Pahlavi architecture: how to identify it

what it is

Pahlavi architecture is the building of Iran under the Pahlavi dynasty, which ruled from 1925 to 1979. In the 1930s, government buildings in Tehran carried details copied from ancient monuments: columns modeled on those of the apadana (audience hall) at Persepolis, and a facade modeled on the arch of the Sasanian palace at Ctesiphon. From the 1950s the Shah's projects followed European modernism, and the Niavaran Palace combined it with traditional Iranian tilework.

The Bank Melli head office on Ferdowsi Street in Tehran (1933-1936, by the German architect H. Heinrich) has a portico of Persepolis-style columns. The National Museum of Iran (1935-1937, by Andre Godard) has a Ctesiphon-style entrance. Hossein Amanat's Azadi Tower (1971), clad in white marble, uses Sasanian arches. Qajar buildings are decorated with painted polychrome tiles and mirror work; Pahlavi buildings take their motifs from the pre-Islamic Achaemenid and Sasanian periods and use plain brick or stone.

how to spot one

Colonnade A row of evenly spaced columns carrying a horizontal beam, called an entablature, or a roof. It often lines a building's front or a courtyard on Greek, Roman and Neoclassical buildings. Symmetrical facade A facade, or main front, whose left and right halves mirror each other, usually with the main door at the center. It is standard on Georgian, Federal, Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts buildings. Carved stone relief Figures or patterns carved into stone so they project from a flat background, called low relief when shallow and high relief when deep. It appears on ancient temples and Gothic churches. Round arch An arch shaped as a half circle, often built from wedge-shaped blocks called voussoirs. It is used over doors, windows and between columns in Roman, Romanesque, Renaissance and Richardsonian Romanesque buildings.

Also look for

Monumental stairway Flat roof Pilaster Cornice

history

Reza Shah became ruler of Iran in December 1925 and founded the Pahlavi dynasty. During his reign (1925-1941), new government buildings in Tehran used details from ancient monuments, with academic guidance from Ernst Herzfeld, Andre Godard and their associates. The Tomb of Ferdowsi at Tus (1934) was modeled on the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, and the National Museum of Iran was completed in 1937. The University of Tehran, inaugurated in 1934, had a campus planned by several architects, among them Roland Dubrulle, Maxime Siroux, Godard, Nikolai Markov and Mohsen Foroughi.

Foroughi graduated from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1937, helped found the University of Tehran's Faculty of Fine Arts in 1940, and designed the Niavaran Palace (1958-1967). Victor Gruen prepared a master plan for northern Tehran between 1963 and 1967. Amanat won the competition for the Shahyad Tower in 1966, and it was inaugurated in 1971 for the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. After the 1979 revolution the dynasty ended and the tower was renamed Azadi Tower.

where to find it

Tehran, especially Ferdowsi Street and Azadi Square: the Bank Melli head office, the National Museum of Iran and Azadi Tower, plus the Tomb of Ferdowsi in Tus.

easy to confuse with

Qajar Brick palaces and houses with painted tile panels of figures and flowers, mirror work, tall arched portals and windcatchers.

Gate of All Nations, an example of Persian (Achaemenid)

Persian (Achaemenid) Vast halls of tall columns with bull and lion capitals, reached by wide stairways lined with carved processions.

Folger Shakespeare Library, an example of Stripped Classicism

Stripped Classicism Symmetrical stone buildings with flat pilasters or piers without capitals, tall windows in a regular grid, and low-relief sculpture.