Explaining the Environmental Components Affecting the Audience’s Presence on the Safavid bridges of Isfahan(Case study: Khaju Bridge and Allahverdi Khan Bridge)

In Isfahan, a new age in Iranian civilization began with the rise of the Safavid Dynasty. Economically strong and politically stable, this period saw a flourishing growth in many social events, engendering new viewpoints in developing social issues. Traditional architecture evolved, leaving its impact on many new realization plans. New master plans were elaborated regarding what could be understood as progressive urban planning in consideration of town expansion. With important social concerns, the appearance of new patterns based on geometrical networks in the development of cities organized the open urban spaces, taking into account all the natural elements. The social life of the society has been following these developments and has emerged at different levels of the city. During this period, a major linking avenue, known as Chahar Bagh Avenue, and a public square known as Naqsh-e Jahan, and the Bazaar created the possibility of social life in the city. Due to the particular geographical position of the Safavids’ capital, known as Isfahan, the river context has provided a situation to reflect the effects of these activities on the bridge structure. Chahar Bagh Avenue created the town’s main fusion and viewpoints towards Zayandeh Rud River and bridges such as Allahverdi Khan, Khaju; hence, creating greater social accessibility to different quarters and communities. Each bridge coincides with a straight avenue running through the city from north to south. Bridges had two functional purposes, to link the town’s two parts, to function as a dam. But mostly, due to the progressive social views, they were to create places of encounter, rest, and gathering for the people. Therefore, the bridge was conceived as an urban living space inherent to the town itself with different layers of rest, commerce, and use, as well as benefiting from the agreement of Zayandeh Rud River. The Safavid bridges of Isfahan are an important part of the urban structure in this city. This study seeks to explain the components which shaped these building as a collective space in the contemporary era. In this article, the qualitative research method has been used for data collection, and data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. This method aims at the collection and a broad description of a phenomenon, and the achievement of this analysis is the concepts or descriptive classes of a phenomenon. The data of this research has been collected through oral interviews. The original codes were extracted from the text of the interview and then classified. The method of data analysis is content analysis with a deductive approach. The units of meaning were selected from the text in the form of paragraphs and statements, and the primary codes were extracted. Finally, the main classes (categories) were extracted.

Throughout history, rulers and designers have always paid special attention to the design and construction of bridges. The difference between the bridges in Iran is caused by the geographical conditions of the area and the need for water storage, which has caused many original bridges to be constructed in the form of a bridge and a dam simultaneously. The construction of urban bridges in Isfahan during the Safavid era is a major milestone in the history of bridge construction in Iran. The Safavid era should be considered the golden age of bridge design and construction, especially the inner-city bridges. Khaju and Allahverdi Khan Bridges are the most famous bridges that always took people’s attention because of their memorable roles in Isfahan’se structure and urban society. The special point in shaping Khaju and Allahverdi Khan Bridges is the attention to urban and recreational functions along with the function of passage. These bridges are considered urban elements in the landscape of Isfahan city due to their various functions and their essential role in the city structure.

Architecture shapes a part of the culture in each society, and the formation of culture in each community is approximately dependent on architecture. It is a need that requires paying more attention to consider and review the context of forming these bridges. Memorability is a part of the perceptual sense of architecture acceptance. Citizens consider the sense of nostalgia in these buildings as a very influential factor in their presence. This memorability impacts the formation of their individual and social identity. In a city like Isfahan, where urban spaces act as urban signs, bridges are considered a part of the city identity because of their historical character. Their identity role becomes more effective as a result of being located in the city and playing the contemporary and functional role. Obviously, the presence of Isfahan residents on these bridges significantly affects their psychological and environmental perception. It can be said that environmental psychology is an influential component for presence in these places. The components, such as the visual and perceptual sense of materials and their influence on the user, create a sense of place attachment. Natural river context influences the user, in the perspective of influencing phenomenological senses. Also, the structure of bridges in interaction with the river context leads to the creation of phenomenological senses. As in Khaju Bridge, the creation of water sound is one of the elements considered by the interviewees as an inseparable part of the bridges.

As stated, the codes extracted from interviews were classified into 12 general categories. The main categories of this study refer to the subjects influencing social acceptance of the bridges. These categories can be mentioned as: aesthetics dimension, psychology and environmental perceptions, the components affected by memorable sense, the impact of natural river context, on how to welcome the building, visual and perceptual impact of materials, interaction between different functions and bridge architecture. It can be said that the compiled components cannot be introduced separately; they influence each other or have two-sided interactions, in addition to the conducted categorization. All components extracted in the contemporary period greatly influence the creation of functional public space in the urban structure of Isfahan. The oldness and nostalgia of the bridges have created a quality that can act as architectural units with urban performance as the function is reviewed in the contemporary period. An analysis of these components also stated that functional review on the space of these bridges in terms of their architectural components in attracting society provides an efficient approach to creating contemporary public spaces.