ABSTRACT
The use of light in historical Persian architecture, and more specifically in religious buildings, can be seen to have a qualitative dimension, where the presence of light is informed not only by practical knowledge and expertise, but also by vision rooted in Persian cosmology. Light becomes 'genius loci', the spirit of place, and architecture itself becomes an illuminator. The shifting tendency from monochrome to polychrome is perhaps the most significant indicator of architectural transition from the medieval to the pre-modern era. The comparison between the polychrome architecture of the Safavids and the creation of space in the mostly monochrome Saljuq architecture is almost similar to that between sculpture and painting. Light is given a polishing character in historical Persian architecture, through a kind of transmutation of matter by the alchemy of light. Traditional daylighting in historical Persian architecture uses light as the main medium with which to guide the user and to represent space.
