Shamel Mohammadzadeh: Poetic Dimension of Technology

Shamil Mohammadzadeh, born in 1945, received his M.Arch. from Shahid Beheshti University in 1972 and started his career by cooperating with consulting engineers and engineering offices from 1967. He participated in several domestic and international architectural competitions. Mohammadzadeh's activities span various cultural, recreational, and sports sectors — particularly covered halls and cultural-recreational-sports complexes — and this diverse and enriching experience has been extraordinarily effective in his current work on office and commercial buildings.

Through his cooperation with Artec Consulting Engineers, Mohammadzadeh has designed sport complexes and the Women's Multi-purpose Sport Hall in Tabriz, Tabriz Stadium, and Esfahan Stadium. He also runs a private office. Saremi's Office Building, Maghzi's Office Building, the Islamic World Communication Center, and Azadi Cinema (a competition entry) are among his notable private projects.

Shamil Mohammadzadeh positions architecture and the architect against a one-dimensional figure he calls the "technocratic architect" in Iran. The major activities of the Iranian technocratic architect were initially hidden in recent years, but now technological building signs have emerged, and architecture — structure, installations, and materials — possesses a poetic dimension, provided that at every stage, technical ethics are upheld in its stewardship.

Mohammadzadeh considers the current buildings of contemporary architects to be gray and destructive, and believes that major construction consultants and mass builders must advance their technical work further, and that technical discipline and the necessary architectural skills must become universal — although their activities have been and continue to be intertwined with those of foreign consultants and contractors, the serious question of architecture and the construction industry is never dissolved.

Shamil has quietly brought his works into being, and for a deeper understanding — despite architecture's descent in Iran from design to mere construction — the philosophical dimensions of several of his works show such maturity that he must rightly be placed among the finest architects of Iran.

Mr. Maghzi's Office Building

Karoon Cement Factory Administrative Building

Mrs. Saremi's Office Building (1982–85)

Booshehr Cement Factory's Control Building