A Comparative and contrast Study of Intra-Urban and Suburban Caravansaries in Isfahan (Iran) within the field of architectural form

The field of the architectural form is an area for categorizing the characteristics of intra-urban and suburban caravansaries in Isfahan (Iran), which reveals its similarities and differences, in a way that in the process of these analyzes they can characterize the specific and general features of the above mentioned buildings in Isfahan. Despite the similarities, this methodology provides a solution for the status and the reason of the differences between intra-urban and suburban caravansaries of Isfahan in the context of the architectural form. Due to the fact that this method for a comparative study to classify these types of buildings is used less in researches, Therefore, this research has used it based on library and field studies, on the one hand, and the processing of information in a quantitative, applied way, in the retrospective time and in a deductive manner, on the other hand, to diagnose the geometric proportions, the form of spatial organization and the structure of the spatial circulation of the architecture of the intra-urban and suburban caravansaries of Isfahan and also to examine the estate and the reason of the similarity or diversity of the subject matter studied. Analysis and studies revealed that although Intra-Urban and Suburban Caravansaries in Isfahan like other Caravansaries are created with two or four square yard in hot and dry weather with a specified rhythm of number of chambers around the intermediate, so due to the lack of today’s ability of factorial computation, the architect based on ancestors’ experiences has used different geometric analogies similar to linear and traverse inequality of the intermediate or the way of inner squares for determining the width of the entrance of the yards of the basic intermediate in order to create a commensurate building. On the other hand, in the design of the aerial figure of the studied Caravansaries plot integrity and legibility through the use of central layout in the plan layout, Input location relative to the ambassador (in the intra-urban caravansaries beside the intermediate axis and in the suburban caravansaries in the middle or the corner) and the form of access of the main intermediate to the corners of the building, with some tricks such as multi-chamber design or access locating, have been some of the measures taken in the design of the urban and suburban caravansaries in Isfahan. It is worth noting that, based on the results of the research, the design based on the climate orientation is only used where the architect had more freedom in designing the plan (Lack of ground constraints); Also, the location of the suburban and inland caravansaries of Isfahan has affected the formation of its longitudinal axis relative to the main motorway or market order; In a way that beside the factors such as the functional system of neighborhoods or the performance of the caravanserai construction index in determining the shape of the route and the access hierarchy of the main entrance and the input form have been influential to the original route at the outset.