Iman Aghajani is an art historian and archaeologist specializing in the art and architecture of the Islamic world, with a particular focus on Iran and Central Asia from the early Islamic centuries through the Mongol period. His research examines architecture as a material and historical process, asking how buildings, spatial arrangements, and decorative programs changed across periods and regions. He is especially interested in architectural decoration—including stucco, wall painting, and decorative brickwork—and studies these media in relation to architectural design, spatial hierarchy, and the functions of the buildings for which they were created. His work considers how material choices, methods of production, practical requirements, economic conditions, and broader social and cultural circumstances shaped architectural form and the transformation of material culture. A related area of my research is Arabic and Persian epigraphy, particularly the use of inscriptions as evidence for chronology, patronage, construction phases, and the identities of makers.

Iman also works with archaeological archives and the records of earlier scholarly expeditions. By bringing together photographs, plans, field notes, object records, and surviving architectural fragments, he seeks to reconstruct lost contexts and reassess previously excavated material. His current research at The Metropolitan Museum of Art focuses on the architectural ornament and excavation records of medieval Nishapur in eastern Iran. I am co-editor of the forthcoming volume Stucco in the Architecture of Iran and Neighbouring Lands: New Research—New Horizons (Brill, September 2026).