View of the city of Tehran photo: Chris Luth
Lecture/Debat/symposium | The Dépendance, Schieblock - | 17/02/11 20:00 - 22:00
What is the role of the masterplan in Tehran’s development? Is the tardiness in its implementation a failing or a blessing? Administrative incompetence or an act of resistance? Might support for it be increased by involving Tehran’s inhabitants in the restructuring of their city? The influential Iranian urban planner Farrokh Zonouzi and architectural historian Wouter Vanstiphout shed light on this paradoxical metropolis.
On Thursday, 17 February 2011, the influential Tehran-based urban planner Farrokh Zonouzi talked about the goals and strategies of the 2006 masterplan for the Iranian capital. He addressed the lack of support for the
plan’s implementation and the resulting tardiness, as well as the contributing tensions between national and municipal tiers of government. He also talked about the participation of residents and users in the renewal of the bazaar and the historical district. Architectural historian Wouter Vanstiphout introduced the speaker and chaired the discussion afterwards. This debate was the second in a series about Iran ’s capital city.
Isolation
The current freeze in diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and Iran is the culmination of a process that was set in motion about 30 years ago. Iran has existed in international isolation since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The country is discussed one-sidedly in the mass media and has in recent times been hit by economic sanctions. It is, however, a rich country that is tipped to become one of the world’s biggest economies over the course of this century. The young, highly educated population has strong ties with the outside world: via Facebook and Twitter, via the 5 million Iranians worldwide and thanks to people studying abroad. There are, for example, more than 30,000 Iranians living in the Netherlands , hundreds of whom are studying at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). Iran currently has 50,000 architecture students. Among students, architects and urban planners there is an urge to overcome their country’s isolation, which prompted the NAI to organise debates in and about Tehran. We can no longer ignore Iran and her architects.
Debates on Tour at Home
With the Debates on Tour programme the NAI is fostering the worldwide interchange of knowledge on topical, global themes in architecture among architects and other experts. In recent years the NAI has organised many debates in conjunction with local partners around the globe, allowing Dutch architects to engage in debate with their international associates. These events are often coupled with workshops or architectural guided tours. The knowledge gained is complemented by Debates on Tour at Home, a series of lectures and debates in Rotterdam.
Where is Tehran?
The NAI has entered into a collaboration with Archis/Volume in order to turn the spotlight on the Iranian capital. Where is Tehran? is an investigation into the state of the city and its ongoing development. This exploration was launched in October 2010 with a Debate on Tour in Tehran about the city’s architecture and urban planning.
There was a sequel to this on 20 January 2011 in a Debate on Tour @ Home with Ali Madanipour, Professor of Urban Design at Newcastle University , and Samir Bantal from the Chair in Design as Politics at TU Delft.
A second visit to Tehran is planned for later this year and Archis/Volume is busy preparing an alternative travel guide to this fascinating city.
Farrokh Zonouzi
After gaining his M.A. in architecture in Tehran in 1979, Farrokh Zonouzi headed for England. There he studied urban design at Manchester University and gained his Ph.D. in architecture from Westminster University . Since 1987 he has been head of the urban planning department of the leading Tehran-based bureau, Bavand Consultants – Architects & Planners, in which he is now a partner. Zonouzi is supervising the detailed elaboration of the urban plans for the 22 districts of Tehran and is closely involved in the bazaar’s renovation in consultation with its residents and users. He also advises the Deputy Mayor of Tehran in an informal capacity. He has been lecturing at the Islamic Azad University, the third largest university in the world, since 1994.
Wouter Vanstiphout
Wouter Vanstiphout is a member of the Crimson Architectural Historians research collective, which he co-founded with Michelle Provoost in 1994. Crimson’s field of work includes historical research and exhibition design. Vanstiphout has written various books about architecture and spatial planning and has published several articles about Tehran .
As Professor of Design as Politics at TU Delft he focuses on the social and political-administrative embedding of architecture and urban planning. He also serves as an adviser to the International New Town Institute in Almere.
Tehran poster by Mr. Hashemi
Lecture/Debat/symposium
| 17/02/11
20:00
- 22:00
The second in-house debate about Tehran was held on February 17th 2011.
Wouter Vanstiphout, Professor of Design as Politics at Delft University of
Technology, introduced the lecture by Farrokh Zonouzi, a well-known architect
and urban planner from Tehran. Zonouzi is a partner in Bavand Consultants, the office which designed the
third and most recent masterplan for Tehran. He was invited to
discuss the role of masterplanning in relation to the development of this
metropolis.
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Lecture/Debat/symposium
22
september
2011
20:00
|
How has modernist architecture in Africa, often designed by European architects, been repurposed and reinterpreted by Africans? And how can the study of this lived modernism inform contemporary design practices in Africa and Europe? Johannesburg-based architect and researcher Hannah le Roux addressed these issues in the second evening in a series of debates about the informal city. Antoni Folkers introduced Le Roux and joined her in a discussion afterwards.
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Lecture/Debat/symposium
25
february
2010
17:00
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