Evaluation of heritage colour of the Naqsh-E Jahan Square, Iran

Abstract

This thesis problem was based on the observation that, contemporary Iranian architecture is colourless while Iranian traditional architecture is colourful. The industrial revolution, the growth of population, phenomena of urbanism, and interaction with the West resulted in the new concept of colour construction and new material to contemporary Iranian architecture. Colour mapping is a process being proposed in order to preserve national heritage of architectural Iranian colour. This process brings a local colour palette, based on careful studies of colourful monuments and inscribes in Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization of Iran. In other words, documenting Persian heritage colour via reliable and applied methodology is necessary. To be more precise, this thesis introduces wireless pin instead of “Lenclos”, “Hee Yong” and “O’Conner” methods to prepare accurate colour numbers and harmonic settings. This arises from the theoretical framework which shows that scanning colour to make point colour is more applicable. And, Naqsh-e Jahan Square (NJS) of Safavid architecture was chosen because there is a flourishing growth in art and science of this era. NCS Colourpin II as a digital colour fan deck that is economically viable and easy functional scanner was chosen to execute the mapping of the Iranian heritage colour. The present study uses a combined strategy (1-dominant and 2-less -dominant study) as a research design, whereby field measurement-case study is a dominant study and the in-depth interview taken as a less-dominant study. Forty-eight palettes from four monuments of The NJS (Sheikh lotfollah Mosque, Ali Qapu Palace, Imam Mosque, and Qeyssareyye Bazar) were extracted and the thematic analysis on the interview from 15 colourist around the world who were interviewed based on interview protocol designed by the researcher. The results show that the NJS palettes have NATURAL, and DUAL characteristic and CONTEXTUAL meaning. The digital colour documentary of the NJS as a part of Iranian historical city colour identity illustrated that respective palettes can be printed like FHI Colour Guide, Formula Guide Coated, Plastic Standers Chips like PANTON, or NCS format that facilitates chromatic continuity. To conclude, there is a chromatic identity in Persian heritage monuments, but there is not its trace in contemporary Iranian constructions. In this situation, documenting traditional colour is necessary to introduce, conserve and apply the Persian colour heritage. To measure this quality, the NJS monuments were chosen as one of the heritage sites. NCS Colourpin II had been used as a digital instrument to introduce the Safavid colour palettes with the natural, dual, and contextual system. Iranian colour identity brings a new situation for Iranian artists to revive contemporary monochromic architecture as its identity in the industry.