Study of architectural and structural characteristics of the commander in chifs house (Khane Farmandeh Qoshun) in Arg-e Bam.

Arg-e Bam, is one of the most important works of architecture and urban engineering of Iran's history. The complex consists of two parts: Sharestan (downtown) and Hakem-neshin (governor's seat). A significant monument of the governor's seat is the"Commander-in-Chief's house", which lies beyond the third fence. Despite the earthquake of 2003, significant parts of the house were not damaged or less demolished compared to the vast area of Arg-e Bam. After the earthquake the architectural, urban, and archaeological features of Bam received special attention and some research has been completed. However, the house, its chronology, architectural and structural features remained unknown.Therefore, the present research aims to study the housethrough fieldwork and library studies; also interpreting and analyzing the findings through historical method.The resultsindicate the production of high quality materials which is made up of a suitable mix of clay and adhesives, resulted in the optimal processing of clay. This led to the less damage to the architectural structures. In addition, proper architectural orders like utilizing the dominant rock bed of the governor's seat and adopting an efficient way of designing and executing some of the architectural elements and the way of transferring the forces applied to them in the piers and side openings, are some other reasons which leads to the effective reaction to the destructive earthquake forces.The Commander-in-Chief's house is one of the few buildings to be geographically opposed to the east-west direction of most the architectural units. It has a north-south direction due to the construction of an older historic tower which the house erected on top of it. Being sheltered by the governor's seat, like the barracks (Sarbaz-Khaneh) and the government stables (Establ-e-shahi), it was safe from the damages of the famous "black" storm blowing north-south. Historical and architectural evidence show that the building was built in 1258 AH in the years after the second sit-in of Agha Khan-e- Mahallati.