Recognition of the Rural Architecture of Biological Complexes of Persian Gulf Coast in Laft Port

This study is intended to introduce the architecture specifications of Laft Port in Qeshm Island, in the
south of Iran. Qeshm Island with the 1500 square km. is the largest island in Iran and in the Persian Gulf.
Laft is a village in the rural area of Qeshm, in Hormozgan Province. The unique architectural features, as
well as the environmental context of Laft with its potential are among the reasons why Laft has been
selected for this research. Providing correct information about Laft could help to introduce the cultural and
social potential. The general characteristics of Laft’s architecture is affected by the architecture of the
central part of Iran and Arabic architecture of the Persian Gulf region of Iran, incorporating central court
yards, wind catchers, and arches. Professional readers with the architecture decorative elements and the
plaster works take after Arabic architecture, while major physical elements of design reflect Iranian
architecture. The most obvious architectural feature of the houses is their variously-sized windbreaks
(wind towers). The people of Laft constructed these elements for cooling the inner space of the building in
summer. The buildings of Laft are constructed close to each other, with winding and narrow alleys. The
village is in the Qeshm Island in Persian Gulf. The buildings in the background are dhows that are
traditional constructions which are still being constructed in the same traditional way by local materials.
Their form is also visually appealing. The originality concealed in their chronic structures, refers to the
tale of Iran's extensive culture. Their pure and innocent nature obviously affected the melodious and
decent traditional architecture. However, with development of industrial productions in Iran, the
traditional characteristics disappeared. The changes were more in urban areas while rural and remote sites
as the cases of Laft village remained safe and protected. Thus, this study aims to recognize the main
characters of traditional architecture in the region and the ways to endure it in order to have a more
valuable architecture. Researching on “Laft” has totally gained an inclusive encouragement of the local
residents in order to regenerate their cultural values in the globalization era as a Free Economic zone.
Another part was and entire revitalization in the coastal boundaries. The most serious part of the study was
the public consciousness about the people’s social heritage. The aim of rehabilitating in laft is making a
residential background suitable for human habitation and to give confidence the local residents to keep on
living there. To approach the above goals, it`s needed for the constructors to be familiar with the regional
materials and specialties. This is in indeed important in coastal sites of the Persian Gulf. The research
method of this study is descriptive and analytical. Experimental methods are also utilized with particular
attention to the climatic characters (muggy weather) of the Laft region. And finally, we have concluded
that: there, you can still find a kind of traditional build form with unique architectural style of the region.