The Interaction of the Structure of Capital Center and the New-Julfa in Urban Development of Isfahan during Shah Abbas (I) Era

Evolving the planning and image of Isfahan, the foundation of a new life of capital for the grown-up population, immigrants and various minorities occurred in Shah Abbas (I) era. New-Julfa which its original core was built by the merchants and prominent Armenians under Shah’s support, was gradually developed and added to its credibility. This large neighborhood, which is introduced as a “town”, “village” or “neighborhood” in Safavid tourists' reports, played a significant role as a part of the new structures of the Safavid capital in its diversity and advancement. The geometry of New-Julfa form and its physical-spatial structure is comparable with the new parts of the capital's development. Identifying the common features of the physical-spatial structure of the new constructions would be advantageous to correlate restoration projects, including the urban restoration of New-Julfa, as an inspirational and effective source. The research seeks to determine mutual physical-spatial structural principles of the capital center and the New-Julfa. Understanding the morphology of two physical-spatial structures of new Isfahan and the New-Julfa and recognizing their mutual principles is the purpose of this research. Research is following the framework of qualitative studies and the methodology of historical-interpretive and analytical research. Not only historic documents and texts, but also contemporary researches are covering the needed tools and materials. Regarding the morphology literature, French school seeks for different layers influencing urban morphology. The first layer contains the elements of physical-spatial structure including gates, ways, bridges, natural factors, specific architectural and urban elements, route networks and the regularity of block divisions. On the other hand, the context of Isfahan with its natural, cultural and spatial background had to become a competitive capital with powerful states due to the will of Shah. The intellectual, social and political layers which affect the morphology of the Safavid Isfahan can be searched through the historic texts. The different layers are subsets of the principles that research is looking for. Two mentioned structural characteristics show semantic structural relations explaining the use of common morphology ideas. Five principles were discovered in the findings including: symbolic principles, managing-governing principles, cultural-social principles, morphologic principles and landscape principles. The symbolic principles represent the right choice of Isfahan as the Shi'i capital, which has the ability to exemplify religious-philosophical concepts in its structure, and at the same time experiencing the admission of the culture of immigrants. The managing-governing principles based on Shah Abbas's orders and actions include direct monitoring of the design and implementation of projects, invitations and encouragement of the officials to participate in the capital construction. Social-cultural principles indicate paying attention to social activities, which also encouraged the participation of the wealthy people in construction projects. The morphological principles implies how the elements of the physical-spatial structure are influenced by the formation and relations between the components of the structure. The landscape principles reflect the cultural signs of both the immigrant and habitants communities while displaying specific visions and meaningful perspectives on the spatial structure and urban landscape.