Forouzanfar Designs Tall Structures for Iran

Iranian architect Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar gives traditional Iranian architecture a refit.

Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar’s love for Iranian architecture and heritage buildings are evident as he uses his imagination to create new functions and impossible styles for buildings without losing on their essential Iranian feature. “Retrofuturism,” he says, “gave me the opportunity to reach my goal as I try to visualise almost impossible ideas.”

“My goal is to introduce the architectural potentials of Iran with a “Retrofuturism” approach. And these ideas are not necessarily designed to be made. Most of Forouzanfar’s designs are photomontages that reimagine Iran to take on a role that he has envisioned.

Forouzanfar experiments with the lack of verticality in traditional Iranian architecture and imagines how tall buildings would look if designed with the vernacular style.

With the new series, the designer aims to ‘return to the future’. The muted tones and pastel hues give the images a surreal feeling, creating an architectural mirage in the middle of the desert.

“The past architecture of Iran, due to the lack of beam and column technology, has always been a horizontal development and has not had a high-rise building. The architecture of villages and cities in historical textures is organic continuity and is in contradiction with the method of development in modern architecture,” he explains.

In this project, the old architecture of Iran, with its features retained, has entered the vertical literature of modern skyscrapers and surreal shapes. The return to the future is the subject of this project, which seeks to continue the ideas of the past in the new world.

About his work that often finds solutions to socio-political issues through architecture, he says, “The artist is a cultural activist and should not be indifferent to socio-political events. Especially in our country, which is always suffering from religious-political and extremist pressures. As a Middle Eastern artist, I strive to defend and raise awareness of the cultural and historical heritage of this land.”

All Images Courtesy Mohammad Hassan Forouzanfar.