Selected Works

Avin Alimohammadi

Rhinoceros 3D Adobe Illustrator Physical Modeling

Course: Honours Studio Semester 2

Date: February 2023 - April 2023

Format: Individual Project

“Still, we become nostalgic for that garden we left, we hope to one day go back and tend our gardens, but for now we are far away. Instead we have built [moments and memories] in our home to remember Iran which was once our paradise” - Unknown

Iranians adopted the earliest definition of “Paradise”, meaning “a walled garden and enclosure”. Consequently, the landscape practice of “Char Bagh” was founded in which a landscape is divided into four quadrants: Soul, Heart, Spirit and Essence. This thesis aims to provide a new theoretical framework for the word “Paradise” by examining it through the lens of memory and its contemporary notions. As such, a surreal visual composition consisting of the author's fragmented spatial memories as an Iranian living in the diaspora is developed using "Char Bagh" principles and traditional Iranian visual art found in silk carpets and miniature paintings. Such concepts are then paired with a modern 3D visualization stemming from the author's dual identity, ultimately redefining the meaning of "Paradise" as a subjective entity.

To situate the memories within "Char Bagh", the quadrants were redefined and written in Farsi as the carpet's primary border. The definitions are as follows:

Heart (Top Left): A memory involving other individuals

Soul (Top Right): A memory that triggers other memories

Spirit (Bottom Right): A memory that is strongly dependent on the age in which it exists

Essence (Bottom Left): A memory that traverses sight

Within each quadrant of the artifact, architectural forms and landscapes from Iran and Canada which hosted the memories merge as one, representing the "In between" identity of the author. The illustration is largely inspired by Persian miniatures and their flat perspectives, along with Persian carpets and their density. While the memories are meant to co-exist, a distinction between the architectural forms is made with the patterned forms representing Iran, and the solid colours representing Canada. Additionally, some forms are re-orientated upside down and are meant to portray "dark" memories which in the case of this thesis, are equally as pertinent to the concept of "Paradise" as the fond memories. With such representational contrasts, one is able to decipher isolated memories while observing a whole image.

Relief models of the built form memories aim to contemporize traditional Persian art conventions while providing a three dimensional depiction of the spaces. In some ways this approach further conveys the concept of layers within a Persian carpet.

The backside of the artifact describes the experience of each memory in the author's own words, providing a more intimate description of each moment. Such sentiments are the foundations of each memory depicted on the front side, mirroring the initial stitches of a Persian carpet which can be seen on the back side. Memories located in Iran are described in Farsi, while the memories located in Canada are written in English. To create parallels between the object's two faces, "dark" memories on the back side are also oriented upside down, similar to the objects and figures on the front side.