- 1971-10-16 —
The inauguration of Shahyad Tower ("King's Memorial Tower") in Tehran. The tower was built in honour of the shah on the occasion of the commemoration of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire and has become an iconic symbol of the city of Tehran. It has been described as being a tower, an arch, a gate and an obelisk in one and is 50 meters (164 ft) tall and completely clad in some eight thousand blocks of cut marble from Isfahan Province. The main financing was provided by a group of five hundred Iranian industrialists.
- After the Revolution in 1979 it was renamed The Azadi Tower (Liberty Tower) and was, in turn, the gathering place of the "rebels" in 1979 and for those protesting the results of the election in 2009.
- The architect, Hossein Amanat was only 24 years old and a recent graduate when he won the competition for the project. In addition to having a remarkable career in designing buildings for commercial, educational and residential use, he is the architect for such Bahá'í projects as the Universal House of Justice Building, the Centre for the Study of the Holy Texts, the International Teaching Centre and the Mashriqu'l-Adhka in Samoa. He left Iran in 1978 and took up residence in Vancouver in 1980. [Hossein Amanat website; Farah Pahlavi website; Wikipedia]
- 1973-09-18 — Husayn Amánat was appointed architect of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. [BW16:133; DH172; VV37]
- 1974-02-07 — The construction of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice was initiated with the acceptance of the design conceived by architect Husayn Amánat. [BW17:73]
- 1975-06-05 —
Excavation of the site of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice began. [BW16:133; BW18:465]
- See BW16:399–404 for an article on the Seat by architect Husayn Amánat.
- See BW17:301 for the significance of the seat.
- 2001-05-00 — The inauguration of the Centre for the Study of the Texts. The facility was completed and occupied in 1999. It consists of study rooms for resident and visiting scholars, meeting and conference rooms, a large reference library, a secretariat and ancillary spaces totalling 7750 sq. metres (83,420 sq. ft) Much of the building is located below ground. It has been integrated into the mountain with a portico that reflects the classical motifs of the other buildings on the Arc. The offices of the building are provided with natural light directly or through light wells, patios and skylights. Below ground it is connected to an extension to the Archives which provides secure, climate-controlled storage vaults for the original, hand written papers that constitute the Bahá'í Sacred Texts. The architect was Hossein Amanat. [amanatarchitect.com]
"The Centre for the Study of the Texts . . . will be the seat of an institution of Bahá'í scholars, the efflorescence of the present Research Department of the World Centre, which will assist the Universal House of Justice in consulting the Sacred Writings, and will prepare translations of and commentaries on the authoritative texts of the Faith." [AWH p52]
"The building was completed and occupied in 1999. It now houses the Research Department, and is the temporary home of the International Bahá'í Library and other offices." [Visiting Bahá'í Holy Places p. 35; BW99-00p38-39]
- 2019-05-07 —
In a letter to all National Spiritual Assemblies, the House of Justice announced the appointment of Hossein Amanat as the architect chosen for the design of the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The distinguished Iranian-Canadian architect is best known for his designs of three of the buildings of the Arc on Mount Carmel in Haifa as well as the Azadi Tower in Tehran.
- They also announced the inauguration of a Fund dedicated to the construction of the Shrine.
[BWNS1325]
- Photo Hossein Amanat.
- Photo Ridván Gardens 1.
- Photo Ridván Gardens 2.
- 2019-09-19 —
The Universal House of Justice released the design concept for the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Hossein Amanat to all National Spiritual Assemblies.
"'Abdu'l-Baha had expressed His wish regarding where He should be buried," explains Mr. Amanat, a distinguished Iranian-Canadian architect. "He had said to an early believer that if something should happen to Him and He should pass away, 'Abdu'l-Baha wanted to be buried under the sands between Haifa and Akka, which He described as the pathway trodden by the loved ones and the pilgrims."
[BWNS1353; Partial Inventory ABU0463]
- Images
- 2021-12-19 — Journalists from over 55 media outlets across Italy attended the press conference in Milan and had the opportunity to learn about and the sacred nature of the project to prepare the marble for the Shrine of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the complexities of its construction. The fabrication of the marble has required newly developed machinery that can cut the stone directly from 3D models with extreme precision—a requirement of the project given the curved surfaces of the domed trellis.
Attendees at the press conference included Hossein Amanat, who was selected by the Universal House of Justice as the architect for the project, Sohrab Youssefian, liaison between the project and Margraf, and two members of Italy's Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly. The Italian marble company that will cut and chiseled the marble was represented by Silvio Xompero, president of Margraf, and by Alessandro Peotta, head of the Margraf Technical Office. This firm has a long record of service to the Faith
[BWNS1569]
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