Azadi Tower
| Azadi Tower | |
|---|---|
| برج آزادی Borj e Āzādi |
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| General information | |
| Type | Cultural |
| Location | Tehran, Iran |
| Coordinates | 35°41′58″N 51°20′16″E / 35.69944°N 51.33778°ECoordinates: 35°41′58″N 51°20′16″E / 35.69944°N 51.33778°E |
| Completed | 1971 |
| Cost | $6 million |
| Height | |
| Roof | 45 m (148 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Hossein Amanat |
| Structural engineer | Ove Arup & Partners |
| Main contractor | MAP Company |
| Website | |
| Azadi Tower, | |
The Azadi Tower (Persian: برج آزادی — Borj e Āzādi; "Liberty Tower"), formerly known as the Shahyad Tower (برج شهیاد — Borj e Šahyād; "King's Memorial Tower"), is a monument located at Azadi Square, in Tehran City, Iran. It is one of the symbols of Tehran, and marks the west entrance to the city.
The architect Hossein Amanat won a competition to design the building. He combined elements of the architecture of Sassanid and Achaemenid eras with the post-Islamic Iranian architecture.
Amanat, a Baha'i, was driven from the country by the Revolution of 1979 and the removal of religious pluralism.
The tower is part of the Azadi Cultural Complex, located in Tehran's Azadi Square in an area of about 50,000 m². There are several fountains around the base of the tower and a museum underground.
Built with white marble stone from the Isfahan Province, it includes eight thousand blocks of stone. The stones were all located and supplied by Ghanbar Rahimi, whose knowledge of the quarries was second to none and who was known as "Soltan e Sang e Iran" (Iran's Sultan of Stone). The shape of each block was calculated by computer, and programmed to include all the instructions for the building's work. The actual construction of the tower was carried out, and supervised by Iran's finest master stonemason, Ghaffar Davarpanah Varnosfaderani. The main financing was provided by a group of five hundred Iranian industrialists. The inauguration took place on October 16, 1971.
The iconic Monument des Martyrs in Algiers which was built in 1982, shows a strong influence by this monument, in its general design as well as its details.
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Wikipedia