Visual Expression in the Plant Motifs of Qajar Houses in Kashan City (case study: Abbasian, Boroujerdi, Tabatabai, Ameri Houses)

To Iranians, the house is a place of safety and comfort, invocation and birth, and according to this, cultural, social, ethical, economic, biological, and aesthetic aspects are considered in its construction. In the surviving buildings from the past, we can also see the traces of the desire of humans to decorate and beautify their living environment. After Islam entered Iran, Islamic culture, art and thought gave a new look to Iranian art without changing its identity. After Islam, the architecture in Iran was blessed with rich colors, design, elegance and unique precision. The motifs used by Iranian artists were not only used to decorate the building and were always formed based on special concepts. By choosing natural forms to be used in the building, the Iranian artist has created a connection between the material and spiritual world. In decorative motifs and components of Iranian art and architecture, the unity of the whole and the plurality of components prevail, and in a certain stage of its evolution, there are countless types of decorations and it can be seen from the internal and external walls of the building that they have priority over other architectural elements. In addition to the value and formal beauty, these arrays express the cultural and religious secrets hidden in them and shape the ideas and ideals that govern the intellectual atmosphere of society. In Iranian architectural decorations, the art of painting is inspired by nature and its surroundings. Kashan city is one of the ancient and historical cities of Iran, which dates back to prehistoric times. In the ups and downs of history, the city faces stagnation and the development of industry and commerce by being destroyed and rebuilt. At the beginning of the Islamic period, the Mongol invasion and the Afghan sedition caused the city to stagnate, and on another occasion, it was credited during the Saljuqi and Safavid periods. The decorations used in the Qajar buildings of Kashan show the traditional effects or a combination of native values and western beliefs prevailing at the time and the impact and manifestation of economic, religious and cultural conditions. The historical buildings of Kashan are mostly related to the Qajar period and the ownership of these houses is mostly owned by the merchants and scholars. Often, the owners of the house were the founders of the house who lived there with their family and servants for generations. These houses have unique architectural decorations, most of which are inscriptions, plant, geometric and animal motifs. Considering the richness of decorations in these houses and also considering the disappearance of these valuable treasures that have identity, beauty, and originality, and the disproportionate copying of motifs, It is necessary to revive these original forms and motifs with research on this topic. The old houses of Kashan have a special architecture and many features that are formed based on certain criteria. These criteria are introversion, observance of the principle of hijab, preservation of privacy and neighborhood rights, observance of the principle of symmetry, observance of the principle of proportion, philanthropy and purity, principles of spatial hierarchy, organism, centralism, and functional classification. The purpose of this research is to analyze and classify the plant motifs of historical houses in Kashan. The questions are, what types of decorative roles are included in the historical houses of Kashan and in what categories do they fit? The research approach is qualitative and the method is descriptive and analytical, and the data collection is based on written sources, experts' assistance and field observation. The statistical population is the historical houses of Kashan, among which the houses with more prominent decorations (the Abbasid house, the Borujerdi house, the Tabatabai house, and the Ameri house) have been examined. Sampling is purposeful and of the type of obvious cases. Many articles have been published about Kashan and in most of these cases, they have relied on the history, culture and architecture of Kashan. Most of the research and data collection methods in these researches were qualitative, library and field. In the meantime, the research on the decorations and motifs of the shell of the building, especially the plant motifs, which has not been addressed with a qualitative approach and descriptive-analytical method and targeted sampling method. The most recent articles include: Milad Bagh Sheikhi (2021), in the article “Study of Exterior Facade Decorations Qajar Buildings of Kashan City”, analyzed and classified the motifs of the exterior of Qajar buildings in Kashan. Zahra Mohammadi Moin (2013), in the master's thesis “Review and study of wall paintings of religious places in Kashan (late Safavid and early Qajar)”, has introduced religious places and investigated the aesthetics and stylistics of the murals of these places. Also, among the old books, we can mention the book Merat al-Qasan, which was written independently about Kashan, which was ordered by the ruler of Kashan, Jalaluddin Mirza Ehtesham al-Mulk, by Abdul Rahim Kalantar Zarrabi. Other examples are Kashan encyclopedia, which is about the Aryans and the Kashi people. Or the collection of the ups and downs of Kashan, which is narrated by others, as well as a collection of writings of travelers who traveled to Iran and described their memories. The findings showed that the plant motifs used in Kashan architecture can be classified into five categories: based on the way they are expanded(including Complete Motifs, Half Motifs, Quarter Motifs, and Repeated Motifs), style(Iranian-Islamic]abstract[,Western Naturalistic Motifs), expression of form (Life Tree, Cypress, Flowers and Pot, Medallion desing - Corner, Micro Motif as a monograph), combined motifs(The combination of plant motifs with animals, The combination of plant motifs with inanimate motifs) and performance technique (Painting, Stucco, Sarooj] water-resistant [mortar, mirror work.( These motifs include cypress trees, life tree, flowers and vase, micro motifs as a monograph, vine leaves, fruit, grape, wide leaves, flower and bush, rosette, artichoke leaf, small and big leaves, flowers and buds, palmetto leaves, ivy leaf. They are used in two realistic and non-realistic styles. Repeating patterns in the form of arabesque, khitan, medallion desing-corner, bouquet, fit the architectural space including the circular space under the dome, columns, the main bases, arch and half arch, and cornice. After Islam, Kashan progressed during the Seljuk, Safavid and Qajar eras due to the presence of Kashi ministers; its art and culture flourished due to the residence of artists and scientists, and among other things, the efforts of Amir Kabir during his chancellorship. Also, during the Qajar period, the traditional architecture of this city had a significant growth and development. The decorations used in Kashan buildings are influenced by ancient Iranian art, Sassanid art, the influence of Safavid period paintings such as realism and the influence of Qajar nobility due to its connection with the West. due to hot and dry weather of Kashan and lack of water and vegetation, the artists of this region tried to solve it by using plant motifs and introducing living nature around their living environment.