1842 map of the Arg Source: Berezin, Il’ia Nikolaevich In the Qajar period, the city was contained within a walled fortification and moat. The wall, built by Shah Tahmasp, was reconstructed by Karim Khan Zand. In 1759, Karim Khan commissioned …
Shams-ol-‘Emara Source: Mirza Mahmud Khan, Malek ol-Shu’ara, 1825/1869 Shams-ol-‘Emara was the first of a series of European-inspired buildings constructed by Maseroddin Shah within the Arg, which was the Royal Citadel within the 19th century city of Tehran. It was an …
III. “European” Style Architecture in the Qajar Period Read more »
Construction of the Ministry of Finance on the ruins of the Qajar Palace, Tehran 1937 Source: Ali Khadem 1937
The Western view of Toopkhaneh Square, Tehran Source: Mohammadzadehmehr 2003 Reza Shah’s period of reign lasted until 1941, but the main changes in the square until 1960 were parts of his modernization program. The landscaping has changed, and grass has …
Chapter 5 – Architectural Dialogue This new state architecture rested on an ideological base which fostered functionalism, monumentality, rationalism, and the historic imagery of pre-Islamic Iran. The revival of Achaemenid imagery derived from contemporary archaeological excavations in Iran gave rise …
Chapter 4 – The Street Undeniably, the most direct and lasting impact of Reza Shah’s urban program was the reorientation of the city to the public street, with the aims of unifying the space of the city, overcoming the traditional …
Chapter 3 – The Program The key aspects of Reza Shah’s reformation include new street and processional routes, large public spaces, sculpture as a medium for planned state iconography, new national institutions housing monumental public buildings and the resurgence of …
III. First Step to Modernization – Reza Shah’s Reformation Program Read more »
Chapter 2 – Historical Context In the 1920s and 1930s the state became increasingly involved in economic affairs with the main goal of taking control of foreign trade. In conjunction with the massive feat of road building, the country’s first …
II. Tehran’s Dramatic Transformation in the First Pahlavi Era Read more »
Chapter 1 – Overview Tehran experienced major growth during the First Pahlavi Era, which can be described as a transitional capitalist period because of how it followed a pattern of capitalist development but did not allow capitalism to truly take …
I. Tehran’s Widened Streets and Widened Contradictions Read more »