Loss of Identity Cultural and Architectural Heritage

#### **Chapter 8**

## Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia

*Dejan Dašić*

#### **Abstract**

The subject of this paper is the systematic destruction and the current state of monuments to the national liberation struggle in the former Yugoslavia. The aim of the paper is to point out the fact that after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in 1990, in all republics, to a greater or lesser extent, deliberate neglect or targeted destruction of cultural heritage created in the period between 1945–1990. Monuments erected to commemorate the anti-fascist struggle in the Second World War are desecrated, neglected or demolished. For the purposes of this article, the secondary data sources have been used, including information available on the Internet, daily newspapers, as well as in the relevant literature on. The method of qualitative data analysis was applied. In addition to the above, the paper will use relevant examples on the topic of destruction of monuments. The politicization, revision and mythologizing of history in our time is particularly expressed in the way we treat cultural heritage. There are positive examples of restoration of demolished monuments from that period, but for now it is still not enough.

**Keywords:** cultural heritage, monuments, anti-fascism, revision of history, restoration, Yugoslavia

#### **1. Introduction**

The Second World War, as the most massive loss, is marked by examples of terrible suffering and unimaginable destruction of humanity. After the end of that terrible war, numerous monuments were erected all over the world in order to remember that dark period of human civilization, but also as a warning to the generations to come, so that something similar does not happen again. Monuments are silent witnesses of the time in which they were created, they provide us with knowledge about customs, culture, religion, wars, etc.

And yet, some authors [1] ask the question what to do with architectural heritage that has strong symbolic connotations? Is it acceptable that we guard the camps that others have formed, but not the mausoleums that they have erected? Where is the limit? Is morality its sole arbiter? Should the new government demolish in Spain the Valley of the Fallen where Franco is buried, in Bulgaria the mausoleum of Georgy Dimitrov, in Berlin Hitler's bunker which today is located under the parking lot in the very center of the city, marked only by a small sign? Or is it taken for granted that we should selectively take care of unwanted heritage? Who is to decide that?

Not far from Weimar, there was an oak tree under which Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) liked to sit and talk about literature with his friend Eckermann, a tree in whose canopy "one feels great and free." In 1937, that forest was cleared to build a concentration camp. But unlike the life that no law could protect, Goethe's oak was preserved by a special Law on the Protection of Nature, which was passed by the Nazi regime. For the Germans and the prisoners, the oak tree had completely opposite meanings. While the "SS" believed that by preserving it they were preserving the image of Germany as a protector of the highest heritage values, until then it was a symbol of "life" in the concentration camp for the inmates.

For example, in the Polish forests there are the remains of Hitler's infamous "Wolf's Den". The hermetically sealed and well-guarded complex was most likely built in 1940 on about two and a half square kilometers. That fortress was supposed to be impregnable, with about 50 bunkers, 70 barracks, two airports, a railway station and anti-aircraft defense systems. After the Second World War, the locals were supplied with construction materials here, and tourists started coming in 1959—when the mines were removed. It is now an attractive tourist destination. After a private investor invested 1.6 million euros in 2012, since 2017 the "Wolf's Lair" has been under state administration, and about 300,000 visitors come every year [2].

Ancient places represent an example of the existence of our collective culture. Baghdad's famed "House of Wisdom," the city's first university, was deliberately demolished when Genghis Khan invaded Baghdad in 1258. Islamic State militants ransacked the central museum of Mosul, destroying priceless artefacts dating back thousands of years [3].

Recently, we have witnessed a new "popular" movement of memory cultures in former colonial countries: the demolition and performative destruction of monuments that celebrate the memories of colonialism, as well as the racist political order and ideology.

A statue of Thomas Jefferson (**Figure 1**) was removed from New York City Hall because of his involvement in the slave trade. After the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, there were new demands to remove the monument. His statue is an identical replica of the bronze sculpture by Pierre-Jean David D'Angers that is on exhibit at the US Capitol and has been there since 1915. It will now be transferred to the New York Historical Society. Similar monuments have recently come under fire from anti-racism demonstrations, and several statues of Jefferson, particularly

#### **Figure 1.**

*Statue of Thomas Jefferson (left) and workers removed statue (right). Source: https://www.novosti.rs/planeta/ svet/1058696/tomas-dzeferson-njujork.*

#### *Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109127*

those in Georgia and Oregon, have already been taken down or destroyed. Statues of Confederate commanders from the American Civil War were also demolished [4].

In Italy, a debate was recently launched at the national level about the fascist monuments erected throughout the country. Experts say that some are wondering if the monuments of those who promoted racist ideas should be destroyed.

Many monuments from the period of the Soviet regime were destroyed or removed in the 1990s, and some countries decided to deal more actively with them. In 2015, a "decommunization" law was passed in Ukraine, which made it possible to remove from the public sphere works of art with communist symbols. In addition, communist monuments are a frequent target of vandals in Ukraine, as happened to the monument in Lviv dedicated to all the heroes of the Second World War. Grutaš Park is a place in the southwest of Lithuania where most of the monuments from the communist era are located. After declaring independence in 1990, Lithuania removed all statues of leaders and other communist figures. After a heated parliamentary debate, most of them were placed in designated shelters, but a large number of them were destroyed completely. In 2007, the authorities in Estonia removed from the center of Tallinn a monument to a Soviet soldier who, with his head bowed, mourns the death of a soldier during the conflict with the Nazis.

The peoples of Yugoslavia knew how to repay those who won their freedom in 1945, with monumental monuments reminding them of the famous battles of the People's Liberation Struggle, naming streets, squares, schools and institutions after deserving individuals and national heroes, as well as brave units.

These monuments of the late Soviet era, some of which were built to commemorate the struggle of the Yugoslav people against the occupation of the Axis Powers during the Second World War, are very attractive today. Monumental structures stand as memories and symbols of the unity of that nation. Today, they are mostly valued for the amazing sculpting skills displayed on them.

After the victory over fascism, the construction of various memorials in the period from 1945 to 1990. year, throughout the former Yugoslavia and its republics (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia), efforts were made to preserve the memory of all those who gave their lives for freedom. Monuments glorifying the struggle of the Yugoslav peoples against fascism were signed by the greatest artists of that era. The monumental creations built all over the country that testified to the five-decade socialist heritage of the country were a superb combination of sculpture and architecture, and today no museum of contemporary art would be ashamed of them. One of the hopes behind the creation of these abstract, forward-looking monuments is to create an atmosphere of unity, forgiveness, and reconciliation in the post-World War II era.

However, the countries of the former Yugoslavia also dealt with monuments from the period when they were not independent in their own way. Almost immediately after the declaration of independence, the statues of Josip Broz Tito, president for life and marshal (SFRJ), were removed from most public places in Croatia and Macedonia. Later also in other republics.

Unwanted heritage, that is, the negative remains of the past resulting from the conflict, by the nature of (p)remaining, carries a pluralism of opposing ideas, which is why different groups attribute to it different interpretations, values and meanings [5]. The way history is taught in classrooms all throughout the world, which continues to emphasize our differences rather than our similarities, may be one factor. The importance of this issue is unquestionably rising as the globe appears to be splitting into diametrically opposed groups that are unable to communicate with one another [6].

#### **2. Method**

With the beginning of the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1990, the monuments from the Second World War suffered the fate of devastation and various forms of vandalism. Each newly formed state built its own image of the past in accordance with the needs of the present. Monuments have become one of the tools of the political elite, with which the public was presented what and how to remember and what to forget, from the period of the Second World War. For the purposes of this research, primarily sources from the republics of the former Yugoslavia, secondary data sources were used. They range from scientific, academic works to information available on the Internet, daily newspapers, as well as relevant monographic and teaching literature. The method of qualitative data analysis was applied. In addition to the above, the paper will use relevant examples on the topic of destruction of monuments.

#### **3. Cultural heritage as an encumbrance of historical revisionism**

History is explored by summarizing previous knowledge and studying available remains and traces. The awareness of the past of the people, to a lesser or greater extent, has been present since the earliest past, so it was nurtured even before the appearance of literacy. Oral and written tradition has preserved numerous examples to this day: jubilees, commemorations, monuments.

The term "cultural heritage" can be used to describe items passed down through the generations that are related to the cultural evolution of a community. This covers landmarks, structures, and locations with extraordinary historical, artistic, or scientific worth. Although "cultural property" is the term used in the majority of international accords, the word "legacy" has gained popularity since it suggests that the item should be preserved and taken care of.

Monuments in honor of victims, soldiers, leaders, victories and defeats have become an important component of the inventory of our civilization. Since ancient times, they have existed in continuity and have taken different forms in the environment. War artefacts of various statuses can be found all over the world, including monuments, historical monuments and tourist attractions. They can be found in city centers or appear out of nowhere. These objects are both the result of historical events and the result of the way we see rituals of remembrance. A monument directs attention to things that are significant, respected and worth remembering. Both the construction of the monument and its eventual removal or relocation have different emotional repercussions. The shape of the state or structure encourages introspection and acts as a reminder, but it also shapes certain attitudes and imagination. Memorials are the product of negotiation or imposition of a certain interpretation of historical events, as well as an effort to confirm a certain historical perspective [7].

No matter how straightforward, every spatial reality is the result of various social, political, artistic, and, last but not least, economic choices. War memorials cross many delicate lines that may both unite and divide; while they can deepen societal ties, they can also lead to conflict. In a universe of symbols and ideals that make us feel rooted in reality and history, they provide the appearance of solidity. A memorial directs attention to the things that are significant, revered, and worth remembering. Both the construction of a monument and its eventual removal or relocation have various emotional repercussions. The range of movement and emotion present across

#### *Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109127*

all of these tasks is incredibly diverse. As implied by the Latin derivation of the word memorialis, the primary purpose of monuments is to act as a reminder. Form of state or structure encourages introspection and acts as a reminder, but it also molds certain attitudes and imagination. Memorials are a product of negotiating or enforcing a certain interpretation of historical events, as well as an effort to validate a particular historical perspective. They may be considered the tangible results of these efforts to create communal memory.

Changed social values and new political circumstances have made internationally recognized works of art undesirable and the target of vandalism and demolition attacks. According to Alois Riegl, who is the founder of modern monument protection, 'unwanted heritage' is heritage that has been lost to the descendants of those who created it, heritage for which there is no longer any interest. Just as history is written, important monuments are erected, remembered, but also forgotten by the victors. In the consolidation of the first national states in the region, the monuments were transmitters of moral and ideological values, and the restoration of these efforts after the collapse of Yugoslavia was artistically unoriginal. The demolition of communist monuments marked the thanatopolitical symbolization of renewed capitalism. Parades of dead bodies, as well as the reburial and demolition of statues symbolize the deeper restorative value turns of "dead body politics". Everywhere religion and nationalism were renewed through the dead [8].

Attacks on monuments—accompanied by a continuous quasi-scientific, revisionist counter-revolution—apart from attacks on civilization itself, are actually a brutal devaluation of the two highest forms of human creativity—science and art. Monuments are historical sources, testimonies of the past and a necessary condition for its interpretation. What has no source, has not been studied or does not exist anymore, it did not happen for today's man.

Some of the most important and dramatic events from recent history in these areas are marked with unwanted cultural heritage, monuments, that is, events, individuals and collectives that (re)defined the course of the twentieth century and decisively influenced our lives today. However, the historical context that is necessary for reading these monuments conflicts with the dominant politics of memory, especially the fact that the organizational structure that lay in the background of effective anti-fascist resistance was the merit of the Communist Party as the only political factor in these regions that consistently resisted fascism. That is why today the monuments that recorded the development and activity of that political subject between the two world wars, either through the organization of workers, connection with the international movement or the subversion of the monarchist system, are mostly destroyed and forgotten. Maintaining these narratives in the collective memory represents an obvious danger to those who even today destroy them or seek to ideologically 'neutralize' them.

But the cynicism of our democratically underdeveloped society reaches its maximum when we publicly marvel and condemn the violence and devastation of world cultural heritage in the war-torn and UNESCO-protected Palmyra, the Iraqi city of Mosul or the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, where ISIL militants destroyed statues, shrines and manuscripts, mercilessly and fanatically destroying everything that reminded them of 'those others' who do not belong to their worldview. Terrifying images of those demolitions filled our media space, while almost no one publicly thought to compare similar demolition activities from our recent past.

Identity and patriotism, and history is a key tool in this, are formed predominantly by stories about wars, battles, heroes, crimes, enemies, criminals. With the radical change in politics and social consciousness created by the ruling policy through

various ideological mechanisms, epochal social consciousness also changes. When needs change, a new narrative is sought and produced. This requires an image of the past that provides a foundation as far back as possible. The past legitimizes the new present or provides the basis for the projection of the future that the ruling policy offers. This is why revisionism occurs, the fixing of the past or the production of a desirable history. For these needs, old myths and legends are revived, until then "undesirable" or forgotten personalities, ideas and events are raised, sufferings, crimes are emphasized, and new myths are produced. As a rule, the new history is based on the negation of the existing historical story. It causes ideological and political conflicts in society. On one side, there are "defenders" of the old story about the past (regardless of how accurate it is), on the other, producers of "new history", finally discovered and until then forbidden, necessarily national, are multiplying. This is how desirable identities are established or created.

On the territory of the former Yugoslavia, politically motivated historical revisionism can be identified after the First World War, when the legitimacy and necessity of the creation of the Yugoslav state had to be proven in the new state through the past. The problem in the countries created by the breakup of Yugoslavia is that historical revisionism has become a state project and that the project has taken on the character of settling "old scores", settling political opponents, emphasizing the intolerance of the people and religious communities. All of them have in common anti-communism, anti-Yugoslavism and pronounced nationalism.

In the process of breaking up Yugoslavia (**Figure 2**), the national identity based on traditional consciousness and historical rights was the basic argument of the republic's political and military structures for the restoration of former states or the creation of new states. To that end, it was necessary to destroy and devalue everything that held peoples and nationalities together, to compromise the communist ideology [9] by means of criminalization and emphasizing single-mindedness and political terror, to divide peoples and nationalities by reminding them of the old and causing new conflicts, crimes, by producing myths and places of suffering and thereby compromise the idea of Yugoslavia and the possibility of living in a common state. In this way, the League of Communists was compromised and broken, then the Yugoslav army, security services, diplomacy. Everything that was unifying and was based on the ideas of communism and Yugoslavia was commodified and criminalized through historical revisionism.

#### **Figure 2.**

*Yugoslavia after 1945 (left) and after the collapse of the state in the early 1990s (right), last century. Source: Authors works.*

#### *Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109127*

At the next level, the renewed national and state identity or the created new identity had to be historically grounded as far into the past as possible, insisting on tradition, historical rights, the glorious past and national idols. For this purpose, "forgotten" or "forbidden" national myths are being restored, new biographies of historical figures are being created as fighters for national, state or religious dignity and rights. This is done by recalling old conflicts, crimes, places of suffering, creating new idols and inventing examples of injustice and crime. Individuals and groups that were once condemned by their contemporaries are being rehabilitated, without proving that they were not guilty, it is enough to say that they were tried for political reasons or as fighters for statehood and national rights and that they did not have a fair trial. Losses, conflicts and problems in the past and present are readily explained by conspiracy and victim theory.

As the 1990s in the Western Balkans brought a new perspective through which ethnic groups viewed their own states, but also the past, the interpretation of the dissonant heritage acquired an additional, aggravating feature. That thread has not been broken even today - the old, official versions of history are still rejected, and almost every day we witness the rehabilitation of yesterday's enemies of the people and the change in the culture of memory. That's why often, instead of taking care of heritage for the sake of preserving knowledge about the past, the goal is to build a national identity, and instead of encouraging critical thinking, in that act we have its negation.

#### **4. The concept of genocide of cultural heritage**

War memorials become real and true manifestos to which they strive to give maximum visibility, not only physically, but also through echoes in time, registering their name and construction in the inscriptions; their destruction brings loss and misfortune, and thus an attempt is made to seal its immortality in time. War produces monuments, and at the same time monuments are involved in war by becoming one of its targets. By inscribing their name and construction in the inscriptions, war monuments acquire the status of real and legal manifestos that are sought to be given maximum visibility, not only physically but also through echo in time; by destroying them, one tries to ensure their indestructible durability in time [10].

The 1944 book by Polish attorney Rafael Lemkin is where the notion of cultural genocide first appeared. A concerted plan of numerous activities geared against the destruction of the vital foundations of the life of national groups, with a view to their full extinction, is how Lemkin defined genocide. Lemkin asserts that the destruction of the national patterns of the oppressed group and the imposition of the national patterns of the oppressors are the two stages of the social process of genocide. Analyzing the methods by which the Nazis carried out the genocide of the Polish people, Lemkin in his study Axis Rule in Occupied Europe (1944) listed eight techniques by which it is possible to carry out the genocide. He categorizes as a political, social, cultural, economic, biological, physical, religious, and moral strategy before giving a brief description of each. Lemkin, who paid close attention to cultural tactics, also created the idea of "culture genocide," which is a concrete application of the notion of genocide in general. Cultural genocide means the intentional destruction of cultural heritage and property of a certain social group, such as cultural or religious monuments, banning the use of language or certain cultural activities, and banning the work of cultural institutions. Since, for Lemkin, culture

is a key element of social integration and the fulfillment of basic social needs, any form of suppression of culture or destruction of cultural symbols can be considered genocide according to him [11].

The wealth of cultural objects as symbolic resources greatly contributes to the strengthening of group cohesion and self-awareness. Symbolic goods in contemporary armed conflicts represent one of the key targets of attack, given that they embody the identities of other communities or nations. The conflicting parties in such conflicts deliberately seek to destroy the cultural artifacts of the "other" because, in addition to reflecting their identities, they are also in the service of building national history. By destroying them, the symbols of the enemy nation also disappear, which makes it even more difficult for the opponent to construct a coherent national narrative that could be applied in the context of the political mobilization process. Another key reason for the destruction of cultural artifacts concerns the issue of territories. As Smith points out, territorialization is one of the fundamental properties of nationalism. Through the process of building an "ethno-landscape", the people and their homeland become symbolic entities. In this way, members of a particular identity group identify with the space they live in, which ultimately creates the illusion that the landscape they inhabit is an integral part of their identity and that they "emerged" from it in the past. Myths about autochthonous origins are additionally established by cultural objects such as palaces, bridges, churches and cemeteries that occupy the space in which a certain identity group lives. By destroying cultural property and clearing a certain territory of its historical and cultural objects, the ultimate goal of culturocide is to make a certain territory homogeneous and foreign to the existing community that inhabits it [12].

A nation's national and cultural identity is established, among other things, by a region's monumental legacy. Monuments related to fallen heroes are mediators between politics, the trauma of collective memory and public art. The cultural heritage of each nation also belongs to the universal cultural heritage, and this is its greatest value [13].

Monuments should connect and be in the function of peace. For example, the monuments of the World War II liberation effort in Istria, a territory on the border of Slovenia and Italy, serve as mirrors for the competing memories of the two nations and the many ethnic groups residing there on a national and regional level. Monuments serve as physical representations of official memory while also reflecting conflicts between personal recollections and the community's continued silence decades after the official memory of the former Yugoslavian system was dismantled [14].

#### **5. Genocide of cultural heritage in the former Yugoslavia**

Destroying heritage means trying to modify, falsify, mutilate, remove and, ultimately, kill the identity of a certain social group to which it belongs. In the destruction of monuments to the People's Liberation War, which was carried out during the 1990s, many sculptures, memorials and plaques dedicated to the fight against the darkness of Nazism and fascism were destroyed. In the Republic of Croatia, the "Day of the Anti-Fascist Struggle" is still celebrated, and since independence in 1991, approximately half of the anti-fascist monuments in that country have been either destroyed or damaged. After the victory over anti-fascism in 1945, around 6,000 monuments to anti-fascist fighters who laid down their lives for freedom were built in the Republic of Croatia until 1990. From 1990 to 2000, in Croatia, according to

#### *Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109127*

incomplete data, 2,964 memorials were demolished, damaged, desecrated or removed from public view, including 731 monuments and other memorials of great artistic and cultural-historical value and 2,233 different memorials representing with piety towards the victims and humanistic values for the local environment, for the family, future generations. In Dalmatia, for example, out of 1,030 monuments demolished or damaged, 482 or close to 50%. In the former municipality of Makarska, the destruction of memorials to the anti-fascist struggle is 100% [15]. In the wartime circumstances of the 90s of the last century in Croatia, the facts by means of which socialization was carried out during the communist rule were "forgotten" overnight. Therefore, the demolition of partisan monuments or their damage has become an almost everyday occurrence [16].

An exceptional work, located in the small town of Opuzen, the work of the famous Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić. A city where all traces of the monument that Opuzen erected in 1978 in honor of his most famous son, Stjepan Filipović, who was a member of the Yugoslav partisan army, a metal worker, and commander of a partisan battalion, have been lost. He was hanged by order of the German occupiers in 1942 in Valjevo. There is a well-known photograph in which Filipović with a noose around his neck is standing under the gallows, his hands raised in the air while calling for resistance against the occupying power (**Figure 3**). One woman immortalized that moment, and the image became an icon and is now in the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

Filipović's monument in Opuzen was detonated by several young men in 1991. They were paid for it by political dissidents. Although the perpetrators were identified, they were never prosecuted, nor was a serious investigation conducted in connection with the demolition of the monument [17].

Therefore, the devastation of monuments in the sense of demolition is most pronounced in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where around 50 percent of national liberation movement monuments were destroyed. Numerous memorials and memorial complexes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, created in the Yugoslav period and dedicated to the victims of the Second World War, are today mostly neglected or even adopted in order to promote ethno-national interests [18]. In **Figure 4**, we see the devastated Partisan memorial cemetery in Mostar in 1996, some parts of the monument demolished and plaques with the names of the fallen Partisans scattered and destroyed (left) and the monument on Makljen (right), mined and completely destroyed in 2000.

#### **Figure 3.**

*Stjepan Filipović on the left, the monument erected in his memory on the right. Source: https://www.politika.rs/ scc/clanak/430174/Slika-Stjepana-Filipovica-na-vesalima-je-u-UN-ali-ga-se-Hrvatska-stidi.*

**Figure 4.** *The memorial cemetery in Mostar and the monument on Makljen (BiH). Source: [19].*

The most widespread is devastation with graffiti, swastikas and local nationalist and fascist symbols of the Ustasha and Chetniks and combinations with fascist statements appear most often. In Serbia, the appearance of newly created monuments to the Chetniks has also been expressed. In Slovenia, a monument to anti-fascism was desecrated, this act was condemned by the Ministry of Culture and is being investigated by the police. Serbian medieval cultural heritage is unequivocally a victim of negation of memory, forgetting and silence in North Macedonia, and numerous historical sites in Montenegro left to the ravages of time and decay

During the destruction of war, many monuments and heritage units were destroyed (**Figure 5**). Most of them accidentally, even inevitably. However, we are witnessing the deliberate destruction of the heritage of others, with the aim of collapsing the national identity and morals of both the people and the army. Many inspirers and principals did not even hide it. So Goebbels wrote in his diaries that soldiers must target cultural centers. After the war conflicts in 1999, and as an indicator of Albanian dominance in this area, the destruction of Serbian cultural, spiritual and religious heritage gained momentum. As the heritage of others for the new political community, that heritage not only physically suffered in brutal destruction, but was also interpreted and treated differently: it was presented as its own, that is, Albanian, neglected as unwanted and used according to the needs of current politics.

In Kosovo's Vitina, where Serbs and Albanians live, at the beginning of 2013, an excavator demolished a monument to partisans killed in World War II. A group of about a hundred Albanians, led by the president of the organization of veterans of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), initially tried to demolish the monument by pushing, and then an excavator was brought in. The demolition of the monument was accompanied by excitement and applause. The demolition of this monument to the anti-fascist struggle was watched by members of the Kosovo Police. The Kosovo Police suspended five police officers because they did not prevent the demolition of the monument in Vitina.

*Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109127*

#### **Figure 5.**

*Destroyed monument of the Partisan Sixth Slavonic Corps, 1992 years. Source: https://www.antifasisticki-vjesnik. org/hr/prenosimo/6/Jak\_vjetar\_ili\_cetnici\_/350/.*

The monument to Boro and Ramiz - which for decades were symbols of friendship and brotherhood of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo was destroyed. Partisan heroes who were captured and shot together in 1943, hugging each other on the road from Djakovica to Prizren, had a monument in the city park in Pristina, where today only Ramiz remains (no Boro) (**Figure 6**).

The erasure or transformation of monument meanings is particularly visible in the case of monuments erected in honor of an idea or personality. The current community intervenes on them to show which history it does not want to remember. Monuments reminiscent of the anti-fascist struggle were destroyed, and there were also interventions that offered a symbolic upgrade, i.e. alteration of the monument. Thus, in Pristina, after 1999, members of the so-called KLA were buried at the Partisan Cemetery, while in 2006, Ibrahim Rugova, the first president of the

#### **Figure 6.**

*Destroyed monument to partisans (Serb and Albanian - Boro and Ramiz). Source: https://balkaninsight.com/ sr/2016/01/15/zaboravljeni-heroji-srpsko-albanskog-prijateljstva-01-14-2016/.*

self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, was buried in the same complex. The monument to Brotherhood and Unity in Pristina from 1961 was painted in the colors of the flags of the countries that recognized Kosovo as an independent state. The careless attitude towards the monuments of the anti-fascist past is a common characteristic of all areas of the former federation, but the direct destruction they suffered in the Albanian community in Kosovo and Metohija points to the identity crisis that accompanies this society [20]. The effort to revise or completely change the existing scientific interpretations of certain events for ideological (individual or group) and political motives is to mitigate or completely remove the "negative influence" on the collective national consciousness and identity and erase "undesirable" pages of national history.

There is no doubt that remembering the past should create a sense of continuity and be a driver of development [21]. In the paper, we focused on the destruction of cultural and historical heritage created in the period between 1945–1990, however, there are numerous examples of the destruction of cultural heritage created in the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, as well as after the First World War. Globalization has strengthened the role of culture as a source of local identity, and the increasing level of education and the aging of the population have contributed to the increased interest in cultural and national heritage. Heritage, that is, natural and cultural treasures should be preserved for future generations in order to preserve the identity that has become one of the most important pillars for the recognition of the tourist product [22]. Some authors remind us of the insufficient use of historically known destinations from the time of communism. The memory of communism in Serbia should be restored and shaped in a way that is acceptable to the expectations of tourists, and they suggest the creation of thematic cultural routes [23].

With the changes in government structures, a favorable climate was created for the gradual restoration of damaged monuments and memorial areas. One example of the monuments devastated in the 1990s that have been restored is the monument in the Jadovno concentration camp. The reconstruction of the monument was initiated by the Serbian National Council and financed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia. The monument is the work of sculptor Ratko Petrić, whose original work was erected in 1988, but was soon, in the early 1990s, completely destroyed [24].

#### **6. Conclusions**

Monuments are important. We can consider them silent objects and relics of history. In order to preserve the monumental heritage from further devastation, the most important thing is to clearly define the criteria for the evaluation of the memorial heritage, whereby a revisionist attitude towards the existing register of cultural monuments, on which professional names of the profession have worked devotedly for decades, should be avoided.

The culture of memory intertwines and lives through oral and written histories, memorials, monuments and toponyms. It recalls that the official memory of the Second World War and the official narrative about the past were replaced in the nations formed as a result of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia by a different narrative and a different memory, i.e. by forgetting the past, and it notes that this memory was just as official as the one that existed during Yugoslavia. In that new narrative, he continues, there was no place for remembering the common past, but that narrative was exclusively ethno-national.

#### *Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109127*

Monuments became one of the tools of the new government, with which the public was presented what and how to remember and what to forget from the period of the Second World War. Just like the partisan movement, the partisan monuments commemorating the national liberation movement underwent an ideological and ethno-national transformation in order to replace the common Yugoslav past, which became undesirable in the new dominant historical narrative, with the past of the Yugoslav peoples. For this reason, during the war in the 1990s, many monuments in Croatia were damaged or demolished. Former greats of the socialist revolution, numerous monuments from the time of Yugoslavia, today in our country are forgotten, desecrated, ignored or deliberately destroyed.

A potentially better solution than removing these monuments is to provide them with additional context. Several Eastern European countries have done this by placing additional explanations next to the monuments, indicating the complex history behind them.

For example, many Roman rulers, such as Nero, were not models of morality, but there are no calls for the destruction of their monuments today because they no longer have the power to influence the definition of national identity and the dominant interpretation of history. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the battle to define the history and identity of the nation will always have to include monuments, which, as a physical legacy of the past, play a major role in the political life of the present with their messages.

In the discourse in which conflicting politics of memory are being developed in the areas of the former Yugoslavia, the process of establishing a new relationship with the Second World War is noticeable. In the new interpretation, anti-fascism acquires a national content, due to which numerous monuments of the Second World War experience an ethno-national transformation. Monuments, memorial ceremonies, celebrations of selected dates, places of remembrance, etc. they are used as a resource for raising national awareness, separate histories, stories about national uniqueness, sacrifices made in the name of one's own nation and for its good, but also revisions of history. It is the expansion of ideology and collective identity.

Due to the location and year of its adoption, the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, often known as the "Hague Convention of 1954," is an international agreement that was ratified on May 14, 1954, in The Hague, Netherlands. Its purpose is to safeguard cultural property from desecration or damage, theft, robbery, and other unlawful forms of seizure, as well as military use during times of armed conflict. Any deliberate harm, intentional destruction, or misuse of the aforementioned cultural assets is prohibited by the Hague Convention [25–27].

However, what is even more important, it is not known exactly how many built memorials in the former Yugoslavia have survived to this day. This lack of information is not only a by-product of the lack of cataloging and inventory of these memorial sites, but also because they continue to be actively neglected and destroyed, not only by vandals and thieves, but also by the power of local self-governments and the governments of the former Yugoslav republics themselves.

#### **Author details**

Dejan Dašić Faculty of Law, Security and Management "Konstantin the Great", UNion-"Nikola Tesla" University, Belgrade, Serbia

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Unwanted Cultural Heritage of the Republics of the Former Yugoslavia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109127*

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#### **Chapter 9**

## Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes

*Asma Khalid and Nur Dalilah Dahlan*

#### **Abstract**

Wind Catcher is prominently known as a passive cooling device in buildings, especially in hot humid, and hot dry regions. In metropolitan cities of Pakistan, the wind catcher is seen as a lost heritage of the past. Campaigns to revive the wind catcher as a cooling and air displacement device are surfacing amongst the global communities. The chapter aims to address the social paradigm of wind catchers in the past and present and discusses its prospects for the highly polluted cities of Lahore and Karachi with a focus on the landscape. Using digital ethnography, the responses toward wind catchers in non-residential buildings were observed via blogs and videos. A total of 1386 nodes were coded from 54 sources in Nvivo for thematic classification based on a deductive approach of Past, Present, and Future. The chapter suggests the implication of wind catcher revival in the buildings of Lahore and Karachi as an effective wind ventilation solution for indoor air pollution, infiltration, thermal comfort, and cultural identity.

**Keywords:** wind catcher, ventilation, chimney, passive cooling, heritage, digital ethnography

#### **1. Introduction**

Recent statistics from global networking organizations have identified air pollution as the world's biggest threat to humanity due to its enormous burden on the environment, economy, and health sector. The metropolitan cities are housed to 3.5 billion population, alarmingly doubled by 2030 [1]. It requires flexibility for the global agenda of the United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by many countries including Pakistan. From 1990 to 2019 onward, a high concentration of PM 2.5 outdoor air quality index has been reported in the cities of Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan [2]. There is an alarming need to control the level of outdoor air pollution, which is 7–10 times greater than the requirements set by WHO [2, 3]. Increased dependency on fossil fuels, inefficient energy practices, burning of agricultural waste, and vehicular emissions have increased the air pollution level. The Pakistan government is focusing on 2030 air pollution control measures with the help of advanced control technologies [4] and building stakeholders have a social and moral responsibility to address the issue at hand. The rising concerns of outdoor

and indoor pollution coupled with the fact that people are spending more than 90% of their time indoors, lead to serious health concerns amongst building occupants [5]. The indoor air is highly contaminated and polluted due to furnishings, lack of ventilation, and choice of heating, and cooling modes [6]. With this, there is also an increased dependence on air conditioning [7], and air purification technologies for ventilation [8].

The street-level passive ventilation methods where openings such as doors and windows are used for the exchange of air [9]. But these methods although passive and sustainable but are not able to function and circulate clean air inside the building. This is because of the densely populated, closely packed new construction in Asian metropolitan cities of China, India, and Pakistan [10]. That is why the existing outdoor micro-climate is not healthy and clean to circulate within the buildings. Whereas studies published in countries such as the UK [11], Iran [12], and Malaysia [13] prove that the high-level passive ventilation method such as wind catchers, towers, or scoops are one of the ways to circulate the high level less polluted air to inside. The ventilation method has been demonstrated in existing commercial buildings in Ahmedabad India, Tucson, Arizona, Seville, Spain [14] Riyadh, KSA [15, 16].

#### **2. Wind catcher revival**

Yasmeen Lari featured the role of traditional technologies that are low carbon and have distinctive climate features, representing the local tradition and culture [17]. These features of vernacular architecture have not been recognized by the academicians and architects equally, thereby lead to decay or not being in original use in current circumstances. Besides the existence of less energy-intensive architectural features such as wind chimney, their role, presence in ancient times, current adaptability issues, and diminishing value in a modern, contemporary low-rise building is not known.

Countries such as Iran [18], Brazil [19], Malaysia [20], China [21], Jorden [22], Algeria [23], and many others are using wind catchers (WCA) as effective air change devices for thermal comfort and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ ). The commercial use of wind catchers has gone through subsequent development by combining it with various techniques [24, 25]. The existing design of the wind catchers covers the transitional aspects of past and present. However, the future development of wind catcher design is still of great debate for academicians and researchers. It is due to the novice problem of high-level outdoor pollution, extreme challenges of indoor pollution, and the dynamic need of users for achieving personal comfort within the space. Also, there is a gap in utilizing wind catchers as a passive strategy while comparing Pakistan and the international context. The existing low-rise colonial buildings of Lahore have high-level ventilation strategies such as ventilators and wind catchers [26]/chimneys [27] to bring a high level of less polluted air to the interior and ventilate it within the buildings. Buildings such as the Governor House, The University of Punjab, the Old Campus, the Railway Barrack headquarter, and many other have wind chimneys that represent culture and are used to serve in both the climate of summer and winter [28]. Similarly, the wind catchers of Hyderabad have been well known for their unique character [29] (**Figures 1**–**4**).

The chapter is an attempt to explore the people's experience from a perspective of wind catcher revivalism. The academicians, scientists, or the public who have an interest in such ancient old tech have convinced people through various communication

*Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109974*

**Figure 1.** *Wind chimneys of governor house [30].*

**Figure 2.** *WCA of the University of Punjab old campus (authors source).*

**Figure 3.** *WCA of railway Barrack Headquarters (authors source).*

platforms. The blogs have been written by people from different cultures and are included within the research to cover the viewpoint of wind catcher origin, development, and challenges in various regions. This is to materialize the role of social networking platforms such as blogs and videos, whose obligational role is not clear. Blogs and videos are the most enriched sources that have the potential to analyze the sustainable contribution of wind catcher technology. The existing academic literature widely covers information regarding wind catcher development in which environmental and economic aspects are discussed in terms of eco-friendly, less intensive, low carbon footprint, passive design natural, free energy, and low cost highlighted [20, 22]. Still, the social factor concerning sustainability has not been touched so this chapter will

**Figure 4.** *WCA revival Hyderabad District administration office [31].*

consider social opinion through qualitative analysis. Additionally, the content analysis will cover people's experiences and reveal a greater insight into wind catchers, the three-phase development of the Past, Present, and Future.

### **3. Methodology "Digital Ethnography"**

Digital Ethnography (DE) is a method that shares the insights of people through various digital mediums to marginalize the voice of people [32]. DE is chosen to evaluate the existing blogs and videos, which have emerged as an expression for wind catchers in various regional contexts Existing blogs and videos specify the WCA development from classical to modern, and futuristic approaches in buildings for various regions including Pakistan. DE helps in synchronizing and analyzing WCA information reported by different bloggers. The DE was conducted with keyword searches such as 'wind catcher', 'scoops', 'WCA in Iran, Hyderabad, Pakistan', 'Monodraught', 'WCA technologies', 'WCA for thermal comfort', 'WCA types', and 'ventilation through WCA'. DE helps us to identify 33 blogs and 21 videos and transcripts from the search and scrutinize the relatable content in terms of replication and duplication. To extract meaningful information and trend spotting within the wind catcher, the scripts and transcripts were processed in the Nvivo version 11.

**Figure 5** shows the five key step that has been applied to get the descriptive and analytical themes explored in terms of Past, Present, and Future. The raw data of measuring unit (a) consist of blogs and transcripts information, processed through Nvivo. The reference info is linked to themes and children's codes were developed as the text was coded accordingly and an auto summarizes theoretical framework was generated as a condensed meaning unit (b). The 19 children's codes are aggregated into 6 parental codes. The children's code of geography aggregated from (region, climate, history), IAQ (pollutants, standards, air change), thermal comfort (techniques, temperature, humidity), ventilation (ventilation type and standards), wind catcher type (classical, modern, reminisce), wind catcher (definition, types, characteristics, function). The coded sources help to extract information, analyze it, and categorized it in terms of past, present, and future intercessions. The different sections of the framework were coded again (c), and the information was grouped and categorized (d). Afterward, each section of summarized information was further grouped for manifest and latent analysis (e). A total of 1386 initial codes have been developed

*Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109974*

#### **Figure 5.** *Key steps of thematic analysis (adapted from [33, 34]).*

#### **Table 1.**

*Comparison of ethnographic nodes total, with blogs and videos.*

as shown in **Table 1**. The codes and themes have been generated from the deductive approach to achieve more reliable results [27]. The manifest analysis was done while reading through the transcripts of videos and blogs whereas the latent analysis was performed to summarize them in three key themes Past, Present, and Future. As part of the manifest analysis, some original saying that reflects the essence of information and personal experiences of people have also been reported in the text directly [27]. The main themes have been ranked according to the level of Past initiatives, Present situations, and future scenarios, in line with the objective of the chapter.

**Figure 6** shows a graphical distribution of various code references on the blog and video transcripts. The video content created the highest number of references in initial coding schemes. The regional and geographical characteristics identified the maximum number of references, followed by IAQ and thermal comfort, whereas landscape approaches and wind catcher challenges also significantly identified coded information from the blogs and video content analysis.

**Figure 6.** *Comparison of coded references in 54 sources.*

#### **4. Result and discussion on the themes**

The following section will generate a discussion according to synthesized themes, namely, past, present, and future. This section reviews the initiatives that have been taken in the past, and potentially adapted to the present. It can suggest a way forward for the future application of wind catcher revival and further development in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan. An article published by ArchDaily [35] shows an excellent transition of WCA design to adapt to different regions, and climates, and carry on the tradition from past to present and future.

#### **4.1 The past initiatives**

A book named "Architecture without Architects" was published by Bernard Rudofsky, in which the contribution of passive ventilation through various methods such as stack, and the chimney effect [36] have been highlighted. The wind catcher varies according to the different geographical conditions and is designed to suit climatic conditions. The past initiatives cover the aspects of geographical suitability, regionalism, climate design, and the historic development of WCA.

#### *4.1.1 History*

Wind catchers have been debatable about their origin. One continuation of such claim is from Persia, where archeologists have discovered some 4000 BC wind catcher, which resembles a chimney with no ashes in the interior. The other is from the paintings of Pharaoh Nebamun's residence, in Egypt in 1300 BC where the triangular structure proves its beginning in history (**Figure 7**). However, the traditions carried from the wind scoops of Iran almost around 2000 years ago, transferred to the nearby Gulf and Persian-influenced countries through the pearl trade route.

Arguably the Egyptian source is nontangible with speculation that only exists in drawings as inspiration from the nearby geographical site of Iran and Nasir Khusraw's famous Persian poetry of the 5th century. Also, the Persians led to the surviving

*Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109974*

**Figure 7.** *WCA of pharaoh Nebamun's residence, Egypt [37].*

**Figure 8.** *WCA of Yazd City, Iran [18].*

examples in the Yazd city of wind towers (**Figure 8**). Furthermore, according to Dr. Abdel Moniem El-Shorbagy, the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th Century helped to spread WCA to the Middle East and South Asia. So, both arguments support Iran as the birthplace and the spread of wind catchers to nearby countries. In terms of WCA revivalism, Iran shares an 805 km long border with Pakistan, providing an opportunity to revisit the cultural traditions of wind catchers. As seen in the past the pearl route helped to extend the architectural tradition from one region to the other areas, so now today, it can inspire architects of Pakistan to adapt and merge the old tech of wind catchers within new buildings. The tradition of wind towers has also been revived within India so various regions of Pakistan can also take some lessons from the past and today's cultural adaptation to revive WCA in existing and newly constructed buildings.

#### *4.1.2 Geography*

Geographically WCA is suitable to low rise, less dense places with optimum wind speed in the regions. Other site conditions that are helpful for wind catchers to function are the best orientation, opening sizes, and solar protection. Yazd, the historic city of Iran known to us as the city of wind catchers have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017 [38]. Another interesting dual tech of the old times was the use of WCA for air conditioning and refrigeration. They were used by the Persians to passively cool Khalistan palace, Tehran with water, wind, and desert ice.

In Sindh, Pakistan every house and many administrative buildings once have wind scoops. The Sindh scoops were unique in classification due to their shape and shutter function. Pakistani senior journalist and cultural analyst, Abid Ali Syed says "Photographs from the 1920s and 1930s of the Hyderabadi skylines dotted with windcatchers serve as an archetype of a communal, synchronous climate responsive effort" [39] (**Figure 11**).

Now-a-day they are found in geographical locations of the Middle East, Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Jorden, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Spain, Pakistan, the UK, and some windy regions of the US, and Canada such as Toronto and Ottawa (**Figure 9**).

The Zion National Park Visitor Center in Utah (USA) has wind towers for the hot dry climate that works in combination with evaporative cooling pads to cool interior spaces. The Wind tower of Torrent Research Center Ahmedabad, India designed on the principle of Passive Downdraught Evaporative Cooling (PDEC) with annual energy and cost savings of 64 and 36% respectively. The labs achieved a comfortable temperature of 27 and 29°C on the ground and first floor in comparison to 38°C outside temperature with an air change rate of 6–9 m3 /hr. The PDEC system was effective most of the time of the year except during monsoon season which was managed with a ceiling fan. The wind catcher and scoops of the UK are at the forefront of creating the most innovative and prefabricated design, with environmental consideration of energy efficiency and low carbon emissions (**Figure 10**).

#### *4.1.3 Climate*

Daniel A. Barber explains in his book "Modern Architecture and Climate: Design before Air Conditioning" about the role of climate adaptive strategies in regionalism and its reflection in modern architecture to replace HVAC [40].

#### **Figure 9.**

*Wind catchers (WCA's) typology in various countries such as Iran [12], Egypt, Afghanistan [16], Malaysia [13], Canada, Qatar, Tehran, USA, India [14], Dubai [35] (start from the top left to right in all rows).*

*Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109974*

**Figure 10.** *Wind catchers (WCA's) variation in the UK [11, 24, 25].*

Climate plays a significant role in passive ventilation, as it requires consistent wind speed and challenges of seasonal and variable wind direction during the day. Other important climate parameters are dry bulb temperature and humidity. So, a wind catcher is an ancient accomplishment of engineering that uses wind energy and has the potential to replace HVAC. WCA has been adapted to various climates and geographical locations according to environmental attributes. They have shown great potential in hot dry, hot humid, and temperate climates, where occupants need air movement to deal with the hot weather. Wind scoops also work efficiently in the hot dry wind region of the Midwest United States. Iranian wind towers are suitable for the hot desert climate.

Today buildings are classified in various climate zones and are designed accordingly. The wind velocity, direction, turbulence, surroundings, seasonal variation, and diurnal changes will develop the flow pattern. The wind is not only distributed horizontally but also circulated in the vertical spatial division, bringing less polluted and strong wind at the higher level. Similarly, the design of the wind tower inlet is opposed to the solar direction to minimize the heat. The WCA suitability in summer and winter is necessary for the adaptability of a passive design strategy. The role of climate is pertinent as it will bring comfort through air circulation within the interior.

#### *4.1.4 Regionalism*

Wind catchers are used as vernacular architecture in ancient Egypt, Babylonians, Persian, and Arabs. According to regions, their local name is Persian Badgir or Shish Khan, which serve as temperature regulators and ventilation devices. In the Sindhi language, they are known as the 'Manghan Jo Shahir' (City of Wind Catchers). But this claim is very limited because the same is known to us for the Iranian city of Yazd, which truly represents the ancient past, well preserved for today, and a great inspiration for the future. Like the Iranian context, where Persian poetry praises the

function, beauty, and social setting of WCA, the Sindhi Jiji also explains its social contextual use as a communication window (gossip) between two houses, to borrow and exchange items [41].

In an international context, WCA has been explored in various technical aspects of calculating wind dynamics from exterior to interior. But in Pakistan, they have not been acknowledged by the academic community except for a few architects Yasmeen Lari, Kaleemullah Lashari, and Anila Naeem have highlighted their importance in vernacular practices. The conservational drawing of WCA (Mangh) developed by Abdullah Qadir Baksh Shaikh conveys its use, esthetic, and social presence [41]. In ancient times, WCAs were present in Hirabad, Matiari, Halla, Sujawal, Thatta, Kotri, Gjaro, Jati, Gujo, and Bathoro to make use of rooftop ventilation.

The blogs also show the expression of people's love and intimacy about the use of ancient WCA. The blogs quote information from the elderly experience who have enjoyed the WCA cool breeze of the Indus, a sole air conditioning mechanism. The blogs also talk about the dilemma of eliminating the use of catchers in present times due to several reasons such as a power station being built in the city of Hyderabad. As time went on, people stop acknowledging the true essence of WCA's presence, and the lack of adaptability to newly raised problems and issues of climate change and air pollution. The old pictures (**Figure 11**) of the Hyderabad wind catcher shared through online social media platforms interestingly catch the eye of architects, historians, and environmentalists as free energy tech of ancient times that has great potential to convince stakeholders for the present and future.

*"What I found was that windcatchers do still exist—even though they are very rare and in my opinion, they are ready for a comeback." [31].*

*"I read that windcatchers had been replaced by air conditioning, but surely something this widespread couldn't have completely disappeared in just a few decades, could it?" [31]*

#### **Figure 11.**

*Photo and video diary shows a collection of old pictures of Hyderabad WCAs from various social media platforms [17, 31, 41].*

*Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109974*

#### *<IP_ADDRESS> Implications*

Wind Catchers were built with a sustainable approach, place-making, a reflection of social connectivity amongst people, and valuing climate design. They can be revived as a lost cultural heritage that represents symbolism due to their resemblance with Sindhi poetry, and a point of women's socialization. So, understanding the true social, environmental, and economic essence of old wind catcher design may help stakeholders to revive the tradition in various regions of Pakistan.

Dr. Susan Roaf [26] advocated the wind catcher's unique design in various regions including Iran and Pakistan and their relative adaptive measure to achieve increased comfort zone in naturally ventilated buildings of Lahore and Karachi that can be revived according to new needs. The high-level ventilation openings provide a solution to indoor air pollution. So, it is suggested that existing closed openings either be made functional again in terms of using it for ventilation or introducing a wind catcher.

#### **4.2 The present situation**

Buildings were built in the past and present to protect the people from the harsh climate. Today the WCA appears to be a successful adaptable tech that has great potential to resonate in many countries of the world. The contemporary architecture of Lahore and Karachi can be relooked at adapting existing designs such as prefabrication, solar-powered, and new WCA forms according to wind direction, and speed. The analysis also proves that Lahore and Karachi as metropolitan hubs provide huge potential to use commercial WCA and save energy, fewer GHG emissions, and greater carbon savings within the low-rise buildings. This will help to address the issue of climate change and the energy crisis. Architects and historians are more hopeful about the potential application of this old tech even today. In the present day, the maintenance and use of ancient wind catchers and towers are of great challenge. Along the side, their continuous use in rehabilitated and newly constructed commercial buildings is of great interest to Lahore and Karachi.

The wind catcher heads, openings, and columns are the different parts that functionally control the air quality too, and play a role in achieving comfort. In addition, the wind catcher is climatically controlled for varying wind directions with a rotatable head and personalized comfort within the room can be achieved. The IAQ can also be improved with the help of providing a solar chimney, another variation of stack ventilation within the building. In many places, wind catchers have been used in combination with other passive methods. So, in Lahore and Karachi, the same concept can be used with natural ventilation systems e.g., a combination of the clerestory, wind tower, zenithal openings, and wind exhausts will help to improve the IAQ. The wind catcher can be built with sustainable materials, thermal regulators such as brick, clay cover, wood, medium density board, or sandwiched insulation to provide a time lag between interior and exterior. The landscape design in connection with nature will bring a new life to indoor workplaces for a healthy environment. Amongst the common strategies of green building are the green roof and green facade that acts as a thermal regulator for building in many regions. So, it is suggested to provide wind catchers as an initiative of using in green approach in the recent and existing construction of Lahore and Karachi.

#### *4.2.1 Air conditioning issues*

The world population has risen to 9.7 billion with 68% urban migration and stakeholders are relying on HVAC causing the urban heat island effect. The human need for a climatically controlled atmosphere within the building makes us less adaptive to passive solutions and design strategies. The natural landscape is converted to construct the buildings, leading to heat accumulation and temperature rise in urban areas. İnternational Energy Agency (IEA) statistics for various countries have shown that there is an annual stock sale increase in the cooling consumption of both residential and commercial buildings [42]. Air conditioning has become one of the key components of a commercial building. The comfortable temperature in HVAC building range between 20 and 26°C rather than adaptable to a more flexible range of being adaptable on the wider temperature range. Environmental pollution has increased due to the release of various Noxious, Sulfur accumulation and other Green House Gases (GHG). The unsustainable practices of suggesting comfort based on air conditioning (AC) have created a dilemma for passive architecture. At one time the whole city skyline was filled with WCAs which are now replaced with rooftop split units and there will be a need for a system for replacing those AC along with its air handling units and pipes on large scale. These AC are expensive and unreliable due to grid electricity shortages in many developing countries. Building's cooling need requires greater dependence on electricity and HVAC technologies to manage the long duration of summer. The aftereffects of air conditioning pose serious environmental concerns to the people who work indoors and suffer from sick building syndrome.

#### *4.2.2 Pollutants and air change*

Various exterior and indoor sources significantly contribute to the level of indoor pollution such as CO2, Volatile Organic Compound (VOC), which makes it difficult for people to breathe and affect their cognitive performance. The indoor environment is prone to emissions from indoor furnishings. As Martin W Liddament tells in his book A Guide to Energy Efficient Ventilation:

*"Many systems operate in 'blending' mode to dilute pollutants, while others operate in 'displacement' mode to remove pollutants without mixing. The pollutants most often found in work and home environments are so-called VOCs, or "volatile organic compounds" [43].*

Carbon dioxide (CO2)is a byproduct of human respiration and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ ) can be improved with air change in a particular space through a wind catcher. Building requires thermal comfort as well as optimally good IAQ by reducing the level of CO2 and maintaining internal temperature. Low carbon use within the room will reduce the level of CO2 and help to achieve the required healthy and productive environment. Some countries are highly polluted and an additional layer of filter or screens in the inlet is required to clean the incoming air. According to Leonard Woolley, the wind catcher technology also advances in providing an air shaft to accelerate air within the building. The highly dusty zones also can be well treated with a tall wind catcher that brings cooler, stronger, and less dusty winds. The collected dust can be dumped at the bottom and can be further cleaned with meshing or indoor plants. Such a solution is highly suggestable in areas prone to insect-borne illnesses that require air filtration. The new Urban Development Company (EDU)

#### *Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109974*

headquarters in Medellin, is built with a prefabricated solar chimney to replace cool air with warm air in the indoor workplace [44]. The Northern Link, Stockholm Sweden ventilation tower was constructed at the tunnel to tackle the highly polluted zones to divert pollution. Wind scoops are structures that are applicable in a dry but windy location with a minimum pollution rate. The availability of various filters in wind scoops also further clean the air and removes dust particles. There is a certain limitation with the design of existing scoops that rely on the outdoor air properties and in that case the outdoor air needs to process through a medium to achieve a significantly good level of ventilation.

#### *4.2.3 Thermal comfort*

Another noticeable feature of wind catcher buildings is thermal comfort, and its requirement depends on the climate condition of a particular area. "Pottinger wrote in 1815 and it's because the climate is so bad that to occupy buildings in that climate you have to have air movement for comfort" [45]. In dry conditions of hot-arid climates, adiabatic humidification will increase the moisture of the air to manage thermal comfort. This can be done with the help of evaporative cooling of sprayed pad system, tubes of lightweight fabric 1.4 meters in diameter, and a mist fan. The use of a ceiling fan will accelerate the process of natural ventilation and cooling process. The fan has a fog nozzle that produces a very fine mist, that helps to quickly evaporate the water and the air passes with high velocity at low temperature. Thermal comfort within the building is achieved with the help of wind pressure differences in a windy region, otherwise through temperature differences in less windy places. Comfort is achieved when air passes over the body and heat transfer between the body and the surrounding environment takes place with the help of convection, radiation, and conduction. At the same time, body tends to adapt to different personal factors in its natural environment. People of Tehran and Baghdad are comfortable at temperatures of 37 and 38°C in summer using various adaptive methods. The use of different mechanisms such as changing postures, open and close of opening depends on the seasonal requirement, and the use of blinds and curtains are chosen by people to keep themselves thermally safe, and neutral, and maintain a core body temperature. The groundwater heat exchanging pipes play a significant role in combination with solar chimneys and then channel within the room and air exhaust either to the other end of the tower or window. The interesting feature of WCA design is to bring air/wind directly to the place where occupants sit and can enjoy the breeze sometimes directly above it. The comfort in the WCA building can be controlled through materials like mud brick as an Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy talks about it. The material acts as a thermal insulator or thermal lag to protect against the unusual loss of heat. Persians also made Yakhchals through thermally sustainable mortar consisting of clay, lime, sand, egg whites goat hair, and ash. Similarly, the towers are being effectively used in combination with the radiant panels, Trombe wall, and solar heated system.

#### *<IP_ADDRESS> Implications*

To celebrate the old traditional culture, and sensational space experience, the standalone wind catcher was built from recycled material at an exhibition and expos recently in Dubai [46, 47] (**Figures 12** and **13**). The site structure was objectively developed to gain people's confidence in the wind catcher tower, where they can experience wind ventilation. The use of local traditional materials, a climate-friendly

#### **Figure 12.** *Barjeel installation, Miskavi architecture studio [46].*

**Figure 13.** *Wind scoop, Austrian pavilion [47].*

design that projects energy saving and struggles for climate justice and a sustainable common future. Such initiatives can be taken even today to build wind catcher tower models, at various exhibition places in Lahore and Karachi. Even educational institutes can build a model as part of raising awareness amongst the education communities. This will help to familiarize people with the need and use of wind catchers in their specific climate context. This proposal can pave the way for climate-conscious design, a celebration of old cultural identity, inspiring people at large, and its implementation in future times.

The only wind catcher example of revivalism is the Hyderabad district administration's office (**Figure 4**) where architects are inspired by the old WCA traditions and want to revive them in commercial buildings. However, they can be made functional for climate-conscious design.

Wind catchers are predominantly used in the summer when more frequent air change is required. But their use in the winter season can also be suggested for air exchange on sunshine days. So, a wind catcher open and close pattern can be suggested to make it workable for all seasons.

#### **4.3 The future scenario**

Wind Catcher faces a lot of challenges regarding their development in various regions. Particularly, Lahore and Karachi are facing problems of pollution that require filtration of air in combination with evaporative or convective cooling in hot dry, and humid climates. Another biggest challenge is how they can be usable and adaptable to the changing need for human comfort and IAQ. Pakistan is a developing country where economic conditions are poor and building stakeholders have lost their confidence in the well-known passive design techniques. These cities experience long summer duration and high levels of polluted outdoor air quality in winter. The wind catcher revivalism should be done with state-of-the-art tech, employing green approaches in low-rise buildings.

*Wind Catcher: A Lost Architectural Heritage with Timeless Passive Attributes DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109974*

#### *4.3.1 Landscape approach*

This section aims to look at the landscape-based micro-climate design for buildings. According to the World Economic Forum, the ancient wind catcher towers are a great inspiration to the Madrid outdoor wind garden to cool the city temperature by 4°C [48]. Another outdoor application of wind catcher in terms of landscape design is the spiral structure composed of ferns and mosses that catches the wind from the treetops/canopies and help to cool the nearby places. The most common methodology for building walls and roofs is green roofs and green walls. But the greenery also has some wind-friendly characteristics that attract or repel the wind for a cooling effect. For example, hedges, shrubs, and bushes reduce the air movement around the building and are suggested to be planted a minimum of 8 m away from the building. But the limitation changes for about 2 m on the leeward side of the building. Other cities such as Athens, and Bangkok have pocket parks and mangroves Eco-Park. The greenery not only cools the surrounding areas but also minimizes the level of surrounding pollution. There are ancient WCA where indoor plants along with mesh help to filter the clean air. However, the role of local and native plants is necessary that suit the climatic and geographical conditions of an area. The bio-climatic design of the green roof and facade acts as insulation for the city and encourages ventilation within and around the buildings. Farming Kindergarten and Vedana Restaurant, their native plants act as respiratory organs for air purification and maintaining a comfortable temperature for surroundings.

#### *<IP_ADDRESS> Implications*

Presently, the blogs and videos do not discuss the immediate need and far-reaching impact of adopting the SDG 2030 agenda, for the design of passive buildings. This may be because of the reasons that such a platform is not aware of policymaking and driving a direct connection with the needful. But now and in the future to achieve the target set by sustainable communities and cities of Goal 11, the stakeholders will take into consideration the need for wind ventilation through wind catchers, increasing the impacts of a healthy environment within buildings. This will further help to bridge the gap of reducing indoor pollutants and sick building syndrome issues in line with the global agenda of SDG 2030.

The lack of landscape and scarce vegetation in the city of Hyderabad [49] also require espousing a vegetated wind catcher approach. This can be universally applied to all cities in the world that lack vegetation. In this way, it will help to balance the hard and landscape in terms of the built environment. The green vegetation approach needs to explore using numerical modeling in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The context or site-specific situation can be simulated for exploring the reduced impact of improving outdoor polluted air and circulation within the building. Another point of concern revealed in the qualitative analysis of sources is the selection of local vegetation.

Wind Catcher ventilation uses a sensational use of different senses that will give an enhanced indoor experience to the user. The WCA air can be felt on the skin in terms of thermal comfort, the indirect natural light can be treated for a visual connection with nature, and the aroma of air to remove the gaseous substance of various types also increases air quality and can be sensed through the nose. It will give an exciting experience of creating a quiet zone by making use of an acoustical design that is difficult to achieve in window ventilation. WCA design can provide personalized thermal, visual, and acoustical comfort to all users according to their dynamic needs.

#### **5. The next step for wind catcher design**

The WCA potentially suitable for future use in the buildings will have to face some contextual challenges that are highlighted through digital ethnographic analysis.

Amongst the most competitive passive design techniques, the wind catcher's potential for ventilation needs to be realized. In metropolitan cities of many countries, air pollution has been critical and surpassed the level set by WHO. Due to the introduction of air inside the building, it's become critical to bring polluted and non-treated air to the channel within the building. Sometimes stack Ventilation induces turbulence and fluctuation of wind inside the building, resulting in poor air movement. Wind Catcher arrangement is important, and flow needs to justify the fairer distribution of air inside. A common strategy is to place some of them in the wind direction and some places opposite. If the design of the wind catcher is not proper, it may cause a downdraft attack within the interior of the buildings. The airflow pattern and turbulence become critical in areas of a high and dense urban environment.

More recently, in some countries, the wind catchers have fallen, not maintained due to their non-usage in modern times. Yazd's City is a UNESCO heritage site because of its ancient, oldest known, and highest number of wind catchers, which survived today but losing their identity. Their existence as a historic piece, celebrating the regional architectural identity is more dominantly a driving factor. The wind catcher of Lahore and Karachi face the same situation of lost heritage and requires attention. It also challenges the maintenance of cultural identity by reducing the existing dichotomy between form and function.

#### **6. Limitations of digital ethnographic studies**

The study does not analyze finding from any WCA community on social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. However, people have uploaded some pictures on their accounts, followed by content sharing. Interestingly some images were found on architectural pages that support the vernacular architecture of Sindh, Pakistan. A few architects have also supported and advocated wind catcher images as part of a successful strategy in the past.

#### **7. Conclusions**

The research is an attempt to synthesize insights through blogs and videos. The content analysis of digital sources was accessed to determine the role of wind catchers as mediation and interposition of past, present, and future. It is hoped that findings from this study can inspire policymakers to revive the usage of wind catchers as a solution to Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in Pakistan. Both Karachi and Lahore are metropolitan cities with high populations, facing long hours of electricity shortages, and high levels of indoor/outdoor pollution. The recent design of wind catcher in various countries take air filtration into the consideration. The landscape design such as water bodies, moist mud, vegetation, and indoor air-purifying plants are the natural way of cleaning the air and achieving thermal comfort. The wind catcher can be revived in both regions of Lahore and Karachi on new lines of green catcher.

#### **Acknowledgements**

The authors acknowledge Monodraught Company for giving permission to use of their copyrighted pictures. We are also thankful to Mr. Khalid Mehmood Khan who helped in facilitating the communication channel for the field survey that helped the authors to take pictures for this book chapter.

### **Funding**

This work was supported by Inisiatif Putra Siswazah grant ID No.: GP-IPS/2022/ 9736900 from Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang Campus.

### **Conflict of interest**

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

#### **Acronyms and abbreviations**

### **Author details**

Asma Khalid\* and Nur Dalilah Dahlan Faculty of Design and Architecture, Department of Architecture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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### Fractal Dimension and Perception of Order in Islamic Art

*Nurfer Tercan*

#### **Abstract**

In this article, I aim to draw attention to how human beings' innate emotional closeness, connectional integrity, and creation feature toward other living things and the causality of coexistence are interpreted in the triad of mind, philosophy, and architecture. Esthetic appreciation for nature is one of the essential human tendencies, and it is biologically encoded in the human structure. The primary function of the structures of nature to create an esthetic effect in man is the maintenance of life. In addition to the geometric properties of biological forms, such as fractal formation and scale invariance, symmetry, self-similarity, and complex hierarchy, indirectly relate humans to patterns and properties of natural elements. The relationship between people and places is manifested not in spatial distinctions but in the transition between perspectives. In this article, I argue that the architectural, philosophical, and artistic triad of the Alhambra Palace is a magnificent labor that can correspond to the concepts of connective totality, biophilia, and fractal.

**Keywords:** Islamic art, biophilia, fractal, geometric synthesis, philosophy of mind, cognitive science, perception

#### **1. Introduction**

As a result of the interaction and transformation of cultural dynamics, each period shapes its own ecology. The human brain, which can develop thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, has a unique connectivity with its originality, creativity, imagination, the potential to transform itself with each new learning, and the ability to create a communication network and pattern. The authoritative communication language of society can be defined as life. Philosophy, art, architecture, and science understand this language and discover new truths from experiences to be articulated on old truths, give meaning to lives and new "more truths." The interconnectedness network of life, which consists of information, is modeled in the human mind with philosophy, art, architecture, and science. That area of the network of existence is again "created" through specified experiences with the premise of philosophy, art, architecture, and science. When we examine the existence of nature, from the veining structure of a leaf to the folds where streams meet and separate, from the images created by the lightning to the elegant patterns produced by the flowers in an artistic manner; we encounter various occurrences or actions, from the intricate form of mountains to the behavior of nonlinear weather conditions that we cannot precisely predict. When we

pay attention to this production language witnessed by human beings, we can analyze how a process consisting of a few simple steps turns into magnificent formations when repeated, no matter how complex it may seem. The presence and richness of fractality in the forms produced by nature and observed behaviors draw attention. Connectivity is also hidden in geometry. Geometry maps are translated as measurements of the earth or earthly measurements. Geometry reveals parts of all forms of the part's relation to the whole and the structure. Geometry, which forms the basis of the original structure of everything that exists, is a constant reminder to us of the sacredness of the relationship with the whole, its interconnectedness in the universe, and its constant interaction with the networks it sees with everything. Natural analogs deal with the organic, inanimate, and indirect connotations of nature. Living things, materials, colors, shapes, sequences, and patterns found in nature; In the built environment, it manifests itself as a work of art, ornament, furniture, decor, and weaving. Imitating flower and leaf patterns, choosing colors in the natural environment, or organically designed furniture provides an indirect connection with nature.

Man is a part of nature and is materially dependent on nature in terms of resources such as food, clothing, and medicine to maintain his life. Apart from this, nature is essential in terms of its effects on human beings' emotional, cognitive, esthetic, and spiritual development. In theory and practice, a person's physical, mental, and spiritual health depend on the quality and continuity of the interaction with the natural environment. This interaction increases the potential for a safe and fulfilling life. Man's dependence on natural resources, satisfaction from interaction with nature, the development of exploration and skills, the effect of the physical appearance of nature on peace and inspiration, and emotional bonds with plants and animals have been studied in different subjects. The actual discovery area of humanity is life on earth and the transfer of related information to science, art, and daily life. Human beings' ties to the rest of life are poorly understood and need new scientific research and bold esthetic interpretations. It is necessary to develop an intellectually more substantial and persuasive environmental ethic.

The symbolic experience of nature refers to the use of nature to facilitate communication and thought.  The use of symbols related to nature showed itself in the development of spoken language. Problem-solving, critical thinking, and manual skills have emerged from centuries of interaction with nature. His closeness to natural elements is biologically coded into the human structure. It is known that animal and plant representations observed in historical buildings and places have long been used in architecture for decorative and symbolic decorations. The consistency of these natural themes, applied differently in each period, shows that biophilic design is not new. Instead, history supports that connection with nature is vital for modern humans as an urban species to maintain a healthy and vibrant existence.

Biophilia and biophilic design emphasize that physical and mental well-being depends, beyond us, on the quality of our relationships with nature, of which humans are ecologically a part. The biophilic design approach is shaped on the basis that people feel better in environments with sunlight, animals, trees, flowers, running water, birds, and natural processes. In buildings that have survived from ancient times, the concept of design connected with nature in a continuous state shows that although the biophilia hypothesis is a modern concept, it is not a new point of view. Communities in the past, which built shelters from local materials, have historically revealed their structures through biological orientations and spatial arrangement processes of their

#### *Fractal Dimension and Perception of Order in Islamic Art DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109432*

immediate environment and minds. Using what they had for shelter, protection, and worship, they instinctively built structures that provided the knowledge, form, and meaning their sense of well-being required. Therefore, design decisions have been realized as a natural extension of the neurological processes that make humans alive and human. The design framework of modern architecture has yet to develop in a way that includes nature and requires a relationship with the environment. However, current evaluations of historical buildings show that people perceived healing qualities better in the past and included them in their immediate surroundings.

Since the periods of urbanization activities, they have built their shelters with biological guidance, and applications, such as gardens, courtyards, atriums, and inner gardens, have been made in all societies, and contact with nature has been achieved. Humanity, whose relationship with nature is based on existence, attributed holiness to these gardens by developing mythological and religious events in connection with nature. In Islamic civilization, courtyard design, which connects with nature and privacy in civil and public buildings, has been the most critical element determining the development of Islamic architecture and cities. The garden of a surreal palace depicted in Tales of One Thousand and One Nights, which is described as one of the seven wonders of the world, is the most important example of which the healing, purifying, and spiritualizing effect of nature has been proven in ancient communities where water plays with various plants and trees were masterfully constructed. The Palace, an excellent source of pride for all Islamic art and Andalusian architecture, is the Palace of Alhambra (Kasrü'l-hamrâ). The building, built for military use by the Andalusian Umayyads on a hill overlooking the rivers in Granada, Spain, in the ninth century, was expanded with towers, interconnected rooms, courtyards, and courtyard gardens transformed into a magnificent design. The Alhambra palace, which means "red" in Arabic and takes its name from the unique red clay soil of the geography, is a magnificent yet modest architectural design of the thirteenth century Andalusian period.

#### **2. Approach to philosophy of mind with architectural concepts of biophilia and fractal geometry**

It has been understood that especially the ornamental elements in the spaces constructed in connection with nature are geometric compositions that directly affect the nervous system. Traditional motifs, colors, articulated surfaces, and spatial formation emphasize design in connection with nature [1].

The dialog between architectural spaces, shaped as the composition of natural forms and patterns, and human beings' innate commitments has been manifested in traditional architecture. Specific strategies for establishing this dialog include direct access to daylight, fresh air, plants, and green spaces [2]. The use of atrium and peristyle in Greek architecture was seen as the most appropriate method for incorporating light and nature into the building to create a qualified living space and incorporate natural elements into the plan of the building. A similar point of view is also seen in traditional buildings in Islamic architecture, where courtyard systems and cloistered corridors are used. The courtyard system, used in different forms in public and civil architecture, serves as a garden from nature by providing a central gathering area for the surrounding rooms, natural ventilation, daylighting, and planting [3].

It is possible to define the charm in traditional architecture as organic, lively, whole, comfortable, accessible, egoless, confident, and mostly "eternal" qualities that can also be defined as biophilic values. Because of these qualities, it reflects the feelings of infinity and is called "timeless architecture." Christopher Alexander states that historic buildings are a timeless way of building and defines *timeless architecture* as spaces that give a feeling of comfort rather than restlessness since there are no internal contradictions incompatible with human nature [4].

He describes it as a timeless experience where individuals who experience these structures feel comfortable and live in harmony with themselves and without stress. The proportion and geometry in these buildings are associated with the scale of the building components and their positioning concerning the surrounding structures because one of the basic principles of timeless spaces is their positioning and shaping according to the built environment in which they are located [5]. It is thought to have physiological and psychological effects on humans due to the flawless processing of sacred geometric principles and their construction as a harmonious built environment for living [6]. The composition of fractal forms with natural textures and colors in the editing of cognizant natural images in the built environment is defined as the biophilic approach. In the discussion of healing space, there are also opinions that the biophilic design presented by the architects to the users is not real nature and will have a different effect. However, experimental studies have shown that the human mind interacts with nature indirectly and has similar effects with being in nature when in contact with distinctive forms and surfaces. The natural environment and the built environment, including natural forms, details, hierarchical division, fractal patterns, and colors, help elicit innate responses and trigger a sense of well-being.

Physical and biological sciences have utilized fractal geometry seen in ornaments since antiquity to model historical and mythological accurate, symbolic events and geometric compositions of the period. Fractal geometry was later used to establish the link between art and nature, serving esthetic concerns, so researchers determined that fractal patterns were linked with local vegetation [7]. In this context, recent studies have proven that fractal patterns and multidimensionality in spaces affect the parasympathetic nervous system and provide an impulse to relax and calm down [8]. It has been understood that the ornamental elements in the spaces constructed in connection with nature are geometric compositions that directly affect the nervous system. Traditional motifs, colors, articulated surfaces, and spatial formation emphasize design in connection with nature [1].

In historical, sacred, and secular spaces that integrate the logic of natural life into the built environment, bring the language of "life" to the spaces and thus provide neurological nourishment to the users, the mental and physical arousal experiences that people experience at a high level stemming from this visual/mental discourse, nowadays called biophilic design, but the architecture of architecture. Shows that the "healing architecture" attitude, which has been effective since its existence, is related to the qualities it provides to the building.

The building form of the madrasahs with courtyards, where both theoretical and practical training were held, developed over time and characterized by the use of water, shadow, daylight, color, texture, and the effect of environmental forces, dominated by square and rectangular geometry with iwans on four directions, the courtyard surrounded by a portico. Despite the sculptural stance of Western architecture, the harmonious integration of the exterior and interior spaces of traditional Islamic madrasas with natural elements and the harmonious use of natural materials and geometric forms in the building is referred to as nature-friendly designs in the field of today's architecture [9].

#### *Fractal Dimension and Perception of Order in Islamic Art DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109432*

Human-centered ethics (anthropocentric), which is one of the three basic environmental and ethical approaches in explaining the relationship between humans and nature, is an approach that respects nature as long as it has been beneficial to humans since the ancient Greek period and is based on the domination of society over nature and argues that economic developments are the primary condition for human well-being. The second basic approach, biocentric ethics, accepts that other living beings other than humans have intrinsic value and argues that humans are in an equal position to all other living things. It is necessary to create an ecological citizenship model to minimize the damage to the natural environment through sustainable living and conscious consumption of natural resources. Accepting nature as a living organism, instead of the mechanical universe view that formed the foundations of science in the seventeenth century, will enable us to understand nature and accept it as a living entity. It is necessary to accept the existence of technology and industry and develop new approaches according to this reality to create and develop environmental awareness in humans, who are the biggest consumers of nature. Rapid economic and technological developments have caused irreversible damage to the ecosystem, and at this point, people have found the solution to seek ideal living spaces outside the world. However, the perfect balance and limitless possibilities the world offers for life have yet to be found anywhere else in the universe. In this context, the solution to ecological problems is to question our wrong relations with nature for centuries and to adopt and implement the understanding of development in harmony with nature.

The word biophilia, which is a combination of the words "bio" meaning life, and "philia" meaning sincere love-liking, means the instinctive love of all people for life and things related to life. The term "biophilia" literally means "love of life or living systems." It was first used by Erich Fromm to describe a psychological orientation of being attracted to all that is alive and vital. Erich Fromm, who said there is an innate connection between the human self and other living things, used the concept of "biophilia" for the first time in 1964 as the opposite of necrophilia. He argued that being affected by vital things related to life and death is a psychological obsession and defined biophilia as "excessive curiosity and attraction to everything alive" [10]. Wilson defined the concept of biophilia as an innate tendency to focus on life and vital processes. He suggested that we value nature and ourselves more as we understand other living organisms. In the same book, Wilson stated that man's tendency to relate to life and natural processes could express a biological need, including the desire to connect with life. Therefore, he argued that this need for nature is necessary for physical and mental growth in the developmental process. Further, Wilson argues that the biophilia hypothesis reveals human dependence on nature, whose ties extend far beyond simple matters of material and physical lateness and the craving for esthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual meaning and fulfillment. Thus, it is inevitable for them to prefer parks, zoos, and environments where they can come into contact with water, with the idea of an uncertain future, in artificial environments offered by technology [11]. People connect with nature through emotions, such as curiosity, dominance, discovery, and fear. In their book The Biophilia Hypothesis (1993), Wilson and Kellert presented evidence confirming and opposing biophilia, explaining how these tendencies developed during the evolutionary process and why they are still evident in the modern age.

The universe is 2-dimensional and is perceived as 3-dimensional by the software of the brain. The language of the Hologram Universe is mathematics/geometry. Endless patterns transform each other from shape to shape; the pattern in the smallest ring is also evident in the largest; Everything is intertwined and connected. The

knowledge that we live in a simulation is widely spoken about today and is scientifically proven day by day. In other words, life consists of the projection of our brain, and our brain consists of software that is the mathematical product of the universal program [12]. Different forms of biophilia are best seen in crops in the process of biocultural evolution. Intrinsic tendencies are shaped by the guiding influence of learning, culture, and experience. Biologically based, the tendency to associate with nature, behavior includes thoughts and feelings. It is a pattern of beliefs and tendencies toward nature, each reflecting human values and expressions. These tendencies manifest themselves directly or indirectly. They manifest themselves in human products, in manifest or hidden states of experience and understanding. In terms of content, intensity, and orientation, the role of society is enormous in the tendency to relate to nature. Various forms of biophilia are found deep within our biology and can be shaped by individual experience and cultural influences, not simply by reducing them to instinctive tendencies.

 Problemsolving, critical thinking, and manual skills have emerged from centuries of interaction with nature. The closeness of man to natural elements is biologically coded into the structure of man. According to Kellert, people's emotional, physical, and mental health and productivity today depend on their close relationships with nature. For this reason, it has been considered essential to examine how to maintain this relationship in the modern built environment and put it into practice. In the book, Biophilic Design, academic and scientific studies were compiled under the direction of Stephen Kellert.

#### **3. Scientific research reveals how our environment affects the mind**

Due to the basic need for shelter, a human cannot be thought of independently of the place and is constantly interacting with the environment in which he is physically and spiritually as an inseparable whole [13]. Undoubtedly, the alienation of people from nature began with the fact that they built cities to live in communities by adopting a settled life. The city-human relationship has reached the breaking point, especially with the industrial revolution. Since the adverse effects of urbanization on human health are a common problem, research from many branches of science has focused on this issue. "Ecopsychology," which means ecological psychology, was popularized by historian Theodore Roszak in 1992 and explored the relationship between human behavior and the environment [14]. Ecopsychology examines the relationship between psychology and behavior in daily life practices and their environment. As a continuation of the Age of Enlightenment understanding, the field of architecture, which developed with the perspective of man's sovereign authority over nature, has built cities, which are today's living spaces, by ignoring the human-environment bond in the design processes. These studies, which seem to have achieved successful results, in theory, have created ecologically insensitive and unhealthy spaces where sociability is minimized in practical life. Ecopsychology, which examines the way people perceive their environment in daily life, and their interaction with the built and nature, says that the inclusion of social, cultural, and natural dimensions in the built environment is an important element [15].

Most of the research on the relationship between man and his environment has focused on cities that have turned into unhealthy spaces as an inevitable fact of

#### *Fractal Dimension and Perception of Order in Islamic Art DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109432*

our lives. In 1994, Rodhe and Kendle examined the positive effects of urban and green spaces on human psychology under five headings: emotional, cognitive, developmental, behavioral, and social; It reduces people's stress and mental fatigue, improves their mental abilities, especially in children, strengthens their sense of self-confidence by balancing different emotional states, and positively affects human health by increasing socialization and communication [16]. Ulrich (1993) stated that the stress responses of individuals who are accustomed to living only in an urban environment without being exposed to the natural environment cause some cognitive losses. Unlike the life of ancient people, in urban environments where there are no physiological stimulants and no struggle for survival, mental stressors cause anxiety, and this becomes a cycle in the absence of positive and negative natural stimuli in urban life [17].

In addition to urban open spaces, the use of natural elements in closed spaces where people are in constant contact is also an important factor affecting human health, well-being, and productivity. Biophilia, sustainability, ecopsychology, and other research on the human-nature connection suggest that the human species respond positively to the forms, processes, and patterns that include nature. In this context, Heerwagen (2009) argues that in increasing the health and well-being of the spaces designed by using the knowledge of our inclination toward nature, working environments connected with nature will become both more productive and comfortable, homes will become more harmonious and livable with human nature, and public spaces will become more inclusive spaces [18].

#### **4. Biophilic design parameters**

After the biophilic design studies, the researchers focused on some design parameters for the applicability of the specified biophilic elements. In light of Appleton's (1975) studies [19], listed physical elements and spatial features in preferred natural environments as mystery, danger, shelter and surveillance, confusion, and order [20] (**Table 1**).

Heerwagen and Hase (2001) articulated that with the increase in knowledge and experience about the usability of nature's principles in architecture and urban design, the characteristics that determine the quality and quantity of biophilic structures will expand.

With the development of computer technologies, the algorithms of the forms in nature are reproduced with numerous iterations and the fractal pattern of the form is modeled. Various fractal production methods are used in different disciplines such as architecture, medicine, design, digital installation, cinema, and animation. However, when the works of art of the past, intricate reliefs used by abstract geometric patterns, tile ceramics, woodwork, plaster ornaments, and marble columns are examined through computer programs, it is observed that they contain high mathematics, algorithm, symmetry, and geometry knowledge far beyond their period. The fractality of the esthetic language of nature draws attention to the patterns that are still not fully understood, deeply admired, and in forms with esthetic value. Behind the fractality produced by the knowledge of higher mathematics in the work of art, from form to essence, is a system of thought, an expression that leads from matter to meaning. Each work is a part of the cultural climate it is in and is a reflection of the artist's world of thought. When higher mathematics knowledge turns into an artistic style, it interprets the universe's existence from part to whole in the world of thought.

#### **Table 1.**

*Classification of properties of biophilic structures prepared by Heerwagen and Hase [21].*

Behind the ornaments, designs, architectural forms, and concrete elements that draw attention with their fractal patterns, there is a universe consciousness pointed out by the philosophy of mysticism.