In 2003 (1382), after the devastating Bam earthquake, the Bam Project group — made up of Memar magazine, the Iranian Architecture magazine, and the Architects Society — carried out three projects to assist in the city's relief and reconstruction efforts, which were:
1. Building four public sanitary complexes (each comprising 8 men's toilets, 8 women's toilets, 5 men's bathrooms and 5 women's bathrooms, and areas for laundry and dishwashing), in addition to washrooms as a public facility.
2. Organizing specialists to rapidly survey the damaged houses that had not collapsed, reporting the results to the homeowners, and preparing a report on the kinds of damage sustained by the buildings and its causes (which was published in detail in Memar no. 25).
3. Holding a competition for the design of the municipality building, city council, and city hall of Bam, at the request of the municipality and the mayor of Bam, Engineer Bagheri-zadeh.
The competition was carried out entirely at the expense of the Bam Project and with the support of Kashi Semnan (Semnan Tiles), which paid the prizes of the first, second, and third places.
The competition jurors were: Engineer Seyyed Mohammad Beheshti (Cultural Heritage Organization), Engineer Iraj Kalantari, Engineer Mohammad Reza Judat, Engineer Mohammad Kazem Moin-zadeh, and Engineer Bijan Shafei — who are among the most active members of the country's foremost professional and engineering associations. The competition began in September 2003 (Shahrivar 1382) with 51 entries, and the winners were announced at a ceremony held in October 2004 (Mehr 1383) in the presence of Engineer Bagheri-zadeh. With the aim of assisting Bam as much as possible, the jurors declared that they were ready to cooperate with the Bam municipality through all stages of completing the design and constructing the building.
The following chronicle, from September 2004 (Shahrivar 1383) up to the present (that is, Azar 1384, on the third anniversary of the Bam earthquake), shows the continuation of the affair:
5/7/1383 — Letter from the Bam municipality to the executive secretary of the Bam Project, asking for the first-place winner to be named for the signing of a contract.
8/7/1383 — The competition winner is introduced to the municipality for the signing of a contract, together with a copy of the jury's statement.
11/7/1383 — Letter from the municipality to the winner, stating that, given the urgency, he should extend the necessary cooperation in the construction as quickly as possible and come to the Bam municipality to sign the contract and carry out the design.
12/7/1383 — Letter from the winner to the municipality to fix the time and place of a meeting to visit the municipality and sign the contract.
Second half of Mehr — Following up the matter and contacting the municipality, and finally the winner being referred to the municipality's consultant, Dr Masoudi.
6/8/1383 — A meeting is held in Tehran with Dr Masoudi, the municipality's representative, and the competition winner, and Dr Masoudi requests an estimate of the design fees for phases 1, 2, and 3.
6/8/1383 — The fee estimates are sent.
Mid-Aban — Dr Masoudi gives his verbal opinion that there is no particular issue or obstacle and the municipality can sign the contract.
Aban and Azar 1383 — Continuous follow-up on the part of the winner and no response from Dr Masoudi, and finally his statement that he is the mayor's honorary consultant and nothing more is within his power.
22/9/1383 — Letter from the executive secretary of the Bam Project to the mayor, seeking the reasons for the delay in executing the contract.
21/10/1383 — Letter from the mayor of Bam to the executive secretary of the Bam Project, with this explanation: it had been arranged that the funds for these projects would be allocated directly to the municipality, but since so far no funds have been allocated and the Ministry of the Interior has taken over the execution of these projects, a response has been delayed. Should funds be received, the winner will be contacted.
15/2/1384 — The winner sends a follow-up letter to the Bam municipality, noting that 8 months have passed since the announcement of the results and that the obligations have not been fulfilled.
7/3/1384 — Letter from the municipality to Dr Masoudi, consultant to the Bam municipality, as follows:
Esteemed consultant to the Bam municipality, Dr Abbas Masoudi. Greetings. With respect, further to letter no. 126 dated 5/3/1384, we inform you that, since this municipality has decided to implement the design of the municipality and city-council building, please carry out the appropriate measures for the subsequent stages in accordance with the scope of services of the contract between us. Ali Bagheri-zadeh, Mayor of Bam. Copy to: Mr Mashhadi-Mirza, winner of the competition, to consult Dr Masoudi.
1/4/1384 — Renewed follow-up by the winner with Dr Masoudi.
5/4/1384 — Letter from Dr Masoudi to the mayor, as follows:
Esteemed Mayor of Bam, Engineer Bagheri-zadeh. Greetings. With respect, regarding the competition for the municipality and Islamic city-council building of Bam and the final decision on this matter, the following points are brought to your attention for appropriate action. Note that in this connection attention to Publication no. 240 of the Management and Planning Organization of the country, concerning the guidelines for holding architecture and urban-planning competitions in Iran, appears essential.
1. Given that a competition has been held and the moral obligation it entails toward the participants, it is recommended that the esteemed municipality place the signing of a contract with Engineer Mashhadi-Mirza, the competition winner, on its agenda. The executive mechanisms of this matter are considered as follows.
2. Since decisions regarding administrative buildings rest with the Bam city council, and this committee must also give the final opinion on the land use that is the subject of the competition, it is recommended that the land use covered by the contract be referred to this committee. Furthermore, matters such as building height, the urban skyline, and so on must also be examined in this council. For this reason, the first stage will be the municipality's favourable presentation of this project to the Bam architecture council.
3. After this stage, in view of the approved development plan for 1384, it appears that a reduction of the floor area should be placed on the agenda, because the floor area of the city-council and municipality building complex was less than the amount envisaged in the winning competition design.
4. Since it was arranged that the continuation would be carried out by the competition winner, and the esteemed jury also has no particular objection in this regard (article 12-6 of Publication no. 240), this obligation morally rests with the Bam municipality, so as to realize the esteemed jury's view of the values of the winning design. It is obvious that the esteemed jury, as the competent authority, will not withhold help from the winner in realizing this important matter.
5. Article 12-6-1 of this publication refers to the capacity to carry on the design and provide consulting-engineering services, and for this reason the approval of the Plan and Budget Organization is required. My recommendation is that, if deemed appropriate, the continuation of the first design phase be carried out by Engineer Mashhadi-Mirza and his collaborating group, and thereafter, if the work is finally approved, only the second stage be undertaken in accordance with the provisions of this article, using a qualified consultant.
6. Should the municipality lack the financial resources to carry out the design contract under this article, it is recommended that this be executed through the Ministry of Housing or the Ministry of the Interior. In closing, given the long time that has passed since the announcement of the competition results and in view of the provisions of Publication no. 240, it is recommended that the esteemed municipality, as the organizer of the competition, proceed to sign a contract using the above methods, or, if this is not possible, act to pay the rights due to the competition winner in accordance with articles 12-6-2 and 12-6-3 of the above publication. With thanks, Abbas Masoudi. Copy to: Engineer Mashhadi-Mirza, for information.
8/4/1384 — Letter from the mayor to the winner, as follows:
Engineer Mashhadi-Mirza. Greetings. With respect, regarding the competition for the municipality and Islamic city-council building of Bam and the final decision on this matter, the following points are brought to your attention for appropriate action: the signing of a contract has been placed on the agenda and its executive mechanisms are considered as follows; your attendance at the architecture-council session is required, since decisions regarding administrative buildings rest with the Bam architecture council, and this committee must give the final opinion on the land use that is the subject of the competition; likewise, matters such as building height and the urban skyline must also be examined in this council.
In view of the approved development plans for 1384, a reduction of floor area should be placed on the agenda, since the floor area of the city-council and municipality building complex is less than the amount envisaged; since the esteemed jury has no particular objection in this regard, this municipality considers it its duty to realize the jury's view as the competent authority; the first design phase is to be carried out by you and your collaborating group, and upon final approval the subsequent stages will be executable. In closing, given the long time that has passed since the announcement of the results, this municipality, as the organizer of the competition, proceeds to sign a contract using the above methods and announces this. Ali Bagheri-zadeh, Mayor of Bam. Copy to: Memar magazine, Ms Beski.
19/6/1384 — Letter from the secretary of the Bam architecture council to the Bam municipality, as follows:
Mr Bagheri-zadeh, esteemed Mayor of Bam. Greetings. With respect, following the raising of the matter of the Bam municipality and city-council building at the forty-third session of the Bam architecture and urban-planning council and the referral of its expert review to the council's committee on public and governmental buildings, the matter was examined and the general lines of the design were approved; it was decided that, once a consultant is appointed and the phase-one drawings are completed, it be reviewed again at the committee's session. Seyyed Javad Mir-Hosseini, Director-General of the Office of Architecture and Urban Design and secretary of the Bam architecture and urban-planning council.
2/8/1384 — Letter from the winner to the Bam municipality regarding their prolonged delay in fulfilling their obligations.
22/8/1384 — Renewed follow-up by the winner.
Now our question is this: what is the Bam municipality's problem with signing a contract with the winner of this competition, in accordance with the agreement the mayor has signed? Would they rather set aside a design that they obtained — without spending a single rial, at the verdict of an expert and authoritative jury, and at their own request — and place the preparation of a new design by another consultant on their agenda?
In any case, as far as we know, all the legal conditions for signing the phase-one contract with the first-place winner are in place, and we ask the Bam municipality and its consultant, Dr Masoudi, to state the reason for the delay in this matter.
