From Hosseinieh Ershad to the British Embassy Garden in Qolhak

Due to recent events in Iran, discussions about freedom and democracy, which have a long history of almost one hundred years in our country, have moved beyond the reign of experts and the media, to homes, streets, parks, taxis, and of course Memar Magazine, and our field which is architecture, building and urban life.

Buildings and the city are vessels which contain life, but unlike most vessels that give shape to what they hold within, in this case it is the content which shapes the vessel, and at such speed and with such surprisingly contradictory subtlety, as if it is not of concrete, steel, and stone, but a cat that clones itself, reproduces, divides, and turns into different shapes and colors, like the algae that proliferate in water and can dry up the sea, like the red corals of Persian Gulf that have made the waters a deep blue.

In a country where from the ancient times, its citizens have been warned against lies, because falsehood, like drought and famine can dry up life, we ask if not, this vessel is honest and revealing, and so huge that cannot be hidden away in the depths of discussions and gatherings, opinions, illusions, and mystical thoughts. It displeases us, affronts us, but also, if one is willing to open his mind, he can be reminded of hard facts that can break one's heart, just like the potholes of our streets can if passed by unattended.

And the vessel of our life today, if we carefully look in front of us or shelved or on the ground, exposes a recent, that our country, if not the freest, is among the most free and democratic countries of the world. And on the contrary, the countries that claim freedom and democracy are some of the worst dictatorships of the world.

As for our itinerary: just in this stretch that may be a little over 3 kilometers, in addition to usual commercial units such as grocery stores, markets, chain stores, bakeries, pastry shops, sandwich places, real estate agencies, copy places, fruit stalls, bookstalls, light shops, audio-visual stores, home appliances, stationery, sports, furniture stores, bookstores, boutiques, drapery shops, laundromats, building supplies, paint stores, pharmacies, travel agencies, even a wedding specialty store, to banks and notary law and private dental offices, and of course newspaper stalls and bus stops, there are police stations, Basij headquarters, charity boxes, and more.

Mid-sized and large commercial units including: language, computer, sewing, fitness, and university entrance exam training centers. Medical, dental, psychiatric, and eye health clinics. Medical laboratories, radiology and dialysis centers. Women's associations, galleries, from small to large to medium-sized hospitals including Iranmehr, Kian specialized hospital, Moheb pediatric hospital.

Educational facilities including the College for Nursing and Obstetrics, Middle Schools, High Schools, Grade Schools, and Colleges, for both males and females. Restaurants and cafeterias. Large shopping centers including Mina Shopping Mall (10 stories), Negin commercial/office building (13 stories), Ghaem ASP telecommunications building, Ghadisa Shopping Center, and Baseri, for Salm, among others.

Farhang Cinema with a small parking lot, and Qobadian Jasemi Mosque. These are all comfortably operating on site, and there are no higher authorities to force them to provide parking for their patron employees, let alone their customers. Thankfully in this freedom, without trying to offend or flail, they are able to take advantage of the street and other public spaces.

And let us not get into the almost unfinished demolition of parking garages gathered anywhere on the street, which unlike the sidewalks has not yet expanded to include the sidewalks as well, and the freedom of pedestrians to walk anywhere on the streets, and many other liberties too numerous to include here. Would Barzou not say: and you can bet your life that we would be unable to do all these and much more that we are allowed to do here, in any of the countries that claim to be democratic\!