The Imaginal Garden: Imagination and the Persian Garden in the Mystical Philosophy of Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi

Over the past several decades, many of the gardens and parks that have been built in Iran have been affected by a lack of attention to their design and details. One reason for this flaw is an absence of awareness of the role of the notion of imagination in Persian gardens. This dissertation investigates the relation between the Persian garden and the imaginal world of Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi (1154-1191), a twelfth-century Persian philosopher. He describes the imaginal world as one that is between the immaterial and material, and between light and darkness. He refers to the imaginal world in his works, and specifically in his Persian treatises, where he uses the elements of the Persian garden to portray this world. The research studies these elements and explores the symbols and metaphors he uses to reveal his philosophical thoughts. In order to examine the relation between Suhrawardi’s thoughts, including his imaginal world, and the Persian garden, this dissertation also investigates the elements of the Persian garden in the three arts of literature, miniatures, and gardens. One case study was chosen for each art form. The case studies have been selected from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a period in which art and architecture, including gardens, flourished, and where Suhrawardi’s concepts were taught in the schools. This dissertation aims to determine the ideas that informed the design of Persian gardens and their elements. This could help contemporary architects and landscape designers better understand the reasoning behind their designs, and subsequently arrive at works that are both meaningful and eternal.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

Carleton University

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Mirsepassi, Maryam

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © 2023 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, distribution to students, research and scholarship. Theses may only be shared by linking to the Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be copied without proper attribution to the author; no part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

10.22215/etd/2023-15856

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:carleton.scholaris.ca:20.500.14718/41376