Restoration of Tabriz Bazaar, Akbar Taghizade Asl

Project Name: Restoration of Tabriz Bazaar
Architect: Akbar Taghizade Asl
Client & Executive Engineer: Shopkeepers of Tabriz Bazaar
Date: 1994-now
Email: akantaghi@yahoo.com

The Tabriz Bazaar is one of the historical landmarks of the country, which was renovated and restored by Akbar Taghizadeh in a participatory restoration process. This project won Aga Khan Award in 2013.
Akbar Taghizadeh explains about Tabriz Bazaar as the following: The city of Tabriz is located at the crossroads of east to west and north to south and from ancient times till now it has been the crossroads of trade, commerce and cultural exchanges. Therefore, the formation of Tabriz Bazaar since then seems natural. There is no information or documents about the history of the Tabriz Bazaar before the Seljuk Empire. Evidently, since the Seljuk Empire, the Tabriz Bazaar and its prosperity has been very important. The structure of the Tabriz Bazaar was founded after the Seljuk dynasty, but it was destroyed due to the terrible earthquake of 1193 AH. Due to the large volume of trade and commerce in the reign of Abbas Mirza, the Tabriz Bazaar was rebuilt. Hence the main and current structure of it can be considered to belong to Qajar period, although after Abbas Mirza, there were additions to it.
The bazaar in the Middle East was not only a place for business, but a large urban space and a place for social, cultural, religious, political interactions, etc. where culture was basically formed and then transferred to the society. The Tabriz Bazaar has 27 hectares of land and 75 hectares of privacy. This complex includes 23 inns and caravanserais, 20 Timches, 34 bazaars, 22 corridors, 7 bazaars, 4 squares, 2 bridges, 28 mosques, 3 tombs, 2 libraries, 3 schools, 3 zurkhanehs, refrigerators and 4 baths. The revival and restoration of the Tabriz Bazaar was carried out with the participation and training of more than 6,000 of its sales staff. The Heritage was only responsible for guidance and monitoring the process. A strategic council was created to decide about any reform and restoration actions in the bazaar. The council rules were in accordance with the legislation. Preservation and maintenance of the Bazaar was the first priority, while repairing and choosing the right materials were the second priority of the restoration project. Maintaining market security, public satisfaction, improving the spatial quality of the bazaar, reducing the government role by increasing the people’s cooperation, changing the social composition of the bazaar, increasing the sense of belonging, encouraging group participation, the return of salesmen and merchants, teaching the principles of restoration to salesmen and merchants, and the possibility of preserving it for the future generations are some examples of the project’s positive aspects.”