Allegories of the veil

• Main Author: Zaker, Farniyaz
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Oxford 2015
• Subjects: Architecture; Art and architecture; Domestic; Iran; Social conditions; Women; Women's clothing

'Allegories of the Veil' analyses the relationship between architecture and clothing as architecture. It expands the meaning of dwelling and of dwelling places (as they have been defined and conceptualised by scholars such as Martin Heidegger and Edward Casey) from architecture to women's dress. People's awareness of space and their interaction with it are crucially mediated by where and how they dwell. Moreover, dwelling greatly influences behaviour. This study interrogates the way in which building belongs to dwelling. It conceptualises specific women's clothing (the traditional dress and the veil [chador in Farsi]) as a dwelling place that influences (limits) women's spatial awareness and movement in space. It argues that once women's clothing has shaped the behaviour and awareness of women (mirroring the organisation of social relations) it becomes like a habitus. In that sense, clothes are not only physical but also generative spaces which can be translated into social space (and vice versa). Last but not least, this study explores how the changing architectural cityscape of Iran has altered the meaning of private and public space in the country. It argues that contemporary domestic architecture in Iran has disturbed the continuity of design and architectural forms, which previously had been an inherent feature of all architectural spaces in the country, including women's clothing. These new forms disrupted the complementary relationship between the chador as an enclosed space and as an extension of the domestic sphere, as well as facilitating the fast encroachment of modernity on traditional architectural places, including the 'chādor'.