On 1377/9/11 (2 December 1998) the Construction and Government Facilities Authority of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development invited six architectural design groups — all previously successful in the Abadi Award competitions or the Building Engineering Festival — to take part in the competition for the architectural design of the Governorate Building of the newly established Golestan province. At the end of the stated deadline only two groups completed and submitted their schemes. On 1377/11/13 (2 February 1999) a jury session was held to evaluate the two received entries, and its result was announced as follows:
Jury verdict for the Golestan Governorate architecture competition
On 1377/11/13 the jury session was held with the membership of Eng. Kazerouni, Dr. Hanachi, Eng. Mirmiran, Eng. Sepehri and Eng. Hashemi, and with representatives of the executing authority present.
Only two schemes were submitted for judgement — one by Eng. Nourkeyhani and the other by the team of Eng. Mohammad-Hassan Momeni and Ms. Mozhgan Soulati-Dehkordi. A complete design brief was not provided to the entrants; only the approximate built area and the organisational diagram of the Governorate were supplied, and as a result the spaces were not truly defined and are not readily examinable or assessable.
Both projects gave appropriate historical attention to the architecture of Gonbad-e Qabus, but overall the scheme by Mr. Momeni and Ms. Soulati was judged the more successful — for its apt inspiration from the tower’s design and its combination with a contemporary architecture, the relative observance of the programme areas, the flexibility of its interior spaces, and the beauty of its massing.
The jury also announced its corrective and supplementary remarks as follows:
- Despite the use of the geometry of the Gonbad-e Qabus, there was no need to impose a fully symmetric and entirely closed volume on the project.
- The distinctive feature of the Gonbad-e Qabus is the integration of its star plan with a cylindrical body, which is evident in the model but not respected in the plan — although the designers’ own explanations indicate their belief in preserving this feature of the Gonbad’s design.
- If the choice of two volumes — a star and a band — is a metaphor drawing back a curtain to put a historical symbol on display, then sufficient care must be taken in the surface treatment and material selection of the banded volume.
- Separating the two volumes — one for ordinary staff and the other for the senior officials of the Governorate — into two ranks of superior and subordinate is contrary to the foundations and Islamic values of our country.
- Effort must be made so that the Governorate Building, while remaining beautiful and strong, does not appear ostentatious or aristocratic. The jury recommended that, in order to prepare the executive design, first a complete project brief should be drawn up, and second a group made up of a representative of the executing body, a representative of the Governorate, and one member of the jury should supervise the process of corrections to the project and the executive design.
