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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... View full entry
But the Vali-e-Asr mosque, designed by the Iranian architects Reza Daneshmir and Catherine Spiridonoff, is stirring controversy in a country that hosts some of the world’s most glittering places of worship. Iranian hardliners are refusing to recognise it as a mosque, complaining that it does not have a minaret or proper dome, and that it is dwarfed by the theatre. [...]
The conservative Mashregh News said: [...] It was “an insulting, postmodern design” that is “empty of any meaning”, it said.
— The Guardian
Designed by Iranian Fluid Motion Architects and nearly 10 years in the making, the modern appearance of the almost completed Vali-e-Asr mosque in Tehran is facing harsh opposition from Iran's conservative establishment. "The Vali-e-Asr mosque doesn’t have a minaret, nor a dome; neither did the... View full entry
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 Guardian
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”. View full entry
The Plasco Building, a landmark structure in Tehran, burned to the ground yesterday, claiming the lives of at least 20 firefighters. An additional 70 people were injured, 23 of them seriously, according to a report by the BBC. The fire began on the ninth floor and, by the time many firefighters... View full entry
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. — BBC
More on Archinect:The young woman who designed Tehran's new popular bridgeKhamenei's fight against "un-Islamic" architecture in Iran View full entry
If ongoing discussions with the United States and others prove successful, sanctions affecting the Iranian economy will likely be lifted, exposing the country to a forceful wave of globalization. But the shift from isolation to inclusion has already begun to transform Tehran. [...]
It’s a city that, at this moment, is intensely influenced by international relations, shaping itself into a burgeoning urban hub.
— citylab.com
Leila Araghian was 26 when she came up with Tabiat bridge. Five years on, the 270-metre structure is a reality, despite sanctions, garnering awards and paving the way for a new, more avant garde generation of Iranian designers. — theguardian.com
Correction: Leila Araghian informed us that, contrary to the Guardian's depiction, the bridge design was a joint effort and commissioned to Diba Tensile Architecture, the company Araghian co-manages. The design team for Tabiat bridge was comprised of Leila Araghian, Alireza Behzadi, and Sahar... View full entry
