Iran's Adaptable Architecture

Vernacular architecture of the Iranian Plateau – where water is scarce and the environment harsh – is a masterpiece of environmentally-adapted architecture. For centuries, the driest cities of the Iranian Plateau have relied on channels that link cities to underground reservoirs in the mountains. Referred to as the ‘qanat system’, water reaches urban centres through underground tunnels that run from a mother well to a qanat outlet that flows through surface canals to irrigate fields, gardens, and provide water to homes in the village. The placement of one’s housing compound determined access to and quality of water. Those households located further upstream naturally had a purer supply of water. Generally, the further away from the qanat outlet, the lower the socioeconomic status of the household. To keep buildings well-ventilated and cool, buildings were built with wind towers, through which prevailing winds flow downwards to ventilate rooms and basements. Found in cities of Kashan, Yazd, and Kerman, the combination of wind-catchers with the qanat system created a circulation system by which warm, dry air brought by the wind-catcher mixed with the cool, humid air from the qanat. Presently in the efforts to modernise through technology, the development and maintenance of labour-intensive qanats has stalled. Governments focus on building unsustainable but immediately productive hydraulic systems such as deep bore wells for immediate results with little regard to the long-term costs. As existing aquifers are drained, it becomes necessary to drill increasingly deeper to reach water. Likewise, modern buildings using electricity-powered air-conditioning units often fail to make use of the natural, passive cooling capabilities of wind-catchers.