Shams Tabrizi Monument

Story

Shams Tabriz Monument is a cultural complex built to house Shams’ tomb and become a center for Sema ceremonies. The main garden creates a mesmerizing atmosphere for visitors to leisurely walk around the tomb and the historical site to learn about Shams and Persian poetry. Rows of cedar trees and memorial walls on both sides of Shams Boulevard create aesthetically pleasing sceneries. The monument has two skins; a circular perforated copper outer skin and a solid concrete interior wall with a spiral ramp running through these two skins. The circular movement through the spiral ramp exemplifies the Sufi`s sacred dance. The monument’s floor plan has been divided into three square-shaped sections each connected through a handful of hallways. The tomb space is located in the middle section and establishes a movement from square (symbol of the earth and corpus) to circle (symbol of heaven). The main idea was to embody ascending from this mundane world to a spiritual one by withdrawing and letting go of the earthy attachments. “Chahar Taq” architecture has been applied to this section to illustrate the enigmatic and paradoxical characteristics of Shams; ambiguous and clear, complicated and simple at the same time. At the center of the monument, a quiet room has been tactfully designed for visitors to meditate in peace.