Representation of the Impact of Russian Imported Architecture on Iranian Architecture in the Qajar Era (Based on Iranian Itineraries to Russia)

Peter the Great's effective actions are a turning point in Russian architecture. By traveling to European countries and observing their progress, he began to recruit various Western European artists and architects, and imitate them in various fields including architecture. In this respect, Russian imported architecture has influenced the history of Iranian construction in various ways. Therefore, this study seeks to represent the impact of Russian imported architecture on Iranian contemporary architecture in order to answer the question of how Russian architecture is perceived and used in Iran? The research methodology is a combination of the descriptive-analytical method and content analysis, which is carried out in two phases. The statistical population of the study is a collection of itineraries of Iranian who traveled to Russia in the Qajar period. Purposive sampling was used to select seven of the most important itineraries as the sample population for content analysis. In order to summarize the second phase and explain the impact of Russian architecture on contemporary Iranian architecture, Russian-made buildings in Iran have been analyzed. Hence, in the first step, the selected itineraries were reviewed in order to examine and extract the components of Russian imported architecture, their spaces, and details in which travelers have carefully described - which did not exist in Iranian architecture- and in the second step, the effectiveness and presence of these components in contemporary Iranian architectural monuments have been discussed. The main objective of this research is to explain the influence of Russian architecture on Iranian architecture during the Qajar Era. The findings show that due to numerous political and historical issues between the two countries, various trips had been taken to Russia. By studying the echoes of the travels as “Itineraries”, one can become familiar with the Russian architecture of that era, which was somehow the dominant power of Europe. Other findings of this research show that the same architecture and constructions from the Qajar period have been implemented in the form of various architectural components in Iran. Some of the most substantial components regarding the physical elements are “Onion Dome”, “balcony”, various materials such as “Russian wood”, “high ceiling room”, and “large low stairs” in the entrance axis. In terms of the functional elements, items such as “heater”, “furniture”, “functional composition”, and “performance separation” can be mentioned. Also, it is clear from the data that the Russian architecture has been implemented in Iran through a variety of ways and agents. For instance, the businessmen who have brought back architectural drawings from their trips to Russia. Moreover, the Russian architecture had been imported by the photographs and postcards of Russia, the Iranian engineers who were inspired by Russian style through Russian-trained architects, and most importantly, the presence of Russian engineers in Iran.