Persian invention of ICE storage

2. PERSIA
 The architecture of Iran (Persia) has a continuous history
from at least 5000 BC to the present, with characteristic
examples distributed over a vast area.
 Persian buildings vary from peasant huts to tea
houses and gardens, pavilions to "some of the most
majestic structures the world has ever seen."

3. CLIMATE
CASPIAN MILD
MOUNTAIN
DESERT AND SEMI DESERT

4. YAKHCHĀL “ICE-PIT”
ice Pit; yakh meaning ice and chāl meaning pit
 Developed in 400 B.C.
 ice and food storage for the summer
Made of a special mortar called sārooj,
composed of sand, clay, egg whites, lime,
goat hair, and ash in specific proportions,
and which was resistant to heat transfer.

5. METHOD
10 m high
Length 5 to 12m
To make ice:
Firstly shallow ponds called basin (Tash-taki in
Persian) are dug with square dimensions with 40 to
50 centimetres depth.
Secondly, these shallow ponds are filled with
water in cold winter nights and the day after the ice
is divided into little pieces and transferred to a fridge
near the cavity and in each layer water is poured to
increase density of ice pieces.

6. METHOD
10 m high
Length 5 to 12m
After about eight days and nights the process
of production is stopped with an usual
traditional ceremony. The last step is covering
the ice with straws and brushwood and closing
the fridge’s entrance with sea sedge (Bi-Zur in
Persian).

7. TYPES OF YAKHCAL “ICE-PIT”
Domed roof fridges
Damghan, Semnan
Underground fridge
Sa-ve
Pool Fridges
Boushehr, Khozestan

8. DOMED ROOF FRIDGES
Domed Roof Fridges are built in the margins of central desserts and
north-east Iran
Icebound
huge conical pit
Shade wall
fridge
bottom of the pit, water path leads the fridge
extra water to the shaft Icebound

9. UNDERGROUND FRIDGE
Underground Fridges were built in north and north-west of Iran
Stone and bricks are the main material of these fridges.
This building has a vaulted or arched roof.

10. POOL FRIDGES
built in southern provinces of Iran
Shadewall
The pool would be filled and covered with
4 to 5 meters height
brushwood and straw
and 12 meters
length
pool
5 to 6 meters depth,
12 meters length and 5 meters
width

11. CONCLUSION
Persian architects constructed different types
of fridges compatible to the climate. The
design was in harmony with nature, a quality
much sought after in the today’s architecture.