The Tower

The Azadi Tower, looking up

Tehran, Iran · 2011 · Architecture, 10 of 71

Original file 900 × 900 px · 425 KB

01 The photograph

The Tower, Tehran

Place: Tehran, Iran
Year: 2011
Gallery: Architecture 10 / 71
Photograph: Mohammadreza Domiri Ganji
Original file: 900 × 900 px · JPEG

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02 The monument

The Azadi Tower, Tehran

The Azadi Tower (Borj-e Azadi), formerly known as the Shahyad Tower, is a modern monument built during the second Pahlavi reign. It has since become the main icon of the capital, Tehran, and remained so even after the Milad Tower was built in 2009.

The tower was designed and built in 1971 to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire. Its architecture combines elements of the ancient Persian architecture of the Sassanid and Achaemenid eras with post-Islamic Iranian architecture (especially the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque).

Today, different parts of the tower are used for various cultural and artistic purposes.

03 In his words

A bird opening its wings

A look-up view of the Azadi Tower: it looks like a bird that wants to open its wings and fly.

I like this tower for its unique architecture. I have always tried to choose subjects that are symbolic, so that I may project their greatness through photography; the Azadi Tower is a perfect example. In this instance I used a fisheye lens to give the tower a unique effect; the presence of the clouds also helped.

Mohammadreza Domiri Ganji