.سلطانزاده، حسین. نائین: شهر هزاره های تاریخی. تهران: نشر دفتر بزوهشهای فرهنكي، ١٩٩۶، ٣۲۵ص
Sultanzade, Husayn. Na'in: Shahr-i Hizarihaye Tarikhi. Tehran: Nashr-i Daftar-i Pazhuhishha-yi Farhangi, 1996, 325pp.
ABSTRACT
Na’in, a City with Millennia of History
نائین: شهر هزاره های تاریخی
This book is based on the writer’s dissertation entitled “Regeneration of the City of Na’in’s Old Configuration”. The greater part of the book is allocated to the architectural description of the city’s old configuration and its evolution from the advent of Islam until the early 1960s. In the writer’s view it is vital to first develop an understanding of the identity and the organic order of the old city’s configuration before attempting to make any changes to the area.
The writer aims to show how the city developed, focusing on its environment and spaces. He describes the use of space since the city’s foundation, developed in harmony with social needs and norms, and emphasises the dynamism of a planned and balanced growth (interrelated with the configuration of the town). However, the book ultimately aims to put forward a solution for the regeneration of Na’in’s old city configuration, which has failed to keep up with modern standards and becomes gradually more worn out and derelict. This aim is pursued in a ten-page proposal appended at the end of the book.
Sultanzade studies the division of city spaces into private spaces, semi-private spaces (neighbourhoods) and public spaces only in relation to Islamic norms. However, except for some passing references to the building of a fire temple, he makes no mention of the pre-Islamic architecture of Na’in, the city with a millennia of history.
Prominent features of this book are 406 images and architectural drawings, which elucidate the text.
Sultanzade’s writing always traverses the border between architecture and anthropology; as a result, his potential readership could include those with an interest in both of these fields.
Iradj Esmailpour Ghouchani
Translated by Sofia A. Koutlaki
