A Study of Sanandaj Traditional Bazaar from a Phenomenological Viewpoint*

The phenomenon of Sanandaj Traditional Bazaar is a complete and complex set of economic, cultural and social activities. A reasonable harmony has gradually developed between the various aspects of the Bazaar and its architecture in spite of all these complexities. Thus it seems that this phenomenon involves valuable but hidden structures, whose understanding is possible only in a constructive interaction with the space, its users and the shopkeepers. The purpose of this study is to explain the Sanandaj Traditional Bazaar phenomenon as reflected in the experiences of the users and shopkeepers through a phenomenological viewpoint and by relying on the views of philosophers such as Gadamer and Heidegger. The research method is phenomenological hermeneutics, and depth semistructured interviews with eleven shopkeepers and users were conducted in this study. Finally, nineteen new semantic horizons of Sanandaj Traditional Bazaar emerged. The violation of the main passage by the shopkeepers as an authentic behavior, the communicational function of Bazaar, the combination of the concept of Sanandaj Traditional Bazaar with the historic event of the construction of Enghelab Street, the comfort and intimacy in communications within the Bazaar and incomprehensible natural passage of time in the Bazaar due to the physical structure of the Bazaar, are the main results of this paper.