{"id":2009,"date":"2017-10-24T01:04:15","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T01:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/?p=2009"},"modified":"2017-10-24T01:04:15","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T01:04:15","slug":"a-modern-mosque-without-minarets-stirs-controversy-in-tehran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/wanfahminfaiz\/a-modern-mosque-without-minarets-stirs-controversy-in-tehran\/","title":{"rendered":"A modern mosque without minarets stirs controversy in Tehran"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0The Vali-e-Asr mosque in Tehran has been criticised by religious hardliners. Photograph: Deed Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Monday 23 October 2017\u00a019.55\u00a0BST<\/span>Last modified on Monday 23 October 2017\u00a022.00\u00a0BST<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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W<\/span><\/span>hen the Tehran authorities commissioned the construction of a mosque near the\u00a0City theatre<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 one of Iranian capital\u2019s most distinctive buildings \u2013 it was always going to be a tricky balancing act for the architects to design something unique that did not eclipse the adjacent structure.<\/p>\n

The theatre, which was built before the 1979 revolution, has a spectacular tiled circular structure with external pillars and is the largest exclusive space in\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0for performing arts. The new mosque next door is a modern building that sits in harmony with it, sweeping from the ground towards the Qibla (the direction of Mecca), allowing sunlight through windows embedded in a wave-like structure.<\/p>\n

But the\u00a0<\/em>Vali-e-Asr\u00a0<\/em>mosque, designed by the Iranian architects Reza Daneshmir and Catherine Spiridonoff, is stirring controversy in a country that hosts some of the world\u2019s most glittering places of worship. Iranian hardliners are refusing to recognise it as a mosque, complaining that it does not have a minaret or proper dome, and that it is dwarfed by the theatre.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Reza Daneshmir, the founder of Fluid Motion architects. Photograph: PR image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The conservative Mashregh News said: \u201cA mosque sacrificed for the City theatre,\u201d adding that it had been \u201cdecapitated in the honour of the theatre\u201d. It was \u201can insulting, postmodern design\u201d that is \u201cempty of any meaning\u201d, it said.<\/p>\n

The mosque was due to be officially inaugurated this summer, nearly 10 years after the couple\u2019s Tehran-based architecture firm, Fluid Motion, was commissioned to design it. The building is almost finished, but controversy has led to its funding being cut, meaning that the interior design has not been completed. Its fate remains in doubt. Some media reports suggest that the authorities intend to turn it into an Islamic cultural centre, with possible physical alterations.<\/p>\n

The mosque is located in \u201cone of the most culturally sensitive places in Tehran\u201d, according to its architects. It is at a point where the Enghelab (Revolution) Street crosses the tree-lined Vali-e-Asr, the most important junction in the city, not far from Tehran University and its surrounding bookshops.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to create an interaction between the mosque, which has a cultural essence, and the City theatre. We wanted to make it a cultural project that would be in harmony with its surroundings \u2013 the mosque should respond to the needs of its own time,\u201d the architects said.<\/p>\n

Built over an area of 3,855 sq metres (4,600 sq yards), the seven-floor mosque is 32 metres high, only 20 metres of which is above ground. It has big prayer halls, cultural centres, an imam\u2019s residence and parking spaces.<\/p>\n

The mosque was proposed 14 years ago when\u00a0Mahmoud Ahmadinejad<\/a>\u00a0was mayor of Tehran. Theatre directors strongly opposed an initial design by a different architect because the building was 52 metres high and threatened the theatre\u2019s fragile foundation.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0The Vali-e-Asr mosque, \u2018designed with modesty, simplicity and good faith\u2019. Photograph: Deed Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf became mayor, the design was given to Fluid Motion. The couple are experts in designing contemporary buildings.\u00a0Daneshmir\u2019s 2008 Pardis Mellat cinema<\/a>\u00a0is in many ways responsible for starting a new wave of modern structures in Tehran. A new generation of Iranian architects are following in the footsteps of a pre-revolutionary avant gardewho pushed the boundaries of traditional Persian architecture by using traditional elements in modern designs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur biggest source for this project was the Qur\u2019an itself,\u201d the architects said. \u201cWe tried to design this mosque with modesty, simplicity and good faith, and not a mosque which would get its pride from its structural height. The Vali-e-Asr mosque is located near the students\u2019 park and the City theatre. We wanted it to connect better with the younger generations.\u201d<\/p>\n