Iranian architects mobilize to save Gio Ponti's Villa Nemazee from demolition
Villa Nemazee, designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti in the early 1960s for Iranian businessman Shafi Namazee, is threatened with demolition to make way for a 20-story five-star hotel in Tehran's Niavaran district. The villa is the last of Ponti's three famous villas, alongside Villa Planchart and Villa Arreaza in Caracas, Venezuela, which inspired architects including Zaha Hadid. Iranian intellectuals and architects are mobilizing to save the intact structure. The villa is the only surviving Ponti building in the Middle East in good condition; his other regional project, a ministry in Baghdad from 1958, was damaged during the Iraq War and is being restored by UNESCO and Politecnico di Milano. Other neglected historic Tehran buildings include the Sabet Pasal house (Iran's Versailles) and a house for Princess Shams Pahlavi designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Key facts
- Villa Nemazee was designed by Gio Ponti in the early 1960s for Shafi Namazee.
- The villa is located in the Niavaran district of northern Tehran.
- It faces demolition for a 20-story five-star hotel.
- Iranian architects and intellectuals are campaigning to save it.
- It is the last of Ponti's three famous villas; the others are in Caracas.
- Ponti's only other Middle Eastern building, a 1958 ministry in Baghdad, was damaged in the Iraq War.
- UNESCO and Politecnico di Milano are restoring the Baghdad ministry.
- Other neglected Tehran buildings include Sabet Pasal house and a house by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Entities
Artists
- Gio Ponti
- Zaha Hadid
- Frank Lloyd Wright
Institutions
- UNESCO
- Politecnico di Milano
Locations
- Tehran
- Iran
- Niavaran
- Caracas
- Venezuela
- Baghdad
- Iraq