Islamic Architecture Research Center
The Center for Islamic Architecture, Hozeh Honari, is an institution to revive the identity of Iranian architecture and create a new dialogue between the past, present, and future of the architecture of this land. By bringing together architects, artists, professors, and researchers, this center strives to show that Iranian architecture is not a relic of the past, but a living and future-making capacity that can answer today’s issues of the city and contemporary man.
In this space, education is not just learning; it is experiencing, touching, creating, and entering the world of Iranian architecture. In addition to studying theoretical foundations, students engage with traditional arts, spatial types, design workshops, and real projects to experience Iranian identity not in books but in practice.
The Center for Islamic Architecture strives to be a home for those who want to experience architecture with “understanding,” “roots,” and “future-building.”
Goals, Values, and Future Vision
Identity, problem-orientedness, and value-orientedness are the three main pillars of the center’s activities. In our view, Iranian architecture is a living system; not a fixed, museum-like form. Therefore, we try to translate this identity into today’s language and use it to solve real problems of urban life.
The center’s training, research, and discussions are all based on the belief that architecture is valuable when it has “understanding human life” at its heart. We read the past for the future, and we build the future by understanding the present. Along this path, we have taken on various roles such as observation and analysis, education and training, media flow, networking, and the production of architectural examples to form a real ecosystem for Iranian architecture.
Our vision is to build a generation that “knows,” “understands,” and “builds” architecture; a generation that can create a new future for Iranian cities.
Subcategories
Iranian Architecture School
The Iranian Architecture School is the most important educational platform of the center. In this school, students are introduced to the world of Iranian architecture; a world that is a combination of wisdom, lived experience, authentic arts, and understanding of human spaces. Education at the school begins with understanding history and fundamentals and continues with practical workshops, traditional arts courses, and real projects.
The Iranian Architecture School strives to create an environment where students can both “understand Iranian architecture” and be able to “design” and “execute” it. For this reason, courses such as mirror work, Kufic calligraphy, knotwork, moqranas, and tile work are not only presented theoretically, but also in a completely workshop-based and experience-based manner.
Description of popular courses at the school
Mirror work
This course introduces students to the techniques of cutting, installing, lighting, and shaping mirrors. Mirror work in Iranian architecture is not just decoration; it is the creation of light, depth, and the splendor of space. In the workshop, students take real examples to the implementation stage.
Kufic script
In this course, students become familiar with the structure of Kufic script, the geometric forms of letters, the method of composition, and the transformation of lines into motifs that can be implemented in architecture. The output of the course is usually one or more implementable designs.
Knotwork and Traditional Geometry
This course introduces the student’s mind to the geometric logic of Iranian architecture. From simple knots to complex networks, the art of composition, rhythm, repetition, and order is experienced in this course.
Seven-Color Tile
In this course, the student progresses from the first stage of design to glazing and firing the tile. This experience allows him to find a real relationship with color, form, materials, and composition.
Mogharnas
Mogharnas is one of the most complex arts of Iranian architecture. In this course, students gradually learn the design, volume, and execution of mogharnas and create real examples.
Design Workshop and Startup Studio
The Design Workshop is the experiential part of the complex; where ideas are transformed into designs and then into real prototypes. Teams experience real projects, young designers find their professional path, and ideas have the opportunity to become products.
This section functions like a real architecture studio and its goal is to build a new generation of professional designers.