Historical Analysis of Reflection of Fifteen Principles of Christopher Alexander’s Living Structure Theory on the Spatial Organization of“Abwab-al-Berr” (Case study: Ghazanieh and Rab’e Rashidi)

One of the physical transformations of the urbanization of Ilkhanid era was thephenomenon of “Abwab-al-Berr”, which was unique in diversity, organization, and greatness. It consisted oftwo general sections, the “central core” and “Shahrestan”, both developed with a regular and pre-designedgeometric structure. Since Ilkhanid urbanization developed in the direction of the tradition of urbanizationin Iran, it is possible to study urban innovation in this era in the same direction. Progress of architectureunfolds by, rather than losing touch with the past, adhering to long-established traditions, principles, andtechnologies.

In The Nature of Order, Christopher Alexander describes fifteen properties of a livingstructure based on the principles of “wholeness”. He asserts that fifteen properties can be effective in creatingregular, living structures. This study attempts to explore the principles of urban design underlying the spatialorganization of “Ghazanieh” and “Rab’e Rashidi” as transcendent examples of “Abwab-al-Berr”.Research question: To what extent are the principles of Alexander’s urban design generalizable to theIlkhanid city of “Abwab-al-Berr”?

To answer this question and meet the objective of the study, historical-interpretiveresearch was selected. The research process comprises two steps:In the first step, the focus was on the spatial structure of “Abwab-al-Berr” existing in historical documents. Inthe second step, the generalizability of the principles of the living structure theory to the spatial organizationof Abwab-al-Berr was assessed.

The results of this study show that the spatial structure of Rab’e Rashidi and Ghazanieh arecompatible with fifteen principles of the living structural theory, namely levels of scale, strong centers,boundaries, alternating repetition, positive space, good shape, local symmetries, deep interlock andambiguity, contrast, gradients, roughness, echoes, the void, simplicity and inner calm, and not-separateness.This compatibility can help form an approach for designing and organizing irregular modern-day cities.