While on my photographic trip to Kashan, Iran, I met a Photoblogger who was also enjoying the architectural ingenuities of the desert city. As we were conversing about the correlations between culture and architecture, he said something really intriguing about Iranian culture: Throughout history Iranian culture has been marked by 'Daroon Gerayee' which means to treasure what's inside. This philosophy of paying more attention to the inside, while keeping the outside simple, is paramount in modern Iranian culture. This is evidenced in how Islamic men prefer to keep their wives hidden while in public, but facilitate and encourage them to display their beauty inside the house. Or how both public and private houses are kept modest and un-ornamented on the exterior, but extravagantly decorated and embellished on the inside.