Façade Design Recommendations for New Constructions in the Surroundings of Valuable Urban Qajar Houses of Guilan Province

Problem statement: 

Despite repeated legal emphasis, during the last few decades, new constructions in the historical urban fabrics of Guilan province have generally been built without observing the necessary harmony with the historical architecture of these cities. The problem that the current research examines is what characteristics are recommended in the façade design of new constructions within the surroundings of valuable Qajar houses in the cities of Guilan province to reach visual compatibility between new and old facades.

The present research aims to develop some design recommendations that seem to help to achieve visual compatibility between the façade of new buildings and the adjacent valuable historical buildings. This can be considered a step towards developing façade design guidelines for the relevant historical districts.

The current research uses a combination of interpretive-historical and logical argumentation strategies. Research data were collected from archival sources and field visits, including 74 valuable Qajar houses located in the cities containing registered historical urban fabrics in Guilan, consisting of Rasht, Lahijan, Langroud, Anzali, Amlash, and Roudsar.

By looking at the upstream regulations for the protection of the historical fabrics of Iran, placing the Semes’ classification as the basis, and considering the specific realities of the research scope, the acceptable design approaches regarding the infill buildings were determined to include “literal replication” and “invention within a style”. The “abstract reference” approach was also permitted in a limited way. By examining the character-defining features in the studied architectural samples, the headings of the façade design guide were determined, including eight titles as follows: Overall dimensions of the façade; general composition; openings; the roof; semi-open spaces; gates; materials, coloring, and decorations; and the boundary wall. In the end, a set of twenty façade design recommendations are presented.