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The Foundations of Learning
HE HELPED SCULPT THE GOLD COAST’S SOARING SKYLINE BUT DR SOHEIL ABEDIAN’S FUNDAMENTALS FOR SUCCESS ARE MORE DOWN TO EARTH.
by Ken Robinson
Just as he did when he first gazed upon the Gold Coast 40 years ago, Dr Soheil Abedian sees the bigger picture. “The reality of the problem that global society currently faces is the lack of education,” the philanthropist, Executive Chairman and Founder of ASXlisted Sunland Group says. “If all the children of the world were allowed to be educated, these political problems we are facing - in Europe with Brexit, division in America, the Middle East, China with Hong Kong - in my opinion, within one or two generations would fade away. Education fundamentally gives an opportunity to the next generation to think for themselves and see with their own eyes, not through the eyes of others.” What Dr Abedian saw with his own eyes on a chance visit to the Gold Coast all those years ago was a metaphorical gallery in need of architectural artworks. Then living in Austria, his application for permanent residency in Australia was accepted in seven days and he set about decorating the Gold Coast skyline, beginning with the construction of a single luxury house in Benowa. Sunland has since grown to have a market capitalisation of almost $300 million and a portfolio of iconic projects including Palazzo Versace, the world’s first fashionbranded hotel. But it is Q1 - which recently marked the 15th anniversary of its opening - that has come to exemplify Sunland’s designforward approach.
“It was never the plan to create an iconic building,” Dr Abedian says. “But if you try always to do the best you can do, then people may see that and give it the brand of iconic. True beauty is something that resonates with the heart. Thanks to God they accepted Q1 as an iconic building for the Gold Coast and we are very proud of it.”
If Q1 is the crown of Dr Abedian’s development career, the foundation is education. He was born in Iran but studied at the University of Graz, earning a Masters degree in Architecture with Honours.
“My father always said the biggest gift he could give to us was education,” Dr Abedian says.
“Although we were not from a very rich family, five of the children - I am the fourth - all had a university education in Europe. Now I am in a position to serve our community and put it back to the kids who maybe don’t have the means.”
At 71, Dr Abedian is increasingly devoting his time to his charitable causes including the Abedian Foundation. In October he and Vice Chancellor and President Professor Tim Brailsford signed a three-year agreement to extend a series of Master of Architecture scholarships. The students will study at the Abedian School of Architecture, of which
Dr Abedian is the patron. The signing marked the continuation of a relationship that began when Dr Abedian’s daughter Mona Rezvani-Abedian commenced among the University’s first cohort. His son, Sunland Managing Director Sahba Abedian, a niece, nephews and grandchildren have followed in Ms Rezvani-Abedian’s footsteps.
After riding the ups and downs of the Gold Coast economy for decades, Dr Abedian is upbeat about the city’s future as it prepares to emerge from the COVID-19 recession.
“When you evaluate everything that is happening in the world, Australia is the destination people want to come to,” he says. “And when you evaluate Australia, Gold Coast is the destination and I am not saying that because I live here. We are just at the threshold of discovering what the Gold Coast can offer. If the pandemic in the next 12 months is resolved and we have a vaccine, you will see that our population will skyrocket. Why do you think 13.2 million tourists were coming here? Because it is so good.”
It could be even better with some attention to the city’s tourism heart, inspired by another oceanfront hub on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
Patron of the Abedian School of Architecture Dr Soheil Abedian and Vice Chancellor and President Professor Tim Brailsford at the signing ceremony to extend a series of Master of Architecture scholarships.
“We have a problem and it is a 500 metres stretch on the Gold Coast Highway in Surfers Paradise. If I could change one thing I would adapt what Santa Monica did in the 1990s. The heart of Santa Monica was empty. The council gathered all the landlords and they decided to appoint an architect and make streetscaping for all the shops and encouraged everybody to come. Today it is one of the highest per square metre rental precincts. People are attracted to beauty and we have to have a collective vision to bring back (Surfers Paradise) to what it was when I arrived in the 1980s.”
Dr Abedian also hopes the Gold Coast can establish a world-class museum – something he proposed gifting to the city as part of a twin towers development by Sunland on a site south of Marina Mirage on The Spit. The project, designed by the late star architect Dame Zaha Hadid DBE RA, was withdrawn in 2016 amid council delays and opposition.
“Am I sorry for Sunland that it didn’t get the twin towers? No. Am I sorry for the
city that they couldn’t see the vision? Yes. We were building a museum which was the last work of Dame Zaha Hadid and gifting it back to the city. It was as if you have a Gauguin or a Rembrandt and you give it to the British Museum and they say, ‘You know what? We don’t have an empty wall to hang it on so therefore we don’t want it’. They should have embraced it.”
The Gold Coast City Council has, however, embraced the man behind the project, awarding Dr Abedian its highest honour and easing any regret over the museum and towers. Handing him the keys to the city, Mayor Tom Tate praised Dr Abedian saying: “Soheil exemplifies the Gold Coast have-a-go spirit, but always with a focus of making our city better for everyone.”
Although he is less hands-on at Sunland these days, Dr Abedian is not slowing down. He schedules 52 hours a week on mentoring sessions alone.
“I have 28 sessions per week with 174 individuals - young students and adults,” he says. “Tuesday is the busiest day. I have six of them! If they benefit, great. If not, that is all right. At least they can open their minds.”
Many of the students are aspiring architects who hope one day to decorate the landscape with their own legacies. He tells them what he told his own children.
“Do not pursue your education for the sake of ego, name and money. Do it because you love to learn. If you want to make money, it will come. But do the best you can do at any stage and don’t let the financials be at the forefront of your thoughts. Do it for the love of art and do it for the love of architecture.”
Sunland’s Q1, built 15 years ago, remains emblematic of the Gold Coast skyline.
Picture: Cavan Flynn
