University of Kashan Journal of Iranian Architecture Studies 2252-0635 12 24 2024 03 20 From Nasseri to Ahvaz: Rereading the Experience of Modernity in an Iranian City during the Qajar Era From Nasseri to Ahvaz: Rereading the Experience of Modernity in an Iranian City during the Qajar Era 109 128 114186 10.22052/jias.2024.252934.1202 FA Rouhollah Mojtahed-zadeh Assistant Professor, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz Kaveh Rostam-pour Assistant Professor, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz Amin Maqsudi Ph.D. candidate, School of Architecture, University of Tehran Journal Article 2023 05 08 Although more than a hundred years have passed since the introduction of “modernity” in Iranian urban planning, research on the relationship between modernity and urban planning in contemporary Iran dates back all but thirty years. The research work comprises the field of “Contemporary Architecture and Urban Planning in Iran,” although there are some limitations. The majority of studies are specific to Tehran and the evolution during the Qajar era is mostly underestimated in this field, leading to the oversight or underestimating of a part of Iran’s contemporary architectural and urban planning heritage. One of the ways to address these limitations is to focus on the urban modernization in places far from the center, also called “peripheral areas” in contemporary Iran. For this, the present article investigates the city of Ahvaz as one of the lesser-known legacies of contemporary urbanism in Iran. After the destruction of the ancient town of Ahvaz during the fourth-fifth centuries SH, its rebirth and redevelopment took place in the Qajar era. At that time, with the revival of shipping on the Karun River, the Qajars planned to establish a port near the ancient town, which became the core of modern Ahvaz. This article examines the experience of this renaissance and its connection with the phenomenon of modernity. The descriptive-historical research method was employed, exploring a collection of text documents and drawings from the early years of the city’s establishment, which were used to provide a first-hand account of the process of the emergence and early development of modern Ahvaz. The present narrative shows that Ahvaz should be considered a symbol of urban modernity in contemporary Iran. In addition, this study shows that while urban modernization in Iran during the Qajar era is mainly considered imitative or exogenous, in Ahvaz it was closer to a kind of spontaneous or endogenous process. Although more than a hundred years have passed since the introduction of “modernity” in Iranian urban planning, research on the relationship between modernity and urban planning in contemporary Iran dates back all but thirty years. The research work comprises the field of “Contemporary Architecture and Urban Planning in Iran,” although there are some limitations. The majority of studies are specific to Tehran and the evolution during the Qajar era is mostly underestimated in this field, leading to the oversight or underestimating of a part of Iran’s contemporary architectural and urban planning heritage. One of the ways to address these limitations is to focus on the urban modernization in places far from the center, also called “peripheral areas” in contemporary Iran. For this, the present article investigates the city of Ahvaz as one of the lesser-known legacies of contemporary urbanism in Iran. After the destruction of the ancient town of Ahvaz during the fourth-fifth centuries SH, its rebirth and redevelopment took place in the Qajar era. At that time, with the revival of shipping on the Karun River, the Qajars planned to establish a port near the ancient town, which became the core of modern Ahvaz. This article examines the experience of this renaissance and its connection with the phenomenon of modernity. The descriptive-historical research method was employed, exploring a collection of text documents and drawings from the early years of the city’s establishment, which were used to provide a first-hand account of the process of the emergence and early development of modern Ahvaz. The present narrative shows that Ahvaz should be considered a symbol of urban modernity in contemporary Iran. In addition, this study shows that while urban modernization in Iran during the Qajar era is mainly considered imitative or exogenous, in Ahvaz it was closer to a kind of spontaneous or endogenous process. https://jias.kashanu.ac.ir/article_114186_419d1245d8105a3fbdbcdff6301fa992.pdf