Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Tehran, Hans Hollein

Authors: Marzieh Tabaeian & Hassan Torfeh
Project Name: The Interior Design of the Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran
Building Occupancy: Museum
Designing Firm: München GmbH GU in Munich
Architect: Hans Hollein
Interior Design & Architecture: Hans Hollein, Austrian architect and designer
Executor: Hollein Studio in Vienna along with an Austrian-German-Iranian team supervised by Hans Hollein
Primary Lighting: Hollein Studio
Utilities Engineer: Hollein Studio
Utilities Type: Heater and cooling fans
Construction Engineer: The name of the exact engineer is unknown to us, however, comparative evidence indicates that this building could have been one of Ali Mohammad Khan Memarbashi Sane’i’s works
Structure Style: The Qavam-al-Saltaneh Mansion was built in late Qajar era in a Neoclassical style.
Address: No. 59, 30 Tir St., The Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran
Area: 7000 m2
Built Area: 1040 m2
Commissioner: Farah Diba’s Special Office in 1977
Launch & Finish Date: Early 1977 to late 1978
Photographer: Arsia Soroushfar
Email: abginehmuseum@gmail.com
Instagram: abgineh_museum
Website: www.hollein.com

Tehran Glassware and Ceramic Museum is one of the most beautiful and exquisite museums in Iran. The main edifice of the museum and its adjacent buildings are peerless gems of the early 20th century and all have many characteristics of the Qajar period architecture. The main building was constructed around 85 years ago for one of the high officials of the Qajar period namely Ahmad Qavam (nicknamed “Qavam-os-Saltaneh”) and was used as his permanent residence until 1953. After him, the building was handed over to the Egyptian embassy for a period of 7 years. For a while, the Commercial Bank took it over, and finally in 1355 the building was purchased by Farah Diba›s office and after undergoing major repairs, it was decided by the office to create a museum of it. The building was transformed with museum equipment by three different groups of Iranian, Austrian and German engineers under the supervision of Hans Hollein, an Austrian architect-engineer.
The complex, located on 30th of Tir street, Jomhuri avenue, originally was known as “Now-Bahar Garden,” named after the alley adjacent to it. The whole complex consists of four buildings, the two old and two new buildings added later. The name of the architect is not mentioned in the evidences or in the decorations of the building.
The museum building with a built area of 1040 square meters is located in the heart of a 7200 square-meter garden. The building has an octagonal plan, with two floors and a basement. The ground floor is connected to the upper floor through a two-way wooden staircase in the style of Russian architecture. The foyer of the museum, formerly built with a dome before handing over to the Egyptian embassy, was made flat by the Egyptian authorities. The overall architectural style of the building, like many buildings of the Qajar period, is a combination of traditional Iranian architecture and 19th century European architecture. The basement of the building, which now places the museum’s library, has a dominant atmosphere of traditional Iranian architecture. The materials used in the building are brick, mortar, plaster and lime. The type of decoration on the exterior is brickwork, and on the interior a combination of plastering, Mina-kari (mirror-work) and marquetry.
During the reconstruction and restoration of the buildings, in order to complete the complex, two beautiful side buildings were added for administrative and exhibition purposes in a complete harmony with the museum and cultural center. In the architecture of the added side buildings, the privacy of the buildings and even the appropriate height (compared to the museum and cultural center buildings) have been observed, and the main goal was to preserve the original style of the building. The offered plan for the restoration and reconstruction of the buildings included a complete cultural and artistic collection. According to the plan, the complex has sections such as museum, library, cinema, puppet theatre, pottery workshop, outdoor performance area, classrooms, restaurant, parking lot, pottery workshop and restoration workshop. In the past, the aforementioned departments all created facilities in the complex. A cultural collection of “Abgineh Museum” and “Now-Bahar Cultural Center” was opened on February 11, 1981, and for some time continued its activities that were intended for it.