Prison Break

Continue reading [split] Weary of how the depressing eyesore negatively impacted the surrounding urban fabric, locals urged their governors to intervene. Eventually, in 2008, the Tehran Municipality commissioned the Experimental Branch of Architecture EBA[M] to renovate a significant portion of the complex, which has a long and storied history. ‘Fath Ali Shah in 1798 AD, in the second year of his reign, ordered to build a castle in Tehran… it was a royal private space for him and his harem,’ says Molaee. ‘Unfortunately, there is no specific name for the original architect, however, in the Pahlavi I era, [Russian architect] Markov designed the original prison.’ Working with a 13,000 dollar budget, EBA[M] collaborated with a conservation consultant and structural and mechanical design consultants to face down a series of challenges in their quest to convert the prison into a massive community garden and public space, that preserves the less savoury aspects of Tehran’s cultural heritage. Many parts of the 3,000 square metre building they worked on were severely damaged during its incarnation as a jail, according to Molaee, including doors, original windows and flooring plaster. Also, bricks, plaster and finishing metal and timber corroded due to atmospheric conditions – moisture especially. EBA[M] had to use current materials to repair this damage without compromising the building’s historical character. And it was no easy task. All the craftsmen employed to help restore the valuable buildings, those that were not demolished by the municipality, were expert and sophisticated, explains Molaee. ‘In fact, all these people had to pass an observation stage in advance.’ The group also had to establish a workshop at the site in order to test materials and processes. It was essential to imbue the project with a new ambiance, one that could erase the potential social pain caused by having a former prison in a residential area, without erasing its history. ‘A private garden was transformed into a prison and the prison changed into a museum. It’s obvious that the sense of the garden remained the same, however the meaning of it changed. We wanted to create a space that narrates Tehran’s history while conveying the main situation of the heritage.’ To renovate the three storey building, which includes four long corridors and an additional four tributaries, EBA[M] did a lot of brickwork and grouting, covered existing roofs and domes and constructed new wooden doors and windows. They also manufactured their own metal components, including hardware fence awning windows that create a striking, modern contrast with the brickwork and newly finished cement façade and cast resonant shadows on the interior walls. They then repaired whatever tiling was worth saving or, if necessary, created new tiles to match. ‘The existing buildings, which used to be frightening prisons and can be followed in the imprisoner’s memories, are now calming, relaxing and beautiful galleries, libraries, an amphitheatre, cafés and restaurants which not only attract local citizens, but also every part of the city,’ says Molaee. Since its opening in October 2012, Qasr Garden Museum has been a huge hit. Visitors, sometimes as many as 6,000 a day, can imagine the lives of former prisoners, which are reenacted in some rooms with life-sized bronze sculptures, attend conferences or lectures, or stroll through dark corridors once lined with cells but now brightly lit and adorned with walls of art. ‘The quality of the conference hall where a recent Tehran regeneration meeting took place was well done,’ says Daniel Khazeni-Rád, a local cultural writer and art specialist who lives near the museum. ‘I felt such pride at how local architects were so delicate with an old building like Qasr and I was taken aback by the level of finish, which meets all the international standards, something uncommon with Iranian regeneration projects.’ If the prison transformation is impressive, the landscaping is almost miraculous. Open to the public for free, the previously neglected land has sprouted extraordinary life, adding to Tehran’s marginal green spaces. The ‘Persian Garden’, filled with roses and other flowers, along with cypress, willows, poplar and pine trees, is just one of several that gives rise to Iran’s fledgling horticultural legacy. And a few creative touches make the space more comfortable for visitors, including flower beds that double as benches. Once a taboo blight that was inaccessible to the public, the adapted Qasr Garden Museum not only provides artists a space to showcase their work, but has transformed the life of local residents. ‘I first went to the Qasr prison because I heard they had made a beautiful park out of the former jail,’ says Leila Khazeni-Rád, who takes her baby daughter Elsa there to cool off on hot days. ‘There was a sculpture exhibition in the courtyard that the local municipality commissioned. I thought it was a wonderful use of a formerly bordered off space. The design of the garden was something I had never seen before in Tehran.’