Artistic touches at Azadi Tower in Tehran Ira

8000 pieces of white marble traveled from the city of Isfahan and settled at the entrance to the Iranian capital, "Tehran", to be the main component of what will later be called the "Azadi Tower", which symbolizes the civilizational and cultural renaissance in Iran after the discovery of oil wells, and the project was funded by 500 industry leaders in the State of Iran to be a model of cooperation and solidarity in order to achieve a comprehensive renaissance.

The beginning of the construction of Azadi Tower

The word "Azadi" in Persian means "freedom", and the construction of this tower began in 1971 AD as a witness to the 2500 years of the beginning of the Persian civilization, the invitation was made to design the symbolic tower of the city of Tehran that bears the previous name "Shahid Arya Mehr". One of the qualifying conditions for the design of the structure is that it should not be more than 45 meters high (due to the proximity to Mehrabad Airport). Among the participants who presented their design was a 24-year-old named Mr. Hossein Amanat, an architecture graduate from the University of Tehran, who won the competition. The construction of the tower took two and a half years, as construction began in May 1969 and was completed on October 24, 1971.

The old name of Azadi Tower

Azadi Tower was initially named "Shahid Arya Mehr" after and in honor of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi at the time, but 7 years after its construction, with the arrival of Imam Khomeini to Iran after the Iranian revolution in 1975, it was named "Azadi" and became a symbol of freedom in Iran. Mr. Amanat said in a television interview that he was very happy that this place is no longer Shahid and that now Azadi Square has become a symbol of Iran's freedom.

The engineering design of Azadi Tower and its historical significance

Azadi Tower has 4 pillars, each of which sinks to 5 meters below ground level. Azadi Tower is resistant to earthquakes of magnitude up to 7 on the Richter scale. Engineer Hossein Amanat used a combination of architecture before and after Islam, creating a mix of ancient Iranian places of worship and modern architecture in the design of the Azadi Tower, which includes the following:

The four columns of the Azadi Tower are symbolic of four Zoroastrian-era arches (the four arches of Nasir Kashan) mixed with the domes of Iranian mosques. The area of the square is an oval-shaped space, most of which consists of green spaces. For a more beautiful design of the square and Azadi Tower, using Iranian Islamic architecture, six sides are designed in 3 rows that appear from the top in the aerial plan of Azadi Square that we look at in what looks a bit like a honeycomb, so the design was called the "honeycomb" and is inspired by the interior design of the dome of the Sheikh Lotfullah Mosque in Isfahan, which is one of the best examples of Iranian Islamic architecture.

The fountains of Azadi Square at the square level are symbols of Iranian gardens such as Finn Kashan Park, Mahan Park in Kerman, Iram Park in Shiraz, etc.

The structure of Azadi Tower is designed from reinforced concrete, which can be seen from the outside of the stone.

The number of stones for the façade of the Azadi Tower is 25,000 pieces formed into 15,000 shapes, weights and sizes, made of marble from the Goshghan mines in Isfahan, the floor surface of the Azadi Tower complex is made of granite from the "Muroriya" mines in Kurdistan, and the weight of the stones of the doors of the entrances and exits of the Azadi Tower reaches 3,500 kilograms made of granite from the Hamadan mines. As is well known, all the materials used inside the Azadi Tower were all mines of Iran, and Mr. Qanbar Rahimi was responsible for bringing and preparing these stones.

Awards received by Azadi Tower

Due to the excellence of Azadi Tower and its engineering uniqueness, it has won many awards, including the Tucker Award for Architectural Excellence, the American Concrete Institute Award in 2001, and the Award for Excellence in Greek Building Design in 1995. It is enough that Azadi Tower remained present on the Iranian 200-rial coin, which indicates pride and pride in this high-end engineering work, which is no less important than what it symbolizes of freedom before and after the Iranian revolution.