Reza Amirrahimi
رضا امیررحیمی
Chief Editor of Memar Magazine, Translator, Writer
Reza Amirrahimi is the Chief Editor of Memar Magazine and a prolific translator of contemporary intellectual literature. He has been central to keeping the magazine running since the passing of his wife Soheila Beski, while producing a wide-ranging body of translated work spanning neuroscience, mathematics, economics, philosophy, architecture, and literature.
At Memar
Reza Amirrahimi has served as the Chief Editor of Memar since at least 2005. Before his involvement with the magazine, he worked in geographic information systems (GIS) and map digitization for the Tehran municipality.
Soheila Beski founded Memar, shaped its editorial direction, and built it into Iran's most influential architecture publication. After her death in 2015, Amirrahimi took on full responsibility for the magazine. He has kept the Memar Award running annually and maintained the magazine's commitment to critical architectural discourse.
A Translator's Universe
What distinguishes Reza Amirrahimi from most publisher-editors is the sheer scope and intellectual ambition of his translation work. He has translated more than fifteen books into Farsi, published across six different publishing houses. The range is remarkable — not the work of a specialist, but of a deeply curious mind that moves freely across disciplinary boundaries.
Neuroscience & Consciousness
Descartes' Error
Antonio Damasio · Mehrvista · 4 editions
Self Comes to Mind
Antonio Damasio · Mehrvista
Looking for Spinoza
Antonio Damasio · Mehrvista
The Mystery of Consciousness
John Searle · Agah
A User's Guide to the Brain
John J. Ratey · Agah
Science & Mathematics
Complexity: A Guided Tour
Melanie Mitchell · Nashr-e No · 10 editions
The Computer and the Brain
John von Neumann · Nashr-e No
Incompleteness
Rebecca Goldstein · Niloofar
Gödel's Proof
Nagel & Newman · Niloofar
Economics & Society
Revolutionary Wealth
Alvin Toffler · Mahi · 8 editions
The World Is Flat
Thomas Friedman · Mahi
A Whole New Mind
Daniel Pink
Architecture
Mind in Architecture
Robinson & Pallasmaa · Memar Nashr
The Space Within
Robert McCarter · Memar Nashr
Literature
About Love
Anton Chekhov · Nashr-e No
The breadth of these translations is not random — it maps a coherent intellectual worldview. From Damasio's neuroscience of emotion to von Neumann's computation theory, from Gödel's incompleteness to Toffler's futurism, from Pallasmaa's embodied architecture to Chekhov's humanity, Amirrahimi's translations form a constellation around a central question: how do human beings think, feel, and create?
His translation of Melanie Mitchell's Complexity alone has gone through ten printings — a remarkable achievement for a scientific text in any language, and a testament to both the quality of the translation and the hunger for such ideas in Iran.
Original Writing
Beyond translation, Amirrahimi has contributed original articles to Memar on subjects including Paul Klee's art and the concept of organic metaphor in architecture — pieces that reveal the same interdisciplinary curiosity that drives his selection of books to translate. These essays bring the insights of science, art, and philosophy to bear on architectural questions, enriching the magazine's discourse in ways that few architecture publications anywhere in the world attempt.
Continuing What She Built
Memar was Soheila Beski's creation. She founded the magazine, shaped its voice, and built it into Iran's most important architecture publication. When she passed away in 2015, Reza Amirrahimi decided to keep it going — drawing on decades of experience in management and his deep engagement with the ideas that have always shaped Memar.