2022 – Mardid – EAHN
Following the 1979 Revolution, Iran experienced a period of intense political repression, during which non-revolutionary figures were systematically excluded from academic and professional spheres, and most forms of cultural production came under strict state control. In 1984, amid this restrictive atmosphere, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development initiated the founding of a research center, inviting groups of experts—including previously marginalized intellectuals—to participate. It was at this juncture that Soheila Beski joined the center as a researcher and editor. She would eventually become the editor-in-chief of Abadi, one of the first architecture and urban development magazines to emerge in the post-revolutionary era.
By 1997, a series of symbolic and institutional shifts discouraged Beski from continuing her work within the governmental framework. In response, she founded Memar and Shahr in 1998 and 1999, respectively—two independent magazines that reflected different dimensions of her intellectual vision and her persistent struggle within architectural discourse.
Drawing on discourse theory, this paper analyzes the textual strategies and discursive formations in Beski’s writings across three Persian-language magazines: Abadi, Memar, and Shahr. It argues that Beski’s ongoing negotiation with a dominant patriarchal system is reflected in her discursive efforts to shape the meaning of architecture in Iran. Moreover, the paper demonstrates how her articulation of architectural ideas was consistently shaped by the institutional aims and limitations of each publication. Ultimately, it suggests that Beski’s search for a “room of her own” in Iranian architectural writing was not only personal but also discursive—a pursuit of intellectual autonomy within a constrained field.