Advice to a Young Architecture Apprentice

Do not worry about teaching design. Teach the principles. We discover the expected function from the tree of the building and the building of the tree (1953).

My father, who was a clergyman and preacher, taught me to envision a symphony as a great building made of sounds. Ever since, whenever I listen to Bach and Beethoven and Mozart, I see architecture in the making and have drawn invaluable lessons from music. For me, it has been another stage of perceiving nature (1953).

I told him he must immediately cultivate this habit: when you see the result, think about "how" it was made; develop a sensitivity for distinguishing between what is unusual and what is beautiful, and acquire the disposition of an analyst.

I told him: "Focus your mind on simple things" — what our old master always recommended. This means bringing the whole down to the level of its components. Beware of the American way of quick returns on investment as you would of deadly poison; leave nothing half-done or premature, and if it takes ten years for experience to ripen, be patient.

A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect has no choice but to advise his client to plant climbing vines to cover his blunders. So, for your first buildings, get as far away from your home as possible. I also told him to build a kitchen with the same passion as building a great cathedral — for what matters is quality. Avoid competitions, except for amusement, and never become a plan salesman. Architecture is a profession that must find its own practitioner. And pursue integrity with such insistence that it never fully comes within your grasp (1953).

Try to study the book of nature. What we need to know about organic architecture cannot be found in ordinary books. To learn from nature, one must become its interlocutor. One must learn from the tree, the flower, the seashell — that is, from visible things whose forms arise from function. But if we stop there, our work will be nothing but mere imitation. However, if we dig deeper to reach the principles by which these things operate, we discover the secret of the dependence of form on function — and this understanding becomes truly generative (1953).

The only certain progress you will make, now and always, is in work carried out with principle and brought to full order (1931).

I assure you that the environment of architecture is changing with astonishing speed, but its center — the human heart — remains forever unchanged (1931).

Student Competitions

The shortening of cycles of scientific and technical transformation in recent decades has disrupted the customary system of gaining experience and building a career at various stages of the modern citizen's life, and has increasingly drawn young people into transformative currents. Architecture is one of the prominent arenas of this transformation. Memar magazine, in order to make a fruitful contribution to this current, will organize a series of student competitions and will publish selected works, so that through them creativity, innovation, and fresh talent may be brought to light.

Competition of This Issue: Memorial for Iran 1400

Where will Iran stand in cultural and civilizational terms in the year 1400 Solar Hijri [approximately 2021 CE]? Nearly half a century of efforts leading to the beginning of the fifteenth century of the Solar Hijri calendar — what cultural and civilizational position will it bestow upon the nation of Iran? How does the Iranian architect view this prospect, and how does he or she envision it with the power of architectural imagination? Memorials usually belong to the past; the Memorial for Iran 1400 looks forward to the future.

Second National Student Congress

Esfand 1377 / February-March 1999 — Shiraz

In Esfand 1377, the Second National Congress of Architecture and Urban Design Students will be held in the city of Shiraz, with the aim of greater exchange of ideas among students. According to the published announcement, this gathering, with the cooperation of specialists, seeks to pose questions and address the issues and problems of architecture in the contemporary era.

Announcements

Showcasing the Work of Young People and Students: In the pages of the "New Seeds" section of each issue, a selection of works and activities of young people and students in the fields of architecture, industrial design, sculpture, photography, painting, and more will be featured. Works submitted to domestic and international competitions, projects in progress or completed, and works exhibited in individual or group exhibitions will be introduced to readers.

Volunteer Correspondents: The "New Seeds" section invites students of architecture faculties across the country to serve as volunteer correspondents. Interested candidates should contact the Memar magazine office.

Introduction of Theses: Memar magazine, in each issue in the "New Seeds" section, will introduce selected theses from among the projects received at the magazine office. Graduates of architecture or industrial design who wish to have their theses featured are requested to send images of their work along with a brief description to the Memar magazine office.