Mosque without minarets stirs controversy in Tehran

Vali-e-Asr, a modern mosque constructed near the City theatre in Tehran, is drawing criticism for not having minarets or proper domes and for being located near the theatre. The Iranian architects Reza Daneshmir and Catherine Spiridonoff who designed the mosque, which was commissioned by the Tehran authorities, said: “The Vali-e-Asr mosque doesn’t have a minaret, nor a dome; neither did the first mosque. A mosque is a place for worship, and the Qur’an doesn’t dictate a special structure for it. It’s what it contains that is important," reports The Guardian. The new mosque which allows sunlight through windows embedded in a wave-like structure synchronises with the theatre which was built before the 1979 revolution, has a spectacular tiled circular structure with external pillars and is the largest exclusive space in Iran for performing arts. The conservative Mashregh News said: “A mosque sacrifice for the City theatre,” adding that it had been “decapitated in the honour of the theatre”. It was “an insulting, postmodern design” that is “empty of any meaning”, it said. Iranian conservative Mashregh News said the mosque has an insulting and meaningless postmodern design that is modulated according to the theater. The building is almost finished but due to the controversy the funding is being cut leaving the interior design in complete. Its fate remains in doubt. Theatre directors strongly opposed an initial design by a different architect because the building was 52 metres high and threatened the theatre’s fragile foundation.  Some media reports suggest that the authorities intend to turn it into an Islamic cultural centre, with possible physical alterations. According to its architects the mosque is located in one of the most culturally sensitive places in Tehran. They said: “It is at a point where the Enghelab (Revolution) Street crosses the tree-lined Vali-e-Asr, the most important junction in the city, not far from Tehran University and its surrounding bookshops.” “We tried to create an interaction between the mosque, which has a cultural essence, and the City theatre. We wanted to make it a cultural project that would be in harmony with its surroundings – the mosque should respond to the needs of its own time,” the architects said Mentioning the mosque was inspired by the Quba mosque the oldest in the world dating back to the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad the architects said: “Our biggest source for this project was the Qur’an itself.” “Simplicity was a main feature of the first mosques,” they said. “We tried to design this mosque with modesty, simplicity and good faith, and not a mosque which would get its pride from its structural height. The Vali-e-Asr mosque is located near the students’ park and the City theatre. We wanted it to connect better with the younger generations,” they added. The mosque was proposed 14 years ago when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was mayor of Tehran. Tehran-based architecture firm, Fluid Motion was commissioned to design the mosque nearly 10 ago which was due to be officially inaugurated this summer. When Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf became mayor, the design was given to Fluid Motion.