Historiography is the study of the methodology of writing history, the development of the discipline of history, and the changing interpretations of historical events in the works of individual historians. Exploring the historiography of Persian art and architecture requires a closer look at a diverse range of sources, including chronicles, historical accounts, travelogues, and material evidence coming from archaeological excavations. The Historiography of Persian Architecture highlights the political, cultural, and intellectual contexts that lie behind the written history of Persian architecture in the twentieth century, presenting a series of investigations on issues related to historiography. This book addresses the challenges, complexities, and contradictions regarding historical and geographical diversity of Persian architecture, including issues lacking in the 20th century historiography of Iran and neighbouring countries. This book not only illustrates different trends in Persian architecture but also clarifies changing notions of research in this field.
1 Introduction: Shifting the Historiography of Persianate Architecture Mohammad Gharipour 2 Persian Civitas: Revised Readings on Networked Urbanities and Suburban Hinterlands in Erich Schmidts Flights over Ancient Cities of Iran Manu Sobti and Sahar Sadat Hosseini 3 Geometry made Manifest: Reorienting the Historiography of Ornament on the Iranian Plateau and Beyond Carol Bier 4 The Myth-making of the Masjid-i Jami of Isfahan: Arthur Upham Pope, Architectural Photographs, and the Persian-Gothic Thesis in the 1930s Yuka Kadoi 5 From the Survey of Persian Art to the CIA: Donald N. Wilber and Ilkhanid Architecture in Iran Patricia Blessing 6 The Shahestan Blueprint: The Vestigial Site of Modernity in Iran Shima Mohajeri 7 Instituting Architecture: A History of Transnationalism in Irans Architecture Profession,1945-1995 Shawhin Roudbari