Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art

🕰️When was it built?

The museum opened on 14 October 1977 with the backing of Farah Pahlavi. Kamran Diba designed the building, combining forms from Iranian architecture with modern design. A vestibule, a passageway and roof skylights are among the elements used in its plan.

🏛️What was it built for?

The museum was created to keep and show modern art, and its collection holds works by Iranian and foreign artists. The galleries are arranged so that visitors move gently down from the main hall and at the end come back to where they started.

👀What you will see

• The curved roof skylights draw on desert windcatchers and bring daylight inside.
• The outer walls are of orange stone and concrete, in closed volumes with few windows.
• A gently sloping spiral ramp links the galleries and takes you down to the lower level.
• Noriyuki Haraguchi's Matter and Mind, at the bottom of the route, is made of oil and steel and has a mirror-like surface.
• The sculpture garden north of the building sets works by artists such as Parviz Tanavoli and Henry Moore among the greenery.

💡Something interesting

The museum's main entrance is on Kargar Street, and the way in from Laleh Park was designed as a service entrance. Even though the building sits next to the park, the original plan has visitors coming in from the street.

🎒Good to know before you go