The Impact of Qanat In Physical Form Case Study: Mohammadiyeh Village, Nain, Iran

Cities and settlements in the Iranian Plateau are developed in deep relationship with and dependence on water sources and systems governing them. A clear manifestation of this all-inclusive link between the settlement and the water production and distribution system can be found in Mohammadiyeh, in central Iranian deserts. The system that was developed based on groundwater recovery and its transportation by Qanat still remains today with little change. There are multiple aspects to this system with respect to the community and the life of inhabitants. This water system has remained for centuries and is systematically developed. Considering that the water network of Mohammadiyeh Qanat is one of the few surviving samples in Iran, and due to climate change and the rising water crisis in this dry area of Iranian plateau, and with attention to the historic and influential role of water networks in formation of settlements, the historical study of the water networks in the Iranian Plateau areas gives a significant document for recognizing of various aspects and capacities between the settlement and Qanat. The purpose of this research is analyzing of Qanat role and its effects on the components of the physical structure of Mohammadiyeh fabric and also the study of Qanat’s effects on the structural differences of water access elements in comparison with public and private buildings. For this purpose, descriptive-analytic research method has been used and the data has collected through library studies, field studies and oral interviews. The findings of the research indicate that the Qanat effects on physical structure of Mohammadiyeh city in some components such as finding and choosing the establishment place (in relation to topography and the natural bed), the totality of the fabric (organic and full compressed), the formation of the communication arteries and the network of passages (adherence of transit network from the Qanat route and the gradual organic pattern of the fabric) and the organization of public spaces and residential units.