The Magic Carpet

Abstract

The “Persian Carpet” and the “Persian Miniature” painting have served as representation tools for the “Persian Garden” and the idea of paradise in Persian culture since antiquity. The word “paradise” derives from the Persian word “pari-daeza” meaning walled enclosure. The garden is always walled and stands in opposition to its landscape. It is experienced as much in terms of what it is not as what it is. This thesis investigates the idea of a contemporary image of paradise in the Iranian imagination by using carpets and miniature paintings as a tool for designing architecture. The garden with its profound associations provided a world of metaphor for the classical mystic poets. One of the manuscripts describing the Persian garden is called the “Haft Paykar” known as the “Seven Domes” written by the 12th century Persian poet called Nizami. These types of manuscripts were made for Persian kings and contain within them miniature paintings and poetry describing battles, romances, tragedies and triumphs that compromises Iran’s mythical and pre-Islamic history. Through the process of copying, the “Seven Domes” has been repeatedly reinterpreted and recreated as a contemporary object filled with contemporary fashions and ideals of beauty. The carpet is the repeating object in the miniature paintings of the manuscript. This thesis deconstructs the carpet in seven ways in order to digitally reconstruct the miniature paintings of the “Seven Domes” and the image of paradise with new techniques.