From fear to art, from isolation to fluidity. Transformation of a modern-era building in the Nabshi Gallery in Tehran

The urban fabric of downtown Tehran, which has been undergoing a certain revitalisation in recent years, has a rich concentration of the city's first manifestations of modern architecture. The project for the Nabshi Gallery consists of the conversion of one of these early examples of modern buildings into a center for art, design and architecture

The building undergoing redevelopment was designed by architect Paknia. The structure of the building is based on load-bearing walls and the overall construction is very much influenced in its form by this construction technique. As such, in the functional conversion of the design for the Nabshi Gallery, the fixity of the structural grid introduced some challenges to be addressed through design

While structural fixity can be appreciated in a house, which can accommodate fixed spatial pockets, in an art gallery, fluidity and continuity of spaces is a fundamental requirement. The question facing the designers of ZAV Architects, tasked with the transformation of the Nabshi Gallery, was how to restructure the interior space as an open space to accommodate the fluid spatial conditions that function requires where structural considerations operate as physical obstacles. In this context, the elimination of structural walls is administered in limited and carefully chosen rooms within the building

In addition to the interaction between structure and new function, there is a further layer of symbolism to negotiate for the project. The design dates back to the early modern era and yet survived the post-revolutionary war years. As such, the building bears scars from the war era. Like many other buildings in the city center during the war years, it was modified to house an underground bomb shelter, a manifestation of a landscape invaded by fear, dominant in the conscious and subconscious urban paradigms of the war era

The shelter, the very manifestation of spatial isolation and protection, plays the central role in this programmatic conversion, redefined as the starting point of spatial continuity and fluidity that the new function requires. The colour blue is the connecting agent of different spatial pockets, starting with the bomb shelter, now re-appropriated as a hub for specific projects