In Praise of the Void: From Absence to Effect in the Jameh Mosque of Ardestan

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Architecture, School of Architecture College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/ats.2026.2097872.1099
Abstract
Architectural space is shaped not only by the presence of material but also by the intervals, openings, fields, and volumes in which solid matter is absent. This raises a specific question: if the amount of void remains constant, can changes in its configuration alter the spatial relations among architectural elements? Drawing on Rumi’s notion of *ʿadam* (non-being) as a relational point of departure, this study approaches absence not as a direct architectural category, but as a way of asking how what is not materially present may nevertheless become consequential through its relations with what surrounds it. The study translates this question into an architectural investigation of the void as a condition of spatial organization. The Jameh Mosque of Ardestan was examined through four spatial conditions: the central courtyard, the southern iwan, a perforated screen (*moshabak*), and the domed chamber. Each was reconstructed from architectural plans, sections, and documentation and converted into an analytical model. A controlled within-case comparison was then conducted using five parametric states for each condition. In every test, the quantity of void was held constant while one configurational variable was systematically altered: the courtyard’s length-to-width ratio, the iwan’s relative depth, the distribution of apertures in the *moshabak*, and the vertical distribution of volume in the domed chamber. Their corresponding visual relations were measured through geometric modelling, line-of-sight testing, and two- and three-dimensional ray casting. The results show that changes in configuration produced measurable changes in all four corresponding visual relations, despite the quantity of void remaining unchanged. The courtyard exhibited an optimal range of proportions beyond which visual imbalance increased. In the iwan, greater relative depth consistently reduced mutual visibility between the courtyard and the domed chamber. In the *moshabak*, concentrating the apertures increased direct visual transmission even though their number, size, shape, and total open area remained constant. In the domed chamber, redistributing the same volume vertically altered the visual presence of its upper zones. Importantly, these responses were not uniform: they followed distinct patterns of optimality, nonlinear change, sensitivity to distribution, and asymmetry. The findings suggest that the architectural significance of void cannot be adequately described by its quantity alone. It becomes legible through the relationship between how void is configured and the spatial relation that responds to that configuration. Void, in this sense, is not merely an absence of matter, but a relational condition of spatial organization through which architectural relations are structured and transformed.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 24 October 2026

  • Receive Date 20 August 2026
  • Revise Date 27 August 2026
  • Accept Date 30 August 2026
  • First Publish Date 24 October 2026
  • Publish Date 24 October 2026