MANZAR, the Scientific Journal of landscape
Scientific Quarterly Journal

The Evolution of Tehran’s Green Landscape through the Perspective of Orientalists from the Qajar Era to the First Pahlavi Period (1796- 1931 AD)

https://doi.org/10.22034/manzar.2024.485540.2316
Volume 17, Issue 70
Spring 2025
Pages 52-61
MANZAR, the Scientific Journal of landscape

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Reihaneh Khorramrouei 1
Seyed Amir Mansouri 2
Mohsen Kafi 3

1 Ph.D. Candidate in Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Department of Horticultural Sciences and Green Space Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran.

Abstract
Studying the writings of Orientalists and analyzing their underlying texts provides a criterion through which it is possible to trace landscape-related perceptions and, beyond that, access the thoughts and ideas of a nation. This approach enables the reconstruction of the mindset of people who lived, at a specific historical moment, in another national lived space. Such a mindset, apart from being influenced by the author’s personality and personal tendencies, is more broadly linked to the cultural, economic, social, political, and educational conditions as well as colonial tendencies of the time. The perception of a “mental landscape” is formed based on the cognitive distinction between the “self” (the observer, usually European) and the “other” (Tehran’s inhabitants or the city of Tehran itself). Accordingly, this study poses the question: How did Orientalists perceive Tehran’s green landscape from 1796 to 1931 AD?. The study identifies two approaches: a holistic approach and a fragmented approach. This categorization reveals that from the reign of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar onward, orientalists’ focus shifted to the details of the green landscape, and their understanding of the overall system of the green landscape as a cohesive whole became less discernible. Only a few Orientalists superficially referenced Tehran’s climatic system, which led to a semi-nomadic lifestyle, and thereby depicted a fragmentary image of the city’s green landscape. It appears that the Orientalists’ focus on the details of the green landscape was influenced by the experience of European modernity in Tehran. This shift occurred within the framework of broader external systems, including the political powers of foreign governments and the interest of Iranian statesmen in the West. As a result, orientalists paid increasing attention to the details of Tehran’s green landscape, either through an authoritative, governance-driven perspective or from a political-cultural viewpoint.

Keywords

Travelogue
Mental Landscape
Holistic Approach
Fragmented Approach
Subjects
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