SHAHYAD: An interview with Hossein Amanat architect of Shahyad Monument (Pars TV)

The giant archway with the fanned-out base has dominated the Tehran skyline since it was built in 1971.Originally commissioned by the Shah of Iran in the 1960s, it was the vision of Hossein Amanat, then a 23 year old graduate.

Interview on Pars TV with Ali Reza Meybodi:

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

Part IV:

Part V:

Part VI:

Tehran, Tehran by Faramarz Parsi:

Daram Meeram Beh Tehran:

Bio Hossein Amanat:

Hossein Amanat (born 1942) is an Iranian-Canadian Bahá’í architect who has designed three buildings on the Bahá’í Arc in Haifa, Israel and the Bahá’í House of Worship in Samoa.

A graduate from the University of Tehran, he is also the architect of the Azadi Tower, previously known as the Shahyad Tower and he was the architect of initial buildings of Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran.

The film about his life and his artistic inspirations that led to the design of the House of Worship in Samoa which was shown at the Dawn Breakers International Film Festival in 2009. Since moving to Canada in 1980, Hossein‘s practice has expanded. and diversified. He has designed the world administrative centre of the Baha‘I Faith in Haifa, Israel, university libraries and factories in China, mixed-use high-rise buildings in San Diego, residential condominiums in Santa Monica, a temple in Samoa, religious and cultural centers near Dallas, Seattle and Washington, DC, and residential dwellings in Canada and California. He recently completed a transit-oriented mixed commercial and residential high-rise project along the Vancouver mass-transit line. Currently he is designing a communal square for the town of Mission, British Columbia.

Official Website of Hossein Amanat Here

Recommended Listening:

The man behind Tehran’s Freedom Monument (BBC)

Recommended Watching: Eminent Persians: the Men and Women Who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979 a Conference by Abbas Milani Library of Congress

Related Blogs:

MON IRAN By Darius KADIVAR

SON IRAN: Golshifteh Farahani on “Sokoot” (BBC Persian) by Darius KADIVAR

Other Eminent Persians:

EMINENT PERSIANS: Iranologist Richard Frye at Reza Shah’s mausoleum (1970’s)

EMINENT PERSIANS: Hadi Khorsandi and Shahbanou Farah at French Ministry of Culture (13th July, 2010)

EMINENT PERSIANS: Paris Memorial for Ostaad Shojaeddin Shafa (July 13th,2010)

EMINENT PERSIANS:Lily AmirArjomand Managing Director of Kanoon (Andisheh TV)

EMINENT PERSIANS: Abbas Veteran Photographer for MAGNUM (Interview June 2009)