Abstract

A cursory glance at presented definitions about architectural design proves that scholars have mentioned varied definitions which are based. According to historical documents such as books, itineraries, illustrations and inscriptions can be divided into two major groups. Firstly, architectural designs were introduced as an artistic field and the designer was an artist. Apparently, buildings which are included in first group have diverse decorations or some unique shapes. Additionally, they are not specifically for human, and they could be considered as monuments, tombs and mausoleums. As a result, people had a connection with building indirectly. On the other hand, the second group consists of the building which are used as homes, mosques, schools (Madrasah), Sera (karvansara) and market( bazzar). Obviously, builders and architects accurately respected, topography and structure and preference was given to technique rather than beauty. The aim of this article is to gather different definitions and argue which one was the dominant theme in early Islamic architecture in Iran.