Restoration and Revival of Urmia’s Ettehadieh Hammam with a Contemporization Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of the Department of Restoration and Revival of Historical Monuments, Imam Khomeini International Univer-sity of Qazvin

2 Senior Expert in Restoration and Revival of Historical Buildings and Textures

10.22080/hpai.2024.4629

Abstract

Ettehadieh Hammam (Iranian traditional bath) with the architecture and form of cold climate hammams inside the historical context of Urmia market is a building from the Qajar period. The structure and dimensions of this hammam are based on engineering calculations. The purpose of this research, in addition to introducing appropriate solutions to preserve the building of the Ettehadieh Hammam, is to answer these questions: Is it possible to revive the building in a modern way? How can it be done by preserving the former body, which is indicative of the usage, customs, and culture of the predecessors for future generations? The most important issue for starting such research was this historical building, being at the crossroads of destruction and change of use. A number of historical baths have lost their original nature as baths by changing their function to a different one. What was noticed in this research is that although the change of function leads to the durability and physical survival of the building, it causes the destruction of intangible aspects and anthropological values of this historical-cultural place. In this study, descriptive-historical and field studies were used to check the above assumptions. The result of this research shows that although protecting and strengthening a building is the first vital step in preserving it, the permanent presence of humans also plays an important role in strengthening and maintaining the body of the building. In addition, due to the accuracy of past architects in choosing and using structural knowledge and suitable materials for its construction, bringing back the previous function of Hammam in the form of contemporization can be the best way to preserve the body of such a building along with preserving its authenticity.

Keywords

History of Persian Art in the Islamic period
Volume 1, Issue 1
September 2023
Pages 263-278

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