The Shariatzadeh I Know
My first encounter with Yousef Shariatzadeh was the day when, together with Nosrat Majlesi and through the introduction of Alireza Aman, we were referred to the "Amirnosrat Monaqqah–Yousef Shariatzadeh" firm to begin an apprenticeship. Both of us were in our second year of architecture school and, following the prevailing custom in architectural ateliers, we were assisting our senior student Alireza Aman in his projects and thereby gaining practical experience. In the architecture atelier of the firm, located in the basement of a building on Damascus Street, each of us was assigned a work desk and we began the requisite exercises in pencil. Initially we drew or corrected architectural details, and gradually we became engaged in drafting plans (mostly in pencil and then in ink with a rapidograph). At that time Yousef Shariatzadeh headed the architectural design of the firm and was stationed in the center of the atelier hall, facing the opening. Given the extraordinary respect for the professional character of Shariatzadeh and the familiarity already gained through engineer Aman, the early days of starting work were accompanied by a kind of anxiety and bashfulness. In the atelier, after Yousef Shariatzadeh, Dr. Tehrani was responsible for preparing the architectural designs. Of the other colleagues in the architecture atelier who were more senior or who came later, I recall engineer Fasihi, Alireza Aman, Karim Javaheri, Manuchehr Zoroashtian, Nahid Khajeh Nasiri, Maryam Dara, and engineers Saeedi and Iraj Vakili, both structural designers. Engineer Amirnosrat Monaqqah, who managed the firm, was established in a separate room on the ground floor with the facilities for meetings, conferences, and other managerial requirements. Perhaps because of the small number of us working in the atelier, the prevailing atmosphere was managed in a thoroughly friendly manner. Without doubt, the sincere collaboration of Tehrani and Shariatzadeh also contributed to this atmosphere, and Shariatzadeh's belief in teamwork was evident in the way he treated his colleagues. My collaboration with this firm continued from 1345 to 1348; in 1349 I presented my diploma project and graduated in the month of Mehr of that year. After military service between 1349 and 1351, and until 1355, I was engaged in architectural activities and formed the UG architectural office together with Nosrollah Majlesi and Kamran Shahinfar, working primarily on the design and supervision of residential houses. In 1355 I joined Bonyad Consulting Engineers, which had been established five years earlier in accordance with the regulations of the Plan and Budget Organization for consulting architecture firms, located in a building on Zoroaster Street that had been designed by Shariatzadeh and executed by architect Shansi, and the firm was situated across three levels comprising the basement, ground floor, and first floor. My collaboration with Bonyad continued until 1357 as an employee and subsequently until 1360 as a shareholder. In 1362 we established Pirraz Consulting Engineers as one of its members, 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 extensive list of his existing projects at Bonyad and subsequently at Pirraz Consulting Engineers during the years 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.