It is apparent that the design and housing architecture in this project does not represent any new architectural innovation regarding the accessibility, ecological concerns, and sustainable housing relating to climates and environmental conditions. For instance, it has been mentioned that up to 200,000 housing units face the problem of lack of access to water, heating, and sewage system.[1]
It is important to mention that Pardis Project is running and managed by a Turkish company called Kuzu Group since January 2010.[2] At first, it makes one think and raise the question that why such a gigantic urban project should not be designed and constructed by the Iranian companies and local architects? The consequences of tender offers like Pardis may result in creating problems rather than solving problems that are often incompatible with people’s lives. Construction projects run by international companies, which are indifferent to place and culture of designated locations can create an inadequate urban model for the local needs of users. According to the Kuzu Group website, the plan includes 76 schools, 31 sports facilities, 17 Mosque, 7 health care centers, 7 cultural centers, and 3 parks. However, almost 10 years since Pardis Project began construction activity there are still no signs of greenery, public transportation, children's playground, and public parks.
[1] ‘Tehran’s Desert Ghost Towers Look like a Zombie Movie Waiting to Happen’. (blog)https://www.messynessychic.com
[2] ‘Maskan Mehr Project’, Kuzu Grup (blog), accessed 18 March 2020, https://www.kuzugrup.com/en/proje/mesken-meher-projesi/.
To get to Pardis mini-city, one must drive 50 kilometres east from Tehran on the Tehran-Pardis high-way 77. Between the rural district of Jajroud and the Technology Park, there is a vast landscape full of concrete grey and white tower block protruding from the ground. In terms of pedestrian accessibility, walking in and out of this site is nearly impossible. It is necessary to own a personal vehicle for transportation. Before entering the site, one must pass through a tunnel, indicating that prior to the start of construction, a dynamite explosion was used to clear the way and create a link between the site and the main road. This emphasises the tower block’s remoteness and accessibility. As the area’s characteristic topography consists of a chain of hills that form a continuous elevated crest, the terrain on which these tower blocks are expanding has an underlying visual effect on the landscape. Accessing the grocery stores, schools, and other public facilities is nearly impossible for most residents without the use of a car. The only shopping area is roughly in the centre of the site, and due to the lack of pedestrian walkways, shopping is inconvenient for those who live outside of the centre.
As previously stated, the Pardis complex has been directed and managed by Kuzu Group (a Turkish company) since January 2010 to the present (Kuzu Grup Blog). The plan includes 76 schools, 31 sports facilities, 17 mosques, 7 health care centres, 7 cultural centres, and 3 public parks, according to the Kuzu Group website. However, nearly ten years after the Pardis project began construction, there is still no evidence of greenery, public transportation, a children's playground, or public parks. It is clear that the project’s design and housing architecture do not represent any new architectural innovation in terms of accessibility, ecological concerns, and sustainable housing in relation to climate and environmental conditions. For example, it has been stated that up to 200,000 housing units in Pardis Phase 11 are affected by a lack of access to water, heating, and sewage systems (Messy Nessy Chic Blog).
Title: #Sound Diary 4
Location: Pardis Phase11, inside Pardis
Duration: 3:50
Audio channels: Mono
Time of recording: 14:45PM
Device: Zoom H2N
Sample rate: 48kHz
Furthermore, the design and architecture of Pardis Phase 11 could be compared to Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse plans (Radiant City), an unrealised urban master plan first presented in 1924. It is possible to say that Pardis Phase 11 is an exact replica of the Ville Radieuse plan’s high-density housing typologies, exact symmetry and standardisation in accordance with modernist ideas of city planning. As Le Corbusier himself explains: 'the city of today is a dying thing because its planning is not in the proportion of geometrical one fourth. The result of a true geometrical lay-out is repetition, the result of repetition is standard. The perfect form' (Merin 2013). Although the scale and size of these two projects differ, the planning and architecture styles are similar. Prefabricated high-density skyscrapers are spread across the vast barren desert landscape surrounded by mountains in the plan. There is no connection between the buildings and the landscape. The urban design and built-up form of Pardis are characterised by a repetitive rigid geometrical layout. The plan of Phase 11 has been to provide the residents with a range of zonal facilities: schools, parks, hospitals, public transportation and mosques. But after many years of construction, the implementation of such plans proved haphazard. This notion of zoning planning was also at the core of Le Corbusier's vision for his project Ville Radieuse: a planned city strictly divided into segregated sections; residential areas, commercial, entertainment and business (Merin 2013).
This type of planning has been linked to a functional system of architecture and a linear city planning system. (see next page for colour coding spatial analysis). When designing a mini city in this manner, each section is made up of a series of highly specialised functional sectors. Mumford describes this way of organising life as if 'the end product is an encapsulated life, spent more and more either in a motor car or within the cabin of darkness before a television set' (Kunstler 1994:10). A separation of residential zone from green spaces and transportation routes indicated an arrangement that made the entire architectural design of Pardis city a totalitarian model.
