Residential Architecture As A Means Of Showcasing Western Modernization: The Case Of Tehran (1963-1979)

2021-6-30
Valizadeh, Paria
Modernization programs in Iran emerged with the 1963 White Revolution and transformed the socio-spatial organization of the capital city of Tehran. This modernization was associated with Westernization and led to uneven urban development, exacerbated class divisions and developed a kind of fetishism of urbanization in the Iranian society of 1970s. Modernizing the society in the image of the west and in particular the United States fascinated the upper classes since they could afford to live in the ways described in the media, and the more their fascination with the westernized way of living developed, the more they become alienated from the rest of society. This study conducts a critical analysis of the impacts of modernization in the image of the west, notably in the domain of housing as one of the crucial geographical materialization in Tehran. The study will examine the link between modernization and westernization through spatial representations of case studies from both rich and poor within Tehran. It is expected that the ongoing study help to get a broader understanding of the impacts of fetishism of urbanization focusing on residential architecture, and pursuing an improved-place image as mainstream Iranian modernization on the urban landscape of Tehran in the 1960s and 1970s.

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Citation Formats
P. Valizadeh, “Residential Architecture As A Means Of Showcasing Western Modernization: The Case Of Tehran (1963-1979),” ODTÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 181–196, 2021, Accessed: 00, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/articles/metujfa2021101.pdf.