Investigating the Effect of Social Anomie on Safavid Architecture from Travelogues Point of View

Volume 22, Issue 153
March 2026
Pages 69-82

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism Engineering, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Iran

Abstract
Problem statement: During the Safavid era, numerous European travelers visited Iran and produced travelogues that, alongside praise for Iranian culture, manners, and architectural achievement, also reveal the disorderly condition of cities and buildings. Coupled with observations of socially disapproved morals and behaviours, these accounts indicate an anomic society and a built environment shaped by it. Such reports illuminate lesser-known aspects of the lifecycle of Iranian buildings, from construction to decay, that have been overshadowed by the dominant grand narrative of Persian architecture`s splendour and magnificence. Like all cultural products, architecture requires critique and diagnostic analysis to be understood holistically.
Research objective: To address this gap, the study mobilises sociological theory and a critical approach, adopting an outside-in perspective via non-Iranian travelogues to surface hidden dimensions of Safavid architecture under anomic conditions.
Research method: This foundational qualitative study employs a mixed-methods design, conducted documentary analysis of 27 Safavid-era travelogues and, through purposive screening, eleven robust sources retained. An interpretive-historical approach, triangulated with content analysis and comparative coding, yielded the final results..
Conclusion: The findings point to recurrent patterns: construction of new buildings instead of repairing and renovating existing ones, demolishing buildings for superstitious reasons, leaving buildings to fate, neglecting existing structures, avoiding the restoration of buildings built by others, constructing purposeless or functionless structures, Disfiguring and deliberately rendering decorations incomplete, poor condition of buildings and public spaces, construction of public buildings, and avoiding long‑term investment in architecture. These issues are architectural expressions of a society with harsh climate, autocratic rule, juridical fragility, and pervasive superstition, conditions that channeled individuals toward anomic behaviours.

Keywords

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