Study of the Features and Structure of the Embellishments of Facades in Tiled Buildings in Shiraz

The Qajar era is one of the glorious periods of Iranian architecture, in which the doors are one of the topics used mainly for the decoration of the building. The interior facade¹ is one of the architectural elements that can express the constructive beliefs of the building. The Qajar era is a period of innovation and new developments in Iranian art and architecture. Among these developments, there is an increasing relationship with the West, followed by direct effects on art and architecture, in particular, the decoration of buildings. Considering the combination of Iranian and European culture, the developments that were made during that period were used as symbolic motifs for the decoration of the buildings of Shiraz. In the meantime, the tile designs used in the Qajar period have themes that are rich in visual values and have been prevalent in functional terms. The hypothesis of this research is to study the designs of the Qajar-period houses in Shiraz and their symbolic aspects. The content of the present research is qualitative and based on the historical-analytical methodology and the method of data collection is library studies. The purpose of this research is to study the tiling of Qajar-era prominent buildings in Shiraz and their features and characteristics. This study and analysis is based on historical approach. The main question of this research is an analytical study of the features of motifs and analysis of facade of the Shiraz houses. The results of the research show that these motifs follow the visual systems in the form and depending on the subject and position of the design, they are used to decorate the walls of the buildings and have played a different role in composition, arrangement and theme. Thematic analysis of these tiles shows that the tile designs of the faces have a symbolic aspect which has been dealt with in a thematic section. The motifs used in selected chambers include themes of historical, mythical, political, and religious monuments, in which arrays such as the snake, the lion and the sun, the winged angel, and so on are depicted.
And finally, a beautiful collection of paintings, in form of seven-colored tile, decorates the crescent shapes in facades of these buildings. In fact, the tile art of the Qajar period has generally been the continuation of the same style and method of Safavid period, but craftsmanship of the artists of this period led to the overall evolution of the type of design in all different aspects of architectural works. Particularly for the "exterior and interior" parts of homes, and in general, a lot of new and abundant tile art has been made. Tiling is one of the artifacts used in various historical periods, with bricks, plastering and painting for interior decoration. In fact, this art was used in every era to express and display the common beliefs and customs of that era. The interior is one of the most important parts of every building, and tile works can, in addition to functional and decorative functions, also inspire cultural, social and political messages. Since distant past, at least in Iran, the interior is considered as a place to express the beliefs and beliefs of the owner and owner of the building. The tiling discourse can be a discourse consisting of a series of rules and words. In this text, the words are considered the same as colors, shapes, characters, and their states, and how they combine the rules of constructive discourse for the audience. Due to the close proximity to the Qajar period and the existence of the monuments constructed at this time in our place, as well as the adherence to the traditions during the Qajar period (including the facade tradition), in this research, six of the Qajar period buildings in Shiraz are selected as case study and are investigated in terms of the message that they are conveying. The significance of the Qajar period can be attributed to the beginning of the confrontation between tradition and modernity in Iran. In fact, the remnants of the Qajar period indicate that the decoration of the entrances of buildings during the Qajar period is important, and the combination of traditional culture and the richness of the arrays has been to decorate the entrances of the buildings during this period. The research shows how much of the tile painting has been used. To this end, the theme or the narrative of each part has been read at the edges of the selected buildings, and then a cursory look has been bestowed upon the composition and order of the layout, following which the common fundamental elements in the images of the six buildings are examined. The purpose of this research is to study the tiling of Shiraz's main buildings during the Qajar period, and to analyze the characteristics of the designs used on the walls.