Jørn Utzon’s rapprochement with the workplace in postwar Iran

"In conversation with Henrik Sten Møller in 2004, Jørn Utzon summarized his foremost intention throughout his career: “The most important thing is to build for people … Being an architect is, for me, being a humanist.” Utzon’s Bank Melli exemplifies this approach, acting as a backdrop for urban scenarios quotidian life to epochal struggles. However, the ideological foundations of each phase brought many difficulties in following the architect’s disegno.Private interests associated with state dogmas have adversely affected what the bank is. In addition to symbolization and capitalization as the political underpinnings of Pahlavi national projects like Bank Melli, after the revolution there was a tendency towards the privatization of the public domain. In the bank, privatization serves as a sort of dictated setting: the silent ideology that shrinks public space, invisible but impacting everything. The building has lost dignity as a result. The initial changes to Utzon’s design during construction and the many subsequent changes over the decades demonstrate the contrast between the architect’s original vision and the interests of the bank’s directors. This division has turned into a conflict between the bank and the public over the authenticity of the renovations.

"The book is shortlisted of the DAM Architectural Book Award 2022.Other chapters' contributors: Ashley Schafer, Keigo Kobayashi Lab, haun Fynn, Marieke van den Heuvel, Rem Koolhaas/AMO/Nicholas Potts, Manfredo di Robilant, Kenneth Ross.