Flexibility, A Prominent Feature of the Persian Garden to Use it in the Contemporary Period

Persian garden is a well-known gardening style in the world. This style is distinguished from its other counterparts due to its special features. Many experts believe the Persian garden has undergone changes during different periods of evolution. Presently, the spatial desirability of the Persian garden is not seen in urban parks. Numerous reasons such as westernization and imitation in the late Qajar period and the use of Western designers in the Pahlavi period have created urban parks that not only their appearance has nothing to do with this land’s past but also the basic principles of communication between man and nature in Iranian culture are ignored in them. Many of the Persian garden’s perks have remained constant in different periods of its development, which shows its mental and spiritual value among Iranians. In this article, with an overview of some historical gardens of Iran and contemporary parks in Tehran, it has been shown that the fear of using the features and elements of Persian gardens due to their strong geometry, has caused the obscurity of urban parks. The results of this study indicate that Persian gardens, contrary to the prevailing perception of having dry and rectangular geometry in whole and in part, have shown a high degree of flexibility throughout history and have changed according to function or time. Ignoring this feature or not updating the concepts of the Persian garden has led to less use of this style in the design of urban parks, which has had a significant impact on citizens' relationship with urban green spaces as a part of nature they respect.