Metaphorical expression in architecture: understanding symbolic meanings of Qabus Tower in Iran

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2015

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Eskandarnezhad, Obeid

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Symbols with their meanings have always been one of the vital and primal communication tools in humans' perception of the universe. Symbolic expressions are important means of representation of abstract ideas that go beyond the concrete physical forms. Accordingly, it’s not just about physical material of architecture that provide mere shelter; it’s about symbolic meanings of architecture that are concealed behind its concrete forms. Metaphors, on the other hand, in art and architecture are the vehicles that help the realisation of the expression of ideas through the symbolic presentations of physical forms. There is a need to disclose the very meanings of symbolic expressions of architectural forms (via metaphors) for better understanding of their historical and cultural reasonings. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between metaphorical connotations and symbolic forms in architecture. Metaphors, by this way, act to decipher inherited historical-cultural meanings of a space/form that are hidden in the figurative forms of buildings. Panofsky’s iconographical reading in deeper sense is the methodology of the thesis in de-mythification of the selected architectural symbolic form. The thesis considers Qabus Tower (1006/7 AD in north region of Iran) as the pivot point to scan the possible metaphorical connotations of the period. Cryptic historical and cultural meanings behind the concrete form of Qabus Tower require an iconographical reading in a deeper sense order to de-mythify its becoming reasonings. Political, cultural, religious, (Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, and Islam), as well as mythological, ontological, philosophical, and cosmological knowledge of the different historical periods in Iran are the specific issues that are concerned in order to disclose symbolic significance of the tower and its concealed mystical and mythical intentions. In this thesis, it's claimed that Qabus Tower symbolically represents the political, cultural, religious and mythological worldview of the period that is derived from Islamic period, but deeply and mostly, the tower represents the worldview that is connected to the pre-Islamic historical-cultural period of the history of Iran.

Subject Keywords

Architecture, Architecture, Ancient, Iran, Metaphor., Symbolism.

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http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12618967/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/24840

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Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

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Citation Formats

O. Eskandarnezhad, “Metaphorical expression in architecture: understanding symbolic meanings of Qabus Tower in Iran,” M.Arch. - Master of Architecture, Middle East Technical University, 2015.