The Milad Tower was part of the Shahestan Pahlavi project, a vast development for a new government and commercial centre for Tehran, that was designed in the 1970s but never materialized, except for the Tower. After an international competition, the project was awarded to the Llewely Davies Company, and construction was inaugurated on August 19, 1975, with the Shah of Iran and the Mayor of Tehran Dr G.R. Nickpay burying a commemorative gold plaque. There is also another background of building this tower, since the construction of the tower was started after the 1979 revolution. The new government of Iran wanted to create a new symbol for Tehran to replace the Azadi Tower that was a symbol of Pahlavi's reign.
Construction
The construction of the tower was commenced in 1997. Upon completion of its construction in the mid 2000s, the Milad Tower was considered the fourth-tallest freestanding telecommunication tower in the world. While the tower opened in 2007, numerous conflicts on the history of the tower still prevail, partly because sections of the tower were open to visitors once the elevators started operating during construction and the tower was still far from finished. The design of the project was headed by Iranian architect Mohammad Reza Hafezi. The general contractor was the company of Boland Payeh, and the main client and investor was the company of Yadman Sazeh, a representative of the Municipality of Tehran. The tower was officially opened on October 7, 2008 by the 55th Mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and members of the City Council of Tehran. More than 250 local and foreign journalists were covering the event.
Structure and features
Milad Tower is tall and is the tallest tower in Iran, and the sixth-tallest telecommunication tower in the world. It consists of five main parts, including the foundation, transition structure, shaft, head structure and the antenna mast. The lobby structure consists of six floors. The first three floors consist of 63 trade units, 11 food courts, a cafeteria, and a commercial products exhibition which is supposed to be about. The first and second underground floors consist of installing sections and a data center. The ground floor is dedicated to the entrance and the gatehouse. The shaft is a concrete structure about high from the ground floor. Six elevators in three different sides of the shaft are used to transfer the visitors to the head of the tower at the speed of, besides an emergency staircase at the fourth side. The head of the tower is a steel structure weighing about 25,000 tonnes and consisting of 12 floors. The top floors of the tower include a public art gallery, a cafeteria, a revolving restaurant, a VIP restaurant, telecommunication floors, mechanical floors, fire-immune areas built as a refuge zone, a closed observation deck, an open observation deck, and a sky dome. The four-stage antenna mast is about high. The lower floor of the mast is for the adjustment of public users' telecommunication antennas, and the three upper floors are dedicated to the antenna of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The complex also features a parking area of about, a large computer and telecommunications unit, a cultural and scientific unit, a commercial transaction center, a temporary showroom for exhibiting products, a specialized library, an exhibition hall, and an administrative unit. The Milad Tower has an octagonal base, symbolizing traditional Iranian architecture.
