Saqqakhanehs, prominent cultural and religious landmarks in Iranian urban spaces, serve functions beyond simply providing water. They act as venues for the expression of traditional arts, ritual beliefs, and social interaction, with their visual identity reflecting a range of cultural and religious themes. Throughout Islamic history, communities have commemorated Ashura through various social and artistic practices. Alongside rituals such as lamentation recitations (marsiyeh) and passion plays (ta‘ziyeh), Saqqakhanehs emerged within the Iranian-Islamic urban context, closely linked to and intertwined with the beliefs and sentiments of Shi‘ite Muslims. The tragic imagery of Karbala, the symbolic reverence for water in Iranian culture, and the practical need for public drinking facilities together established a context in which these urban elements acquired special significance. Consequently, Saqqakhanehs function as carriers of meaning, materializing the message of Ashura within urban space. The integration of diverse artistic practices has gradually shaped a distinct visual identity, granting Saqqakhanehs a unique position within the community's culture and rituals. By combining public and spiritual functions, they have become influential symbols in shaping Iranian-Islamic urban identity. Despite some research in architecture and anthropology, a systematic analysis of the visual identity components and communicative functions of Saqqakhanehs in contemporary Tehran remains largely absent.
The significance of this study is multifaceted. First, examining visual culture, built environment design, and associated communication methods enables the identification of indigenous elements and tools, as well as an understanding of problem-solving patterns and conceptual frameworks. Second, such studies illuminate the mechanisms of urban perception and meaning-making. Third, contemporary water scarcity and its socio-cultural implications further highlight the importance of exploring water-related cultural practices. The necessity for this research also arises from several factors: modern urban development has resulted in the destruction or alteration of many historic Saqqakhanehs, placing their visual and functional characteristics at risk. Recently redesigned examples in Tehran, due to insufficient understanding of their visual and communicative foundations, often fail to meet contemporary social needs or foster meaningful engagement. Additionally, contemporary Iranian art increasingly seeks to reclaim its historical role in global culture, a goal that requires revisiting centuries-old artistic concepts that have inspired and shaped its development. This study addresses a critical gap by analyzing the visual identity and communicative functions of Saqqakhanehs within Tehran’s historical urban fabric.
This qualitative research investigates the visual identity and communicative functions of Tehran’s historic Saqqakhanehs. The primary research question is: which elements of Tehran’s Saqqakhanehs convey their visual identity and communicative functions? A multiple-case study approach with purposive sampling was employed. Selection criteria included age, authenticity, diversity of visual features, and availability of documentation. Based on these criteria, 21 Saqqakhanehs from various districts of Tehran’s historical fabric were selected. Field data were collected through direct observation using a researcher-designed checklist. The findings indicate that the visual identity and communicative functions of Saqqakhanehs manifest through five interrelated components. First, the facade, featuring concave structures, distinctive materials such as tiles, mirrors, and metal, intricate details, and narrative murals including inscriptions and paintings, serves as a visual anchor within the urban fabric and facilitates emotional, sensory, and visual engagement. Second, the use of color, particularly symbolic green representing life, tranquility, and Shi‘ism, blue tiles, and ritual black during Muharram, differentiates the Saqqakhaneh from its surroundings and establishes a shared color palette, fostering visual coherence and identity across sites. Third, light serves both functional purposes, such as guidance and illumination, and spiritual purposes, creating a sacred atmosphere, as referenced by Qamar Bani-Hashem; reflective surfaces further enhance sensory perception. Fourth, communicative tools—including metal hand-shaped taps (panjeh dast), banners (beyraq), fabric inscriptions (khatibeh-ye parcheh), and religious posters—form a multi-layered communicative expression that reinforces symbolic-religious messages and strengthens the ritual and propagative functions of the Saqqakhaneh. Finally, the name, whether displayed on the façade in tiles or boards or transmitted orally within the community, plays a key role in recognition, identification, and fostering a sense of belonging and spiritual ownership among residents. ally within the community, plays a key role. The analysis reveals that the physical elements of Saqqakhanehs are not isolated components. Within Tehran’s cultural, social, and urban context, these elements interact with religious symbolism and lived experience to become identity-bearing signs with communicative functions. This process unfolds across four levels: meaning generation, visual identity formation, placemaking, and collective participation.
Second, repeated meanings undergo cultural encoding and social consolidation, becoming visual identity. The arrangement of colors, surfaces, spatial elements, narrative murals, calligraphic inscriptions, and symbolic tools constitutes a visual expression recognized by audiences as the Saqqakhaneh’s identity. This identity is not solely a design outcome but emerges from the interplay of perception, collective memory, and familiarity with Shi‘ite cultural symbols. Visual elements are both identifiable and meaning-generating, making them distinctive. On the first level, elements such as concave façades, symbolic materials, ritual colors, and nighttime illumination possess semiotic potential. By referencing cultural-religious codes and engaging the audience’s perception, these features transmit meaning. Physical features act as signifiers, guiding viewers toward signifieds such as Ashura narratives, votive practices, water offerings, and ritual acts. When these meanings are repeated and visually reinforced, they transcend isolated signs and form the foundation for visual identity and socio-cultural communication.
and identity-forming. Through its visual language, the Saqqakhaneh also assumes a communicative function, actively engaging visitors and residents in conveying cultural and social messages.
Third, the formation of visual identity in relation to ritual practices and user experience leads to placemaking. Social and ritual activities, such as water votives, candle lighting, prayers, brief stops, and surrounding conversations, generate a network of meanings and collective memories embodied in the Saqqakhaneh. This process not only stabilizes the place but also facilitates interaction with the structure and among individuals, transforming the Saqqakhaneh from a generic space into a meaningful place connected to memory, identity, and lived experience. Physical elements provide a basis for attachment, commemoration, and interpretation through narrative visual elements, ritual symbols, and ongoing social acts.
Finally, collective participation reinforces placemaking. Local engagement in establishing, maintaining, and sustaining Saqqakhanehs—often spontaneously and beyond formal structures—positions users as participants rather than mere visitors. This fosters emotional-cognitive ownership, embedding the Saqqakhaneh within collective memory and neighborhood networks, and transforms it into a medium for transmitting values, collective memory, and social bonds. Activities such as adding lamps, installing religious posters, constructing mirror panels, donating banners, performing water votives, and naming the site go beyond ritual acts, becoming place-generating practices that strengthen the link beIn summary, this four-level analysis demonstrates that the physical elements of Saqqakhanehs, through cultural significance, visual coherence, and engagement with lived experience, transcend mere form and play a central role in shaping visual identity and producing place. Within Tehran’s urban fabric, Saqqakhanehs function not as small-scale structures but as identity-bearing, meaning-generating urban signs, serving as urban media that connect form, society, and culture. The findings provide a theoretical and practical framework for visual communication specialists, urban designers, and planners, with applications in three key areas: the reinterpretation of indigenous identity-forming elements; the design of visual communication in contemporary public spaces inspired by authentic cultural concepts; and the informed preservation of Iran’s urban heritage. ers, and planners, with applications in three key areas: the reinterpretation of indigenous identity-forming elements; the design of visual communication in contemporary public spaces inspired by authentic cultural concepts; and the informed preservation of Iran’s urban heritage.