Archinect - News

US Pentagon: Iranian cultural sites will not be bombed

2020-01-07T12:50:00-05:00

The United States Pentagon is working to distance itself from a series of statements made US President Donald Trump threatening to target Iranian cultural sites were military conflict to break out between the two nations.

According to The Associated Press, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US will “follow the laws of armed conflict” in the event of military conflict with Iran, adding that when asked to clarify whether the department's plan explicitly rules out targeting cultural sites, Esper added, “That’s the laws of armed conflict.”

The threats initially made by the president were widely received as indications that the United States was willing to perpetuate war crimes against the country's cultural heritage, in violation of the Geneva Convention Protocol that prohibits acts of hostility against these types of sites. The statements drew comparisons around the globe to acts of cultural terrorism enacted by the Taliban against the Bamyan Buddahs, in Afghanistan, for example, a...

A look at some of the Iranian cultural sites that Trump could be threatening

2020-01-06T15:22:00-05:00

Tensions in the Middle East keep escalating after the U.S. President followed his drone assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani with a tweet that publicly threatens to strike dozens of target sites in Iran, including "important" cultural sites, if the country dared to retaliate.

"Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD," threatens one passage of Trump's vague January 4th Twitter post which, as lawyer and specialist in historic preservation, Sara C. Bronin, pointed out in the Los Angeles Times, "amounts to an announcement of an intention to commit war crimes."

Ruins of the Tachara at Persepolis, one of Iran's most important UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Photo: Wikimedia Commons u...

The Iranian American community to gift sculpture by Cecil Balmond to the City of Los Angeles

2017-08-23T14:17:00-04:00

Southern California boasts the largest concentration of Iranians in the world outside Iran, and the county of Los Angeles houses the vast majority. The Fahrang Foundation—a non-religious, non-political, and not-for-profit foundation with a mission to celebrate and promote Iranian art and culture—plans to honor the Iranian community while thanking the City of Los Angeles with a gifted sculpture that will stand at the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd. and Century Park East.

Courtesy of Balmond Studio.

The Freedom Sculpture, as it will be called, has been crowdfunded by over one million people and will serve as the gateway to Beverly Hills where the Iranian community makes up 20% of the population. It has been designed by the Sri Lankan-British designer and engineer Cecil Balmond whom has worked with everyone from Rem Koolhaas to Toyo Ito to Anish Kapoor. The design takes its inspiration from the Cyrus Cylinder, an ancient clay artifact dating back to 539 BCE that is considered the fi...

Hossein Amanat, the architect of Tehran's iconic Azadi Tower, reflects on religion and architecture in Iran

2017-08-15T15:29:00-04:00

In 1966, a 24-year-old architect who had just graduated from Tehran University hesitantly entered a competition to design a monument to mark the 2,500-year celebration of the founding of the Persian empire. [...] The architect, Hossein Amanat, had no idea that his hastily prepared design, which went on to win the competition, would one day become a focal point of the Iranian capital’s skyline, serving as a backdrop to some of the country’s most turbulent political events.

The Azadi tower, he said, was an opportunity to “design modern architecture using old language, to preserve the good things about a culture, leave aside the meaningless parts and create something new and meaningful”.

Iran purposefully building "sexy" structures to attract media attention

2016-12-13T13:55:00-05:00

In this eye-candy survey of Iran's newest architectural projects and prevailing trends, Architectural Digest takes a closer look at how the country's architects and architecture is shifting to not only attract more media attention, but to create a new visual identity:

"Right now, the massive trend in Iran is to design and build structures with the goal of being recognized by the media,” says Hooman Koliji, associate professor of architecture, planning, and preservation at the University of Maryland. “Therefore, there is an implicit effort and competition to create forms that look different and, dare I say, sexy.” This approach to modern architecture has garnered great results for Iranian talents such as Leila Araghian, whose design of Tehran’s Tabiat Pedestrian Bridge took home the prestigious 2016 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, bestowed every three years. Certain elements of Araghian’s bold, modern design incorporate motifs of Iranian architecture dating back centuries. With its c...

Meet Hossein Amanat, the architect who designed Iran's most famous monument

2016-01-14T15:31:00-05:00

For 45 years, Iran's most famous modern monument, the Azadi (Freedom) Tower in Tehran, has been the backdrop to every major news story coming out of the country...Hossein Amanat was a rising star in Iran's architectural scene when, in 1966, he won a national competition to design the monument...Its historical pull, he believes, lies in the tower's evolution as a 'symbol of Iran'...that is both intensely Iranian and Islamic at the same time.

Editor's Picks #400

2015-01-06T11:52:00-05:00

For the latest Student Works: Amelia featured Cellular Tessellation, a pavilion done as a "collaborative research effort among students from Bond University, University of Technology Sydney, University of South Wales, and University of Sydney" for the Sydney Vivid Light festival of 2014.

Plus, Alexander Showcase:(ed) architect Jorge Mealha’s Óbidos Technological Park Main Building, sited in the countryside north of Lisbon.

News

Paul scoured the archives and website analytics in an attempt to most accurately represent 2014, month by month, by sharing the most popular stories, job opportunities and discussions. Reflecting on digital publishing trends he noted

"As the internet continues to move discussions away from publications to social networks, Archinect's increase in volume in the forum and comments sections proves that we're continuing to provide a platform to facilitate communication across diverse social circles".

Meanwhile, Nicholas Korody put together a list of what Randy Deutsc...

Khamenei's fight against "un-Islamic" architecture in Iran

2014-12-11T13:33:00-05:00

For centuries, the spatial layout of house design in Iran reflected the patriarchal structure of the society through the rigid segregation between the andaruni and biruni, private and public space. [...] Modern architecture is also considered erotic because, unlike the spatially introverted pre-modern architecture of Iran, it faces outward with windows that shamelessly offer strangers a peek at the buildings’ private parts.

Mesmerizing Mosque Ceilings built by Muslims

2014-11-12T11:13:00-05:00

I strongly disagree with the title. There is no such thing as Islamic Architecture or Islamic Culture. Islam is a multicultural faith with strong presence in Arab world, the Persian world, the Indian Subcontinent, in Eurasia and even in Europe. You cannot label an architectural style as Islamic just because it is used in a mosque. There are elements of the host culture present in this buildings. Mosques in Egypt or Turkey are significantly different from Mosques in Europe or India. -

Editor's Picks #345

2013-12-10T10:33:00-05:00

Space Oddity was conceived by rub-a-dub in 2012, while studying under the DRL at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, a post-professional MArch program. They state that while their proposal "is obviously not a viable option for actual space travel...Lately there has being a lot of noise about space design...We believe a lot of these projects are only solving technical issues". Fred Scharmen was intrigued "Very nice work. Thanks for posting this".

Amelia Taylor-Hochberg Editorial Manager for Archinect, interviewed rub-a-dub (a team of Sebastian Andia, Rodrigo Chain, Apostolos Despotidis and Thomas T. Jensen) to learn about their project 'Space Oddity', for the latest edition of the Student Works series.

Space Oddity was conceived by rub-a-dub in 2012, while studying under the DRL at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, a post-professional MArch program. They state that while their proposal "is obviously not a viable option for actual space travel...the timing is ripe to imagine new versions of living and moving in space...Lately there has being a lot of noise about space design, including contour crafting and 3D printing amongst others. We believe a lot of these projects are only solving technical issues".

Fred Scharmen was intrigued "Very nice work. Thanks for posting this".

News
The Observer published ‘Miami's new vice – an addiction to star architects‘ in which Rowan Moore criticiz...

Pioneers of modern architecture in Iran

2013-12-02T11:29:00-05:00

"Born in 1907, as the son of the famous political man, statesman and man of letters Moḥammad Ali Foroughi, Mohsen Foroughi is one of the pioneer of modern architecture in Iran. an influential professor of architecture at the University of Tehran, and a noted collector of Persian art. He was imprisoned in 1979 after the revolution."

Mahdi Shadkar