progetto CMR / massimo roj: pardisan park conference centre

italian architect massimo roj of progetto CMR has developed the pardisan park conference centre in north teheran, iran. currently under construction, the centre is part of a multi purpose complex, primarily an educational, research and cultural center. the objective of thew project was to create suitable facilities for the study of the environment in all its different aspects.

the pardisan park, also called shahrak-e gharb’s forest park, is an immense landscape park which covers 175 ha. and was originally designed by the american ecologist ian mcharg (1920 – 2001); famous for his humanitarian, utopian vision of designing communities by giving a central role to nature. mcharg thought of a huge park that could contain micro-ecologies representing the five major climate zones in the world.

it seemed that tehran wanted to recreate the ecological richness of the whole world in one park. the project started in 1975 and was finished against gargantuan costs. the park was to demonstrate the heritage of the iranian people and elaborated the idea of realizing the northern european climate and the desert in one limited space.

it contains the biodiversity museum, a wildlife park, and several other facilities for scientific case studies.