Tehran University

The original plan of the University of Tehran and its associated and harmonious buildings bear all the hallmarks of Art Deco. One must also note the surrounding environment of the university, which has an essential connection to this plan, and it is highly likely that the designers of the university's various sections also played a part in creating this architecturally rich, socially dynamic and eventful environment. Subsequent interventions, therefore, can be assessed from two perspectives: siting, which — given the original concept that appears to have been keeping the interior space as open and unobstructed as possible — required great care and sensitivity; and style, which ought to have been grounded in an understanding of the values of the original plan. In any case, among these interventions, the library, though different, in itself shares with the original plan a refinement of line and form, and belongs within the domain of Tehran's valuable modernist architecture, which has been discussed separately.