Authors: Kaveh Mansoori, Aisan Chavoshnejad/ Translated by: Zohreh Khorrami/ Photo: Inspired by map
Azadi Tower and its cultural complex are located in the western district of Iran’s capital. Constructed as one of the most important contemporary architectural symbols of Iran, the tower dominates the square with the same name.
In the 1970s, with Iran’s gross national product and national wealth on the rise thanks to the increase in the global oil prices, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last king of Iran, set out to introduce a series of social and economic reforms that became known as the White Revolution or ‘The Shāh and People Revolution’ , not unlike his father, was on the one hand interested in asserting the authority of Iran internationally, and on the other, reviving the ancient Iranian Empire.
Following his father’s footsteps, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi aspired to stimulate the Pahlavi vision of the national identity and attract the world’s attention to modern Iran. It was thus proposed to hold a 2,500 year anniversary celebrations of the Persian Empire and invite world leaders to attend. From 12th until 16th October 1971, the ceremony and the festivities in the presence of government leaders and royals from 69 countries were held in Persepolis, ancient Achaemenid capital 60 km northeast of Shiraz. While Persepolis symbolised the antiquity of the Iranian civilisation, there was a need for a contemporary monument to represent modern Iran and the Central Council for Imperial Celebrations submitted a project for the structure that came to be known as Shahyad Aryamehr, the King’s memorial tower.
From the Project Idea to the Implementation
On September 1,1966, Ettela’at newspaper published a call for designing a modern symbol called ‘Shahyad Aryamehr’ for Tehran, vibrant and developing capital of an ancient land . The objective was to design a new gateway in the west of the city that would be visible on approach to Tehran, in particular when arriving from Mehrabad International Airport, located in the proximity of the new structure…
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