Azadi Tower

The Azadi Tower was completed in 1971 to a design by Hossein Amanat, then in his twenties, chosen in a competition, and it stands about forty-five metres high in white Isfahan marble on a square at the western entrance to Tehran. The form is a deliberate synthesis: the main opening is a broken arch derived from Sassanid work at Ctesiphon, the vaulting inside draws on Islamic muqarnas geometry, and the whole is resolved in a modern structural shell of some eight thousand cut blocks, each individually shaped. A museum occupies the basement and a lift and stairs reach an observation level in the upper structure. It has become the standard image of Tehran and the square around it is a major transport interchange.

History

The monument was commissioned by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to mark the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire. Before the design competition was announced in September 1966, the scholar Bahram Farahvashi proposed its official name, Shahyad Aryamehr, "the Shah's memorial"; it was renamed Azadi, "freedom", after the revolution of 1979. Hossein Amanat won the competition in 1966 with a design drawing on Iran's classical and post-classical architecture, and brought in the British engineers Arup, whose work on the Sydney Opera House had impressed him, despite opposition from the head of the celebrations council and some Iranian engineers; the Shah left the decision to the architect. The tower was completed in 1971 (Wikipedia, Azadi Tower).

The main sights

• The broken Sassanid arch - the main opening under the tower.
• Muqarnas vaulting inside - Islamic geometry in the underside of the arch.
• Eight thousand cut marble blocks - each shaped individually for its place.
• The observation level - a view over western Tehran from the upper structure.

When to go

Year round. One to two hours including the museum and the upper level. Evenings when the tower is lit are the best view from outside. Access to the interior has limited hours.

Good to know

Interior access is not always open and hours change. The square is a traffic interchange and reaching the tower on foot means underpasses. The museum inside is small. Air pollution often obscures the view from the top.

Nearby

The airport road runs west; central Tehran lies east.

Key facts