Lorestan Province to host int’l conference on hand-carved architecture
The head of Lorestan Province’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicraft Organization announced that the Fourth International Conference on Hand-Carved Architecture will take place in the province from November 12-14.
Ata Hassanpour, speaking in an interview with ISNA, mentioned that the conference has previously been held at an international level in Kerman, Tehran, and Hamedan. He also noted that the papers to be sent to the conference will be reviewed and evaluated by the organizing committee in Tehran.
He added, “I submitted three articles on Kogan Cave, Eraz Cave in the Papi district, and Bahram-e Choobin Gorge in Darehshahr to all three conferences. Subsequently, I was selected as a member of Tehran’s Hand-carved Architecture Committee. The conference will be held under the supervision of the ‘Research Center for Historical Buildings and Texture’.”
He said that given that Lorestan Province is home to a large number of hand-carved structures, extensive efforts have been made to prepare the conditions for holding the conference in the province.
“Due to the existence of Mithraism and Zoroastrian religions, about fifty hand-carved structures have been identified in the province dating back to the Sassanid and Parthian eras,” he said.
The official said that due to the topographic features of the province, which is a mountainous region, numerous hand-carved structures were built in the area during the pre-Islamic period. He pointed out that several underground spaces have been discovered and explored in the province.
Hand-carved architecture is a unique architectural style where no materials are used to create space, and unlike traditional practices, structural aspects are not a primary focus in this form of architecture. This type of architecture can be viewed as the generation of spaces within rock and stone substrates, formed by the interplay of solid and empty spaces, in response to human climatic requirements. In this architectural approach, desired spaces are crafted by excavating rock masses from their original substrate, allowing for the creation of spaces in diverse shapes.
The development of a series of hand-carved architectural creations is influenced by a range of factors, such as climatic and geographic conditions, defense and security requirements, longevity and durability, along with religious and cultural influences, all within the framework of cultural, political, social, and economic contexts.