Behind Closed Curtains: Interior Design in Iran
06 March, 2018
I want to challenge the narrative on Iran that is projected in mainstream media. This book is my way of bringing the country’s design heritage and the stories of its citizens into the homes and the hands of more people.
Gallery
German-born
Lena Späth, author and publisher of Behind Closed
Curtains: Interior Design in Iran, first visited Iran in 2008
following an MA in Middle Eastern studies, which gave her extensive
knowledge of Persian culture, traditions and handicrafts. She spent
a year travelling the country, then returned eight years later to
produce her coffee-table book. Vibrant pictures by Tehran
photographer Hamed Farhangi feature 16 extraordinary homes of
artists, entrepreneurs and architects across the country,
showcasing unique Iranian design and architecture. With the help of
five freelancers Tehran, Barcelona, Berlin and New York, the
project was completed within just eight months.
The book traces the city’s cultural change, which some have
compared to effervescent New York in the 1970s. The purchase and
renovation of historic houses in Tehran has meant that
gentrification and the recapturing of the public space by citizens
have become prominent topics of debate among people young and
old.
