"Shariatzadeh Was the Best Architect in Iran"
The game has changed these days. It is no longer easy to recognize the genuine and the deep-rooted amid those who merely appear to be setting the currents. We have gone astray if we close our eyes to the existence of the key individuals and groups in the mainstream of contemporary Iranian architecture, or at least lack the ability to see and recognize them. In an era when spectacle and publicity have the first say, identifying and showing the authentic among the inauthentic is very difficult. I shall narrate the story of a formidable institution that began some seventy years ago through the determination and perseverance of certain individuals, and that has moved forward through its highs and lows while striving to preserve itself — and it is obvious that its living thread forms an inseparable part of the history of contemporary Iranian architecture. Amirnosrat Monaqqah (1302–1394), who had graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran in 1325, was the founder of this institution and remained directly at its side for more than two decades, after which his long-time associates continued it. The years after the Second World War were a period in which architectural design offices and organizations in Iran were few, and mostly architecture graduates — whose numbers did not reach fifty — sought work in ministry offices and engineering departments, drafting and designing and participating in civil projects. These offices and institutions were mostly managed by non-Iranian engineers, and Iranians strove, through following and learning the system and work methods, to have a greater share in the construction of the country and to play a more prominent role. Amirnosrat Monaqqah began his professional activity in the building department of the Ministry of Labor, which had recently been established, and alongside it opened a private office with two friends and classmates — Ziauddin Puzhan and Farhang Moini. In 1329, Monaqqah left Iran to continue postgraduate studies in the fields of health and educational buildings, traveling to Switzerland, Sweden, and France, where he remained in Europe for two years. 1333 is the time of his return and presence in Tehran, and in addition to his activity in the building department of the Ministry of Labor, he established an office under the name "Amirnosrat Monaqqah — Architect" on Arbab Jamshid Street. During this same period he took on the renovation and redesign project of the Karaj Iron Smelter, which opened the door to closer acquaintance with a young student named Yousef Shariatzadeh — who would later be counted among the most distinguished architects of the past half-century of Iran. Yousef Shariatzadeh (13 Esfand 1309 – 10 Aban 1380), who had Mazandarani roots, was born in Tabriz. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Tehran and Mazandaran, completed his primary education at Kherad School and his secondary education at Firouz Bahram, Adib, and Sharaf schools, and in 1328 entered the architecture program of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran, beginning his studies in Foruqi's atelier. Like his contemporaries, from the very first years of study he was drawn into work in various architectural offices. For a time he worked in the offices of Hushang Seyhoun and Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian, and ultimately at the Lichfield Whiting firm — an experience that contributed to gaining expertise and elevating the quality of his architecture in the professional world. In the autumn of 1334, he left the architecture faculty in Tehran and traveled to Italy to continue his studies, spending a short time in the university environment of that country, and returned to Iran in mid-1335. His collaboration with Amirnosrat Monaqqah began in the year before his journey to Italy and the preparation of the Karaj Iron Smelter project, and their more serious partnership resumed following Shariatzadeh's return to Iran. Despite
the founding of the Pirraz Consulting Engineers firm in 1362, of which I was a member, which received grading under the new regulations of the Plan and Budget Organization for the qualification of consulting engineering firms, and collaboration with Pirraz continued as a shareholder and member of the board of directors until 1388. During the long period of collaboration with Yousef Shariatzadeh (32 years), the greatest capital of my professional life was drawn from his particular approach to architecture, and I learned a great deal from him — among other things: continuous work and perseverance in it, the correct method and approach to carrying out work, and the necessity of gathering and completing information before beginning to design. Shariatzadeh's attention to and mastery of the characteristics of Iran's past architecture and how it influences design, his modesty and reticence, are all noteworthy. I was witness to his tireless energy and spirit in the preparation of designs. On most days, after working hours and upon leaving the atelier, he would take his designs-in-progress home to continue working on them. When he was traveling and upon his return, he would bring a collection of studies and drafts of ongoing projects with him, or if his trip was long he would send the initial design sketches on A4 sheets by fax or post, so that continuation of work and preparation of phases one and two and their completion could proceed in the office. Shariatzadeh's particular approach to projects and his manner of working is something I have rarely observed in other architects. He never picked up a pen spontaneously and without having comprehensive knowledge — including the physical program of the design, complete climatic information and functional and spatial requirements, and the codes and standards governing the design — and whatever he designed was the product of analyzing a large body of information that constituted the form and the volumetric, spatial, and executive characteristics of the design. I am certain that if this model were taught to students in architecture schools as a method of preparing designs, the work of Iranian architects and the prevalent architecture of Iran would find its own distinct and rational style. Shariatzadeh strongly avoided being promoted or praised, and never consented to interviews. For this reason we have seldom witnessed criticism and interpretation of his work, or lavish praise and exaggeration about him. Relying on teamwork, he conducted the guidance and supervision of designs continuously from beginning to end of their execution, and a particular characteristic of his was mastery and command of other engineering sciences related to architecture (mechanical and electrical installations, construction methods, structures, and international codes and standards). He believed that every architect must have mastery of this knowledge, so that in preparing the initial design they may become aware of its requirements and needs, and even when exchanging views with other engineers and specialists they may present their own preferred proposal and choice. Shariatzadeh also objected to the manner of teaching in architecture schools. He believed that students, in addition to learning theories and undertaking educational exercises, needed to receive training in practical work and familiarity with construction techniques and executive possibilities. Influenced by this very thinking, he spent the early years of his student days in serious work and activity outside the university environment and remained away from academic study for a long period. Even after the period of collaboration with engineer Amirnosrat Monaqqah, Mohsen Mirheyder, and Mohammad Tehrani, and at the encouragement and insistence of engineer Monaqqah, he submitted his diploma project in 1342 and graduated. His projects and those of his colleagues — including the Gendarmerie Hospital in Tehran, the Rivoli Cinema, the building of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and a number of residential houses, all completed before his graduation — demonstrate his conviction of the necessity of working during the student years. After a brief period of a few months and attendance at Italian architecture schools, he returned to Iran and in 1343, with the establishment of the Amirnosrat Monaqqah–Yousef Shariatzadeh firm, continued his professional and scholarly activities; the complex of Social Security Organization hospitals, the Tabriz Tractor Manufacturing and Machine Building industrial complex, the Ettela'at newspaper building, and numerous residential complexes are among the results of this collaboration. The extensive list of his existing projects at Bonyad Consulting Engineers and subsequently at Pirraz Consulting Engineers from 1362 to 1380 (the time of his death) are all the product of his and his colleagues' particular approach to the work, profession, and art of architecture. Shariatzadeh considered architects' mastery of Western architecture and the historic art of Iran a prerequisite for design, and viewed the study of the social and financial factors of projects, the materials and construction possibilities at the project site, and climatic conditions and sunlight as influential on architectural design; through mastery of this information and under its influence, he arrived at the architectural form and volume. Ignoring them, formalism, and imitation of Western architecture he considered a factor for the ease and trivialization of design preparation, and believed that an architectural design should be like a tree rooted in this very soil and water. In the design process of each project he sought precise knowledge of the people who would live, dwell, work, and be active in the space of the design, and kept in mind that the result of his work and art would be placed in the hands of what kind of people, and with what culture and social background. Energy conservation — whether arising from the environment or the energy required for executing the design — and the orientation of the project relative to geographical axes, and the optimal use of the angle and height of sunlight, were factors that commanded his attention; consequently, the skylights and openings positioned in the various facades of his projects are not uniform and do not share similar characteristics. He always considered design with uniform facades and glass cladding to be an imitation of Western architecture, a waste of energy, and a disregard of Iran's climatic factors. He showed meticulous care regarding the trees planted in the grounds surrounding a building. A notable example is the control of sunlight by means of deciduous trees (such as poplar and Tabriz poplar) on the western facade of the National Library building, which in winter — when the light and warmth of the western sun are welcome — are bare of leaves, and in summer — when the intense sunlight and its angle of incidence are harsh and heat-generating — become full of leaves and cast the building's facade into shade. In addition to these factors, he paid complete attention to the executive details of designs as influenced by energy conservation and its preservation. Drawing on his knowledge of Iran's past architecture, Shariatzadeh sought to identify and recognize the factors that had shaped it, and to use them — while introducing innovation into the design. Rather than imitating past architecture (which is unfortunately common), he paid attention to its traditions and performance in his own designs. An example is the use of natural light in appropriate directions and angles for the interior spaces of the National Library. Lateral and overhead skylights, placed at height within the spaces, provide maximum illumination for the reading halls, and through openings in the floors of the levels, light and brightness are brought deep into the spaces. One can state with confidence that among the consulting engineering firms and companies whose period of activity coincided with the working years of Bonyad and Pirraz, Shariatzadeh and his colleagues provided the greatest volume and number of projects for which they rendered consulting services from beginning to end of execution and the preparation of as-built drawings. After a long period of close collaboration with Yousef Shariatzadeh and gaining knowledge and experience beside him, I am of the conviction and belief that his manner of thinking and his approach to the art and craft of architecture is the most complete, comprehensive, and fruitful form of an architect's approach to this profession and art — a method and way that can serve as a model for architects who are in search of achieving the best result of their work and activity in architecture.
Yousef Shariatzadeh, Mohsen Mirheyder, and Yadollah Razzaqi at the construction site of the National Library