The Milad Tower ( fa, برج میلاد ) (lit. Birth Tower), also known as the Tehran Tower ( ), is a multi-purpose tower in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. It is the sixth-tallest tower and the 24th-tallest freestanding structure in the world. It is located between Shahrak-e Gharb and the district of Gisha, standing at 435 meters from the base to the tip of the antenna. The head consists of a large pod with 12 floors, the roof of which is at 315 meters. The tower is a part of the International Trade and Convention Center of Tehran, which also includes a five-star hotel, a convention center, a world trade center and an IT park.

History

Background

The Milad Tower was part of the Shahestan Pahlavi project, a vast development for a new government and commercial centre for Tehran, that was designed in the 1970s but never materialized, except for the tower. After an international competition, the project was awarded to the Llewely Davies Company, and construction was inaugurated on August 19, 1975, with the

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...

and the Mayor of Tehran Dr G. R. Nickpay burying a commemorative gold plaque . There is also another background of building this tower, since the construction of the tower was started after the

1979 revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. The new government of Iran wanted to create a new symbol for

to replace the Azadi Tower that was a symbol of Pahlavi's reign.

Construction

The construction of the tower was commenced in 1997. Upon completion of its construction in the mid 2000s, the Milad Tower was considered the fourth-tallest freestanding telecommunication tower in the world. While the tower opened in 2007, numerous conflicts on the history of the tower still prevail, partly because sections of the tower were open to visitors once the elevators started operating during construction and the tower was still far from finished. The design of the project was headed by Iranian architect Mohammad Reza Hafezi. The general contractor was the company of Boland Payeh, and the main client and investor was the company of Yadman Sazeh, a representative of the Municipality of Tehran.

Structure and features

Milad Tower is tall and is the tallest tower in Iran, and the sixth-tallest telecommunication tower in the world. It consists of five main parts, including the foundation, transition (lobby) structure, shaft, head structure and the antenna mast. The lobby structure consists of six floors. The first three floors consist of 63 trade units, 11

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. ...

s, a cafeteria, and a commercial products exhibition which is supposed to be about . The first and second underground floors consist of installing sections and a data center. The ground floor is dedicated to the entrance and the gatehouse. The shaft is a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

structure about high from the ground floor. Six elevators in three different sides of the shaft are used to transfer the visitors to the head of the tower at the speed of , besides an emergency staircase at the fourth side. The head of the tower is a steel structure weighing about 25,000 tonnes and consisting of 12 floors. The top floors of the tower include a public art gallery, a cafeteria, a

revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is usually a tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on ...

, a VIP restaurant, telecommunication floors,

mechanical floor A mechanical floor, mechanical penthouse, mechanical layer or mechanical level is a story of a high-rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. "Mechanical" is the most commonly used term, but words such as ''utili ...

s, fire-immune areas built as a refuge zone, a closed observation deck, an open observation deck, and a

sky dome Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a multi-purpose retractable roof stadium in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Land ...

. The four-stage antenna mast is about high. The lower floor of the mast is for the adjustment of public users' telecommunication antennas, and the three upper floors are dedicated to the antenna of the

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; fa, صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران, ''Sedā va Sīmā-ye Jomhūri-ye Eslāmi-ye Īrān'', , formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian re ...

. The complex also features a parking area of about , a large computer and telecommunications unit, a cultural and scientific unit, a commercial transaction center, a temporary showroom for exhibiting products, a specialized library, an exhibition hall, and an administrative unit. The Milad Tower has an octagonal base, symbolizing traditional

Iranian architecture Iranian architecture or Persian architecture ( Persian: معمارى ایرانی, ''Memāri e Irāni'') is the architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history dates back to at least 5,000 BC ...

Gallery

Tochal and Milad Tower from Chitgar Park.jpg, Mount Tochal and the Milad Tower.

Ranks

* Sixth-tallest freestanding tower in the world * 24th-tallest freestanding structure in the world

References

External links

* {{Towers in Iran Amphitheaters Architecture in Iran Articles containing video clips Buildings and structures in Tehran Buildings and structures with revolving restaurants Concert halls in Iran Islamic Republic of Iran era architecture Tourist attractions in Tehran Towers completed in 2007 Towers in Iran Towers with revolving restaurants