Bushehr Historical Context

Politecnico di Milano, Polytechnic University of Milan, School of Design

Project idea

Bushehr is an amazing triangular peninsula of the Persian Gulf, located at the south of Iran with a glorious history and spectacular architecture. Bushehr’s architecture is the resultant of genius wind-engineered urban morphology and the magnificent culture of Iranian hospitality. This city now is facing some major issues which are derived from lack of intention and professional observation that led to destruction and abandonment of the city’s historical context.
As mentioned above,due to the existing Urban wind system,Bushehr has very narrow streets. In old times these streets were adopted to all requisition and especially construction methods. on the contrary, in this contemporary times, besides the construction methods, necessities of people have changed as well. After many years, the old buildings got ruined while the narrow streets are acting as a barrier for construction machines and equipment. They don’t let the machineries to enter the context which leads to more damage to buildings with no possibility to repair nor restoration. As a result, people gradually left the context and moved to the new part of the city where they need
are provided. Besides, after most of the people left the context, all businesses left the area as well to survive outside this context. In this situation the environmental factors made more negative effect on the building, material and the structure of it to rot much faster.

Project description

The Fact is that Music is an important factor in Bushehr’s People. They live by Music in every situation and state and also have different style of Music for different conditions to express their emotions. the main ones are Music of Work, Sea Music, Music of Ceremony and Music of Mourning which they use it according to the situation. They play special music for Funerals, special music for Weddings or even different music for Boating and sailing. Another important feature of Bushehr’s music history is its proximity to other Persian Gulf states. Bushehr has the Persian Gulf’s highest border and has thus served as a cultural gateway and many cultural, artistic, and musical exchanges have taken place this way. On the other hand, Poetry plays a significant role in Bushehr culture. From old times people in Bushehr paid so much attention to Poets and their poetries, especially Omar Khayyam who was a Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet. these elements made a tradition in Bushehr called (Khayyam Khani) which means Singing Khayyam. This
ceremony can mainly be described when people get around a main Singer/Band, whom always sing Khayyam’s Poets with special rhythm, and they start clapping and accompany the singer/band. This ceremony participates all the people around the singer and once again shows their relationship together. In all these years the tradition of singing Khayyam poets been alive and stayed with people. This ceremony happens all around the city in recognized spots and famous Cafes. Although, considering the potential that is visible in the city and interest of the tourists, a new Musical festival took place since 4 years
ago (Kuche Music Festival). This festival began with bands from Bushehr and in next years got participants from around Iran and some international bands. While this tradition alongside the festival is very famous and desirable for people and tourists, there is not a proper
and suitable place for the ceremonies and performances. Considering the mentioned points above and the fact that this is a tradition that needs to be preserved for the next generations, dedicating a special center seemed very necessary. This place can be a Center dedicated to all musical activities of Bushehr and all province, especially for (Khayyam Khani) ceremony which is happening almost every night in the city. This building can be an opportunity for the city and its citizens not only to keep and preserve the old musical tradition, but also to educate new
generation and transmit their knowledge to them. Furthermore, having a separated center for this rituals and festivals also brings multiple benefits. Firstly, it can solve the problem of small spaces for the festival
which is one of the main problems for people. In this new center, an appropriate space can be considered for performances with good audio quality for both Open air performances and indoor performances.
Secondly, having a known center can help to gather all the artists in same spot which is obviously a possibility for people to enjoy all the events while it provides the new artists opportunity to present their music. Last but not least, the chosen site is located at the heart of the historical context which is mostly abandoned and dumped, while establishing a Musical center with all its side-functions can help to restore the identity of the area and simultaneously bring back the people to this area. As the
consequence, having more people will lead to more job opportunities which is Undoubtedly vital for the context.

Technical information

Considering the weather situation and the mentioned problems, the best solution for construction will be a Concrete skeleton with a finishing of Brick.