Shahyad Tower

Azadi Tower
برج آزادی Borj e Āzādi
General information
Type	Cultural
Location	Tehran, Iran
Coordinates	35°41′58″N 51°20′16″E / 35.69944°N 51.33778°E / 35.69944; 51.33778Coordinates: 35°41′58″N 51°20′16″E / 35.69944°N 51.33778°E / 35.69944; 51.33778
Completed	1971
Cost	$6 million
Height
Roof	45 m (148 ft)
Design and construction
Architect	Hossein Amanat
Structural engineer	Ove Arup & Partners
Main contractor	MAP Company
Website
Azadi Tower,

The Azadi Tower (Persian: برج آزادی‎‎ — Borj e Āzādi; "Freedom Tower"), formerly known as the Shahyad Tower (برج شهیاد — Borj e Šahyād; "King's Memorial Tower"), is a monument located at Azadi Square, in Tehran City, Iran. It is one of the symbols of Tehran, and marks the west entrance to the city. It was commissioned to mark 2,500 years of the Persian Empire

In 1966, the architect Hossein Amanat won a competition to design the building. He combined elements of the architecture of Sassanid and Achaemenid eras with the post-Islamic Iranian architecture. During the 1960s, Iran became a major oil exporting country, using the newly found wealth, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi launched programmes to modernise and industrialise the country. The field of art began to thrive during this time, Amanat said it was like "a mini renaissance."

Amanat told the BBC World Service in an interview that "overall, the building starts from the base and moves up towards the sky." He states that he was inspired to design the tower in this way because he felt that Iran "should be moving towards a higher level." Amanat proceeded to describe each section of the tower and what had influenced their design. The main vault is a Sasanid arch which represents the pre-Islamic period. The broken arch above it represents the Islamic period as it became a popular form of arch after Islam began to influence architecture. The "network of ribs", which connects the arches together, shows the connection between pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Iran.

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Wikipedia