5. The Post-revolutionary ‘In-Between’

This study is not exhaustive; I refer to only a limited number of cases to back up my central argument that the question of ‘Tradition’ and ‘Modernity’ has been a key challenge in the post-revolutionary architecture and urbanism in Iran.

The Tower foreseen in Shahestan Pahlavi was located within the project site in the Abbas-Abad hills, but the Milad Tower was erected on the hills in northern Ghisha.

The complex has 14 minarets (the same as the number of holy personages considered as ‘innocents’ in the Shiite belief system), 12 Sahns or courtyards (the number of Shiite Imams), and 5 entrances (the number of Ahle-Beyt or the Prophet’s family). Additionally, the main Ivan is 72 m high (the number of martyrs in the battle of Karbala) and the dome of the Jami mosque is 63 m high (the number years of the Prophet Mohammad’s lifetime). For more details regarding the project see: http://​www.​musalla.​ir/​.

Rizvi (2003: 222) categorizes this building as postmodern architecture. However, considering postmodern architecture as formulated by international scholars and theorists and taking into account the postmodern architectural works in post-revolutionary Iran, it is hard to consider Imam Khomeini’s tomb as being postmodern in any conventional meaning.

Peter Eisenman (born 1932) is an American architect and architectural theorist. He has extensively written on the theory of architecture and is considered to be one of the theorists of deconstructivist architecture influenced by the deconstruction philosophy of Jacques Derrida. Eisenman has also designed and built worldwide.

An international conference entitled “From Autonomy to Automation” was planned to be held in Iran, in February 2014. Despite making initial arrangements the individuals in charge could not obtain final approval from the police authorities, under the consideration that this event might have negative consequences for the country. Of course, this was mainly due to negative reactions by the conservative parties and people who claimed that Eisenman is a Zionist, referring to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (also known as the Holocaust Memorial) that he designed in Berlin. This reaction was formulated by Abdolhamid Nogrehkar, a conservative architect and educator, who published an article in Vatan-e Emrooz daily (30 April 2014), written in a very revolutionary rhetorical style, claiming that Eisenman is a nihilist and anarchist architect and that his works are supported by Western Freemasonry and Zionists. In the end he asked the responsible authorities to prevent the entrance of what he referred to as the soldiers of the enemies, who are aiming for cultural and artistic invasion. To what extent this writing has convinced the authorities not to issue a final approval is unclear. However, this demonstrates the never-ending tensions between traditionalist and avant-gardist forces in architectural discourse and the influence of the former on the official authorities.

Ahmadi’s most recent works demonstrate less direct references and associations, and try to be metaphorical, as in the case of the Iran Embassy in Seoul (2000–2003). He is also interested in adapting environmentally sensitive approaches to his work.