Yazd hosts first int’l workshop on adobe architecture

The historical Iranian city of Yazd is hosting the first international workshop on adobe architecture to introduce the architecture, sustainable structures and study the challenges in preserving the monuments.

Participants from the Philippines, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Portugal, Algeria and Germany are attending the workshops, IRNA wrote.

The event called ‘First International Workshop on Adobe Architecture, World Heritage City of Yazd: Conservation Problems and Challenges’, organized by Yazd Municipality, will continue until February 16 in both Yazd and the nearby historic town of Fahraj.

Finnish architect and urban planner, Jukka Jokilehto, who is also a special advisor to the director general of International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) is one the workshop’s international instructors.

Mariana Correia, an international consultant in world heritage for the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) as well as Thierry Joffroy, an architect, researcher and president of the International Center for Earth Construction are other international instructors at the one-week workshop.

Rasool Vatandoost, who holds a PHD in conservation science from University of London, Manijeh Hadian Dehkordi, a doctorate in art technology and conservation and restoration of art and cultural objects from Hfbk-dresden, Germany and Mohammad Hassan Talebian, an ICCROM member are among the 13 Iranian instructors participating in this workshop.

The historical city of Yazd was included in UNESCO’S coveted World Heritage List at the World Heritage Committee’s 41st session in the Polish city of Krakow last July.

Almost 200 hectares of the city’s 2,270-hectare historical texture now boast world heritage status. Yazd is believed to be the world’s largest inhabited adobe city.

Ancient Yazd’s old buildings are all built from mud bricks, which provide natural insulation against cold and hot weather and make the city unique.