Thesis

If you are interested in learning about the culture of Iran

If you are interested in Rumi's poetry

If you are interested in spirit

Don't miss this 10-minute performance!

I invite you to join me at my defense session on April 27 8:00 PM at the School of Architecture in Cambridge, 3rd floor, ARCH 3003 loft.

Appetizers and refreshments will be served.

7 Melville Street South

Cambridge, Ontario

N1S 2H4

Abstract

Inspired by the mysticism of Iran, this thesis can be thought of as the unfolding of a story: a story of me, you, and every other human being, each living at different stages of the plot.

This is the story of a lover, one who has been separated from his beloved; one who spends his entire life seeking his love. He climbs mountains, traverses deserts, and survives thunderstorms; nothing turns him from his chosen path. Through all his trials, he sustains the hope that he will genuinely perceive his lost love; gradually, he withdraws from everything except his longing for the beloved and chooses to dance and cry and chant and pray until he has drowned in desire for union with his love.

In our modern world, a significant number of traditional values have been dramatically manipulated, taking on new meanings and definitions quite different from their original or natural significance. Ideas such as selflessness, humility, and longing, among others, have seemingly lost value as a consequence of the frantic pace of modern life and replaced by self-centredness, greed, aridity, exteriority, which will have a direct impact on our surrounding environment. Let’s imagine a land in which selfishness is not a priority. Instead, replace it with a society driven by humane preferences. Would the architecture of that society still look like ours does today? Would it be as unsociable as it is in our so-called advanced civilization?

This thesis investigates this query through a juxtaposition of the traditional values of a Persian art with the demands of modern life. It is a study of the calligraphic art of Iran as a transcendental practice, highly intertwined with strong emotions. The thesis asserts that the lack of a lasting impression made by contemporary architecture is a consequence of self interest in modern life, which has led to a distorted definition of the beloved; this distorted view is a direction in which we have been moving for some time, and in which we continue to move.

This research aims to allow the essence of Persian calligraphy into modern space as a means to revive the true essence of architecture: reunion of feeling and space, a concept that is given too little attention in our current architecture.