Maps of Observation Location: Tehran, Oudlajan
Illegal business trafficling boldly on the streets in broad daylight so everyone can see. The addicts are searching high,low and even on their elbows wondering how they’re going to get their next “hit” of crack or blow. While the hustlers are trying to get rid of the “hot” merchandise that they have stolen.’ all have l can’t help but to see the “once” beautiful neighborhood now invested with all types of rodens. Why did we, the people, let it get this way? It’s so dangerous that it’s unsafe even for the children to play. It used to be a community with businesses/flowers in full bloom but now you look around, you see homes/buildings in an area invaded by gloom. To make it better though there’s so much we all have got to do because we all can agree that it’s a far cry from the neighborhood that we once knew.
History
The name Oudlajan belongs to a time when Tehran was nothing but a small village where people spoke the local jargon. The word is apparently driven from an Arabic verb. ´Ou´ means ´water´ in local language and ´derajidan´ or ´delajidan´ is a place where stream water collects in before being distributed around to smaller fields - a water pond. Second, in 1261 the creeks coming from the mountains surrounding the city, was passing through Negarestan garden and was distributed from the Shemiran Gate and Sarcheshme - North of Oudlajan - to the city. Due to a dominant North-South slope of Oudlajan, southern areas water consumption has been supplied from the local water source - Shemiran Gate. This confirms the reason behind names such as Sarcheshme and Sar Polak .
Oudlajan being one of five old remaining neighborhoods of Tehrans old settlement was a residential paradise for societies nobles - filled with lush gardens and greenary. Street names are existing proof of once existing persian gardens. This has a significant value for Tehran as a city, not only because of its historical background - being the most important economic center of the city and home of the wealthiest nobles of the state - but also valuable religious and residential elements. During the years these elements have been under a severe decay due to its certain site materiality and neglectance; there are only a hanfdull of valuable spaces left from old times.
District 12
In short, the District 12 of Tehran is home to the city´s commercial center followed by high-density and hightraffic. Presence of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar in the region -neighboring our area of study- has led to a comple x path, touching upon the ec onomical, cultural and even political sensitivities, i n masterplan investigations let alone manifestations. Existance of major unions national and transnastional play a big role in this area and it has resulted in an unbelievable rise of land prices within the periphery of the main streets, where division of big lots into smaller pieces is another important side effect. A detailed research of the current situation with respect to the traditional and historical context of this areas identity and a high level of precision and attention in place could help solving the existing issues of Oudlajan.
1:20000
Market
As time passes, neighboring the historical bazar of Tehran is perhaps one of the reasons for the boom in Oudlajan today. The market of Yahya Shrine has been providing most of the basic needs of local residents - local economy and social prosperity - for decades. Oudlajan market combined with the first Iranian bank and a variety of shops at its heart has created a good habitat for its residents, but during the past couple of decades the influx of certain working class to the neighborhood has shrinked the job diversity to a market- offering iron, metals or bags and saddlers. Converting a 400 years old historical place and the second oldest market in Tehran into a hub of cheap goods has caused a great degradation of life quality plus destruction and devaluation of buildings in this macro neighborhood. Social and economic development is considered an integral aspect of community reinvigoration in this part of town.
Business Resdiential Density Sevice&Admnistration Cultural Green space
1:20000
Density
Negative population growth in addition to a relatively high sex ratio are the results of population concentration plus settlement of working-class families in the area where this phenomenon can be associated to the reduction of the residential and population density in the region. Existance of residential and educational hubs throughout the area as well as weakness in permeability are considered as barriers within the context of developing commercial applications. Therefore residential zones being under the total impact of these pressures has experienced fast decay and fatigue, in a way it had changed characteristics from its original identiy residential - to rather invisible activities such as saddlers workshops and the visible, micro markets and transport plots. The lowest price of land and housing is in the western and central zones of Oudlajan (deep tissue) and the highest in the eastern part (Yahya Shrine)
Business Resdiential Density Human TrafďŹ c
1:6000
Axes & Points
Public spaces in the area, including ´Takye´ s, neighborhood centers and hangoutsare major factors in shaping the social development of this neighborhood where people stop, talk and hangout specially among the old. Neighborhood activity centers are often formed around production sites and service centers at large-scale, since there were not planned suitable spaces for such activities. Therefore their existance is considered as a barrier for transport and movement tracks. Historical paths often lead to retail places that are attractive active hubs at the historical centers of the old neighborhoods.
Heritage Registered Zone Active Open Space Historical path
1:6000
Heritage Residential zones contain valuable historical context where the buildings are often 1 or 2 floors high and they are the subject of repair, improvement, conservation and retrofitting. Therefore, there has been a significant change in the density of these buildings. A total of 21 hectars residential/heritage zones - is using 25% of its a r ea for its network, services, open/ green spaces and about 7 5 % of its net land is used f o r housing. Some building elem e nts are unique architectur a l icons remaining from bac k in the days -such as entrances, windcatchers or existi n g minarets and also worshiphu b s´Saqakhaneh´- which are scattered throughout the neighborhood . Some religious bui l dings and services are o f ten the indicators of a un i que local identity of Ou d lajan.
1:6000
Daily Buzz
Scattered plots plus erratic and insufficient integration of different applications and business services into mixed residential buildings are causing disruption in the area and its weakening the nightlife arguably. The number of job opportunities outside of Oudlajan are better for the residents living at the eastern side yet good economic circulation at the middle and western areas has increased the number of employed residents. The daily departure of residents from the neighborhood indicates the high status of employed residents living at the eastern side therefore less activity during the day. While middle -west of Oudlajan absorbes a great amount of labor force and economic occupation at day time and is rather a dark, calm hub for addicts during the night. The ratio is about 5 times more activity during the day than night.
1:6000
Networks Difficulties in roadway traffic system and its impermeability to the historical parts - deep tissue - is one of the major causes of increasing deterioration in this neigborhood. Thus, widening these twisting narrow streets has been suggested as an option to make them streets more permeable, yet this approach, apart from major main streets, is rather an ignorant solution considering the destruction of authentical ancient textures of this area followed by this proposal. Lack of efficient designs has resulted in a static developement projects in the last 3 decades while the only construction has been done at two main streets - Sirus and Pamenar. People prefer to move at/from the area with public transportation - bus, especially considering the high coverage range and use of them. Therefore taxi trips are not that popular. Motorbikes contribution to this situation is significant and in many cases they function as motor-taxies.
Main Road Main Alley Car TrafďŹ c Density
1:6000
Iconic hubs
Oudlajan market has been connecting one of the main big markets (blacksmith market) to the main gate of the city (Gate Shemiran) since early age. This fact made it into the main internal skeletal axis of the neighborhood for years. Due to construction and street widening projects this SouthNorth connectivity has lost its credibility to a large extend. Historical paths often lead to the retail spaces that are attractive hubs locating at the historical centers of theis old neighborhood. Religious, educational and social activities are considered as iconic structures in addition to providing services in this area. Their spatial organization, such as central courtyards and signs such as domes, minarets, tower clocks are other points of reference in Oudlajan.
Religious Center School Active Open Space
1:6000
Drugs & Youth
There are social pathologies such as addiction, prostitution and street children in the neighborhoods and damaged properties or vacant warehouses often become a safe place for addicts to gather. Addicts are to be blamed for the reduction of tree planting and green spaces which become gathering zones for their habits. Being a rather quiet and safe neighborhood after the dark makes Oudlajan an attractive zone for different pathological activities to occure. There is also an insufficient use of children in prostitution - due to poverty - thoughout the area, where difficult access to housing and narrow streets makes the place to be unreachable in case of fire, illness and emergencies.
Addicts Hub Youth Hub Addicts Pathways
1:6000
Voids
The over all deficient level of service in the neighborhood is mostly on open space and green areas (45 hectares) and at next level in Education (12.8ha) and sports/recreation (9.2ha). Cultural and religious activities occupy 7ha ​​of this land. Regardless of a cu l tural and religious activiti e s, the area of about 69.1 hect a res of land is needed to c ompensate for the lack o f service level through out t his area. With the total voi d area of about 21.7 hectare s if all serve to be as suc c essful service hubs there should still be allocated 47.4 hectares of land whic h is now being used as inco m patible private applicatio n s such as warehouses or work s hops. These temporary activities are subject to change t o a rather more public servic e zones. Another solution c o uld be to aggregate the u n used land and create mu l ti purpose activity zone s with low level of land use t o include sevice zone in their program.
Void Temporary Non-place Parking Production Workshop Storage Abandoned Plot
1:6000
Social
64 % of people living in Oudlajan come from Persian ethnicity - 11% from northern provinces, Lurs 6%, Afghans 5%, 5/4% Arabs and 5/2% Kurds are other minor ethnicities in the neighborhood. Observations and interviews indicate that Lurs and Sabzevari groups have the highest power in the area. Tehranis who assist the Council are in the minority and their presence is not felt in the neighborhood, while the majority of them Tehranis recent activities are at the charity section where NGOs, Tkaye and ancient mosques play an important role in this field. Observations and statistical analysis among businesses, households and workshops have been held with various groups, which suggests that the increased insecurity and social vulnerability is the most important problem of these areas. Furthurmore, distracting activities such as workshops and warehouses, single urbanization, pollution and poor sanitation, permeability, high motorcycle traffic has been cited as the main urgent problem. An aging infrastructure and migration of old inhabitants from the area are not considered as urgent issues where increased insecurity and social vulnerability is a hurdle that people deal with daily and they suffer from it.
Subjective Map
Personal Expressions There were sidewalks The way to everywhere Tread of resoled shoes Step-over cracks Upward slabs Skated-on Spat upon drugs and drags.. There were personalities Runny skin of a space cadet Screaming! Laughing..maybe. And then - the flow When sun when lights were low Too tired to blow. There was love slightly understood needed. Those mother-eyes the womb-warm feeling all mixed with kitchen smells powder rouge. Alas! I fit so lightly in. so actively young!
Shemiran Gate Zone The voids are too close to main streets and the overall atmosphere of the place is quite dubious - having couple of addicts hangouts around and lack of good access to the deeper tissues.
Marvi Zone This area is connected to a lot of historical monuments and memories and it has a very well functional market which attracts huge crowds of both customers and tourists plus an active religious complex at the South wing makes it a multi-functional candy for Tehran. These qualities are exactly the reason to avoid this zone - Too much buzz, high land price and more than enough activities.
Residential Zone This area is a quiet, family kind of a zone. A local market is providing the basic needs, children go to school and their parents mostly work outside of Oudlajan. Primary and secondary schools plus an NGO is located here which is working on child labor. Ironically, the only negative aspect of this area is its lack of voids! - in the right place. Couple of voids at the north wing but too close to main street, private owner and expensive land price makes them inaccessible.
Yahya Shrine Zone is a rather dominant actor at this area - providing the economic/religious needs of this zones inhabitants. Although the shrine could be of a great help to gather and inuence participants to set the project in gear, it could also have a negative impact in terms of setting the direction of actions towards a more rigid, Islamic goals. A safe house for addcits could be a good option for the void near this shrine.
Chosen Voids Why ? Continuity Connectivity Centrality Surrounded by a few public hubs High daily activity Good access Production workshops = Helpers Warehouses = Materials
Site Analysis
My old man, Oudlajan! Where kids had played Vasati Noisy Dirty Smelly brats In-and-out Everywhere! Like a shot! There was imagination. Games of liberation. A terrible Wonderful use of neighborhood An awful Boisterous use of the day Where a poor aproned man must scrub and scrub... The tub on Turseday nights. No begging a child to go to bed Hell! He fell asleep at the dinner table There were bed-wetters Nose pickers Clothesline-tent revealings All secret explorations not even the adult will admit to! Not at all what it was Not yet what it must become Voices once so dear Drowned out by decadent color Noise so disgustingly near Sit and think longingly on the old man neighborhood. Shrug Maybe shed a tear I blush in shame for just a minute or two Alas! I fit so furtively young!
Street children & Space cadets You can hear their cries at night, You hear them, and put them out of minds sight, Don’t want to face it, No you can’t embrace it, That when you go past that road where you last saw her, She will no longer be there that street girl, that pauper, But what can we do? It’s not my business so “shoo! “ Why should we care? Their only street children that are worse for wear, But deep down it should hurt you, Can’t you feel that feeling just that little bit blue?
Elderly A gray old woman sits all alone Unloved, uncherished and unknown. Sitting beside her broken door. Dreaming of days past long ago, When children played about her knee Filling the air She sits in darkness memories serve as her only company a life so full of joy now ending in lonesome misery. What once was a devoted wife and a loving mother is now nothing more
Praying space These little mosques no room for me to pray turned away - faithfully in my five times a day. Went to mosque when no one was there startled two angels coming out of broom closet “They gone now?” one said; they looked relieved.
Piety dictates men enter through magnificent columns Piety dictates women enter through the back alley just past the crack junkie here over those fallen garbage cans.
I´d like to think of a little mosque No dome nor minaret with a sign saying ´Only Bad Muslims welcome here´ Come in, listen to some music, sharpen the soul’s longing, have a cigarette. My little mosque has a big sense of humor. My little mosque is fearful to protect itself from the bricks of bigots through its windows.
Soft prayer space Heard a sound - lonely singing Rather quiet sobbing. Heard leafy rustling Little Quran on a shelf was reciting itself.
These little mosques used to be democratic with rotating imam chosen monthly Now appointed imam trained abroad with superior powers.
At men’s section Persian carpet with classical arch depicting paradise tress.
To understand Quran We used to use our minds Now we have official salaried translators for God.
My little mosque where my Christian grandmother and my Jewish sister and my Buddhist cousin and my Hindu brother would be as welcome as my staunchly Muslim neighbor.
Once God applied for a janitor position at mosque board turned him down He wasn’t a Muslim in practice.
I don’t dream of a perfect mosque, only a few square meters of ground which welcomes my forehead; no questions asked.
Music is banned Echos from devil’s stringed instruments! Although music softens the soul It is devil’s taut drumskin tempting souls wild fantasies.
Inspired by Mohja Kahf
Women’s section features nothing. These mosques love Arabs With pure accents and beards Everyone else welcome as long as they understand Real Islam come from Arab men.
Streets Man leaves the world and the streets he lived on grow a little shorter. One more window dark in this city, the figs will soften for birds - slowly. Overhead loud grackles claiming their trees and the sky which sews, tirelessly. In its time, in its place thinking of the same - people. Some sleep completely Others live in two worlds the lost and remembered. They sleep twice for the ones gone for the ones here - themselves They dream thickly - double they wake from a dream into another they walk the short streets calling out names, and then they answer. As beautiful as the hole is I need to climb out.
Hammam Ancient cleansing customs Segregated men’s hours, women’s days Precious time from home, time to socialize Lockers, strip, shower, steam
When done, I’m slapped on the back.
Past hammams in Greece, Italy, France and Turkey All naked And yet I errored with a swimsuit bottom each time!
Free - as birds fly around The Persian hammam oasis
Here I go naked and am asked to cover Told “we are more reserved here.”
Dream is over Hammam got a new identity An empty restaurant !
I can breath here this time, the steam less claustrophobic Bodies from budding girls, to the grotesquely fat, the elderly Steam, cool off, steam, cleanse Lay on hot marble and mentally drift The woman with the scrubbing mitt and table My entire epidermis removed Rolls of skin grossly peeled off “Move to the babushka for the massage” Hands stronger than a man’s I fear my neck, a broken neck As I’m pummeled and kneaded Almost levitating at times from digging elbows A two-year old grandson, a foot from my face As he witnesses dozens of naked women How ironic, given the demands of his Quran.
I dress, a puddle of butter The finale, the hot mint tea
WindCatchers Wind singing serenade ancient rhyme and rustling psalm exploding within as a hand grenade spinning the fans of my mind’s calm. Standing upon the soil of my thought to catch life’s array - scents inhaling the breeze from the blasts they wrought, allowing the drops from raging vents to engulf my being in all the potency it brought. Until its power flows through my girth stirring the drill possessing my soul, pumping the blood from my earth pouring forth a fount of gold. Flowing in euphoria it waters the inner greenhouse where the flowers of my tear’s quintessence. Windcatchers at night find the harmony to stay amid the shudders of light, when the pinwheel of my spirit’s leaning is bathed in the twinkle of cosmic pinpricks sight.