role of Architectural Elements in Iranian Gardens

The Iranian garden is a product of Iranian culture and has artificial and natural elements. At the same time that it has fixed and clear principles, it has a lot of variety. Following this diversity, different designs for Iranian garden elements are observed. This research has been focused on the architectural elements of Iranian gardens. Then what are the reasons for the architectural elements’ diversity? This is the question that this research is looking for. Finding the answer to this question can help designers with the idea of an Iranian garden. For example, what is the basis for designing a Kushk (kiosk or pavilion), and what is the basis for the variations in their designs? There can be various reasons for these architectural elements’ designs, and these reasons originate from their philosophy and theoretical foundations. So far, many studies have been done on different architectural elements of the Iranian garden, and they have been looked at from different angles. But what are the roles of these elements in the overall plan of the Iranian gardens? Are these elements based on functional, climatic, or shape reasons or other reasons? And which reason is stronger? For this purpose, ten gardens in different climates and of different ages were selected to examine their architectural elements. Qualitative evaluation and analytical-descriptive methods have been used in examining the various reasons for the formation of each of the architectural elements in the selected gardens. The abundance of roles in the examination of each element determines the dominant role each of them plays in the garden. In the end, the conclusions show that “wall” has a mainly functional-climatic role, “entrance” has a mainly symbolic role, and “kiosk” has a mainly spatial role. In this way, the architectural elements are not very prominent, and they draw most of the audience’s attention to the garden and nature.