Azadi Tower

Azadi Tower is the symbol of Tehran, Iran, and marks the entrance to the city. Azadi Tower is situated in the middle of Azadi Square. Built in 197, it is 50 meters tall and is completely clad in cut marble, a striking national monument and an audio-visual theatre complex. Azadi Tower is part of the Azadi cultural complex, located in Tehran’s Azadi square in an area of some 50,000 square meters. There is a museum and several fountains underneath the Tower. The ar­chitect, HosseinAmanat, won a competition to design the monument. Azadi Tower combines Sassanid and Islamic architectural styles.

Inauguration of Azadi Cultural Complex

Roudaki Foundation in the 2003 established Islamic Revolution Cultural Center at Azadi Tower with the aim to identify and introduce the artists, intellectuals and experts active in introducing Iranian and Islamic culture and art as well as escorting different dimensions of the Islamic Revolution and its Supreme Leadership to the new generation.

The new graphic display systemS and laSer video projector were housed in this location; the Hall Museum space was expanded with new enlarged seating capacity; safety factor systems necessary to increase the security were installed.

Theater halls, water curtains, light and sound systems, the slider and all technical and elec­trical installations were equipped, set, and re­paired.

Azadi Tower: Exterior

Plan of the tower roof comprises an octagonal shape. Octagonal form has a long history in the Iranian architecture and has been used in many famous monuments.

Vertex structure of the tower, starting from around the dome and covered the tower rack.

The main pedestals are settled in a 42 x 63 meters rectangular area, winding in a novel geometry to afford the solidity of the main arc. These pedestals are connected at the top and form the four-vault structure. So actually the main tower plan was inspired by four-arched architecture of ancient buildings.

Azadi Tower: Interior

VIP Hall

This hall is 210 square meters and hosts ritual ‘ceremonies, various meetings, press confer­ences etc. It enjoys novel architectural features wrought in the ceiling such as ax impressions on a white concrete for the first time in the country.

Iranology

Maps and models of the vast land of Iran form the outlines of this room in 1122 square meters area. Tourists are transported on a rail to watch Iran in volumetric images and get familiar with various historical, religious, industrial and some climatic and geographical character­istics of the country. On the north side, beauti­ful water structures stand for the Caspian Sea and the southern part; beautiful ponds represent parts of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea.

A big and beautiful aquarium with 2m height and four smaller other ones in the northern part of the map exhibit decorative types of fish. Simulation Room

Roudaki Art Foundation, utilizing the knowl­edge of domestic engineers devised the simula­tion hall. Enjoying software and up-to-date fa­cilities the room is able to create virtual images when a movie is shown for viewers.

Simulation room has 51 seats each equipped with potential motion effects; when a movie is on display sensors are at work to convey all the feelings to the spectators and immerse them in virtual atmosphere.

The hall was established due to the growth, of theater technology and new attractions of pri­vate movies and to transfer various and diverse concepts. The Hall has three screen sets’ the capability of conveying visual effects to the seats.

Predecessors Passageway

Passageway of predecessors is 170 square meters. The entrance of the tower is directly un­derneath the main vault and leads into the base­ment. Heavy doors open onto a kind of crypt where lighting is subdued. The shock is imme­diateThe lighting there seems to issue from the showcases placed here and there, each contain­ing a unique object.

Main Hall of the Museum

The hall which now hosts the Museum of stones, with 346 square meters lacked precious museum stuff in the first decade of the Islamic Revolution. Since the structural architecture of the Azadi Tower is the symbol of Iranian-Islam­ic architecture, officials of the Tower managed to equip the museum with symmetrical artifacts and by so doing diversify the museum stuff.

Then Rudaki Foundation in line with set goals and supportive policies established the perma­nent fair of precious stones and jewelry. The exhibition was opened in 2009 with more than 371 rock samples in a special showcase; more than 140 types of stone were in 90 showcases were put on display as rough natural products. I Ian of Mirror (Diorama )

The mirror hall, 296 square meters (726 me­, ters long and 11 meters wide), is placed next to the Ancient Parlor with 12 chambers each displaying volumetric and colorful images in a harmonious manner with the aim of presenting issues and activities of the country in industrial, cultural, environmental and economic spheres.

Knowledge Database (technology corridor)

Opposite the theater hall, there are two sym­metrical circular parlors with their roves beinga blend of traditional and modem architecture and a dome-like arch in an area of 188 square meters host ethnic galleries among many other things. In the center of each parlor, there is a cir­cular space with 28 computer screens providing the visitors through images with the events of the Revolution, architectural aspects of Azadi Tower, and Iranology resources. At the end of this hall, visitors being directed towards the eth­nographic gallery are presented with attractions such as pianist robot, responsive robot, laser va­por panels and Interactive Vision System (IVS). Ethilograithic

This section includes a semicircular corridor with eight great showcases each displaying Ira­nian handicrafts and objects of ethnography. Each one of these showcases features eco­nomic, industrial, artistic peculiarities of vari­ous ethnic groups of the country. The position of the hall is so that the visitors having seen the chambers are guided toward the Theatre Hall and Knowledge Database.

Amphitheathre

The Amphitheatre has a length of 50 and width 24 meters going 15 meters deep in the ground equipped with advanced laser and a wa­ter curtain. Magnificent artifacts and the style of decoration of the amphitheater invite the visitor to discover Iran’s geographic and natural diversity along with its fundamental historical elements.

The amphitheater can be exploited multi­functional so as to be able to release mov­ies, plays, concerts, television programs and competitions and multi-vision programs. Multi-vision programs are a combination of stage, videos, slides, lighting, sound and laser shows. The type of movie player program can display on three screens and a curtain of water to be carried out simulta­neously. Forty six slides reflect the image on the screen to 12 columns of 3 to 7 me­ters high each presenting a single subject. Lighting, laser displays, and Dolby sound systems also add to the appeal of the thing. All of these features have made a unique site of Azadi Theatre Hall.

Library

Currently there are some 11,662 volumes of exquisite and reference books in the library making it a valuable cultural database.

Books are in many areas of knowledge in­, cluding culture, art, history, society, and Islamic architecture in Persian, English, and French. Periodicals section is active in collecting and archiving the press releases providing the pos­sibility of in-site reading.

Archives

Magnificent and outstanding works of fine arts in the fields of visual arts, crafts and mov­ies, photographs and slides, and architectural plans are preserved in this unit.