The Capital’s Life Won’t Become Cultural Through Stone Statues
What image of culture does the city portray? What are the tools for this imagery? Murals, banners, statues and busts, playing with light? Sahand Monshi has a clear critique in analyzing the status of urban elements in Tehran and other major cities. This architect and activist in the field of urban planning and architecture, who began his professional activity in the early 2000s, believes that “the designer of a cultural element must, in addition to having a deep understanding of the vision and character of luminaries, be able to profoundly reproduce this understanding in creating the work, which is certainly not every artist’s job.”
According to this architect, “urban storytelling” is more important than constructing elements. This means creating spaces that can engage in dialogue with citizens, activate collective memory, and create lasting experiences. Statues of literary and cultural figures are useful, but they become effective only when the artist has a deep understanding of their personality and intellectual world and presents their work in dialogue with the space, history, and local identity. Sahand Monshi believes that in today’s world, cities are not just areas for movement; rather, they are stages for pause, reflection, discovery, and experience. Therefore, a “one-dimensional” and “project-oriented” approach fails. Artworks must be part of the urban experience, not an isolated object on a sidewalk.
He says that in global experiences over the past few decades, urban planners and management have tried to transform urban environments into cultural environments through facilitation rather than custodianship, and they have greatly benefited from specialists, artists, and experts in this regard. They have reflected the culture, art, and literature of their country through intelligent spatial planning in urban environments, of which element construction is a part. They have cleverly introduced not only citizens but also tourists to their cultural, literary, and artistic manifestations and guided them towards the main sources, which are generally books, succeeding in this path.
Regarding your professional work in architecture and urban planning, and your activities in cultural and promotional discussions, please speak about the issue of reading poverty and the necessity of preparing the ground for developing a reading culture with book-centric elements in Tehran.
Cities and urban spaces are generally built under the supervision and action of municipalities, but what subsequently shapes an urban space is the role, function, and impact of citizens in these spaces. Thus, urban spaces are a two-way dialogue between what has been built, from buildings to public areas and urban elements, and the citizens. It is expected that if both parties understand each other, they can have positive impacts on one another. Generally, in metropolitan areas, what we see regarding the planning, design, and construction of urban elements is part of the municipalities’ duties. This is while, in the world and especially in developed countries, the duty of municipalities is not to directly develop cultural affairs.
The municipality’s duty is to carry out urban development projects, and in the cultural sphere, it merely plays a facilitating role for the interventions of private and public institutions in the development of cultural and artistic sectors in cities. The actions that metropolitan municipalities undertake in the design and construction of urban elements are either ineffective or ultimately end in short-term measures merely to fulfill responsibility. Undoubtedly, the construction of any urban element will impact the citizens’ psyche, but it must be seen whether this impact is rhetorical, superficial, expedient, and short-term or not. Experience has shown that cultural and recreational organizations of municipalities have largely been unsuccessful relative to the cost and time they spend. Meanwhile, urban elements, in addition to entering a constructive and thriving dialogue with their surroundings, must be able to profoundly impact the citizens’ psyche.
It seems that instead of municipalities playing a facilitating role in these matters, based on past experiences, they become custodians of affairs that, according to many experts, have not only been unsuccessful but have also performed poorly in enhancing and developing aesthetics for the urban audience. For example, books breathe life into the city, but urban spaces are often devoid of books.
It seems that within the municipalities, there is no capacity to develop such work, nor is there a willingness to bring in artists and experts who, contrary to the one-dimensional and slogan-based views of municipalities, possess a realistic and multi-dimensional perspective. For example, if a design centered on books is meant to invigorate the city’s spirit, independent working groups are needed, where influential artists in visual arts, urban sociologists, urban designers, and architects work together to present plans and programs based on the status of urban spaces, audiences, and societal realities.
Based on personal experience, I am confident that if independent working groups are responsible for developing a reading culture and municipalities only act as facilitators, we will encounter much more successful experiences. Urban spaces, in the development of a reading culture, must first be places for developing reading behavior, and secondly, they must be able to integrate the world of concepts embodied in books with urban spaces. Therefore, the issue can go beyond the design and construction of an element; perhaps the element is only part of a broader structure in urban space with the dual aim of developing reading behavior and creating a world derived from the concepts of books in urban spaces.
Developing a reading culture is a multi-dimensional and profound issue, and as I said, the first issue is attention to the expected behavior of citizens. If, in an urban space, environments dedicated to citizen study are provided, considering creativity and aesthetic discussions, and these environments are welcomed by readers, the very behavior they exhibit in these environments is a deep and thoughtful advertisement to encourage other citizens to read.
For several years, we have seen the installation of statues and busts of literary and cultural figures in Tehran and other major cities. What is your view on these actions?
Regarding this question, I must say that this is a common practice in urban spaces, especially in cities with many intangible values. This practice has its roots in the history of urban planning in Western countries, where they installed statues of their luminaries in the city. The fact that this has been happening in Tehran and other major cities of Iran for several years is, generally speaking, a commendable action. In addition to familiarizing citizens with the faces and characters of these luminaries, it can also become a factor in developing tourism in cities. However, two points must be paid special attention to. Firstly, great care must be taken in selecting the artists who are to create these statues or busts, because the artist must not only have a deep understanding of the vision and character of the luminaries but also be able to profoundly reproduce this understanding in creating the work, which is certainly not every artist’s job. It requires artists who are inherently original in their thinking. Secondly, the placement and scale of these statues are very important, and we sometimes see that by ignoring this issue, they have not been able to have a positive impact on their environment. This work must definitely be carried out by specialists in urban planning and urban design.
Is creativity observed in the implementation of these types of actions? If the answer is no, what is the solution?
Regarding this question, I will point out a few things. First, in any case, with the construction of any urban element, the artist has tried to observe creativity in their work. So, in these types of elements, we are always faced with some form of creativity. However, it must be seen whether this creativity leads to the creation of long-term and sustainable impacts or not. Second, the use of sustainable creativity to promote a reading culture should not be directly limited to the act of reading in the context of creating urban elements, which can be part of an environment. For example, one of our greatest literary and narrative sources is “Shahnameh”.
Certainly, the young generation needs to study this primary source or sources that have been created based on this masterpiece to connect with our rich culture. However, it must be considered that this immense epic work has a rich visual language. Now, imagine a group of artists and urban specialists coming together to create an urban park based on this work, a park where citizens, by being present, become acquainted with Iranian myths, not superficially but deeply and effectively. The issue can no longer be resolved by creating a few elements.
Planning, designing, and implementing such a park requires the collaboration of expert Shahnameh scholars, artists in visual arts, urban designers, architects, and industrial designers who, in an integrated manner, first engage in conceptualization for what will happen in this park. This conceptualization must ultimately pursue one of its goals: guiding audiences and citizens to refer to the original source, meaning the written “Shahnameh”.
Audiences and citizens who have changed significantly and become more aware compared to two decades ago. Citizens who experience this park must not only become familiar with the mythical world of this great literary and epic work but also see and understand the manifestation of its concepts in today’s world, so that they can use the ethical and cultural frameworks of this mythical world for their current intellectual needs. When this park can affect its audience in this way, it can guide interested audiences towards studying the original source. Now imagine that in this park, a space is foreseen for holding Shahnameh reading sessions; see how it can help promote a reading culture in the field of behavioral science.
