Main entry:

Grigor, Talinn, 1972-

Title & Author:

Building Iran : modernism, architecture, and national heritage under the Pahlavi monarchs / Talinn Grigor.

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication:

New York : Periscope Publishing, distributed by Prestel, ©2009.

Description:

237 pages : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 31 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 224-229) and index.
Prologue. Civil(izing) heritage ; Politicized ruins -- Founding a society. Debating modernists ; Discourse on heritage ; Civil(ized) pilgrimage ; Reformulated heritage -- Inventing heritage. A lost grave ; "I could break it with my fingers" ; National certitude -- Refashioning the fatherland. Architectural metamorphosis ; Touring Persia ; Fallen modernists -- Aryanism and the museum. Architecture under erasure ; The birth of l'Architecte ; A museum of civilization -- Traditionalism and the White Revolution. Pilgrims to nowhere ; The location of architecture ; Return to tradition -- Masculinist myths of modernism. A Persian art history? ; Politics of preservation ; Architecture as echo -- Epilogue. Architecture in (R)evolution ; Co-opted modernity.

Summary:

"Revolution and tradition are two sides of the same coin in Talinn Grigor's book on Iranian architecture. It starts in 1925 after Reza Pahlavi seized control of the country, but it arcs back to Ancient and Medieval Persia. Not that the government was rejecting modernity. IT instead promoted a reconstruction of the past that would aid efforts to make modern Iran an independent nation with an irrefutable claim to existence and power. Prodigious archival research informs Grigor's account of the excavations and discoveries Iranian authorities used to construct monuments to national heroes like Omar Khayyam, an important mathematician and astronomer of the 11th century as well as the author of the 'Rubauyat'. Grigor also brings immense knowledge to her lively discussions of the modern idiom integrated into such retrospective monuments and buildings. This book is the first in English to study 20th century Iranian architecture within the historical contexts that shaped its from and significance. The corpus of photographs will help the many readers unfamiliar with the architectural riches of Iran. Current turbulence and misunderstanding with the Middle East highlight the important of Grigor's book."-- Publisher description.

ISBN:

9781934772782
193477278X

Subject:

Pahlavi dynasty, 1925-1979.
Architecture Iran.
Architecture
Civilization
Politics and government
Iran Civilization.
Iran History 20th century.
Iran Politics and government 20th century.
Iran Civilisation.
Iran Histoire 20e siècle.
Iran Politique et gouvernement 20e siècle.
Iran

Form/genre:

History

Holdings:

Location: Library main 276265
Call No.: BIB 210819
Status: Available