The Impact of Cultural and Environmental Factors on Architectural Typology of Bam Citadel

The history of Persian architecture is the story of a magnificent culture with thousands years of practice in traditional arts and sciences. This architecture beyond the evident typology is formed through a conceptual framework, which has a great deal of importance to show an ideal climate-responsive design. In fact, the evolution of Persian architecture is a consequence of experience-based knowledge where Iranians have acquired through trial and error over times. In particular, in the hot and arid area in Iran that constitute a large part of the country, vernacular architecture has frequently intimated the formation of cities and the architectural combinations. In this area, the medieval town of Bam (Bam Citadel or Arg-e Bam) based on its historical background and its strategic location in the Silk Road can be considered as one of the first foci for the organization of civilization in a multicultural society, in an area with high commercial traffic between European and Asian countries. This citadel in its turn shows traces of architecture that organized spaces in such a way that they function as a medium to emphasize the relevance of human lifestyle. This article describes the history of Bam Citadel briefly, wherein the origins of it can be detected to the Achaemenid period (6th to 4th century BC), and later classifies the effects of cultural and natural criteria in its sustainable architectural design. In fact, it is tried to get a complete resource about the norms of Persian architecture in one of the most important historical sites of Iran where their consciousness can contribute to the evolution of sustainable architecture in hot and arid climate of Iran.

Keywords:

Bam Citadel , Hot and Arid Climate , Traditional Persian Architecture , Cultural Factors , Natural Factors