The initiative features 10 episodes that will take viewers back in time, showcasing the main stories on Iran covered over the last few decades by the internationally acclaimed Italian magazine on architecture and design, ‘Domus’, according to Italian Embassy in Tehran. 

Each episode will focus on different landmarks built in Iran by Iranian or Italian architects and designers, thereby highlighting the extreme relevance of Iran in the history of modern architecture and design and its continuous and fruitful interaction with the Italian architecture and design community.

Each episode takes inspiration from an article published by Domus magazine on a specific project or initiative realized in Iran and will display details, go behind the scenes, and narrate the latest developments on the landmark and its creator.

Episode 1 of the series features the design by Alireza Taghaboni, ‘Villa for an Older Brother,’ located in the residential suburb of Lavasan, and is being made available through the social media channels of the Italian Embassy in Tehran.

Future episodes are currently being shot and they include contemporary creations by Iranian architects as well as older buildings featured by previous articles in Domus magazine.

During his welcoming remarks to a select group of professionals, the Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Perrone mentioned the historic role played by Domus magazine as the collector of the best international experiences in architecture and design, stressing the importance of continuing collaboration between Italy and Iran in the creative arena.

Meanwhile, in collaboration with the Italian theater company, ‘Instability Vaganti’ and director Ali Shams, the Italian Embassy in Tehran on September 2 broadcast on its social media channels the second episode of the virtual theater series, ‘8 1/2 Theater Clips: How COVID-19 Changed Our Lives.’

The 2nd episode entitled, ‘The Night Shift,’ with Danial Kheirikhah in the lead role, was a tribute to the health workers who, in Italy and Iran, have fought and continue to be at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.

In five dense minutes, through an imaginary dialogue, half in Italian and half in Persian, ‘The Night Shift’ addresses the theme of the passage of time and its contradictions: The exasperating slowness of time imposed by confinement, on the one hand, and the memory of the relentless rhythms in the night shifts of health workers, on the other.

The episode became accessible as of Sept. 2 (together with the previous episode, ‘Beyond the Mirror’) on the social media channels of the Italian Embassy in Tehran.

In the third episode, ‘The Notes of Absence’ premiered at Ambassador Perrone’s residence in northern Tehran on September 20.

Starring Nicola Pianzola and Danial Kheirikhah, the episode, ‘The Notes of Absence,’ was directed by Anna Dora Dorno in collaboration with Iranian director Ali Shams.

This part immerses the viewer in the sense of loneliness and isolation generated by the long months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The restlessness and the sense of loss arising from it are swept away by the music, whose saving power creates an indissoluble bond not only between the artist and the public but also between ordinary people, so powerful as to deceive the space-time coordinates and reach beyond completely arbitrary borders, symbolized by an open window on the world.

Riccardo Nanni’s inspired original score allows the music to become the undisputed protagonist of the episode.

The fourth of the eight-episode series will be presented on October 21.


Source: Iran Daily