Farmanfarmaian: A Quarter Century

In the early years of his career, private architectural firms could not be contracting partners with the government. Farmanfarmaian, because of having a private office, was forced to resign from his teaching and employment at the university, and set about expanding his office and working with the government. Abolhassan Ebtehaj, who was head of the Plan Organization at that time, for the preparation of development and construction plans, would employ well-known foreign consultants who were mostly active at the international level. Therefore, Farmanfarmaian sought to partner with foreign engineers and invited the engineer Whiting, a partner of Lichfield, to visit his office. In this brief but fateful meeting, Whiting assessed the technical quality of the office's construction documents and felt a sense of embarrassment, but he became determined to take steps toward creating an office at the international level.

Another incident made him realize the importance of engineering departments in architecture, and that was the preparation of the design for the atomic reactor building at the University of Tehran. In 1336 [1957], on the occasion of designing this complex, he visited Princeton University, where Einstein had taught and which possessed a similar atomic reactor. For assurance, he engaged the structural engineer Widelinger in New York, and for the mechanical and electrical work, he invited the engineers of Guy Panero, who had previously worked on the Princeton project, to collaborate. He himself says: “It was here that I realized how in certain cases architectural design can be influenced by the marvels of engineering.”

After gaining these experiences and being recognized by the Plan and Budget Organization, Farmanfarmaian prepared his office's resources for undertaking complex and large-scale projects. And wherever necessary, he sought the help of specialized and expert foreign engineers. In 1342–43 [1963–64], during a trip to Mexico, he visited the stadium of Mexico City University. This design, in which compacted earth had been used as a structural element, attracted his attention. Like Mexico City, he created a compacted bed of earth and placed the complex on it. The excavation for the stadium's structure paved the way for creating a pleasant lake adjacent to it. The engineer Alireza Radpey had not long finished designing the stadium when (1349 [1970]) the Iranian government agreed to host the Asian Games in 1351 [1972]. The Ministry of Development and Housing (under Minister Korous Amouzegar) appointed him as the project executor. This project was carried out under the supervision of Farmanfarmaian, managed by Reza Majd and Hirbod, and with the collaboration of Nader Ardalan.

The 17-month deadline for the design, execution, and inauguration of such a large complex was problematic. Out of necessity, the office purchased some structural drawings from the SOM office, California branch. The construction contract was awarded to the contractor of the Munich Olympics project. A few millimeters of error in the dimensions of the sports venues could affect world records, and inevitably the regulations of the international Olympic committees had to be meticulously observed. The office was forced in a short time to gather structural and construction documents from sports institutions and incorporate them into the design.

The construction contractor was the Tesa company, belonging to the engineer Majid A'lam, which formed a consortium with the large French contractor Bouygues, and employed an accomplished engineer named Pierre Richard. He revised the structural designs of the steel structures and calculated a new structural design using prestressed and precast concrete, and ultimately the execution of the project was completed on schedule and inaugurated in 1352 [1973].

The office of Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian expanded during these years, and its technical staff grew from 80 to 400 persons. The partners and directors of the firm were the engineers: Reza Majd, Farrokh Hirbod, Joseph Zucker, Nader Ardalan, Khosrow Moaveni, Fereydoun Ghaffari, Harold Burbam, Fereydoun Tabibzadeh. The head of mechanical and electrical installations was the engineer Khalili, and the head of supervision was Mehdi Tosouji. Without exaggeration, one can say that his office at that time was unparalleled in the Middle East in terms of the number and professional quality and capacity for work.

Safi Asfia had been recognized, and their number was few. A new wave of young engineers entered the arena of practice. The Plan and Budget Organization, during the presidency of Khodadad Farmanfarmaian, pursued a policy of merging to attract and strengthen the technical sector at the national level. The architectural offices of the Asfia era were followed up under the engineer Alireza Radpey. It was decided that their records would be ranked by the Plan and Budget Organization. One of the positive results of this policy was opening the doors of the Plan and Budget Organization to newly arrived engineers and their participation in the country's development programs. In this way, the Plan and Budget Organization took action to elevate the architecture profession from the level of small individual ateliers to the level of consulting engineers equipped with architectural and technical staff, who worked as a team.

The office of Farmanfarmaian, during the period of office mergers in 1345 [1966], was merged with the consulting engineers Reza Majd and Farrokh Hirbod (in the ranking of Asfia). Nader Ardalan was one of the senior associates of the office who had joined in 1341 [1962]. The engineer Hirbod, who could not work with him, was forced to leave the office. One of the projects that Ardalan was working on was the Saman Tower. It was built for Ebtehaj, and the objective of the design was to construct a building whose facade would be prefabricated by the Iranian Prefab company and installed on the structural facade. Among the purposes of this project was the presentation of new technology. The next project with prefabricated components was the headquarters building of the Behshahr Industrial Group, belonging to the Lajevardi family, who were among the major industrialists of that time. While Ardalan was a senior partner of the office, the Harvard Management Studies Center project, whose client representative was Habib Lajevardi, was assigned to the office of Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian. The design and supervision of this project was carried out by the office. At the inauguration ceremony, where the office partners were present, Khodjo, the chairman of the board of the Management Studies Center, in his opening speech thanked and appreciated the services and efforts of Nader Ardalan, but did not mention the Farmanfarmaian office. This incident intensified previous disagreements and led to Ardalan's departure from the Farmanfarmaian office.

Among the achievements of the Farmanfarmaian office was the introduction and presentation of advanced technology in high-rise buildings calculated with earthquake-resistant methods. In some of these buildings, the building codes of the earthquake-prone city of San Francisco were used for structural calculations: such as the National Oil Company headquarters (together with the engineer Ettehadieh); the Ministry of Labor building, the Ministry of Agriculture building, the Saman Towers, Vanak Park Tower, and the office-residential complex on the Mosalla site (the former Shahestan project), of which apparently part was completed.

An example of the capacity of the Farmanfarmaian office was the preparation of 2,500 construction drawings for the design of Tehran's airport. This project was carried out in collaboration with TAM consultants. The consulting engineering profession in Iran was subject to many ups and downs. Inadequacy of laws and regulations and the government's failure to pay fees on time would sometimes bring offices to the brink of bankruptcy. In Farmanfarmaian's opinion, collecting fees was fundamentally one of the problems of that time, and running a consulting engineering firm was full of struggles. In reality, pioneers such as Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian paved the way for consulting engineering for the generations that followed.

Joseph Zucker joined the Farmanfarmaian office in 1335 [1956]. He had started his career at the office of the Brazilian Oscar Niemeyer and was one of the early and close associates of Farmanfarmaian, with whom he worked in complete harmony on most projects. Joseph Zucker was one of the directors of construction document production in this office. In 1353 and 1354 [1974 and 1975], due to the increase in oil revenues and the abundance of development projects, the work of architectural offices suddenly expanded at a dizzying rate. The result of this development was a shortage of professional staff at the national level. A phenomenon known as “staff poaching” — offering higher salaries — and salaries increased disproportionately. I myself, in my consulting engineering firm DAZ, hired technical staff from abroad to address this problem, and without exaggeration one can say that more than 30 percent of the senior staff of my office were foreigners. This trend of internationalization coincided with the entry of internationally recognized architects into the work scene in Iran. The competitors of Iranian architects suddenly became first-rate world figures. This period was brief, and the foreigners did not directly build major buildings. But in any case, their presence raised professional standards. To the extent that one can call it a period of professional awakening. During the staffing crises, Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian and partners established an office in the city of Athens, managed by Joseph Zucker, for the preparation of construction and engineering drawings.

One of the important government institutions of that time was the Ministry of Development and Housing, but unfortunately this organization was isolated and had little relationship with the private sector (architecture), which was qualitatively and quantitatively at a considerably higher level. During the ministry of Jaberi Ansari, who was himself a petroleum engineer, this ministry emerged from its isolation and opened its doors to consulting engineers. Thus a fruitful period of collaboration began, and with the formation of the High Council of Urban Planning and Architecture in this ministry, under the engineer Badi', the preparation of comprehensive plans for small cities throughout the country was assigned to consulting engineers.

Previously, during the presidency of Safi Asfia at the Plan and Budget Organization, the preparation of comprehensive plans for six major cities had been assigned to consulting engineers. The comprehensive plan for Tehran was assigned to the office of Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian. He invited the American office of Victor Gruen, which specialized in urban planning and shopping malls, to collaborate. In the preliminary studies, the population of Tehran over 25 years was approximately 9 million people. Farmanfarmaian insisted that the population of Tehran should not be considered to exceed 5.5 million. Victor Gruen sent one of his specialists, an engineer named Cantini, together with the engineer Fereydoun Ghaffari, to establish the necessary organization under Farmanfarmaian's employ and prepare the comprehensive plan. The basic policy of this plan was to prevent population growth, and the 25-year expansion boundary and the service boundary of Tehran were determined, and the construction of individual buildings outside the boundary was strictly prevented.

The comprehensive plan envisaged that the service boundary would be reviewed every five years and the expansion would be gradual. But due to fear of boundary expansion and the pressure of immigrant population on Tehran, they would not agree to increase the boundary, and low-income groups created settlements around Tehran without obtaining building permits. Expanding the boundary required controlling the increase in land prices for areas that would come within the boundary, and under those conditions, no one was willing to make the necessary but difficult decisions.

Although most of the proposals of the prepared comprehensive plan were not implemented, the expressways of Tehran were built according to this plan even after the Revolution. Building and population density and the creation of self-sufficient neighborhoods and the expansion of urban services in the development of the great administrative center (Shahestan) in the heart of Tehran were planned. In this complex, the central bank building was designed by the office of Abdolaziz.

Farmanfarmaian states that architectural work in his office was done collectively, and one of his favorite projects was Iran's pavilion at the Montreal World Exposition in Canada in 1346 [1967], and another was his own residential home, which now belongs to the Belgian Embassy. Farmanfarmaian designed in the International Style of advanced countries in Iran. The result of his work was the creation of buildings that were economical and characterized by honesty and simplicity.

Besides the partners of the Farmanfarmaian office, whose names were mentioned earlier, other engineers of his office were: Yahya Fuyouzi, Houshang Jahed (who later formed the Mandala firm with the engineer Ardalan), Farhad Zahedi, Michael Karapetian, Parviz Azad, Siavash Teymouri, and Mohammad Mohajer.

This text has been prepared and compiled based on the statements of Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian and some of his associates. Certainly the names of many individuals and their roles have been omitted from this text. Both he and I, while offering our apologies, request that colleagues, through their reminders, assist us in completing this report.