ALI QAPU PALACE: Isfahan, Iran
When I was 8, our family took a trip to Isfahan, Iran. I remember being mesmerized by the Ali-Qapu palace (Isfahan, Iran.) The large, dark portal just sucked me into itself and I had my first ever memory of being emotionally moved by a building.
Isfahan was the last capital of a culturally glorious Iran - the 17th century Safavid Dynasty had Isfahan as their seat of government. From Cyrus The Great to Isfahan, Iran has witnessed over 2000 years of continuous peaks of culture and civilization. (Not many cultures have peaked continuously on one soil. Visiting Iran is like visiting Italy - many peaks from different eras.)
The Ali-Qapu palace was literally the first building that I fell in love with. At age 8, I became aware of how deeply moved you can become by inspired, man-made creations. I love nature, but when beauty is man-made, say the beauty of Florence or Isfahan, there is a double intensity. Man is himself the natural beauty, and this natural beauty has created more beauty. I always get the most moved by the beauty that Man has created.
2 years after our trip: The Shah gave the whole building to my Dad's architecture firm!! "Yours!" This palace became my Dad's office! The most important palace in the heart of Iran's last great city. My Dad must have pinched himself every single day… it was given as part of the grand project to restore and rejuvenate Isfahan. The experience lasted, I believe, until 1979. As kids, we'd peer into the windows, and see drawing boards, and staff hard at work / having a groovie time - it was after all, a group of architects and designers working in there, right bang in the middle of the 1970s!! The staff included Japanese, Italian, and American colleagues.
But I'd fallen in love with the building way before it became part of our family's history of service to the culture of Iran. Google "Isfahan" and see beautiful images!