This lecture provides an overview of the vernacular architecture in the hot and arid regions of the Persian Plateau. Departing from “Orientalizing” views that romanticize “Persian architecture,” the lecture offers an outlook that situates the tectonics of the architectural traditions of the region within a larger sociopolitical, economic, and geographic milieu. Through an investigation of building typologies, such as the bazaar and cisterns, and by studying engineering marvels, like the qanat and yakhchal, the audience will gain awareness of a historic wisdom of building that has evolved through generations, over a period of more than 2000 years.