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A section through a qanat on cream, with the vertical scale exaggerated: a mother well reaches the water table beneath the hills, a gently sloping tunnel carries the water out under the plain, a line of shafts with spoil heaps marks its course, and it emerges at an outlet beside trees and houses.
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The Pattern Atlas

Qanat

No. 48 of 100 · free · 300 dpi

What you seeA section through a qanat on cream, with the vertical scale exaggerated: a mother well reaches the water table beneath the hills, a gently sloping tunnel carries the water out under the plain, a line of shafts with spoil heaps marks its course, and it emerges at an outlet beside trees and houses.

What it meansA qanat is an underground channel that brings groundwater by gravity to the surface. The technique developed in ancient Iran and spread widely; the vertical shafts were used for digging, ventilation and maintenance.

Where it worksA quiet, explanatory plate for a study, a kitchen or a hallway.

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2:3 · 7200 × 10800 px4×6 · 8×12 · 12×18 · 16×24 · 20×30 · 24×36 in
3:4 · 5400 × 7200 px6×8 · 9×12 · 12×16 · 18×24 in
4:5 · 7200 × 9000 px4×5 · 8×10 · 16×20 · 24×30 in
11:14 · 3300 × 4200 px11×14 in
A-series · 7023 × 9933 pxA5 · A4 · A3 · A2 · A1

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The plan of a walled garden on deep teal: water channels cross at a central pool and octagonal pavilion, dividing the garden into four quarters, each split again into beds of fruit trees, with rows of cypresses along the main walks and small pools at the ends of the axes.Chahar BaghNo. 50
Four kinds of merlon drawn as strips of wall on pale blue: stepped sandstone merlons, pierced stepped merlons on brick, trefoil merlons on a wall of alternating red and pale courses, and pyramid-capped merlons on a rammed-earth wall.MerlonsNo. 51
Three panels of carved stucco in cream on terracotta: style A with compartments of deeply cut vine leaves and grapes, style B with flatter leaves picked out by drilled dots and notches, and style C, the bevelled style, with mirrored abstract forms cut on a slant so that no background is left.Samarra StuccoNo. 52
A wooden ceiling seen from below on ink: interlaced straps of light wood form eight-pointed stars and polygons painted red, green, blue and gold, framed by a frieze of small gold stars, with the flat centre set within four sloping sides divided by gilded hip lines and a star boss in the middle.Lacería CeilingNo. 53
The facade of a Mamluk sabil on saffron: below, large windows with bronze grilles set in walls of alternating red and pale stone under joggled lintels and inlaid arches; above, an open loggia of pointed arches behind a wooden balustrade, sheltered by a projecting wooden canopy.SabilNo. 54
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The plan of a Seljuk han in dark green on sage: thick walls with buttress towers and round corner towers, a monumental portal opening into a courtyard with a small mosque raised on four arches and rooms and arcades along its sides, and behind it a covered hall of aisles with a lantern over the central nave.CaravanseraiNo. 56

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