arg é bam final
TRANSCRIPT
Mud, considered a nuisance in many areas of the world, has been considered to be a chief building material in other areas of the globe. Clay soil is found in abundance on this planet, providing its inhabitants with sturdy homes. The remarkable thing about mud brick structures is their durability, with some mud buildings lasting for a thousand years.The Arg-e Bam was the largest adobe building in the world, located in bam, a city in the kerman Province of southeastern IranArg-e-Bam, the Citadel of Bam is the most representative example of a fortified medieval town built in vernacular technique using mud layers combined with mud bricks
The topography of area consists of
rugged, mountainous rims surrounding
high interior basins. a series of parallel
ridges interspersed with plains that
bisect the country from northwest to
southeast.
The center of Iran consists of several
closed basins that collectively are
referred to as the Central Plateau.
Climatic conditions
Iran has a variable climate. In summer, the
weather can be cool as well as warm, and
in the cold winters, it can be mild.
The temperatures mentioned hereafter are
expressed in degrees Celsius and
represent the monthly averages observed
over a great number of years. The rainfall
graph can also be useful to determine the
better period to set out on a trip.
structure
The citadel consists of four main sections: a residential zone, the stables, the army barracks and the governor’s residence.
Arg-e-Bam had 38 watchtowers, four entrance gates and the outer defense wall is surrounded by a moat. The Government Quarters are on a rocky hill, protected by a double fortification wall. The most notable structures are the bazaar, the Congregational Mosque, the Mirza Na’im ensemble and the Mir House.
MATERIALS USED
The materials used were comprised of mixture of stone,aggregates, lime, and pozzolonalayered with sun dried blocks of mud clay
Heavy clays, readily available at various places throughout the plateau, have encouraged the development of the most primitive of all building techniques, molded mud, compressed as solidly as possible, and allowed to dry. The abundance of heavy plastic earth, in conjunction with a tenacious lime mortar, also facilitated the development and use of brick.
Arg-e-Bam before the restoration
Arg-e-Bam was totally abandoned since 1932 and may be, even before for the old city. Therefore without any repair and even with the little annual rainfall, weathering had already severely deteriorated the earth buildings before the earthquake. Before the start of the restoration works, Arg-e-Bam was in ruins and the vaulted roofs were extremely damaged.
Weathering shows here its effects on a city abandoned for several decades. Very little remains from the roofs and the walls are extremely eroded. This was the condition of nearly the entire city before restoration.
The Stables, though in a much better condition than the houses, show that about a third of the domes were either totally collapsed or damage
Arg-e-Bam before the earthquake
On December 26, 2003, a major earthquake hit Bam, destroying most of the city as well as the archaeological site of Arg-e-Bam
The main reason for such massive damage may be the weakness of adobe and brick houses. However, the damage was disproportionately and unexpectedly large in comparison with the magnitude of the earthquake
Several reasons seem to be the cause:
• Badly built and/or badly maintained buildings.
• Geometry of the building: some had L or U shapes, others had projections, etc.
• Perhaps a different ground quality which gave different vibrations to buildings.
The earthen walls composed of materials of different densities resulting from their different phases of construction, repair and reconstruction proved to be more vulnerable to the earthquake vibrations. The successive phases of construction of Arg-e-Bam over the centuries have produced walls of a very different composition.
Every layer was of a different density and cohesion resulting from the different ages. Organic material was used for reinforcement but rotted or was eaten by insects, leaving cavities and friable earth.
The clay stucco reinforced with straw added before the earthquake appeared to have been consumed by termites.