Monumental Architecture; National Identity; Conceptual Understanding of Iranian Monumental Architecture

ABSTRACT: Monumental architecture is reservoir of memories which can stand as symbol of the cities and even countries with the embedded meaning in their form and operation. This kind of structures can link the past and the future like the rings of a chain. In addition they have the potential to create and support the identity of a nation. The glory, dignity, culture, tradition and thoroughly the history of a nation can represent through the monumental structures. These structures can have variety of types including historical buildings or complexes, modern structures with advanced technology, landmarks, etc. Since during the last decades, identity crisis has been a major problem for contemporary architecture, the aim of this study is to survey the relation between national identity and monumental buildings and to recognize how monumental buildings contribute to create national identity. The applied methods in this study consist of combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. After literature review and colleting sufficient data related to defining monumental structures and identity, study has been carried on by focusing on the case of Iran. At first, in the case study information gathered based on observation from six case studies located in Iran which are: Takht-e-Jamshid historical complex, Naghshe-e Jahan Square, Azadi square, Si-o-Se Pol, Milad Tower and Hammam-e- Finn of Kashan. The six above-mentioned case studies are the mixture of historical and modern structures in Iran that their selection has been based on survey which is done on a sample group of Iranians. In the next step, distributing questionnaire and analysis on obtained data have been done. The results of analysis show the relation between monumental structure and national identity is very strong for Iranians. Therefore, designing, redesigning, and restoring these monumental structures can have a major role in questing national identity. Through analysis, also, it has been found that the most effective factor in creation of national identity for monumental structures is “time-passing”. Among mentioned case studies in Iran, Takhte-Jamshid complex with 2500 years antiquity is the most capable structure to demonstrate the Iranian identity. Therefore, featuring one monumental structure moves parallel to solving identity crisis in developing countries. Keywords: Monumental architecture, monumental building, Identity, national identity, Iran. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………