Product Code Database
A talar or talaar () is a type of porch or hall in Iranian architecture. It generally refers to a porch fronting a building, supported by columns, and open on one or three sides. The term is also applied more widely to denote a throne hall or audience hall with some of these features.
The talar was revived in Iranian architecture under Abbas I () during the Safavid Iran. Safavid architects appropriated the idea of a columned hall from Achaemenid examples and used it in the design of new royal palaces and pavilions, most notably the Ali Qapu and Chehel Sotoun palaces in Isfahan during the 17th century. In these examples, the talar is open on three sides. Karim Khan Zand, the ruler of Shiraz in the mid-18th century, borrowed from Safavid models and employed this feature in new ways for the design of his own palaces in Shiraz. Here, the talar was combined with an iwan (vaulted hall open to one side) to form pillared halls opening onto a courtyard on one side. ]]Under the Qajar dynasty, which eventually captured Shiraz and reunified Iran at the end of the 18th century, this feature was imported to the new royal palaces in Tehran. Under the Qajars, a talar could refer to a relatively simple hall open on one side with columns, such as the Talar e-Marmar (containing the Takht-e Marmar, the Marble Throne) built by Fath Ali Shah in the Golestan Palace in the 19th century. The talar continued to be a popular design feature of aristocratic houses and pavilions in Shiraz, such as those of the Qavam family. It was even employed during the early 20th century, under the Pahlavi dynasty, as part of the Persian revivalist trends in architecture during this time.
The talar built by the Qajar dynasty as part of the Golestan Palace is a spacious chamber with flat ceiling decorated with mirror panels. The walls are also decorated with mirror work called aineh-kari, which produced numerous angles and coruscations.
|
|
