Spatial Analysis of the Use of Iwan in Turkish Architecture from Central Asia to Anatolia

Year 2023, Volume: 11 Issue: 4, 729 - 749, 30.12.2023

Ayşenur Dağ Gürcan , Nakış Karamağaralı

Abstract

The iwan, whose use dates back to ancient times in Iran, Mesopotamia and Central Asia, is an architectural element with functional and semantic qualities and is usually seen on a monumental scale. At the same time, the iwan emphasizes the four-direction design within the Asian central space tradition, strengthens the centrality and carries symbolic value. The iwan, which has an important place in Turkish architecture due to these features, is an architectural element with historical continuity. In the process from Central Asia to Anatolia, it is observed that the iwan is seen in almost all kinds of architectural functions and generally in monumental-scale buildings. Still, especially when the Ottoman period passed, it lost its importance and disappeared to a large extent. The aims of this study, in examining the historical development of the iwan, are to determine in which periods, buildings and functions it was used, to define its role in the spatial organization and to reveal the changes it underwent in this process. In the study, the buildings in which the iwan is seen in Turkish architecture were examined according to historical periods and building groups, the place of the iwan in the plan typologies was examined, and it was discussed how the iwan gave direction to the space design in mosques, madrasas, khanqahs, caravanserais, palaces, kiosks, baths and tombs. The continuity, feature of monumentality and function of the iwan in Turkish architecture are examined. It has been observed that iwan serves various purposes in buildings with different functions.

Keywords

Iwan, Eyvan, Four-Iwan, Central Space, Spatial analysis

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