Aesthetic Evaluation of Lalehzar Street Landscape in the First Pahlavi era; Pursuant to the Urban Regulations Approved in the First and Second Decades of the Fourteenth Century A. H.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Art, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author).

2 Associate Professor, Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Art, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

In the underdeveloped society of the late Qajar era, the source of inspiration for urban development was the celebration of the Ancient Persian culture and civilization, making nationalism to become the basis for development actions at the national level in the First Pahlavi era. Social, economic, and technical changes in Iran, along with the Iranian statesmen, intellectuals, and graduates' visits to Europe, have led to the formation of a movement in Iran's urban planning that more than anything, has influenced alleys and passages; thus the construction of "street", as the axis of urban development, with a linear model, was at the forefront of urbanization activities. The continuation of this urban policy for two decades has led to significantly greater changes, especially in the appearance of streets, making the aesthetics of the streets a core issue. The effects of these changes have greatly influenced the users' perceptions of the street in the First Pahlavi era, the impact of which is still present. Lalehzar Street was considered one of the main streets in the center of Tehran in the late Qajar and the First Pahlavi era. The present study aims to find the governing relationships in the development of aesthetic policies for the construction of streets in the First Pahlavi era. To this end, it investigates Lalehzar Street in Tehran in terms of the aesthetic criteria considered for the streets in the First Pahlavi era period by reviewing urban regulations related to street construction, approved in the First Pahlavi era. The present study is historical-analytic research, and urban regulations related to street construction, approved in the First Pahlavi era, are considered the most important source of analysis. First, the aesthetic criteria for street construction are explained. Next, Lalehzar Street, as an example of the streets constructed in the era studied, is analyzed in terms of these criteria. Geometric and visual dimensions are the two main aesthetic criteria for street construction in the First Pahlavi era that made the space user perceive the street as an artistic space. An aesthetic view of the street as a work of art in the First Pahlavi era is one of the main results of the present research.

Keywords


Amanat, A. (2004). Nasser al-din Shah-e Qajar and the Iranian Kingdom (1868-1934). Tehran: Karnameh, Mehregan.
Atashinbar, M., & Motedayen, H. (2018). Fading Out the Sematic Dimension of the Street in Iran from the Ancient Times to Today. Bagh-e Nazar, 15(67), 71-80. doi: 10.22034/BAGH.2018.80615 
Atashinbar, M. (2013). The Street. A comparative study of the streetscape in in Tehran’s contemporary history. Ph.D. thesis, University of Tehran.
Bani-Masoud, A. (2009). Iranian contemporary architecture: striving between tradition and modernism. Tehran: Honar o memari-ye gharn.
Bemanian, M. (2006). “Avaamel-e mo’asser dar sheklgiri-ye memari va shahrsazi-ye dore-ye Pahlavi-ye avval” [Influencing factors on the formation of architecture and urbanism in the 1st Pahlavi era]. Modarres-e Honar, (1), 1-8. https://www.noormags.ir/view/fa/articlepage/19382/1
Boroumandi, F. (2008). Lalehzar Street. Memar, (53), 18-21.
Etehadiyeh, M. (1998). Injaa Tehran ast. 1269-1344 [Here is Tehran]. An article collection about Tehran between 1890-1965. Tehran: Tarikh-e Iran. com/uploads/books/pdf/اینجا_طهران.PDF 
Habibi, S.-M., & Ahari, Z. (2008). Lalehzar, a sphere for recreation. From the garden to the street (The creation of the European-type street in Nasser al-Din Shah’s era). Honarha-ye Ziba, (34), 5-15. https://journals.ut.ac.ir/article_19405.html
Hedayat, M. (1996). Memories and dangers, Savings from six kings’ history and a corner from my journey. Tehran: Zavvar. 
Jamshidzadeh, E. (2011). Pathology of building construction system in the urban management system. Tehran: Municipal training resources series. Tehran: Rah-dan: Sazman-e Shahrdariha va Dehyari-haye Keshvar. 
Kariman, H. (1976). Tehran in the past and the present. Tehran: Ramin.
Kiani, M. (2004). The 1st Pahlavi era’s architecture. Mutation of thoughts, emergence and formation of the twenty years of Iran’s comtemporary architecture. Tehran: Moassese-ye motale’at-e tarikh-e mo’aser-e Iran.
Lalehzar Digital Project, Team research from the Roshan Initiative in Persian Digital Humanities. University of Maryland, USA. https://sllc.umd.edu/fields/persian/roshan-institute/digital-humanities#street
Mansouri, M. (2019). Water, as the Origin of Beauty in Persian Garden. Manzar, 11(48), 32-43. doi: 10.22034/MANZAR.2019.199222.1994
Najmi, N. (1977). Tehran, the capital. Tehran: Amirkabir.
Nasser Al-Din Shah. (1990). Nasser al-Din Shah’s memoirs newspaper in his 3rd trip to Europe. collected by Mohammad-Esmail Rezvani and Fatemeh Ghaziha. Tehran: Rasa, The Iranian Organization for National Documents. http://asmaneketab.ir/product/کتاب-روزنامه-خاطرات-ناصرالدین-شاه-در-س-2/
Nourbakhsh, M. (2002). Tehran according to History. Tehran: Nashr-e Elm. 
Municipality Statement on the Construction and Development of Roads and Streets. (1933). approved on November 13th 1933 (22 Aban 1312), online document, access: https://rc.majlis.ir/fa/law/show/92834   
Orsolle, E. (1885). Le Caucase et la Perse, E. Plon, Paris.
Pakzad, J. (2016). The history of Iranian cities and Urbanism (2) Qajar and Pahlavi eras. Tehran: Armanshahr.
Polak, J. E. (1989). Polak’s travelogue. Iran & the Iranians. Tehran: Khaarazmi. 
Pouladvand, M. (2010). Thirty years of sentence for Lalehzar. Tehran: Jomhouri.
Pourhassan, N. (2009). An abandoned souvenir from the glorious days of Lalehzar theater. Namayesh, (121-122) 26-33. https://www.noormags.ir/view/fa/articlepage/1001647 
Sha’bani, E., & Kamyab, J. (2012). The urban policy in Iran’s comtemporary history with a focus on Tehran’s public spaces, from 1920 to 1941. Bagh-e Nazar, 9(23), 83-92. http://www.bagh-sj.com/article_2458_e28ee4b094e391622a36e972a54f36b5.pdf
Shahribaf, J. (2004). The old Tehran. Tehran: Mo’in.
Shirazian, R. (2018). Tehran-graphy: Tehran in the Qajar era’ Press. Tehran:  Dastan.
Tahami, D. (2007). A passage over Tehran. Tehran: Abrishamifar. 
Taraghi, G. (1992). Scattered memories. Tehran: Bagh-e Ayeneh. Url: https://mihanebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/خاطره-های-پراکنده.pdf 
Zoka, Y. (1970). The history of Iran's royal citadel buildings and the Golestan Palace guide. Tehran: Anjoman-e Asar-e Melli.