Tehran

این کتاب پژوهشی در باب تاریخ معماری و شهرسازی تهران در زمان ناصرالدین شاه قاجار است. در اواخر سدۀ سیزدهم هجری، گسترش تهران و شکل‌گیری محله‌های مسکونی جدید در دارالخلافۀ ناصری فرصتی تازه به بانیان معماری و عاملان شهرسازی داد تا نیازها و خواست‌های نوظهور جامعۀ در حال دگرگونی ایران را در کالبد و نوع زندگی تازه در محله‌های جدید شهر محقق کنند. محلۀ دولت یکی از مهم‌ترین بخش‌های شهر جدید بود که عناصر ضروری زندگی مدرن را در خود جای داد و با نوع معماری و بافت شهری متفاوت پاسخی به نیازهای جامعه بود.
در مقام نخستین پژوهش متمرکز بر تاریخ محلۀ دولت و گسترش تهران بر اساس منابع دست‌اول نوشتاری و شواهد تصویری، شامل اسناد تاریخی، روزنامه‌ها، خاطرات شخصی، عکس‌ها، نقشه‌ها و آمار دارالخلافۀ ناصری، این کتاب در پی ارائۀ روایتی تاریخی از فرایند تحولات تهران در این دوره و شیوۀ سکونت ساکنان در این محله است. تاریخ شکل‌گیری محلۀ دولت مثال بارزی است از چگونگی تطابق محیط مصنوع با تحولات فرهنگی و اجتماعی تهران در دورۀ گذار تاریخ معماری و شهرسازی ایران.

This paper aims to study the imagination of Tehran through 1340s and 1350s Iranian cinema and the main question is that what kind of representation on city was fueled by cinema. This study was conducted based on analysis of four impressive films in these two decades. Two of them are popular movies (Ganje Gharoon and Khater Khah) and the two other (Khesht-o Ayeni and Ragbar) are related to avantgarde cinema. Although they are different in presenting the city in some aspects, the results reveal that both approaches emphasise on the negative aspects of the city and expose latent contradictions in the extreme way.

The significance of environmental protection is well known in today's world. The execution of any program depends on sufficient knowledge and required familiarity with environment and its pollutants. Taking advantage of a systematic method, as a new science, in environmental planning can solve many problems. In this article, air pollution in Tehran and its relationship with health and population growth have been analyzed using dynamic systems. Firstly, by using casual loops, the relationship between the parameters effective on air pollution in Tehran were taken into consideration, then these casual loops were turned into flow diagrams, and finally, they were simulated using the software Vensim in order to conclude what the effect of each parameter will be on air pollution in Tehran in the next 10 years, how changing of one or more parameters influences other parameters, and which parameter among all other parameters requires to be controlled more.

n the past two decades, the Iranian government has been following World Bank recommendations regarding informal settlements upgrading. In 2000, the Committee of Empowering of Informal Settlements was established to make these recommendations a reality. However, it has not yet been successful. In this article, we delve into the most important reasons for this failure

Problem statement: There are many evidences which show that the relationship between Tehran City and the Alborz mountain ranges is not favorable. Evidences also indicate that the city of Tehran and its people cannot benefit well from blessings and capacities of the northern mountains. Studies on the relationship between Tehran City and Alborz also show that residents of Tehran have become indifferent to Alborz Mountains. The authors of the present study argue that in difference of inhabitants of Tehran to the surrounding mountains has not happened all at once. With the loss of the mountain’s functions over time, this very important natural element has been diminished in the minds of people. Considering multidimensionality of the issue, one of the ways to examine this subject is examining it from the viewpoint of experts.
Research objective and research method: This study sought to explain the reasons for this undesirable relationship through the lens of experts. In this study, thematic analysis method was used to analyze the results obtained from semi-structured interviews with an exploratory approach with experts.
Conclusion: According to hierarchical classification of results, four main theme emerged:(a) the reduction of mental and semantic status of the mountain; (b) incorrect understanding of the mountain and its capacities; (c) objective and physical approach to the mountain; and (d) cultural issues; also the eleven sub-themes were (a) advent of religion; (b) advent of technology; (c) advent of modernity; (d) planning system; (e) partial and merely environmental view of the mountain; (f) economic approaches; (g) mountain accessibility; (h) changes in people’s lifestyle; (i) changes in epistemological model of people; (j) people’s common beliefs; and (k) reduction of people’s belonging, which fall under the main themes.

شهر تهران قبل از اینکه دارای گسترش اساسی و اصولی باشد، با افزایش جمعیت مواجه شد. عدم محاسبه سرانه ها و تخصیص زمین ها و فضاهای لازم به کاربری های مختلف وآماده سازی زمین، تهران را به سرعت تبدیل به ساختمان های مسکونی میان کوچه‏ها و خیابان هایی برای رفت و آمد تبدیل کرد.

Since the 1980s, a wide range of physical and non-physical interventions, including megaprojects and flagships to small-scale projects and temporary usage, are prescribed as catalysts for urban regeneration. The strategy of utilizing urban catalysts as a tool for urban renewal has been encouraging by many city authorities through specific subsidization and privileges. However, there is no correct and precise definition of the tools and the qualities they should provide as their impacts. Besides, some criticize the catalytic projects due to their unsustainable, unjust, and destructive consequences. This paper intends to provide a more comprehensive definition of urban catalysts by reviewing the existing literature. The research has been done through a deductive and inductive approach to reach the principal dimensions and criteria for catalytic projects. It uses a series of potential projects and interventions in the City of Tehran (16 projects and practices) as case studies to check the dimensions and criteria and the quality of each project as catalysts. The quality of the selected case studies was ranked through expert judgment and checklist method. The findings show the cases' rank on how their catalytic impacts comply with sustainable development goals. According to the results, seven criteria (environmental sustainability, context-based development, pattern making, branding, social quality of life, economic prosperity, and market adaptability) are essential to ensure the sustainability of catalytic impacts of catalyst projects.

Baharestan art festival, which was held in Vali-Asr Street in Tehran in March and April 2016 on the pretext of starting the Iranian New Year (Nowruz), has widely attracted the attention of artists and other people. This article attempts to examine the role of this urban art festival and similar festivals in placemaking and the improvement of the quality of urban spaces considering the potential and capabilities of these areas in the city. According to the prepared questionnaire, some questions were asked of respondents randomly selected from citizens with different demographic information about their comments on different aspects of the artworks presented in the festival. The results of statistical analysis of the questionnaire showed how this festival and similar events act as effective agents in development of placemaking and creation of common scenes using urban arts. Results revealed three key findings. First, the artworks of the festival were able to bring New Year's perceptions with Iranian value attributes to the respondents' minds. Second, the artworks were intended to make the public space lively. Third, this project had potential to act as a medium to spread positive messages among the citizens. According to the results, this festival and similar urban art projects can further be considered as a new form of Iranian contemporary public art.

Centralization of major political, industrial and commercial activities in Tehran has resulted in rapid growth of population throughout the 20th century. Many transformations and reforms have occurred in large-scale housing from tradition houses to modern apartments and the concept of urban dwelling has been influenced by different policies including: the rise of oil prices (1970), Islamic Revolution (1978-1979), long war with Iraq (1980-1988), new waves of major urban developers and so on. Migration as a factor of growth of population is an important concept, not only because of its influences on space and time, but also reflecting the changes in cultural, social, economic, and political structures. Fundamental changes in the large-scale houses have, therefore, changed the life style. The new housing took the form of medium to high-rise buildings to accommodate larger number of people, instead of traditional forms of courtyard. The large-scale housing itself has generally changed over the years and can be classified as traditional houses, middle class settlements, new towns, social houses and gated communities. In this research, we have focused on the characteristics of public spaces of large-scale settlements in Tehran with a brief review on the history of settlement in this city and its theoretical basis. To do this, a comparative study on the gated communities, social houses and traditional houses in Tehran with emphasis on social values reflected in their public spaces is carried out. We have investigated the living arrangement, Iranian life style, and social values in the two residential complexes in different geo-social locations of Tehran. Results of this study shows that although the public spaces of residential complexes have a facilitating role, that is, they are effective in increasing the social communication of individuals in these spaces, the respondents were not satisfied with the public spaces available in the studied residents complexes in terms of location and functionalities. Despite of some disagreements among the neighbors, the presence in these public spaces increases the intimacy and mutual understanding.

This paper is rooted in the photography and observation of Graffiti that presents an overview
of presence and absence of anonymous public writings in Tehran. It is based on over 150
digital photographic examples collected from Tehran, where the flourishing of artistic dissent
is formed by widespread poverty and the recent political history followed by an economic
collapse that radicalized youth of middle-­class. According to Geh􀁏􀂶s argument that art objects
and places which form their causal milieu share social agency with the artists who produce
them, the aim of this paper is to show how Graffiti confront institutional power by expanding
semiotic street arts in the west areas of Tehran like Shahrak-­e Gharb and Ekbatan Complex.
The active role of open public spaces in the cultural and political performance of social
changes is investigated in this study. Why murals are not part of the visual public discourse in
Tehran, as they are in other divided societies? What is the Graffiti 􀁚􀁕􀁌􀁗􀁈􀁕􀁖􀂶􀀃 􀁕􀁒􀁏􀁈 in the
existence of murals? What political meanings are articulated in the interactions of Graffiti
writers in specific areas of Tehran? How does whitewashing fit into a much larger civic
discourse that includes individuals, groups and authorities? This paper tries to find acceptable
answers to these questions. In particular, this paper aims to analyze the group-­oriented visual
discourse and discourse related to individuals. The Graffiti that studied in this paper have
been selected from specific parallel areas located in the west of Tehran.

As there are several styles and attitudes among the practitioners of the present time, it is difficult to achieve a definition of beauty for contemporary architecture and aesthetic concepts has different frameworks in various disciplines. Beauty can be regarded as one of the most important elements of architecture; therefore, having a clear understanding of beauty can help architects and audiences to create or analyze an architectural work. This paper investigates the assumption that we can have a clearer understanding of the concept of aesthetics in architecture by analyzing the ideas of the contemporary analyst of architectural aesthetics, Jörg Greuther. Thus, the question is how the concept of aesthetics in architecture will be analyzed in their thoughts. In general, the paper aims to examine aesthetic concepts in the contemporary era that are expressed relying on Greuther's views. The paper adopts a descriptive-analytic approach in terms of methodology. Finally, through the study of the viewpoints of various scholars and specifically considering Greuther's definition that focuses on the effect of psychological-social factors on human perception and formation of the schema, it could be said that aesthetics means to have a good knowledge of truth and understand it.

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the royal harem and its functions during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–96), on the basis of two independent Persian-language sources written by noble Iranian women at the turn of nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Naser al-Din's daughter, Taj al-Saltana (1884–1936), who in her famous memoirs vividly rendered her early years spent on her imperial father's court, and ‘Lady from Kerman’ (whose identity remains, for the moment, unclear), who authored a latterly published travelogue of pilgrimage to Mecca and the holy Shi'a places in contemporary Iraq held by her in the early 1890s. The second part of the latter account is entirely dedicated to the sojourn in Tehran, where, upon coming back from the sacred journey, the woman was a frequent guest at the royal harem. Both accounts are unique as they are the only known first-hand sources penned by the female insiders of the harem in nineteenth-century Iran. Furthermore, both authors, who actually met each other, describe the same figures and events – which provide an opportunity to compare their relations and augment our knowledge about Iran in the late Naseri period.

کتاب هنر ایران نوشته رابرت مرداک اسمیت (۱۸۳۵-۱۹۰۰م) یکی از نخستین کتاب‌های تاریخ هنر ایران است که در عهد ناصری و در سال ۱۸۷۶م (۱۲۵۴ش) در لندن منتشر شده است. مرداک اسمیت رئیس اداره تلگراف ایران (۱۸۶۴-۱۸۸۸م) سرلشکر باستان شناس و دیپلمات اسکاتلندی یکی از مهمترین گردآورندگان آثار هنر ایران در موزه‌های انگلستان (عصر ویکتوریا) بوده است. این کتاب سندی مهم از تاریخ هنر ایران است که علاوه بر متن اصلی کتاب شامل آلبومی از تصاویر رنگی از آثار هنر ایران در موزه ویکتوریا و آلبرت لندن و دو مقاله از نویسندگان برجسته جنیفر اسکرس و ایزابل گدوین درباره اهمیت کار مرداک اسمیت و کتاب حاضر است.

Ə.Fərdinin verdiyi məlumata əsasən, Ustad şair seyid Məhəmmədhüseyn Şəhriyar (1906-1988) poemanın ilk hissəsini Tehranda, ikinci hissəsini isə Təbrizdə yazmışdır. poemanın ilk hissəsini 1952-ci ildə bitirmişdir. 1952-ci ildə anasının vəfatından sonra o Tehranı tərk edərək, Təbrizdə yaşamağa qərar verir. Ehtimal edilir ki, ikinci hissəsini 1954- cü ildə Təbrizdə bitirmişdir. Poema müxtəlif cəhətlərdən çox maraq doğurur. Öz dövründə də xalq üçün maraqlı olduğundan dillər əzbəri olmudur. Qeyd etmək yerinə düşər ki, bu poema 1955-ci ildə Türkiyədə “AZERBAYCAN” aylık kültür dergisinin yanvar-fevral sayında işıq üzü görmüşdür.

Tehran Bazaar has been the most influential marketplace in Iran, over the last two hundred years, since Tehran became the capital of the country. The Bazaar has been a significant socio-political agent in Iranian society. Nevertheless, less attention has been given to its internal atmosphere, where the bazaaris, have tried to conserve their traditions and preserve their heritage. One of these heritages are “hey'ats”, religious formations for holding mourning sessions in Muharram month, as a ritual in Shi'a Islam. "Hey'ats" give the guilds a sense of collective identity, they represent them, and also build a shared heritage for them. The Drapers' Guild was the first guild in Tehran Bazaar, founding a hey'at. They founded this hey'at in 1883 and named it “the Drapers' Hey'at”. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Drapers faced difficulties preserving their heritage. They were forced to displace the Mirza Mousa Mosque in the Bazaar. The Mosque was their center for holding religious sessions and was publicly known as “the Drapers' Mosque”. Since they were attached to the Mosque, their displacement was perceived a loss of heritage. Later, they decided to build a new home, "the Drapers' Hosseinieh". They decided to implement the interior design of their lost Mosque in the new place. This strategy enabled them overcome “the traumatic experience of displacement and heritage loss.” Also, to safeguard their new place, they legally registered their hey'at as an institution, and they wrote a constitution for it. The attempts for modernization, led them to develop beneficiary activities, as well. In this research, a qualitative approach is applied, benefiting from multiple methodologies, including; ethnography, secondary sources, and visual methods. The researcher has attempted to outline the story of the Drapers in preserving their heritage. This study hopefully would be useful for similar traditional organizations, showing how continuity and heritage preservation are possible to achieve for communities having experienced a troubled past.
Der Basar in Teheran gilt seit zweihundert Jahren als der einflussreichste Markt im Iran und ist ebenfalls ein wichtiger soziopolitischer Wirkungsort der iranischen Gesellschaft. Bisher wurde jedoch nur wenig Aufmerksamkeit auf die innere Atmosphäre des Ortes gerichtet, in welchem die bazaaris ihre Traditionen und ihr gemeinsames Erbe pflegen. Teil dieses Erbes sind sogenannte Hey’ats, religiöse Zusammenkünfte, bei denen als Teil der schiitischen Tradition gemeinsam während des Muharram Monats getrauert wird. Diese Hey’ats stehen repräsentativ für die Gilden und verleihen den Gildenangehörigen einen Sinn kollektiver Identität und eines gemeinsamen Erbes. Die Tuchmacher Gilde war die erste des Teheran Basars, die Hey’at praktizierte. 1883 gründeten die Mitglieder gemeinsam das „Tuchmacher-Hey’at“. Nach der Islamischen Revolution im Jahr 1979 wurden die Tuchmacher jedoch zunehmend mit Schwierigkeiten bei der Erhaltung ihres Erbes konfrontiert. So musste die Mirza Mousa Moschee, welche das Zentrum der religiösen Zusammenkünfte bildete und in der Öffentlichkeit als „Tuchmacher-Moschee“ bekannt geworden war, aufgelöst werden. Der Verlust dieses Ortes wurde als Erbe-Verlust empfunden. Später baute die Gilde einen neuen Ort, die „Tuchmacher Hosseinieh“, welche innenarchitektonisch der Mirza Mousa Moschee angeglichen wurde. Diese Strategie half den Gildenangehörigen, über den „traumatischen Verlust und die Entwurzelung des Erbes“ hinweg zu kommen. Darüber hinaus wurde das neue Hey’at als offizielle Institution registriert und mit einer Satzung ausgestattet. Auch Modernisierungsbemühungen stellten sich als hilfreich heraus. In dieser Arbeit werden qualitative Methoden benutzt wie beispielswiese Ethnografie, Sekundärliteratur und Visuelle Methoden. Der Autor hat sich mit dieser Arbeit zum Ziel gesetzt, die Geschichte gemeinschaftlicher Bemühungen zur Erhaltung des Erbes darzustellen, in der Hoffnung, dass diese Studie hilfreich für die Erforschung ähnlicher traditioneller Organisationen ist. Die Arbeit zeigt die Möglichkeit der Kontinuität der Erbe-Erhaltung und Pflege einer Gemeinschaft trotz problembeladener Vergangenheit.

In the 1970s a grand-scale ceremonial urban centre, with an extensive programme of governmental, commercial and residential buildings, was planned for north Tehran. Construction began in 1975, but was soon halted by the eruption of the street protests that led to the 1979 revolution. This essay analyses the project’s conception, socio-political underpinnings and ultimate failure, by contextualizing it within Tehran’s urban landscape and by tracing its design trajectory. As a grandiose project made possible by the oil boom, the final plan of Shahestan, drawn up by the planning firm Llewelyn-Davies International, not only reflects the megalomania of Mohammad Reza Shah (r. 1941–79) but also reveals the totalitarian nature of the Pahlavi regime in the 1970s. But prior to hiring the planning firm, Queen Farah supported a rival design by the internationally famous architects Louis Kahn and Kenzo Tange, who were indeed involved in the project for a few months before Kahn’s death in 1974. I argue that this duality of patronage, and all the oppositions that it embodies, is echoed in the gendered representation of monarchy in the final plan and signifies how the project subverts a liberal narrative of modernism. Moreover, the new urban centre was not at the city’s physical core but rather at the centre of its northern part – the locus of an expanding upper middle class. The discrepancy between the intended purpose of the project and the social realities of its urban context epitomizes the regime’s paradoxical approach to modernity and modernization.

Urban planning has received tremendous public attention in the last few years. Energy cost, environmental issues, traffic congestion and the feeling of lack of belonging in the cities are among the factors that have contributed to the development of pedestrian areas. These public spaces provide opportunities for shopping, entertainment, eating facilities and gatherings where people can experience urban life as pedestrians. Over decades, the concept of pedestrianisation has become part of social urban life in the developed countries. However, developing countries such as Iran have just recently paid attention to pedestrianisation and walking as a mode of transportation. The historic core of Tehran, the capital of Iran, embraces significant tangible and intangible values. For a long time, enhancing the mobility in the area has been the important concern of the urban developers; pedestrianisation is their recently solution to this issue in this site. To study and evaluate this project, a literature and field research have been performed through investigating the valid documentations and using questionnaires and interviews with the locals and visitors. Taking advantage of the Historic Urban Landscape approach, the results of the field and bibliographic research have been evaluated and recommendations have been made for improving the pedestrian-oriented areas in the historic context. The findings of this research show that converting a street to a pedestrian zone does not mean to simply ban the vehicles from entering the site. On the contrary, there are essential bases in the site such as multifunctional places, human-scale dimensions or activities during the whole day and night that should be taken into consideration to provide a suitable space for pedestrians including citizens and tourists. Pedestrian zones include different functions such as residential, social, cultural, tourists, physical, economic, etc. on various dimensions and scales which affect the whole city design and management. Moreover, these spaces should be supported by variety of facilities like parking lots, public transportation and equipment for people with disabilities. Assessing the impacts of pedestrianisation in Tehran Grand Bazaar can pave the way for future studies with the aim of conserving unique features of the historic sites within an urban development process.

The concept of Tabula Rasa, as a desire for sweeping renewal and creating a potential site for the construction of utopian dreams is presupposition of Modern Architecture. Starting from the middle of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, Iranian urban and architectural history has been integrated with modernization, and western-influenced modernity. The case of Tehran as the Middle Eastern political capital is the main scene for the manifestation of modernity within it’s urban projects that was associated with several changes to the social, political and spatial structure of the city. In this regard, the strategy of Tabula Rasa as a utopian blank slate upon which a new Iran could be conceived “over again” – was the dominant strategy of modernization during First Pahlavi era (1925–1941). This article explores the very concept of constructing a new image of Tehran through the processes of autocratic modernism and orientalist historicism that also influenced the discourse of national identity during First Pahlavi era.

During the past decades, complex transformation of Iranian cities has occurred in physical and socio-economic aspects. Some of the less-studied outcomes of these transformations are the urban travel impacts. It is useful for our transport research and practice to know more about the influences of the changes in land use and household characteristics on the specifications of urban trips. This study applies a typology of different urban forms in Iranian cities: traditional, in-between, modern, and sprawled. In a case study in west of Tehran, the prominent role of socio-economics and human perceptions of neighborhood facilities are shown. As concluding remarks of this study, neighborhood-level design concepts for enhancing non-motorized travels based on centralized Iranian neighborhood patterns are suggested. Finally, a number of topics for further investigations are presented in order to complete/extend the results.

Paper presented in English at: REAL CORP 2009, 14th International Conference on Urban Planning, Regional Development and Information Society "CITIES: SMART, SUSTAINABLE, INTEGRATIVE Strategies, Concepts and Technologies for Planning the Urban Future", in Sitges (Catalonia/ Spain), 22 - 25 April 2009, www.corp.at.
and printed in the proceedings of the Conference.

Paper is based upon the Masters of Urban & Regional Planning (MURP) dissertation of the 2nd author (Asrin Mahmoodpoor) under the supervision of the 1st author (Zohreh A. Daneshpour) in the Urban & Regional Planning Department, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, SBUniversity, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
Urban public parks play an essential role in enhancing the quality of life in urban areas and are particularly beneficial where stress is a common aspect of life. The social status of users of urban parks has universally been important in their perception. In this paper an attempt has been made to explore the perception of the different groups of population of major urban public parks in Tehran. The extent the people use public parks must be viewed against the increasing privatisation of consumption, including leisure and recreational activities, universally and in Iran, which has been exposed to a number of factors construing to the enhancement of this kind of privatisation. To this end, a dual process of obtaining information from the users and non-users of urban parks in Tehran is done. The first group of respondents was chosen amongst young and educated population with access to the internet. The second group for whom an in place questionnaires was used, were users or potential users of the three major parks in Tehran. This study indicated that the respondents perception of the urban public parks in Tehran include the quality and quantity of green areas, types of activities offered in the parks, the social status of other users, its security, the visibility of law enforcement, the location of the park and their ownership of private means of transportation. Also, it was deduced that the use of public parks has become a major source of leisure and recreational activity for lower income groups. As there is a socio-spatial dichotomy in Tehran, the lower income groups, use the urban parks in the northern parts of the city. This – and the physically inactive lifestyles of many of the more well-off and educated residents – has become major barriers of using urban parks – especially during the weekends and public holidays - in Tehran.

Keywords: urban public parks, quality of life, leisure and recreational activities, subjective and objective data/information, Tehran

ISouth-central Alborz is a language transition zone bounded by the Caspian, Persian, and Tatic language groups. In the upper valleys of the Jajrud and Karaj rivers, separated from both Tehran and Mazandaran by mountains, rest dozens of villages with vanishing dialects that show various degrees of affinity with the neighboring languages. The dialectological position of this area in relation to the rest of West Iranian has not been identified, nor is the intra-dialectal relationships of the area explored. The objective of this study is to categorize the relationships among the dialects by making explicit the areal distribution of major linguistic differences in phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. The analysis is based on 48 isoglosses from 35 localities spread out throughout the region. Due attention is paid to historical, socio-economic, and migrational factors.

Keywords: Rudbar-e Qasran, Jajrud and Karaj rivers, Shemiran, Tabari (Mazandarani), Persian, Central Caspian dialects, typology, areal distribution, language convergence

This chapter introduces the history of Iran’s nuclear program by breaking it down into three separable historical phases. The preliminary phase of Iran’s nuclear activities started during the early Shah period where the administra- tion reached several nuclear contracts with French and Canadian companies, dealt with a friendly Washington, and sent its first batch of students to uni- versities in the United States, such as MIT, to become the future nuclear scientists of Iran. The second phase of Iran’s nuclear program can be referred to as a period of stagnation, where after the Islamic revolution the regime was isolated, lost its access to international funds and technology, and was dead- locked in a bitter war of attrition with Iraq. The third phase of Iran’s nuclear program is with the renewed interest of Tehran in constructing clandestine nuclear sites that were exposed to the international community by a group of Iranian dissidents in 2002. This chapter serves as a historical introduction and background to Iran’s nuclear program with emphasis on key turning points, actors, and events.

Gegenstand der vorliegenden Arbeit sind zwei Studien bezüglich der Wahrnehmung von Wohlstand und Armut: Zum einen wird die geistesgeschichtliche Entwicklung dieser beiden Konzepte aufgezeigt und zum anderen wird eine empirische, kognitionsethnologische Untersuchung über die indigene Sichtweise in Teheran durchgeführt.

Wie sich zeigt, basiert die Wahrnehmung von Wohlstand und Armut bei dem Fallbeispiel in Teheran auf einer wesentlich breiteren Grundlage, als es den Annahmen der mittlerweile Universalität beanspruchenden modernen Wirtschaftsethik entspricht. So konnten neben Vorstellungen des altiranischen Zoroastrismus, des Islam und der Mystik auch viele Elemente antiker Ethiken nachgewiesen werden, die im Westen mit dem Aufkommen der klassischen Nationalökonomie weitestgehend verloren gegangen sind. Auch konnte aufgezeigt werden, daß der wirtschaftlich quantifizierbare Teil von Wohlstand und Armut in Iran wie in den antiken Ethiken immer noch einen eher untergeordneten Stellenwert einnimmt.

Im Ergebnis lassen sich hieraus zwei Schlußfolgerungen ziehen: Erstens kann der gemeinsame geistesgeschichtliche Ursprung für ein besseres interkulturelles Verständnis zwischen Iran und dem Westen herangezogen werden und zweitens kann die iranische Sichtweise von Wohlstand und Armut die aktuelle Wertediskussion zwischen den Kulturen und Religionen bereichern, weil sie auf einem bedeutsamen – wenn auch in Vergessenheit geratenen – Ansatz beruht, der weit mehr beinhaltet, als die konzeptionell stark eingeengte moderne Wirtschaftsethik hergibt.

This paper aims to analyze the square beyond an architectural element in the city, but weaves this blank slate, with its contemporary socio political atmosphere as a new paradigm. As a result, this research investigates the historical, social and political concept of Meydan – a term which has mostly applied for the Iranian and Islamic public squares. This interpretation, suggested the idea of Meydan as the core of the projects in the city, which historically exposed in formalization of power relations and religious ideologies. In this sense, studying the spatial transformation of Iranian public squares introduces the framework, which is adaptable to contemporary urban context.

Urban design and architecture are used as manifestations of power and control over a society. The city square is not just an architectural element; its structure has a nature that weaves together its contemporary social and political atmosphere and brings a new meaning and concept to the square. This paper aims to clarify the formation of Toopkhaneh Square (“The Place of Cannons,” or “Artillery Barracks” Square) whose military function and ominous name was physical evidence of the use of urban design by the ruling authority to control the citizenry. The transformation of Toopkhaneh Square is an example of power relations and the struggle for power, which have been projected on the body of the city. This research concentrates on power relations and urban transformations in the spatial analysis of Toopkhaneh Square throughout different periods of its history. The transitional process of Toopkhane Square to an Artillery Square in the Qajar Era dynasty of Naser al-Din Shah (1888) until the Islamic Revolution (1978) shows that the structural elements of the traditional square were modified, as its name, political status, meaning, and functions were changed to fulfill the modern needs and reflect the power struggle. This study analyzes Toopkhaneh Square as the representation of the ruling power and its politico-religious ideology in Iranian urban form.

The concept of Public square in Iran, has been changed fundamentally during recent centuries. This research investigated how modernity is manifested in the public squares of Tehran. In this regard, Tehran has been chosen as the main concern, while in its short history of being as the capital of Iran, the city has been hosting several critical transformations; first because of constant urban developing during Qajar Dynasty and rapid growth of city during the late Pahavi era. The second reason is the dominant culture of rapid renovation and reconstruction in contemporary public spaces. Considering these facts, studying the urban transformation of Baharestan Square, as one of the most influencing public squares of Tehran during the recent century can lead us to understand the process of Iranian Modernization which is totally different from common pattern of western Modernity. Analyzing the historical changes of Baharestan square based on manuscripts, western travelers’ diaries, historical images and maps, from its formation time till Islamic Revolution (1978) shows how the traditional elements of the square as well as its form and function has been totally transformed. Analyzing spatial qualities of Baharestan Square, clarifies that its special location near the first Iranian Parliament building, Sepahsalar Mosque and Negarestan Garden represent it as the first modern focal point in Iranian’s Political and social life.

Islamic painting is mostly known through the illustrations accompanied to the texts in which they placed. At the end of 18th century, through the impact of western art, new techniques and styles appeared in the art of Middle East countries such as Iran. On the one hand, the new fashions seen in Iran art prompted the demolishing of traditional manuscript painting. On the other hand, this issue brought new ways of explanation for artistic creation in Iran art. This study, will explore how the artists used iconographical settings, which were produced for the book paintings depicting popular stories, in the new techniques like lacquer or wall tile.

The Invisible Monument shows the process of an anachronic reading of Tehran using underground layers of an abandoned irrigation network to reveal the capital’s contemporary nature and needs. As a graphic novel, the book retraces the history of Tehran since its Zoroastrian beginnings by shedding light on how an infrastructure has the capacity to shape thoughts and space through time. Out of the necessity to inhabit the desert, an anthropogenic landscape shaped by underground water sources and astronomical cycles gave emergence to the enclosed garden as one of the oldest art forms.