I've seen a lot about this tower in Iranian news sources for the past few months. Its a controversial construction as its going to ruin the view from Naghshe Jahan. UNESCO has made a case in the Esfahan courts for the top two floors to be demolished. Today on CHN news it was said if modifications continue on the structure it will become unstable and collapse:

Jahan-Nama Tower will collapse if modification continues, warn experts
TEHRAN, June 23 (MNA) -- The experts in charge of the modification of the Jahan-Nama Tower in central capital Isfahan have warned if the work continues, the tower will totally collapse.

The UNESCO had threatened to add Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square to its List of World Heritage in Danger in case the modification of the controversial 56-meter tower did not begin before last February.

Jahan-Nama Tower, west of the square, still spoils the horizontal view of the square, whose monuments were registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

“So far, a roof of the tower with all related installations has been removed, but we have encountered pendulum-like concrete columns that support the lower stories. If the columns are detached, the tower will lose its balance and will entirely fall,” the tower modification director Reza Dowlatyar told the Persian Service of CHN on Thursday.

“The fall of the tower could be very dangerous and will certainly cause irreparable damages and casualties,” warned the director adding, “So the modification process has come to a standstill to allow a team of experts to look for a solution to the case.

“If the team finds a solution, the modification will be carried out in a month.”

The modification started in late October 2005 and the UNESCO announced that the height of the tower at its eastern side should be reduced by 12 meters and the western side by 24.48 meters.

During his last May visit to Isfahan, the UNESCO World Heritage Center director Francesco Bandarin expressed his satisfaction with the modification process, arguing that the case can be used as a model for safeguarding the world heritage sites in similar situations.

END

SOURCE: http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=343523

Post all relitive articles and pictures regarding the project here :cheers:

Old Article on the controversy:

Iran: Height of Jahan Nama Tower in Isfahan to be reduced to meet UNESCO's demands

Tehran, Dec 26, IRNA-Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said on Monday that the government authorized to reduce height of Jahan Nama Tower in Isfahan to meet criteria of UNESCO to register Naqsh-e Jahan historical Square as the world cultural heritage.

http://www.payvand.com/news/03/jul/naghsh-jahan2.jpg

He said in his weekly briefing to media that the government has decided to comply with criteria of UNESCO for registering and preserving global status of Naqsh-e Jahan Square.

Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) has applied for registering Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan with UNESCO, but, UNESCO gave until February 2006 to reduce height of Jahan Nama Tower under construction on neighborhood of Naqsh-e Jahan.

http://www.payvand.com/news/05/sep/jahannama-isfahan.jpg

UNESCO regarded height of the newly built high-rise tower as impediment to registering Naqsh-e Jahan Square on its vicinity....

http://www.payvand.com/news/05/mar/isfahan-jahannama.jpg

SOURCE: http://www.payvand.com/news/05/dec/1202.html

Can someone please tell me if this tower is the same as the pictures ive taken?
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=287699
im not sure

Thats the one :)

aaah, i knew it :)... i have a few more pictures i will upload soon.

Reduction of Jahan Nama Shows a Satisfactory Trend

http://heritage.chn.ir/en/manage/photo/Jahan%20Nama(6).jpg

Concurrent with the 30th session of
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee,
which has started its work since
yesterday in Lithuania, the first phase
of reducing the height of Jahan Nama
tower in Isfahan was completed.

Tehran, 9 July 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Concurrent with the 30th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which has started its work since yesterday, 8th of July, in Lithuania and will run to 16th of July, the first phase of reducing the height of Jahan Nama tower has been completed. According to Reza Dolatyar, director of Jahan Nama Project for lowering its height, during the first phase, the height of Jahan Nama has been reduced one meter more than what was expected.

In addition to deciding on 38 nominated sites which have been presented to UNESCO by different countries to be inscribed in its World Heritage List, the Committee will also revise 34 sites which are currently in the list of Endangered World Heritage Sites. These are sites that face serious threats for different reasons such as pollution, pillaging, war, poorly managed tourism, poaching, etc.

Naqshe-Jahan Square is one of the endangered historical sites in Iran, which its condition will be carefully studied by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in its 30th session.

“It was expected that by removing two ceilings from the tower and during the first phase of lowering the height of Jahan Nama, the height of the tower be reduced up to 7 meters. However, removing the second ceiling required that we also destroy another part of the remaining sections; thus with the approval of our advisor we decided to remove another one meter. The achieved progress is quite visible from the street for the people passing nearby. This process has just finished and the workers are collecting the debris,” said Dolatyar.

Two months ago, UNESCO’s Director of World Heritage Center, Francesco Bandarin, made a visit to Iran to examine and discuss a number of issues regarding some cultural heritage sites in the country that are in danger due to development project. During his stay, he particularly visited the Jahan Nama Tower in Isfahan to see the process of lowering its height. Bandarin expressed his satisfaction about the cooperation of Iran in this respect after he observed the positive measures taken by the Iranian officials to lower the height of the building. In his visit, Bandarin suggested that the only way Iran has if it wants to stop the world heritage site of Naqsh-e Jahan Square from going the list of UNESCO’s Endangered World Heritage Sites is to reduce the height of Jahan Nama tower.

Naqsh-e Jahan is a historical city square in Isfahan which was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1979 at UNESCO’s conference in Egypt. However, recent construction of Jahan Nama, a 48-meter high tower in its vicinity, which has intruded its cultural landscape, has resulted in some debates and struggles on putting Naqsh-e Jahan is the UNESCO list of “endangered Heritage”.

UNIESCO’s conference in Lithuania which is currently holding aims at discussing the conditions of a number endangered heritage sites, among which Naqsh-e Jahan and the Bam Citadel from Iran will be given a special focus.

Unlike Naqsh-e Jahan which has luckily not yet been inscribed in the Endangered Heritage List, Bam Citadel was inscribed in the List in 2004. Francesco Bandarin and some other UNESCO experts believe that the 2000-year-old Bam Citadel still does not have a proper condition to be excluded from the list of Endangered World Heritage Sites. This is while Eskandar Mokhtari, head of Bam Citadel Salvation Project, believes such decision which suggests Bam Citadel must still be in the said list is in fact in favor of the Citadel because it will receive more financial and expert support from UNESCO until it reaches to a more stable condition. “In his visit to Iran, Bandarin announced that Bam Citadel should still remain in the list of endangered World Heritage Sites,” said Mokhtari to CHN.

Bam Citadel in Kerman province is the biggest earthen construction in the world which was reduced to rubble due to a sever earthquake that struck the region in 2003. More than 80 percent of this 2000-year-old monument was completely destroyed by the earthquake.

The registration of Bam Citadel on the World Heritage List at the 28th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in China which happened shortly after the earthquake was a giant step toward renovation of this historical site.

SOURCE: http://www.chn.ir/en/news/?section=2&id=6488

Jahan Nama has 7 Months to Come to the Expected Level

http://heritage.chn.ir/en/manage/photo/Jahan%20Nama%20from%20Naqsh-e%20Jahan.jpg
A 7-month deadline was set by
UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee
for reducing the height of Jahan Nama
Tower. The authorities of the project
have promised to finish it by February.

Tehran, 12 July 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- During the 30th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee which has started its work in Lithuania since 8th of July and will run to 16th of July, the Committee has finally announced its decision on the situation of Naqsh-e Jahan Square in city of Isfahan which was nearly going to be placed in list of Endangered World Heritage Sites due to construction of the 48-meter-high tower of Jahan Nama which has intruded the cultural landscape of Naqsh-e Jahan square.

On its Tuesday session, the Committee appreciated Iran’s attempt in reducing the height of Jahan Nama tower and announced that Iran has taken an important step towards saving the cultural landscape of Naqsh-e Jahan Square by starting the process of reduction of Jahan Nama tower. However, it seems the Committee was not fully satisfied with the process of lowering and said that the height of the tower has not been reduced to the expected level. The Committee said that the eastern part of the tower must be lowered 12 meters and the western part has to be reduced 24 meters. Therefore, the Committee determined a 7-month deadline for Iran to finish the project

Based on the latest news, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has asked Iran to submit the record about the trend of reducing of the tower to this Committee by February 2007 to revise the case on the 31st session of the Committee which will be held next year.

Now it seems that by announcing this decision, the only way Iran has to save Naqsh-e Jahan Saqure and prevent it from being removed from the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites is to fulfill its commitments as it has promised to UNESCO and finish the project of lowering the Jahan Nama Tower during this determined period, otherwise it will be listed in Endangered World Heritage Sites. On the other hand, Iranian Cabinet Ministers allocated a 500,000 US dollar budget to the project of reducing Jahan Nama Tower, and the authorities of Jahan Nama tower have promised to lower its height by February 2007.

“At present, the first phase of shortening the height of Jahan Nama Tower has finished and we are waiting to receive the plan to start the second phase. Anyway, the reduction of Jahan Nama Tower will be completed by February 1st, 2007 for sure,” said Reza Dolatyar, the person in charge of lowering the height of Jahan Nama Tower.

Naqsh-e Jahan is a historical city square in Isfahan which was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1979 at UNESCO’s conference in Egypt. However, recent construction of Jahan Nama, a 48-meter high tower in its vicinity, which has intruded its cultural landscape, has resulted in some debates and struggles on putting Naqsh-e Jahan is the UNESCO list of “Endangered Heritage”. Now Iran has only seven months left to bring the height of the tower to the expected level or else, the Naqsh-e Jahan Square would be placed in UNESCO’s List of Endangered Heritage.

Lowering of Jahan Nama Shows a Slow Trend
http://heritage.chn.ir/en/manage/photo/Jahan%20Nama%20az%20seen%20from%20Naqshe%20Jahan.jpg
Authorities of UNESCO’s World Heritage
Center believe that the trend of lowering
Jahan Nama Tower shows a decline due
to reluctance of the local authorities.

Tehran, 22 July 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Director of World Heritage Center believes that despite all the efforts made by the Iranian government for reducing the height of Jahan Nama Tower in a timely manner, the demolition work has slowed down.

“The issue of the commercial complex (Jahan Nama) and possible extension of the property constitute major conservation challenges for all the stakeholders. Yet, the Iranian authorities are expected to report the progress of the partial demolition of the Jahan Nama tower to the World Heritage Committee at least once a year. As far as we are informed, the Central Government has been making serious efforts to respect the decisions of the World Heritage Committee. However, the demolition work has slowed down due to the reluctance of the local authority,” says Shama Sunderrai, Assistant to the Director of World Heritage Center.

During its 30th session which was held from 8 to 16th of July 2006 in Lithuania, the World Heritage Committee granted Iran a seven month opportunity to reduce the height of Jahan Nama Tower or the Committee would decide to remove the Naqshe Jahan Square in Isfahan from the list of World Heritage sites and put it in the list of Endangered World Heritage Sites. Based on this decision, Iran is expected to bring the height of the Tower to the expected level while keeping UNESCO abreast of the progress. The determined deadline for lowering the Tower is February 1st, 2007.

“This may require a very time-consuming process. Although some of the structures of the complex should be demolished as soon as possible to maintain the integrity of the property, understanding and cooperation of the local authorities are essential for sustainable conservations efforts,” said Sunderraj to CHN.

Considering that today a large number of historical cities including those in Isfahan are facing a challenge for harmonization between the conservation of cultural property and the development or economic interest, Sunderraj explained that reducing the height of Jahan Nama Tower up to the determined level is an inevitable task in order to save the position of Naqshe Jahan Square in the list of World Heritage Sites.

Asked to explain what would happen if Jahan Nama is not lowered by February 1st, Sunderraj considered the deadline fixed by the World Heritage Committee as a kind of “milestone” and said, “It has been fixed to encourage the Iranian authorities to implement the decision of the Committee and we had better not to consider it as ‘date of execution,’” added Sunderraj.

The 48-meter Jahan Nama Tower, which is located on the vicinity of Naqshe Jahan historical square, has intruded the cultural landscape of this World Heritage Site. Iran has started reducing the height of the Tower due to the request by UNESCO to prevent Naqshe Jahan be placed in the list of World Heritage in Danger. On the other hand, UNESCO has determined that the height of Jahan Nama should be lowered up to 24 meters as seen from the Naqshe Jahan Square, and 12 meters from Chahar Bagh Street. The work must be complete before the deadline or the Committee would take serious actions and the chances to put Naqshe Jahan in the Endangered World Heritage List would go up.

Info on the project:

The original project would have been 12 floors and have a 5 star hotel with 100 rooms, 3 cinemas, 12 exhibition centers and 2 museums, 7 resturants, a mall and offices on floors 4-7. I don't know how much they have changed in their new designs.


پروژه ارگ جهان نما

پرديسه اي با شكوه در قلب تجاري فرهنگي نصف جهان
حلقه پيوند تاريخ و گذشته اصفهان قديم با مقتضیات و نيازهاي زندگي شهري در اصفهان امروز
مساحت زير بنا: 78000 متر مربع
موقعيت: حدفاصل چهارباغ عباسی و خیابانهای طالقاني و شمس آبادي
هدف: احيا و رونق دوباره مركز تاريخي اصفهان
كاربري ها شامل: هتل پنج ستاره، سينما، نمايشگاه، كارفروشگاه، رستوران، صنايع دستي، واحدها و دفاتر تجاري

متوسط متراژ كاربريها

كاربري تجاري
اين واحد در زيرزمين اول، همكف، طبقات اول، دوم، سوم قرار دارند .متوسط هر واحد تجاري حدود 34 متر مربع است

كار فروشگاه
منظور واحدهايي است كه بخشي از پروسه توليد صنايع دستي در كنار عرضه آن به نمايش در مي آيد. اين واحدها در طبقات 2 و 3 قرار داشته و متوسط مساحت هر يك حدود 61 متر مربع است

نمايشگاه
در پروژه جهان نما 14 نمايشگاه پيش بيني شده كه 12 عدد آن در طبقات 1 و 2 و 3 و 2 موزه باز آن در طبقات 11 و 12 واقع است. هر نمايشگاه به طور متوسط 118 متر مربع مساحت دارد

رستوران
طبقات همكف و 5 و 6 و 7 و 8 و 9 و 10 هر كدام داراي يك رستوارن با متوسط مساحتي در حدود 325 متر مربع مي باشد

صنايع دستي
11 واحد فروشگاه صنعتي با متوسط مساحتي حدود 31 متر مربع همگي در طبقه دوم قرار دارند

دفاتر تجاري
64 دفتر تجاري در طبقات 4 و 5 و 6 و 7 تعبيه شده كه به طور متوسط 78 متر مربع مساحت را به خود اختصاص داده است

سينما
در پروژه ارگ جهان نما سه سالن سينما به طور متمركز طراحي شده است كه در زيرزمين دوم و اول با مساحتي در حدود 3080 متر مربع قرار دارد

هتل
داراي 100 اتاق با تراسهاي باز در هواي آزاد، تريا و رستوران


Website: http://www.samangostar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=130

مشكلات اجرايي ساختمان جهان نما بررسي شد

خبرگزاري فارس: اعضاي شوراي شهر اصفهان در بازديد از ساختمان جهان نما، مسائل و مشكلات اجرايي آن را بررسي كرده و مجري طرح جهان نما، كمبود اعتبار را از مهم*ترين مشكلات اين پروژه بيان كردند

به گزارش خبرگزاري فارس از اصفهان و به نقل از روابط عمومي شوراي شهر اصفهان، رضا دولتيار گفت: در صورت تأمين اعتبار، تا 3 ماه آينده بلوك 4 پروژه* جهان نما و در نيمه دوم سال بلوك 3 آن تكميل مي*شود و به بهره*برداري مي*رسد

وي با بيان اين كه در بلوك*هاي 3 و 4 ساختمان 333 فروشگاه، دفتر كار، گالري، بانك و رستوران، احداث شده است، مساحت اين مجموعه فرهنگي، خدماتي و تجاري را 17 هزار و 200 متر مربع و زير بناي آن را حدود 90 هزار متر مربع اعلام كرد و افزود: براي ساخت پروژه جهان نما بدون احتساب هزينه زمين، پروانه و مشاور، 150 ميليارد ريال هزينه شده است و 100 ميليارد ريال اعتبار ديگر نياز است

عباس حاج رسولي*ها، رئيس شوراي شهر اصفهان نيز بر رفع مشكلات اجرايي و اعتباري ساختمان جهان نما تأكيد كرد و گفت: دست*اندركاران اجرايي پروژه* جهان*نما بايد براي تكميل اين ساختمان و واگذاري واحدهاي تجاري آن در اسرع وقت تلاش كنند

در كميسيون ويژه ساختمان جهان نما كه با حضور اعضاي شوراي اسلامي شهر اصفهان در محل ساختمان تشكيل شد، مقرر شد براي بازديد استاندار اصفهان و شهروندان از ساختمان جهان نما برنامه*ريزي لازم به* عمل آيد.
مجموعه فرهنگي، خدماتي و تجاري جهان نما در 4 بلوك با كاربري*هاي فرهنگي، تفريحي و تجاري در ميدان امام حسين اصفهان احداث شده است

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8405/ImageNews/840526/60_840526_L600.jpg

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8412/ImageReports/8412060468/15_8412060468_L600.jpg

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8412/ImageReports/8412060468/14_8412060468_L600.jpg

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8405/ImageNews/840526/30_840526_L600.jpg

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8405/ImageNews/840526/54_840526_L600.jpg

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8412/ImageReports/8412060468/16_8412060468_L600.jpg

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8412/ImageReports/8412060468/13_8412060468_L600.jpg

http://media.farsnews.ir/Media/8412/ImageReports/8412060468/12_8412060468_L600.jpg

More: http://www.farsnews.ir/plarg.php?nn=M167811.jpg

aaah, i knew it :)... i have a few more pictures i will upload soon.

Faster, please. :P

^^ lol, sorry. i forgot about it, and today i am very busy. ill post a few more tomorrow.

btw this is my 100th post :cheers:

Height of Jahan Nama Reduced, UNESCO Demands Not Satisfied

http://heritage.chn.ir/en/manage/photo/6650-114421.JPG
The project of lowering the height of
Jahan Nama Tower in Isfahan ended by
reducing its height by 8 meters, while
UNESCO has demanded the Tower to be
reduced by 24 meters instead.

Tehran, 14 September 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Lowering the height of Jahan Nama Tower has officially been announced to have ended, while the Tower is still 16 meters taller than what it should be based on UNESCO’s previous demand.

“Due to an order by Isfahan’s governor office and other city authorities, it was decided to reduce the height of the Tower by 6 meters while we have reduced it an additional 2 meters to make sure that the project is complete,” said Reza Dolatyar who is in charge of the project to reduce the height of Jahan Nama. He also said that the decision came after some experts from Isfahan’s governor office installed a long range camera in Naqsh-e Jahan Square and determined the level to which the Jahan Nama Tower must be reduced. This is while in an official statement, UNESCO had previously asked the Iranian authorities to lower the Tower by 12 meters on its eastern and 24 meters on its western side.

Last July, the World Heritage Committee met in Lithuania to conduct a case-by-case study of a number of natural and cultural heritage sites, including the world heritage site of Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the position of which in UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites was being greatly jeopardized as a result of construction of Jahan Nama commercial complex in its vicinity, intruding its aerial buffer zone. This is while UNESCO had several times warned that if the tower is not reduced to the expected level, Iran would have to face the possible exclusion of Naqsh-e Jahan Square from UNESCO’s list.

In its 30th session in Lithuania, the Committee stated with concern that the process of reducing the height of Jahan Nama Tower shows a decline compared with the commitment and timetable set by Iran in its letter of 25 January 2006 which was sent to Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director General, by Esfandiyar Rahim Mashayi, President of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO). Therefore, the Committee encouraged the government of Iran to fully implement decision no 7B.54 which was announced by the Committee on its 20th session concerning the height of the commercial complex and to reduce the height to 12 meters on its eastern side, closer to the property, and to 24 meters on its western side, including the tower, in accordance with existing building regulations in the area and with a view to ensure the conservation of the real setting and integrity of the historical city of Isfahan with the cooperation of the local authorities. The Committee then asked Iran to provide an updated report on the trend of lowering the Tower as mentioned above by 1st of February 2007 and submit it to the World Heritage Center for being studied by the Committee at its 31st session.

Despite submission of a clear plan from Iran to reduce the height of the Tower, Isfahan’s officials have failed to comply with UNESCO demands and fulfill their commitments and have completely stopped their operations on the upper floors of the Tower after reducing it only by 8 meters.

A few weeks ago, Gholam-Hossein Elham, Iran’s Government Spokesman, had stressed the importance of reducing the height of the Tower and emphasized that it must be done in accordance to UNESCO regulations. Moreover, in a meeting with Isfahan’s governor, mayor, and city council representative, Francesco Bandarin, Director of UNESCO World Heritage Center, had examined the trend of lowering the height of the Tower based on the submitted timeline and emphasized the importance of continuing the project until the Tower reaches the expected level.

In 1979, UNESCO registered the famous Naqsh-e Jahan Square, located in the city of Isfahan, which is indeed the second biggest square of the world. It consists of several buildings and mosques, mostly built during the Safavid dynastic era, in 17th century. It contains several monumental buildings linked by a series of two-storeyed arcades. The site is known for the Mosque of Sheykh Lotfollah, the Imam Mosque, and the magnificent monument of Ali-Qapou. They are an impressive testimony to the level of social and cultural life in Persia during the Safavid era.

Nearly a year ago, the city officials, backed by Isfahan Municipality, issued a certificate for a building, later named Jahan Nama (which literary translates into “World View”) to be built somewhere close to the Naqsh-e Jahan Square at a distance of 760 meters. When the building was in its last phase of construction, the Iranian cultural heritage authorities realized that the height of the Tower exceeds the limit set by UNESCO when Naqsh-e Jahan was being inscribed in UNESCO’s list 27 years ago. It turned out that if one stands in the Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the upper floors of the building can clearly be seen. This is while new constructions in the vicinity of world heritage sites require UNESCO’s permission and the Organization’s Supervision during the entire construction process.

Concerns raised over the fate of the historic square of Naqsh-e Jahan and a new wave of protests spread throughout the nation. Iranian cultural heritage experts were called in to examine the case and it was determined that the height of Jahan Nama Tower is detrimental to Isfahan’s cultural heritage and that construction of Jahan Nama is in contravention of cultural heritage standards and UNESCO legislations. Later, UNESCO sent several experts for close inspections and Iran was asked to lower the height of the Tower, if it is interested in keeping the Naqsh-e Jahan Square in UNESCO’s list. Finally, the Iranian authorities accepted to comply with UNESCO regulations and last January, the process of lowering the height of the Tower finally started by removing the upper floor under the supervision of UNESCO representatives. However, while the project still has a long way to go before being finished, Iran has now stopped reducing the height of the Tower without consulting UNESCO.

Should Iran fail to abide by the regulations agreed upon with UNESCO, it is very likely for the world heritage site of Naqsh-e Jahan Square not only to be excluded from UNESCO’s world heritage list, but also to be placed in the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Workers set to resume modification of Jahan-Nama Tower

TEHRAN, Dec. 31 (MNA) -- The modification of the Jahan-Nama Tower will be resumed in a few days and workers will try to finish the job before February 1, the director of the Isfahan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department announced on Saturday.

“In a series of sessions with members of the Isfahan City Council and the Isfahan Municipality, it was decided that two stories of the building should be removed before February 1,” Saeid Baktash said.

Located west of Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Jahan-Nama Tower still spoils the horizontal view of the square containing a complex of monuments which was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

In 2005, UNESCO determined that the height of the tower should be reduced by 12 meters on its eastern side and 24.48 meters on its western side.

On July 13, 2006, during its 30th session in Vilnius, Lithuania, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee had asked Iranian officials to consider UNESCO regulations for the modification in consultation with local officials.

The modification must be completed by February 1, 2007; otherwise, Naqsh-e Jahan Square will be added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger.

“This is a national issue and we are trying to convince the municipality and city council to implement the recommendations of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee,” Baktash noted.

“If they agree, the height of the tower must only be decreased by two more stories, though it is very difficult. And, the modification has given the tower many jolts so far,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Isfahan City Council said that the modification operation will begin again soon.

The construction company has requested compensation for its financial losses before beginning the removal of the two stories, and the Isfahan Governor’s Office has agreed to cover the costs, Abbas Haj-Rasuliha explained.

Last September, modification director Reza Dowlatyar had announced that the task was completed, but later it was determined that the operation did not properly follow UNESCO’s instructions.

The Clock is Ticking Fast for Naqsh-e Jahan Square

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4 days is all Iran has left to the deadline determined by UNESCO by which the height of Jahan Nama Tower must have been reduced to the expected level while there is not much optimism that Iran meets the criteria by the given time.

Tehran, 28 January 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Iran has speeded up its efforts to bring the height of Jahan Nama Tower to the expected level as the deadline is just around the corner.

The Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) has even sent a formal request to UNESCO through its office in Tehran, seeking the possibility to lower the height of the Tower less than what is expected and UNESCO has unofficially approved the request.

Less than two weeks ago, modification of Jahan Nama was resumed to remove the upper two floors. This is while many believe that completion of the final stage requires more time, a fact which further jeopardizes the position of Naqsh-e Jahan Square in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly announced that the country is trying to keep the historic square in UNESCO’s list: “It is the government of Iran’s firm policy to keep the Naqsh-e Jahan Sq. in UNESCO’s list. This has been emphasized by the Iranian President who has said that Iran would even buy and completely destroy the Tower if needed,” said Esfandiyar Rahim-Mashayi, President of ICHTO who went to Isfahan yesterday to observe the final stage of Jahan Nama modification which must be finished by Feb. 1, 2007.

UNESCO has also commissioned 3 experts to closely observe modification of the Tower during the remaining time.

The story started about two years ago when construction of Jahan Nama Tower, a commercial complex in the city of Isfahan, was on its final stage. Not only was construction of such a tall building at a distance of only 760 meters from the World Heritage Site of Naqsh-e Jahan Square never approved by UNESCO to begin with, its height exceeded UNESCO standards. The Tower was clearly visible from Isfahan’s World Heritage Site.

Experts from UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee came to Iran to examine the case. It was evident that the height of the Tower should have been reduced and UNESCO asked Iran to reduce its height such that the Tower would no longer undermine the skyline of Naqsh-e Jahan or else the historic square would be removed from the World Heritage List.

Modification of Jahan Nama Tower first started in January 2006 by removing the upper floor under the supervision of UNESCO representatives. Based on a decision conferred on Iran by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee on July 2006, Iran was asked to reduce the height of the Tower to 12 meters on its eastern side, closer to the property, and to 24 meters on its western side, including the tower, in accordance with existing building regulations in the area and with a view to ensure the conservation of the real setting and integrity of the historical city of Isfahan with the cooperation of the local authorities.

During his recent visit to the Tower, Mashayi also announced that the Iranian cultural heritage experts recently started a new project to register 127 historic monuments as annexes to Naqsh-e Jahan Square as requested previously by UNESCO. However, this is only possible if Naqsh-e Jahan Square remains in the list of UNESCO.

Built by Safavid King, Shah Abbas the Great at the beginning of the 17th century, and bordered on all sides by monumental buildings linked by a series of two-storeyed arcades, Naqsh-e Jahan Square is known for the Royal Mosque, the Mosque of Sheykh Lotfollah, the magnificent Portico of Qaysariyyeh and the 15th-century Timurid Palace of Ali Qapu. They are an impressive testimony to the level of social and cultural life in Persia during the Safavid dynastic era (1501-1736 AD).


Maryam Tabeshian

http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6967

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Nevermind the height, I think this design is very poor.

yea, me too
the design is too..cubic...you know? "mookeaabi"

I agree the design lacks imagination.. I like the style but they could have done so much more with it....

On the hole lowering thing.. I think this is a zoning problem, like Gilgamesh once said in Esfahan they need to zone off an area for highrises like Paris' La Défence district

^^agreed^^

Efforts for Modification of Jahan Nama Still Continue

http://heritage.chn.ir/en/manage/photo/7067-51925.JPG
A view of Jahan Nama Tower

While less than 3 months has remained to UNESCO’s deadline for modification of Jahan Nama Tower, an agreement has been signed for reducing the height of two remaining stories of the tower.

Tehran, 7 April 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Based on an agreement signed between Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Isfahan province, Isfahan’s municipality and governor office as well as authorities of Isfahan’s city council, modification of Jahan Nama would be completed before the 31st session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee which will be held from June 23 to July 2, 2007 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Announcing this news, Saeed Baktash, director of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Isfahan province said: “ Based on this agreement , we will do our best for lowering Jahan Nama Tower before the 31st session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee , in an attempt to save Naqsh-e Jahan world heritage site from being excluded from list of UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. .”

According to the latest UNESCO’s Resolution, Iran’s government was due to complete the lowering of Jahan Nama’s height in order to prevent Naqsh-e Jahan World Heritage site to be placed in list of UNESCO’s Endangered World Heritage Sites by first of February 2007. However, since Iran could not complete the project by the determined time, the deadline was extended till the 31st session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to give Iran another opportunity to save Naqsh-e Jahan world heritage site. While the deadline is just around the corner and less than three months has remained to the 31st session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, two more stories have still remained to be removed.

“Currently, a plan for modification of Jahan Nama Tower has been prepared and government of Iran has showed its positive attitude to fulfill UNESCO’s demand in this regard. We hope that this issue would be considered by UNESCO,” added Baktash.

Referring that Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Isfahan province has nominated 120 historical sites of this city for inscribing in UNESCO’s World Heritage List, he stated: “The file of these sites have been submitted to UNESCO’s world heritage office two months ago.”

In 2005, UNESCO determined that the height of the Tower should be reduced by 12 meters on its eastern side and 24.48 meters on its western side. In order to observe UNESCO’s requirement in this project, two more stories of Jahan Nama Tower must be still removed In order to meet UNESCO’s demand.

Located west of Naqsh-e Jahan Square, Jahan Nama Tower still spoils the aerial buffer zone of the Square which contains a complex of monuments registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979.

http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7067

Situation of Naqshe Jahan to Be Announced by UNESCO’s WHC

By modification of Jahan Nama Tower and sending the last report about activities of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) to UNESCO in this regard, , the situation of Naqshe Jahan will be clarified in the 31st session of World Heritage Committee which is in progress in city of Christchurch in New Zealand.

Tehran, 25 June 2007 (CHN Foreign Desk)—According to director of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Isfahan province, the situation of Naqsh-e Jahan square in city of Isfahan for being removed from UNESCO’s list of World Heritage in danger will be announced during 31st session of World Heritage Committee which is currently held in city of Christchurch in New Zealand.

“Following the joint cooperation between Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization and Isfahan’s civil authorities, city council, municipality and governor office for reducing the height of Jahan Nama Tower according to UNESCO’s demand, Naqsh-e Jahan World Heritage site will remain in list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites,” told Saeed Baktash, head of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department of Isfahan province to CHN.

According to Baktash, the case of Jahan Nama tower has been studied during the recent visit of UNESCO experts to Isfahan and Junko Taniguchi, programme specialist for culture, in UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office announced that in her report to UNESCO, she will explain about the lowering of Jahan Nama Tower and the fact that it does not spoil aerial buffer zone of Naqshe Jahan square any longer.

Prior to this during the 30th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee which was held in Lithuania, ICHTO submitted a report in which the trend of lowering Jahan Nama Tower was explained, however the World Heritage Committee asked Iran to pursue the work to the requested height.

The 48-meter Jahan Nama Tower was constructed 700 meters from Naqshe Jahan Square and intruded the cultural landscape of this world heritage site. Following this issue UNESCO threatened Iran that if the height of Jahan Nama tower does not reduce, this world heritage site will be excluded from list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites and will be placed in World Endangered List and asked Iran to modify the height of this tower 12 meters on its eastern side and 24.48 meters on its western side.

Appreciating supports of Iran’s government for reducing the height of Jahan Nama, Baktash expressed hope that considering the activities which have been undertaken so far in this regard, Iran would come handful from the 31st session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

In addition to case of Naqsh-e Jahan square, the file for inscribing 127 historic sites in Isfahan as the annex of Naqsh-e Jahan square will be revisited by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee during its 31st session. Following the visit of Mr. Francesco Bandarin, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, from Isfahan, authorities of Isfahan’s city council and Cultural Heritage and Tourism Base of this historic city asked for registration of Isfahan’s historical-cultural axis as the annex of Naqsh-e Jahan world heritage site which was welcomed by Bandarin.

“A dossier has been compiled in this regard and submitted to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee for expert studies. This file which has been submitted by the modification file of Jahan Nama is due to be revisited during the 31st session to inform Iran about the shortages to complete the file in the shortest time in an attempt to register the 127 historical and cultural sites in 2009 in list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites,” said Baktash.

Jame Mosque, Isfahan’s bazaar, Chahar Bagh (four gardens) street, Chehel Sotoon (40 columns), Hasht Behesht (eight paradise) monuments, and historical bridges of Si-o Se pol, and Khajoo are among the historical sites which are due to be added to this list.

It would be the first time such a large number of historical-cultural sites are due to be studied as an annex dossier by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

Situated at the center of Isfahan city, Naqsh-e Jahan Square is one of the largest squares in the world and the largest in Western Asia. It is a prominent historical site and one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. The square is surrounded by buildings from the Safavid era. Located west of Naqsh-e Jahan Square in the city of Isfahan, Jahan Nama, a newly built commercial complex, 48 meters in height, spoiled the horizontal view of the square. Almowt two years ago, UNESCO asked Iran to reduce the height of the tower such that it would no longer undermine the skyline of Naqsh-e Jahan or else the historic square would be removed from the World Heritage List. Therefore, Iran’s started the mega project for lowering Jahan Nama Tower in an attempt to meet UNESCO’s demand and save Naqsh-e Jahan square from being removed from list of world heritage sites.

Last year Iran succeeded to register Bisotun historic site in Kermanshah province as its eight world heritage site in 30th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. St. Thaddeus Church or Qara Kelisa (Black Church) located in Iranian West Azerbaijan province was due to be put up by Iran for UNESCO world registration in 2007. However, since the file was not completed, the world registration of this 1700-year-old church has been postponed to 2008.

http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=7186

Very good info guys.i was so curious to see this tower.

It was designed to be higher, then they had to improvise it but to keep the concept.

Now it look like a prison in the middle of the city.Esfahan is gifted by its beautiful historical architecture,but its not in right hands.

If they were not forced to stop by UNESCO,we would have seen a third floor & more for Naghshe-Jahan-Square.as Isfahani towers,they would compete to be in every tourist pictures taken from there.

Good Lord!

thats the most uglyiest project i have ever seen wtf is this!!!!!!!:ohno:

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inever thought aniranian building can be that ugly!
but in bam theycan build a prison and take this as model!

I saw this when i was in iran in 2006

That is the ugliest building built in this century i guess.

That is the ugliest building built in this century i guess.

I thought the same at first, but I changed my mind. It has a certain Iranian-ness to it and somehow its modern and at the same time traditional. Iran needs more of these types of buildings - Modern but traditional and uniquely Iranian. We're not Dubai!

it looks like saddams headquaters

I thought the same at first, but I changed my mind. It has a certain Iranian-ness to it and somehow its modern and at the same time traditional. Iran needs more of these types of buildings - Modern but traditional and uniquely Iranian. We're not Dubai!

hahaha dude :) open your eyes! from a distance it looks bombed! are they already preparing for the future? No that wasn't a cool joke. Um yeah but you know this building looks like a 1960's Dutch Protestant design. Which is in my opinion the ugliest period in architecture history. If you want to link that to traditional persian designs be my guest. I think a mix between modern design and traditional persian design is more the flower of the east project in kish or the projects Shiraz. Not this... This is just plain unessteical

Yeah it's damn ugly, it's evidence enough that UNESCO demanded it to have a roof chop because it was spoiling the view from Naqshe Jahan Sq.

hopefully it will come down in some years and the view can be restored

Isfahan Municipality still slighting modification of Jahan-Nama Tower | Mehr News (Via Payvand) (http://www.payvand.com/news/10/feb/1277.html)

The Isfahan Municipality continues to snub UNESCO's World Heritage Committee's plea to modifiy the Jahan-Nama Tower. The tower spoils the horizontal panorama of the Naqsh-e Jahan Square, a complex of historical monuments registered on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1979.

http://1.2.3.12/bmi/payvand.com/news/10/feb/Jahan-Nama1.jpg

The committee called for modification of the Jahan-Nama during its 28th session on July 1, 2004. It set a deadline, which was extended several times following requests by Iranian cultural officials.

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Journalists visit the Jahan-Nama Tower after the police broke the lock of the doors at the upper floors of the structure on February 25, 2010.

UNESCO threatened to place the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger if Iran failed to fulfill its obligation to modify the tower. However, no modification has been completed.

Iran also missed UNESCO's February 1 deadline for modifying the Jahan-Nama Tower. However, no comment has been published by UNESCO about this issue so far.

http://1.2.3.12/bmi/www.payvand.com/news/05/may/jahan-nama-isfahan.jpg
Jahan Nama is towering over the historic Naqsh-e Jahan Square

Afterwards, some of the Iranian press turned the spotlight on the issue again. Consequently, officials from the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO), the Isfahan Municipality and members of the Isfahan City Council jointly visited Jahan-Nama and said that modification of the tower would be resumed soon.

A number of journalists visited the tower on Thursday to report on progress of the modifications, but found locked doors on the upper floors, the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency reported.

The journalists' request to inspect the site also met with rebuffs by the municipality's staff at the tower.

The police broke the lock by order of the Isfahan's general governor and journalists were able to visit the upper stories of the tower.

http://1.2.3.13/bmi/payvand.com/news/10/feb/Jahan-Nama2.jpg

According to reports published subsequently, no significant recent work has been carried out by the municipality in modifying the tower.

In addition, Isfahan deputy mayor Morteza Hesamnejad refused to attend a press conference, which was to be held at the tower.

The Isfahan Municipality began construction of the Jahan-Nama Tower in early 1996.

The municipality flattened a historical caravanserai and a green area to build the 56-meter tower, which covers an area of 16,000 square meters.

The construction of the tower aroused desultory opposition by Iranian cultural heritage enthusiasts and institutions.

UNESCO called for the modification of Jahan-Nama. The organization determined that the height of the tower on its eastern side should be reduced by 12 meters and the height of its western side by 24.48 meters.

Although modification began in 2005, the Isfahan Municipality has failed to complete the task so far.

any pics of the interior ?? the finished building??


and about its uglyness, its like 4/10, way to much of that yellow brick colour, it loooks creapy, and honestly it does look like saddams quarters LOL


if they wanna buildi something so wide and large it should be like a mini kakh golestan not some horrible fake looking building

jahan nama tower
possible the ugliest thing to happen to esfahan

shame on teh city council for such monstrosity
the interior is lovely, i love the brutalist iran style but this is not the place for such thing. it would be alright in a new area or in a uni or something but in the middle of cuh a delicate city, building a colossal concrete block is like giving the finger to the city and the culture

what this needed to be is something in the dimensions of the old toopkhaneh post buildin but with more esfahani architecture, u have perfect examples in smaller scales like so chehl sutun etc , or something like golestan palace

but this is just the slow death of once one of the world capitals

http://isfahancity.blogfa.com/post/231

if i was mayor, i would flatten this building instantly

btw, does anyone have pics of what was there before?

it looks like saddams headquaters
lmao

The liberal use of all that yellow brick reminds me of a ziggurat, but not in a good way. They could have made the exterior much more Iranian. Right now it's just a yellow brick building. That said, I don't find it extremely ugly.

i dont fund it overly ugly, infact, i like the concept and style, although the exterior is a bit ugly
the inside is amazing

what makes it ugly is the location and misuse of esfahan as a playground for idiots

I want to shoot the people who approved this, no I want to torture them to death. It's like they intentionally want to ruin everything.

The current government does not care about Iranian heritage, they only care about building ugly mosallas and giving away Iran's money to foreigners. UNESCO should leave Iran, nobody listens to them anyway. Remember they built a metro line under Isfehans 33 pol.

you zionist tag go elsewhere. you're the one who should leave this forum.
the UNISCO isn't yours to tell them what to do. also the Palestiniens will kick you out very soon.

lol i love this guy ^^

you zionist tag go elsewhere. you're the one who should leave this forum.
the UNISCO isn't yours to tell them what to do. also the Palestiniens will kick you out very soon.
http://www.lolwut.com/layout/lolwut.jpg

you zionist tag go elsewhere. you're the one who should leave this forum.
the UNISCO isn't yours to tell them what to do. also the Palestiniens will kick you out very soon.

Agha go back to Iranmilitaryforum.net, we don't need your kind here, you have been banned before.

yaru asan irani nist
irani nabashe mohem nist, bezar harchi mikhad biandishe
he thinks he is so anti western then his name is KYLE :lol:

yaru asan irani nist
irani nabashe mohem nist, bezar harchi mikhad biandishe
he thinks he is so anti western then his name is KYLE :lol:

:lol::colgate:

*comes back 4 years later* AHA still ugly! woops out again, hopefully in 4 more years it wont exist anymore -_-.