After 14 years, the Memar Award has turned into an important cultural event in Iran, the results of which has attracted the attention of a great number of architects as well as those in the construction field. In recent years, the number of partici- pants has increased and therefore, compared to the past, the winners have to go through a harder evaluation process. This has, on the one hand, added to the reputation of the award while increasing, at the same time, the probability that many valuable projects won’t find their way to the final round. After each award ceremony, Memar Magazine usually publishes a selection of the projects not admitted to the final round in the hope of introducing to its readers a wider spectrum of works by good designers. In the past ten years, young Iranian architects have paid much attention to home and foreign competitions. Similar to athletes preparing for a match and to military manoeuvres, participation in such awards and competitions elevates the architectural skill of their participants and allows them to evaluate their individual potentials in comparison to their ri- vals. As it happens in sports, any success on an international level increases the professional reputation of the winners. In general, the attention paid by Iranian architects to architectural competition has been influential in elevating the quality of architecture in the country. In this issue, while in- troducing a selection of works participating in the last Memar Award, we also discuss the problem of international architec- tural awards and competitions and the participation of Iranian architects in them. In post-revolution Iran, since the 90s architectural compe- titions and particularly design competitions became popular and although specialists in the field were not satisfied with most of them and criticized the way in which the competitions were held and judged, designers and clients were attracted more and more to competitions. A massive volume of con- struction took place during those years with little regard for qualitative architectural standards which forced progressive architects to take refuge in architectural competitions, awards and a limited number of projects aimed at particular clients. As such, theoretical aspects of architecture was neglected to a great extent. Today, even in architectural journals, the distinction between quality and quantity-oriented works, and between artistic and vulgar works, are blurred and uncer- tain. Unfortunately architectural criticism in our country is a second-rate (or inferior) practice compared to design. Badges and appreciation all go to designers. The discussion on archi- tectural awards and competitions is followed by a short article on awards for architectural criticism.
MEMAR AWARD: 14 YEARS OF RECEIVING AND EXERCISING INFLUENCE
After 14 years of the establishment of the Memar Award, its influence on Iranian contemporary architecture is now apparent. In the early days of the Memar Award, things were very different. On one side, stood the dominating architects and construction managers of the older generation who held a monopoly over small and large projects (particularly the latter) and remained faithful to certain principles to which they were accustomed, and who propagated an outdated architectural taste. On the other front, there were the young architects who shaped, so it seemed, a new generation every couple of years and due to their youth, demonstrated a great desire to move in the opposite direction and coordinate themselves with global currents. A majority of these architects were recognized formally for the first time by the Memar Award. The truth is, much social and cultural progress has happened in the last 14 years. The same way Iranian cities, living environment and population has undergone a rapid change, architecture has also swiftly developed. Part of the change is due to a decrease in the average age of successful architects in the society, in accordance with global developments and the increase of the members of the younger generation in Iranian society. Studying the phenomenon from a different angel, we realize that admiring smaller projects implies a belief in the capability of architecture in turning any ordinary event into something extraordinary. The work of architecture is to be taken in its local and temporal historical context and it is only natural if the works built in remote places alien to contemporary architecture attract the attention of the Memar Award jury. In order to appreciate and acknowledge good architects, one needs, above all, authorities who could distinguish good architecture form the bad. It is natural that the Memar Award has played, in a non-programmed manner, a role in the formation of new architectural currents. The politics of transparency applied in the competition, the clear rules of participation and judgment, the announcement of the names of jury members well in advance of the judgment process, the way the winners are chosen and the absolute freedom of the jury in their decision-making are among the values of the Memar Award. Today, good designers try to gain their credibility most of all from the opinion of specialists of architecture. Of course, the clients are also attentive to this credibility since success in an award has a considerable effect on the economic success of a project. Memar Magazine has tried to benefit from a wide range of local and international specialists in its juries and the members have been of different generations and different architectural tendencies. The choice of winners by the jury is a relative phenomenon and is, as any other opinion, open to criticism. In this issue, a selection of works which did not find their way to the winner’s podium has been published in the hope that they are judged by the public and their positive aspects are recognized.