Ancient Charm in a Modern World Kashgar’s old city recalls Silk Road’s history and time-honored traditions

[Kashgar is] the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia.

Physical features and analysis of traditional mosques:the case of Quzzat quarter of Herat Old City,Afghanistan

This study examines the physical features of traditional mosques in the Quzzat(Bardrani)quarter of Herat Old City,Afghanistan.Traditional mosques are constructed with locally available materials and are planned based on cultural and climatic conditions.Mosques are categorised as modern or traditional.Traditional mosques are divided into three subcategories:preserved,damaged(defaced),and transformed.Transformed mosques are formerly traditional mosques reconstructed with modern or industrial materials(concrete and reinforcement).This study explores the distribution of mosques and analyses their plan typology.Mosques are categorised into five plan types,and three relative case studies are described in detail to provide a better understanding and an in-depth analysis of mosque typology.

Analyses and architectural typology of preserved traditional mosques in the old city of Herat in Afghanistan:the case of Quzzat Quarter

The study aims to analyse the architectural typology and determine the period of construction for the preserved traditional mosques of the Quzzat Quarter in the Old City of Herat(known as the Pearl of Khorasan).Twenty-nine mosques are located in the area,three of which are modern and 26 are traditional.Twelve out of the 26 traditional mosques still exist and have preserved their traditional landscape.Using analogy to analyse water cisterns and mosques,we determine when each mosque was developed and establish the period of development for each structure.Further analyses are carried out on the edifces’architectural details.Architectural analyses and mosque typologies suggest that fve buildings were built before the Timurid dynasty;two were built during the Timurid dynasty(1370−1507 CE);and one was built after the Timurid dynasty.Two mosques incorporating elements from diferent periods are counted as exceptions,and the remaining two are considered to have been built during transitional periods.

The Issue of Street Construction in the Transformation of Old City Areas in Medium-and-Small-Sized Cities

Excerpts: The rapid economic development of cities provides the material basis for the transformation of the oldcities. The reconstruction of streets is the first issue being looked at. In the past few years,experiences have beengained and problems encountered. For instance, only some sections of the streets are reconstructed, the scale and de-velopment program of reconstruction are decided without any comprehensive, conceptual planning program, Thispaper attempts to analyse the reasons and defects of the past practice and some suggestions are made on improve-ment measures. It is pointed out in particular, that the transformation of streets should be based in the need, devel-opment potential, characteristics and specific role of the cities in order to enable the streets to be reconstructed incoordination with the transformation of the cities as a whole.