Analyzing the heritage of Tehran’s urban façades in the recent century

Abstract

Urban façades have been one of the most crucial issues in Iranian urban development and the disorder that has been around in this field reflects the unstable situation of the society. In spite of the clarity of the concept of façade in scientific circles as well as the fact that it has turned into a major concern among urban managers over the last decade, urban façades are still suffering from a severe lack of organization. The reason may be our narrow view of façade which confines it to its physical aspects. To this end, the present study seeks to analyze the architectural heritage of the city of Tehran over the recent century in terms of urban façades in order to develop a map of the way for the future. Thus, by drawing upon grounded theory and in-depth interview with experts, the factors affecting the evolution of urban façades in Tehran during the late Qajar period, Pahlavi dynasty, and the Islamic Republic of Iran were identified and the dominant styles of each period based on the identified factors were publicly evaluated in terms of identity, beauty and showy by means of a questionnaire.