Khosrow II (r. 590–628 CE) was the last great Sasanian king who took the throne with the help of the Romans and broke with dynastic religious preferences as he became married to a Christian empress. It was under his rule that the Sasanian Empire reached its greatest expansion. From the standpoint of iconographic studies, Khosrow II is among the most influential Persian kings. Although he was literally occupied by rebels and wars within the borders of the Sasanian territories and beyond, Khosrow managed to create a powerful image of himself that emphasized the legitimacy of his monarchy. Indeed, Khosrow Parviz (the Victorious) drew upon royal iconography as a propaganda tool on a wide range of materials such as rock and stucco reliefs, coins, seals, and metal plates. His image (created both visually and verbally) not only revived the traditional iconography of the Persian kings but also evolved it in a way that transcended his time and was passed on to the early Islamic Caliphates after him. Khosrow II imitated and manipulated the traditional royal iconography of his predecessors in order to display his legitimacy, piety, and valor.

The construction industry faces escalating costs and inefficiencies driven by challenges including affordability barriers for sustainable practices, limited scalability of green technologies, and gaps in integrating sustainability metrics into architectural design. This research proposes a strategic approach harnessing Building Information Modelling (BIM) and prefabrication to overcome these challenges while enhancing architectural outcomes.Through a mixed-methods approach combining literature review, expert interviews, and simulation of a case study project in New Zealand, this study explores the collaborative potential of these technologies to elevate architectural excellence in sustainable construction. Architectural excellence is examined through four dimensions: project costs, building safety, project scheduling, and energy efficiency. Expert interviews with nine industry professionals revealed construction projects face material waste (15-30%), cost increases (10-20%), and suboptimal completion timeframes. The simulation validated integration benefits through clash detection and design coordination capabilities at LOD 350.The research demonstrates that effective integration of BIM and prefabrication can streamline project schedules and enhance architectural design processes. The triangulation of expert knowledge with simulation results provides compelling evidence that integrating prefabrication and BIM can reduce construction costs, prevent material wastage and excessive energy consumption, reduce project execution time, prevent rework, increase safety, and ultimately improve architectural excellence.

Although critics in the late twentieth century refuted the tendency of early Western scholars to regard Achaemenid architecture as merely eclectic and thus lacking in originality, these old assumptions still influence the study of Achaemenid material culture. Mahdi Motamedmanesh draws upon interdisciplinary approaches to illuminate the material context that enabled the Achaemenids to forge new architectural vocabularies in his essay Achaemenid Building Technology: The Key to a New Reading of Royal Achaemenid Architecture. Based on analysis of the building techniques of Achaemenid hypostyle architecture in dialogue with construction history and the history of the Achaemenid Empire, the essay argues that Achaemenid builders gradually developed an advanced understanding of structural behavior. This approach offers an opportunity to reexamine earlier arguments about the unprecedented forms and geometric innovations that distinguished Achaemenid palace layouts and details. By proposing a general theoretical framework for Achaemenid architectural innovation, this article seeks to encourage further cross-disciplinary investigations of Achaemenid building technology.