What it is
ارسی (orosi) is a tall, multi-paneled sash window built from carved wooden lattice (gereh-chini) inlaid with small panes of colored glass, usually red, blue, yellow, and green. The frame slides vertically inside grooved channels rather than swinging on hinges, which is what distinguishes it from an ordinary window. When sunlight passes through the colored glass, the interior fills with pools of saturated color shifting across the floor.
The orosi is the signature window of Qajar-era domestic and palatial architecture (roughly 1789 to 1925), and it remains one of the most photographed elements of historic Persian houses.
What it looks like
A typical orosi rises from waist height to the ceiling, often three to four meters tall. The wooden frame is geometrically subdivided into dozens or hundreds of small cells, each holding a single piece of hand-cut colored glass. The geometry is usually an interlocking star-and-polygon pattern from the Persian gereh tradition. The whole window is held together by precision joinery without nails or glue.
An orosi is engineered as both art and climate technology. The colored glass cuts harsh sun, the sash slides up to vent hot air, and the lattice diffuses light into a soft glow.
Where to see one
The most famous surviving examples sit in Kashan, where the merchant houses of the mid-nineteenth century preserved them in place. The Tabatabaei House (Khaneh-ye Tabatabaeiha) and the Borujerdi House (Khaneh-ye Borujerdiha) both have spectacular orosi walls facing their main reception courtyards. Smaller examples survive in Yazd, Isfahan, and Shiraz, and in palatial settings at the Golestan Palace in Tehran.
How to use the word
orosi-haye khaneh-ye boroujerdi-ha foq-ol-adeh hastand.
The orosi windows of the Borujerdi house are extraordinary.
ارسیهای خانه بروجردیها فوقالعاده هستند.
References
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