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The Urban Book Series

Seyed Hossein Iradj Moeini


Mehran Arefian
Bahador Kashani
Golnar Abbasi

Urban
Culture in
Tehran
Urban Processes in Unofficial Cultural
Spaces
The Urban Book Series

Series Advisory Editors


Fatemeh Farnaz Arefian, University College London, London, UK
Michael Batty, University College London, London, UK
Simin Davoudi, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
Geoffrey DeVerteuil, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Karl Kropf, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
Marco Maretto, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
Vítor Oliveira, Porto University, Porto, Portugal
Christopher Silver, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
Giuseppe Strappa, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Igor Vojnovic, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
Jeremy Whitehand, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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Seyed Hossein Iradj Moeini
Mehran Arefian Bahador Kashani

Golnar Abbasi

Urban Culture in Tehran


Urban Processes in Unofficial Cultural Spaces

123
Seyed Hossein Iradj Moeini Bahador Kashani
Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning Cando Archineering Group
Shahid Beheshti University Tehran
Tehran Iran
Iran
Golnar Abbasi
Mehran Arefian Faculty of Architecture and Built
Iwan Design Studio Environment
Tehran TU Delft University
Iran Delft
The Netherlands

ISSN 2365-757X ISSN 2365-7588 (electronic)


The Urban Book Series
ISBN 978-3-319-65499-7 ISBN 978-3-319-65500-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65500-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949507

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Preface

In the years 2013 and 2014, I ran a taught course in SBU Master’s in Architecture
programme on architectural criticism. The course works included a paper in which
students parted with ‘the analysis of great masterpieces’ focusing instead on the
exploration of ordinary spaces of everyday life. This coincided with my invitation
to a criticism session in Berlage Institute/TU Delft on a project focused on
designing everyday life spaces in Tehran. On both occasions, I came across
like-minded students who shared my belief in the merits of focusing on the spaces
of everyday life and how their formation and use are politically charged, as well as
a passion about the uncanny, alternative face of Tehran. Furthermore, they all had
first-hand experience of being in hotbeds of Tehran alternative cultural spaces. This
was how the idea of the present book was born.
Like many other cities worldwide, the production of spaces for alternative modes
of communication, socialisation and consumption is a complex, multifaceted phe-
nomenon in Tehran. We chose to focus, however, on what we felt we are better
positioned to investigate, namely, alternative cultural spaces mainly created and/or
used by the middle-class urbanite: alternative cafés, bookselling practices and
galleries all have elements of communication, socialisation and consumption about
them, but at their core is a desire for a cultural scene and a mode of cultural
exchange often ignored if not suppressed by the mainstream business and the
establishment. It is this will to reclaim those missing territories that results in the
unpredictable, transient and innovative modes of the production of space: the spatial
idea-making of a nature ‘great masterpieces of architecture’ are probably unable to
achieve.

Tehran, Iran Seyed Hossein Iradj Moeini


November 2016

v
Contents

1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 The Beverage Drinking Rituals and the Semantics
of Alternative Culture: Tehran Cafés . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 15
2.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 15
2.2 Environmental (Spatial) Features
(Semiotics of the Café Space) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2.1 Hide and Seek with the Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2.2 Blending into the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2.3 The Glass Eye of Nostalgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.4 Making the Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.2.5 Café, a Place for Montage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.2.6 Café, a Social Base to Live, Work and Hang Out . . . . . . 56
2.2.7 The Café and its Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.3 New Café, New Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.3.1 Mobile Café—The Soft Space in the City . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.3.2 The Complex Café and the New Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.4 Café: Utopia or Heterotopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.5 Conclusion: Café, a Mutual Urban Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3 A Multifaceted Reading Culture: Tehran Alternative Booksellers
and the Mainstream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.1 History and Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.2 Types of Bookshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.3 ‘Official’ Alternative Bookshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.3.1 Amir-Kabir Publishers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
3.3.2 Nashr-e-Cheshmeh (Cheshmeh Publishers) . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.3.3 Nashr-e-Hanooz (Hanooz Publishers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

vii
viii Contents

3.4 Second-Hand Bookshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111


3.4.1 Golestan Bookshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.4.2 The Wall Bookshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.5 BookStalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.6 Conclusion: Demarcations and Overlaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4 A Genealogy of Tehran’s Art Galleries: A History
of the (Home-) Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 123
4.1 Apadana, House of Fine Arts (1949–1950) . . . . . . . . ......... 130
4.2 Rasht 29 (1966–1969) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 132
4.3 13 Vanak Street Gallery (1984–2005) and the Private
Pool (2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
4.4 The Most Recent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
4.4.1 Parkingallery (1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
4.4.2 Sazmanab (2008–2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
4.4.3 Emkan (2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
4.4.4 Tehran Carnival (2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
4.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
5 Final Reflections: Anachronisms, Ever-Present Questions
and Specificities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
List of Figures

Fig 1.1 2015, With its prominent communication tower, expressways,


and multi-storey blocks, prestigious built environments of
Tehran leave little doubt about the city’s underlying
modernising attitudes: attitudes that are echoed but also
disputed within and between the society and the establishment.
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Fig. 2.1 Old picture from Tehran Laleh-zar Street (Photo: unknown) . . . . 16
Fig. 2.2 An old painting illustrating events and activities in traditional
teahouses, such as drinking tea, eating, smoking and listening
to the narrator who telling stories from the Shahnameh or tragic
myths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Fig. 2.3 Nasser-al-din Shah Qajar (Photo: unknown) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Fig. 2.4 Reza Shah Pahlavi (Photo: unknown) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Fig. 2.5 An illustration of a teahouse by Khosrow Khorshidi . . . . . . . . . . 20
Fig. 2.6 Assessing qualities of the famous café Loghanteh, Khorshidi
writes: ‘when I went to Italy for studying, I saw baroque
buildings with painted ceilings and walls and Loganteh was
as good as any of them’. (Khorshidi 2013: p. 221) . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Fig. 2.7 The interiors of Hotel Palace and its elegant restaurant
with German-looking design (Khoshidi 2013: p. 231) . . . . . . . . . 22
Fig. 2.8 The Iranian writer Sadegh Hedayat, (Photo: unknown) . . . . . . . . 23
Fig. 2.9 Naderi Café interior view around 1960s (Photo: unknown) . . . . . 23
Fig. 2.10 2014, Mosofer Café, Tehran (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . 27
Fig. 2.11 2014, An example of a visible entrance—Café Visor
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Fig. 2.12 2015, Café Kargadan interiors (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . 33
Fig. 2.13 2015, Café Kargadan entrance (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . 33
Fig. 2.14 Mira Café interiors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Fig. 2.15 2012, Mira Café entrance (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . 36
Fig. 2.16 2014, Mira Café: entrance to the unit
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

ix
x List of Figures

Fig. 2.17 2014, Theatre Café: customers using café library books
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 38
Fig. 2.18 2014, Theatre Café’s dark, cramped interiors
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 38
Fig. 2.19 2014, Theatre Café: dark, warm interiors
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 39
Fig. 2.20 2014, Theatre Café facade: (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . .. 40
Fig. 2.21 2015, The use of intellectuallistic images
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 41
Fig. 2.22 2013, Interior installation, Romance Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 41
Fig. 2.23 2015, Interior installation, Mosofer Café,
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 42
Fig. 2.24 2014, Interior installation, Avansen Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 43
Fig. 2.25 2014, The use of wood and warm colours
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 44
Fig. 2.26 2014, The use of warm colours and pictures of Samuel
Beckett on the wall (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 44
Fig. 2.27 The adjustment of light fitting heights to keep the feeling
of a low ceiling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45
Fig. 2.28 Colour pallets used in some cafés . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46
Fig. 2.29 2014, Entrance, Tamadon Cafés (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . .. 49
Fig. 2.30 2014, Entrance table with upcoming events’ brochures
put on display (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 49
Fig. 2.31 2014, An interior view of Tamadon Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 50
Fig. 2.32 2014, Nostalgic stuff (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 51
Fig. 2.33 2015, An interior view of Romance Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Fig. 2.34 2015, Entrance to Romance Café (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . 53
Fig. 2.35 2015, Mosofer Café interiors (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . 53
Fig. 2.36 2015, Mosofer Café interiors (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . 56
Fig. 2.37 2014, Watching a volleyball match in Café Nava
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 57
Fig. 2.38 2014, Holding a gallery in the café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 57
Fig. 2.39 2016, Café as a place to live and work Poshteboom Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58
Fig. 2.40 2016, Holding a concert in Poshteboom Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 58
Fig. 2.41 2016, People working in Cham Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 59
List of Figures xi

Fig. 2.42 The old Lorca with high ceiling and bright colour walls
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
Fig. 2.43 2013, Café Lorca’s original interiors
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 60
Fig. 2.44 2015, Café Andeux (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 61
Fig. 2.45 2014, Bookshelves in Manena Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 62
Fig. 2.46 2014, Tamadon Café bookshelf (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . .. 63
Fig. 2.47 Wall stickers, Kouche Café (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . .. 64
Fig. 2.48 2015, Blackboard writing about everyday life issues—Café
Mahoor (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 64
Fig. 2.49 2015, Photos of café users on the wall—Visor Café
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 65
Fig. 2.50 2013, Shod Café posters (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . .. 66
Fig. 2.51 2013, Mira Café: Customers’ writings on display
(Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Fig. 2.52 Mira Menu on which customers are allowed to write . . . . . . . . . 68
Fig. 2.53 Menu, Shod Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Fig. 2.54 Way Café (Photo: the café’s Instagram) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Fig. 2.55 Way Café (Photo: the café’s Instagram) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Fig. 2.56 Way Café (Photo: the café’s Instagram) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Fig. 2.57 2016, Ham café (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Fig. 2.58 2016, Entrance, Rira Café (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . 73
Fig. 2.59 2016, Rira Café (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Fig. 2.60 2015, Utopie and Hétérotopie through Time and
Space–Mahtab Café (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 76
Fig. 2.61 2015, Cham Café (Photo: Sanaz Khodadad) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 86
Fig. 3.1 Bookshop in Tehran in 1900 (Photo: from Karimzade
Tabrizi 2004: 481) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 89
Fig. 3.2 Courtyard, Bein-ol-Haramein (the bazaar of the Tinsmith)
(Photo: Saba Taherian, Tehran Monthly, (2016: 8)). . . . . . . . . .. 90
Fig. 3.3 Elmie Islamie bookshop (Photo: Saba Taherian,
Tehran Monthly, 2016: 12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 91
Fig. 3.4 Old picture of Sherafat library (Photo: from Parvin 2004) . . . .. 92
Fig. 3.5 Old picture of Sherafat library and its manager
(Photo: from Parvin 2004: 179) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 93
Fig. 3.6 Sketch by Khosrow Khorshidi (from the collection
Roozegarane Tehran, Ketabsara (2013: 59)) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Fig. 3.7 Akhtaran Bookshop (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Fig. 3.8 Bazarcheh Ketab (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Fig. 3.9 Agah Publishers (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Fig. 3.10 Tahoori Bookshop (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Fig. 3.11 Rood Publishers (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Fig. 3.12 Yasavoli Publishers (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
xii List of Figures

Fig. 3.13 Saales Publishers (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 99


Fig. 3.14 Zand Bookshop (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Fig. 3.15 A state-sponsored bookshop (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . 101
Fig. 3.16 The use of commercial advertising methods in some
commercial bookshops (Photos: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Fig. 3.17 Amir-Kabir Publishing Company
(Photos: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Fig. 3.18 Cheshmeh Publishers (Photos: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Fig. 3.19 Hanooz Publishers (Photos: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Fig. 3.20 The chaotic face of second-hand and new educational
bookshops occasionally mixed with other businesses’
advertising activities (Photos: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Fig. 3.21 Iran Book Bazaar—Enghelab Square
(Photos: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Fig. 3.22 Golestan Bookshop entrance (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . 114
Fig. 3.23 Golestan Bookshop interiors (Photos: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . 116
Fig. 3.24 The wall bookshop (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Fig. 3.25 A bookstall in Enghelab Avenue (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . 118
Fig. 3.26 A bookstall in Enghelab Avenue (Photo: Bahador Kashani) . . . . 119
Fig. 4.1 2016, The exhibition of completed results
of the performative show Instant Photograph by Mehdi Parsi
at Zirpelleh, Zirpelleh archive, Tehran
(Photo: Zirpelleh team) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Fig. 4.2 2016, Zirpelleh, the small art space in a basement with an
entrance to the private yard of UPartment where Zirpelleh is
located, Zirpelleh archive, Tehran (Photo: Zirpelleh team) . . . . . 125
Fig. 4.3 2015, Art space Zirpelleh after renovation and appropriation for
shows, Zirpelleh archive, Tehran (Photo: Zirpelleh team) . . . . . . 126
Fig. 4.4 2015, Renovations at Sazmanab in Darvazeh Dowlat building,
connecting one private apartment unit to the shared space of the
staircase and hallway, Sazmanab archive, Tehran (Photo:
Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Fig. 4.5 2015, Renovations at Sazmanab in Darvazeh Dowlat building,
Sazmanab archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . 129
Fig. 4.6 Poster of a painting exhibition at Apadana, viewed October
2016, http://tandismag.com/16087/-‫ﺗﺎﺭﯾﺦ‬-‫ﻧﮕﺎﺭﺧﺎﻧﻪ‬-‫ﺷﻬﺮﺳﺘﺎﻥ‬-‫ﺗﻬﺮﺍﻥ‬
‫ﮒ‬-‫ﺍﺭﺳﻮﻧﯽ‬.html (Photo: unknown) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Fig. 4.7 2001, View from the private yard to the pool atelier entrance,
space made by architects Catherine Spiridonoff and Reza
Daneshmir, Fluid Motion Architects archive, Tehran
(Photo: Ata Omidvar) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
List of Figures xiii

Fig. 4.8 2001, A view towards the staircase entrance to the interior
of the private pool atelier and Ave’s personal collection of
furniture, space made by architects Catherine Spiridonoff and
Reza Daneshmir, Fluid Motion Architects archive, Tehran
(Photo: Ata Omidvar) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Fig. 4.9 2001, A view from the staircase entrance to the private pool
atelier and its construction structure, space made by architects
Catherine Spiridonoff and Reza Daneshmir, Fluid Motion
Architects archive, Tehran (Photo: Ata Omidvar) . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Fig. 4.10 2016, Zirpelleh, the small art space in a basement, translating
literally as ‘under the stairs’, with an entrance to the private
yard of UPartment where Zirpelleh is located, Zirpelleh
archive, Tehran (Photo: Zirpelleh team) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Fig. 4.11 2016, Signage in the private yard of UPartment to the show
Autopsy by Soudeh Bagheri, Zirpelleh archive, Tehran
(Photo: Zirpelleh team) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Fig. 4.12 2015, O Gallery’s entrance and the staircase, the entrance is
just the main door replaced with a transparent glass door,
Golnar Abbasi’s personal archive, Tehran
(Photo: Golnar Abbasi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Fig. 4.13 2015, View from Ayda Alizadeh’s solo exhibition at Homa
Gallery, The gallery inhabits a row-housing from around the
1970s in the city center of Tehran transformed into a typical
exhibition space, yet still keeping subtle elements common in
houses of that time, such as the mosaic tile flooring, Ayda
Alizadeh’s personal archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Ayda
Alizadeh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Fig. 4.14 2015, Exhibition space at O Gallery, the former living room
of the residential house looking into its private balcony and
backyard, authors’ personal archive, Tehran (Photo: Golnar
Abbasi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Fig. 4.15 2015, View from the exhibition space to the staircase and the
entrance of O Gallery. As an apartment of several floors
transformed into one whole (vertically organised) exhibition
space, the staircase which formerly was to connect the private
living units (floors), now has turned into is the core of the
building connecting all exhibition spaces in various floors
together and to the entrance, authors’ personal archive, Tehran
(Photo: Golnar Abbasi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Fig. 4.16 2006, View of the Parkingallery’s library at the private
studio/office space of Amirali Ghasemi’s, his workspace at
Parkingallery, Parkingallery archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy
of Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
xiv List of Figures

Fig. 4.17 2008, View of the private studio/office space of Amirali


Ghasemi’s, his workspace at Parkingallery with small yet high
windows as the space is a basement garage, Parkingallery
archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Fig. 4.18 View of the private studio/office space of Amirali Ghasemi’s,
his workspace at Parkingallery after renovation, while Navid
Ghaem Maghami (a co-founder of Parkingallery’s design
studio) visits after seven years. The workspace’s interior has so
significantly transformed that barely resembles an underground
storage space any longer; yet subtle signs (such as the sewage
pipe on the ceiling) mark the history of the space.
Parkingallery archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Fig. 4.19 2011, Parkingallery right after renovation, when used as a
parking, Parkingallery archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of
Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Fig. 4.20 2011, View of Parkingallery in a workshop for silk screen
printing with Freiderike Berat, when used both as a parking and
a show space at the same time, Parkingallery archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Fig. 4.21 2008, View of parkingallery when used in a talk/presentation
arrangement, for Elham Doust Haghighi’s animation screening
and talk, Parkingallery archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of
Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Fig. 4.22 2012, View of Parkingallery in the opening of On Paper
Without Name, a group exhibition of drawings organised as an
exposition space with rail-mounted light fittings to suit,
Parkingallery archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Fig. 4.23 2006, Catwalk in a fashion show by Nina Ghaffari at
Parkingallery, Parkingallery archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy
of Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Fig. 4.24 2006, View of the spatial arrangement made for the fashion
show by Nina Ghaffari at the small space of Parkingallery,
Parkingallery archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Parkingallery) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Fig. 4.25 2012, Presentation An Evening with Hiwa K and Aneta Szylak
at Sazmanab after the renovations, on the wall blocking the
windows. Audience sitting looking to the living room area,
Sazmanab archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . 149
Fig. 4.26 2010, Live audio/visual performances Much Love from Tehran
by Photomat, Pooya Payvar (Stonail) and SAROSEDA from
Sazmanab and Dansk Fløde from B&K Projects, at Sazmanab
before the renovations. The kitchen counter is used as part
List of Figures xv

of the performance stand and audience sitting around the living


room area, Sazmanab archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of
Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Fig. 4.27 2010, Live experimental/noise concert An Unforeseen Meeting
in Tehran, by artists Francisco Ali-Brouchoud and Bijan
Moosavi at Sazmanab, before the renovations. Audience sitting
around the living room area, Sazmanab archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Fig. 4.28 2010, Live experimental/noise concert An Unforeseen Meeting
in Tehran, by artists Francisco Ali-Brouchoud and Bijan
Moosavi at Sazmanab, before the renovations. Performers just
in between the kitchen and the living room area having the
kitchen in the background, Sazmanab archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Fig. 4.29 2011, Renovation of the fireplace at Sazmanab building in
Sadeghiyeh, Sazmanab archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Fig. 4.30 2011, Blocking the kitchen and making in a smaller Sazmanab
building in Sadeghiyeh, Sazmanab archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Fig. 4.31 2011, Renovations at Sazmanab in Sadeghiyeh building,
blocking the windows of the main space using prefabricated
plaster panels, Sazmanab archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Fig. 4.32 The residency programme of Sazmanab inhabiting the main
space of Sazmanab, the residency space is using Sazmanab
objects such as sofa-beds together with other domestic objects,
Sazmanab archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . 153
Fig. 4.33 The residency programme of Sazmanab inhabiting the main
space of Sazmanab, the residency space is using Sazmanab
objects such as sofa-beds together with other domestic objects
and using the kitchen; as a living/working compound unit,
Sazmanab archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . 154
Fig. 4.34 2010, Live-stream Skype dinner between Tehran and
Pittsburgh Kubideh Kitchen Skype Meal, in collaboration with
Conflict Kitchen, at Sazmanab, before the renovations.
Audience sitting just around the living room area, Sazmanab
archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Fig. 4.35 2010, Preparing food for the live-stream Skype dinner at
Sazmanab between Tehran and Pittsburgh Kubideh Kitchen
Skype Meal, in collaboration with Conflict Kitchen, Sazmanab
archive, Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Fig. 4.36 2010, Live-stream Skype dinner between Tehran and
Pittsburgh Kubideh Kitchen Skype Meal, in collaboration with
xvi List of Figures

Conflict Kitchen, at Sazmanab. Attendants sitting around the


living room area around a dining table, Sazmanab archive,
Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Sazmanab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Fig. 4.37 2015, View from the alley where Emkan is located (white door)
in just a residential area downtown Tehran, the private
ownership plots are clear in this image, Emkan archive, Tehran
(Photo: Marzieh Rashidi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Fig. 4.38 2016, Extension of the café in Emkan to its balcony arranged
with domestic furniture, while the neighbourhood is completely
a residential one, Emkan archive, Tehran
(Photo: Marzieh Rashidi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Fig. 4.39 2015, One of the wings of the main exhibition space at Emkan
showing the typical residential flooring of the 1960s and the
domestic air conditioning, photo from the show Yellows Have
not Gone Red in Vain by Marzieh Rashidi, Emkan archive,
Tehran (Photo: Mehdi Pilehvari) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Fig. 4.40 2016, One of the wings of the main exhibition space at Emkan
showing the typical residential flooring of the 1960s and the
domestic air conditioning, photo from the show Limit by Reza
Sedighian, Emkan archive, Tehran (Photo: Mehdi Pilehvari) . . . . 159
Fig. 4.41 2016, The view of the yard as seen from the rooftop of Emkan
made as a hangout space, while the neighbouring plots are
residential private front-yards, Emkan archive, Tehran
(Photo: Marzieh Rashidi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Fig. 4.42 2016, The rooftop of Emkan made as a garden-like common
activity space for hangouts while the interior maintains a
domestic look, Emkan archive, Tehran
(Photo: Marzieh Rashidi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Fig. 4.43 2016, The staircase of Emkan, the core spatial element
connecting the spaces of the office, the exhibition space, and
the café altogether inherited by early modern domestic
furniture, Emkan archive, Tehran
(Photo: Mehdi Pilehvari) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Fig. 4.44 2014, Tehran Carnival project for Peykart Anniversary, Tehran
Carnival archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Tehran Carnival) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Fig. 4.45 2014, Tehran Carnival project for Peykart Anniversary, Tehran
Carnival archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Tehran Carnival) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Fig. 4.46 2013, Tehran Carnival project Pine Factory, installation in an
abandoned building in Hor Square, Tehran Carnival archive,
Tehran (Photo: Courtesy of Tehran Carnival) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
List of Figures xvii

Fig. 4.47 2011, Tehran Carnival project Dada in Malek Garden, Tehran
Carnival archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Tehran Carnival) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Fig. 4.48 2013, Tehran Carnival project Private Ocean in an
under-construction residential building Velenjak, Tehran
Carnival archive, Tehran
(Photo: Courtesy of Tehran Carnival) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
List of Tables

Table 2.1
General facade setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Table 2.2
Vintage stuff in cafés . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Table 2.3
Unusual stuff and installations in cafés . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Table 2.4
Café as Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Table 2.5
A summary of spatial features of some important
Tehran cafés . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 76
Table 3.1 Key spatial characteristics of Tehran official alternative
bookshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Table 3.2 A summary of typological characteristics of bookshops . . . . . . . 120

xix
Chapter 1
Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality

Abstract This chapter reviews the historic inception and development of Tehran
alternative culture, putting it in the context of theories of de Cetreau, Fiske,
Lefebvre and others. Making grounds for observations of the following chapters, it
discusses how the everyday life and the consumption of space become battle-
grounds for the alternative culture, and how culture related built environments of
contemporary Tehran are shaped or reshaped in a rather bottom-up manner, in
defiance to the officially recognised and promoted culture, to reclaim territories for
the ignored and suppressed alternative subcultures without elevating their resistance
to any form of head-on confrontation with the establishment.

A very common reaction by those who visit Tehran and other Iranian cities is one of
surprise. They describe Tehran to others as ‘nothing like you think’. This is, of
course, the case with many other cities throughout the world: many people similarly
describe Mumbai, Paris, New York, Tokyo and Baku as nothing like the common
perception of these cities. Cities and especially metropolises are complex mixtures
of dense, interwoven connections worlds apart from what we see or hear in pictures,
news and the media. It is just like photographing a densely populated pavement in
Beijing or Johannesburg. At the first glance, all people look similar. A closer
inspection, however, will reveal differences. Look more closely and you will find all
kinds of personal stories behind. Images of cities take some patience to reveal
differences between districts, streets and individuals. This is in part due to the fact
that our perception of these cities is shaped first and foremost by power institutions:
distorted images of what should be accepted as good or bad concealing many truths
about the society on the way. Importantly, however, cities are not just shaped by
their symbols, signs and important places: a city is also comprised of homes, streets,
shops and other places forming an important part of the reality of cities. These are
neglected by power institutions. Many urban commentators see the city as a grey
mass of obedient people with little powers of resistance. People are deemed to have
heroes to fight the power on their behalf leaving them to deal with their everyday
affairs with minimal effects on power institutions, be it political, social or economic
power. The everyday life of ordinary people is seen as receptive to policies

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018 1


S.H.I. Moeini et al., Urban Culture in Tehran, The Urban Book Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65500-0_1
2 1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality

emanating from power struggles at the top ranks of the system. This book is an
attempt to demonstrate that this is not as simple a game as it might seem. Without
engaging in power and social struggles, or joining any party political movements,
people resist what the power tries to impose. There is no direct engagement with
power struggles here, but there are transformations imposed on power towards
public interests.
Throughout the history, many have considered everyday life of ordinary people
(those who neither are connected to any type of power nor have any direct
encounters with it in the way Michel Foucault refers to in his Discipline and
Punish) a place for unimportant events that one can pass by easily. However, in the
studies of other thinkers, the understanding of the everyday is the key to under-
standing many phenomena in micro- and macrolevels.
In fact, the everyday life is the starting point of, and has a deep effect on many
other events. Thinkers such as Freud, Marx, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel did
not simply pass by the lives of ordinary people, or as one would call them ‘com-
mons’, but scrutinised it as a grand scheme. By the end of the nineteenth century,
Weber and George Herbert Mead introduced a new viewpoint. In their view, the
interpretations of social actions have neglected the potentials of individual actions.
It was at this point that the everyday life was recognised as potentially mediating
between the individual and social structures. Phenomenology theorists Alfred
Schutz, Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann believe that one cannot isolate
everyday life from the meanings attributed to it by people’s actions. It means that
people creatively manipulate their everyday lives and create a space to overturn its
homogeneity and make everyday life bearable. In other words, everyday life will
turn into a conversation or play on the stage of the city.
From the late twentieth century to the early twenty-first century, the study of the
everyday has moved towards a new stage, with sociologists like Simmel rigorously
studying individuals’ types and their relations, offering sociology literature new
readings of the everyday particularly in cities. The focus of this research, however, is
more on how power and resistance interact in the context of the everyday life in cities.
If we accept the dictionary definition of power as the ability to control people
and events, we can say that the nature of power has remained intact throughout
history, while its manifestations and tools have undergone changes. Power has
usually been understood as the domination of the victor over the defeated, with
manifestations in the society. The presence of power in a classical society can be
seen as a play in which one person gets killed so that everyone will learn a lesson,
except for the fact that there is no play. A disciplined power moves towards making
visible the invisible. It can be said that power moves from the hands to the eyes,
which are always present and awake. It goes from punishment to discipline, and a
new form of power will be dominant in the society via discipline. As Foucault
(1975: 170) mentions:
Discipline makes individuals; it is the specific technique of a power that regards individ-
uals both as objects and as instruments of its exercise. It is not triumphant power, which
because of its own excess can pride itself on its omnipotence; it is a modest, suspicious
power, which functions as a calculated, but permanent economy.
1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality 3

Power is not considered as an outsider any longer, but it is rather a part of anybody
who lives in that society; a part of modern life that saw its aspirations in the
transparency of glass walls. This state of not being alone and always being visible
can be seen in stories such as George Orwell’s 1984 or Frantz Kafka’s The Trial or
Christopher Frank’s Mortelle. This scary transparency is protested in such stories,
which make reader aware of the situation they are in when facing the power: a
situation in which there is no place for heroic resistance. Power no longer is in a
solid state and becomes like omnipresent ether whose presence can be sensed
everywhere, but no one can see or recognise it. However, in many cases, ordinary
people in their everyday lives are not passive recipients of the power discourse. As
de Certeau (1998) explains, everyday life will never be completely saturated with
paying attention to the power, but there are always ways to resist (de Certeau 1984).
Power and resistance always counterbalance each other in the society. Whenever a
thesis is grown, an antithesis will grow alongside and take care of itself. The
resistance against a multidimensional, comprehensive and widespread power
should similarly be of the same characteristics. In fact, the games of power and
resistance exist all over the place, even though the understanding of them may
prove far from straightforward. Everyday life is in many cases the battlefield of
resistance because of power’s focus on everyday life while penetrating into peo-
ple’s minds and propagating its own desirable life styles.
Like Marx, Simmel talks about the possibility of resistance in everyday life,
albeit with a gentler tone. He knew that the most profound issues of modern life in
trying to keep its individuality and independence against controlling and sovereign
power in the society stem from the weight of historic heritage and ‘external culture
and techniques of life’ (1950: 409). He believed that such issues keep alive the
motivation to resist in people’s everyday life while in many cases power tries to
promote a streamlined lifestyle which suppresses individual identity. One of the
ways power uses is to focus on consumption in everyday life. To understand the
heterogeneities and creativities in everyday life, the meaning of consumption
should be clarified. Consumption is one of the most important gateways to
understand modern life. Marx, Georg Lukács and especially those in favour of
critical theory criticise the everyday life on the basis of consumption. This can be
found in the Frankfurt School of thought, in critical theories of Theodor Adorno
and Herbert Marcuse. Here, consumption is a suitable element through which to
criticise everyday life. Nevertheless, sociologists such as Simmel, Thorstein
Veblen, Dame Mary Douglas and Pierre Bourdieu consider consumption as a
means of communication. Different groups of people give meaning and identifi-
cation to their lives by consumption and keeping their distance from the poor and
getting closer to the rich. But of course it does not end here: in many cases,
exchanges of semantic codes are through consumption, thereby obliquely
influencing the power. In fact, consumption can be considered as a production with
which the consumer makes a mark on the meaning of power and reaches the
meaning intended. Theorists such as John Fiske and de Certeau have given con-
sumption a new definition. They believe that consumption is a kind of production.
As Fiske (1998) mentions, commodities are produced endlessly, and it is consumers
4 1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality

who complete the commodity. Therefore, the consumption of commodities and


places has social meanings that a sociologist can describe. As a result, the meaning
of consumption and production changes, and the consumer behaviour itself can be
seen as a sort of resistance and production (Kazemi 2013: 13). In fact, it is not about
the non-existence of any power or that consumption lacks demarcating and spec-
tacular powers, but rather about the active presence of the consumer and his or her
modes of consumption which determines the form of consumption in the society.
The resistance against powers that distort lifestyles in order to formalise and
somehow reproduce themselves occurs in many cases through exchanges of
meanings and codes in the society. Power influences the lives of people in the
metropolis in a variety of ways, from education to media, advertisements and
modes of consumption.
But the main point is the impassiveness of ordinary people towards the events
that are happening around them. As mentioned before, resistance will always show
itself at the level of power: sometimes in a more aggressive and sometimes in a
calmer way. Explaining and determining this form of resistance in a society can be
done by scrutinising simple events and occurrences that one can simply move past,
but there are many profound meanings hidden in them. Actually, the everyday life
of ordinary people is the scene of actions towards a goal rather than one of spec-
tacles and grand theories: actions that are simply towards reaching a specific goal
and are flexible towards surrounding hardships. The game of power and resistance
will always cause those setting foot on the same direction as power to have a bigger
share of the city, and those who resist it or act against the system will become more
isolated and have a smaller share of the city and social spaces; the groups of people
who are considered marginalised both financially and in terms of social function-
ality; the groups of people that can be called groups without any urban advantages.
The point is that these groups have never been inactive and can gradually and
slowly reclaim their share from the city under normal situations (when there is no
rebellion, revolution, chaos and turbulence). De Certeau is one of the theorists who
unveil the quality of this battle. The concepts that he uses indicate a permanent war
and getaway in everyday life. He believes that resistance in everyday life is a
delicate and hypocritical deed. However, the type of resistance that de Certeau
refers to is not much available and obvious, and it is only possible through cultural
deed of the people. De Certeau sees the everyday element as the territory of virtual
and practical resistance. When Foucault talks about resistance, he does not tackle
this and that power institution or group, but the technique and form of power as the
main goal (Foucault 1982). This form of power imposes itself on the everyday life
of a person and grants him or her identification. As a result, it creates a personality
with its own mark, and turns people into subjects.
In order to explain resistance in cultural studies, no specific force is sought
behind social change. The change is no longer thought to happen through a par-
ticular social class or an aesthetic act, but rather through a social praxis. This does
not mean an intellectual or purposeful act by the social praxis, but the ordinary and
diverse actions that are running through our everyday lives and have been hidden
from the eyes of the scholars. The force to change and resist is scattered just as the
1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality 5

power is scattered. As power transforms from one form to another, one colour to
another and one area to another, the power to resist also moves from one front to
another and finds different facets. Here, power and resistance start a complicated
game. In other words, resistance in de Certeau is not a kind of elitist act, and
Benjamin’s somnambulists are not going to be awakened by the intellectual or
aesthetic actions, but this is rather a kind of resistance that is in everyday life itself
and can be seen in everyday life deeds and actions.
Asef Bayat is one of the thinkers whose focus is mostly on the role of ordinary
people who have no advantage in resistance against power. Referring to this type of
battle in his Street Politics, he writes:
The type of conflicts that I mention here might be better known as ‘slow progression of
ordinary people’, a calm, patient, timed and contagious progress of ordinary people
toward property owners and the powerful to the direction of freedom from difficulties and
improving their lives. They are specified with characteristics such as calmness, dispersion
and long term mobilisation in addition to periodic collective actions. Collective action is a
public and fleeting battle without a specific leader or ideology or any organisation, which
puts them in a position to face the government when its operators gain a great achievement.
(1997: 7)

In fact, Bayat’s main intention here is to highlight a subtle and sometimes invisible
flow in the city, through which people demand their rights actively, while avoiding
pretentious actions to achieve their aims. They see themselves as members of the
society who start making changes with themselves. It is not as if the people or groups,
who do not have civil advantages, have a specific and predetermined plan or strategy
for what they do. Contrary to Antonio Gramsci’s theory of ‘Passive Revolution’,
Bayat believes that the disadvantaged do not plan their actions based on a previously
known strategy. But rather their ongoing energy comes from necessity, the necessity
to survive and have a decent life (1997: 8). Of course, when this necessity is in the area
of culture, it can be related to identification. Keeping the identity in a repressed
political atmosphere and modern city is a necessity for which people fight: a necessity
Simmel (1950) among others recognise in a context of forcing rational collective
identities by the power, be it by political, economic, cultural or social institutions.
Survival in the society is a battle, be it financial for the poor and cultural and social for
the minorities who do not have the necessary connections with the rest of the society.
It is a daily but gradual and complicated resistance.
De Certeau believes that this resistance is a strategic game and tactics in the city.
He believes that ‘strategy’ is the calculus of force-relationships which becomes
possible when a subject of will and power (a proprietor, an enterprise, a city, a
scientific institution) can be isolated from an ‘environment’. A strategy assumes a
place that can be defined as proper and thus serve as the basis for generating
relations with an exterior distinct from it (competitors, adversaries, ‘clienteles’,
‘targets’ or ‘objects’ of research). Political, economic and scientific rationality has
been constructed on this strategic model. A ‘tactic’, on the other hand, is a calculus
which cannot count on a ‘proper’ (a spatial or institutional localisation), nor thus on
a borderline distinguishing the other as a visible totality. The place of a tactic
belongs to the other. A tactic insinuates itself into the other’s place, fragmentarily,
6 1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality

without taking it over in its entirety, without being able to keep it at a distance. It
has at its disposal no base where it can capitalise on its advantages, prepare its
expansions and secure independence with respect to circumstances. The proper is a
victory of space over time. On the contrary, because it does not have a place, a
tactic depends on time—it is always on the watch for opportunities that must be
seized ‘on the wing’. Whatever it wins, it does not keep. It must constantly
manipulate events in order to turn them into ‘opportunities’. The weak must con-
tinually turn to their own ends forces alien to them. This is achieved in the pro-
pitious moments when they are able to combine heterogeneous elements’ (de
Certeau 1998: 487–488). De Certeau actually shows how everyday actions can be
released, with these complicated and flowing relations between strategy and tactic,
without leaving the established social order. Here, de Certeau talks about the dis-
missal of power, a dismissal that does not mean upsetting the power: it rather means
that power can no longer impose its will on the weak.
The arguments here are actually indicating that the disadvantaged civil groups
are not passive, on the sidelines and fatalist. They strive actively towards survival
and keeping their identities safe in a metropolis. They have their own boundaries
and participate in a civil conversation.
Fiske believes that the main challenge and conflict between the privileged and
the underprivileged in capitalistic societies is the battle over ‘meaning’; a battle in
which the ruling classes try to show that the meanings representing their benefits are
the ‘common sense’in the society and that they are pretty natural, while the less
advantaged fight this in various ways and try to create meanings that serve their
own benefits. He believes that ‘meaning’ is a battle ground just as much as
economy and political parties are. He also believes that the structure of meaning in a
text is a small model of sub-culture structures in a society. Both are in one power
network, and the battle over the meaning in a text is the same as a social battle over
power; since dominant classes have the power to create their own culture using
media and cultural products, which means that such a culture cannot be described
based on its substance, but only based on its [resisting] relations with the ‘domi-
nants’ (Fiske 1998: 359–60).
Another point to notice here is that like many other goods, space and architecture
are produced by the capitalist system and power institutions, and consumed by
people as an ordinary object. It is through this very consumption that resistance
occurs and large-scale semiological codes are made. Space finds its meanings
through architectural form and organisation. This struggle over meaning also occurs
through consuming urban spaces.
Henri Lefebvre intended to show that space is a political matter; the claim that
‘the real knowledge about space should call the quiddity of production of space into
question’ (Lefebvre 1991: 111). Lefebvre tried to abolish the general perception
about space considering it as an independent and autonomous material reality by
raising the proposition that a social space is a social production. He used the
concept of production of space against this common understanding. He made the
space subject to social relations; in other words, he believed that space cannot be a
single and epistemological reality, space does not exist by itself, and is a social
1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality 7

product. To explain this process, he mentions that the production of space includes
three processes (or three moments) together. This is both determined and can
determine. Lefebvre calls them on the one hand the triplet ‘Spatial Behaviour’,
‘Spatial Representation’ and ‘Represented Spaces’ and on the other hand ‘implied’,
‘assumed’ and ‘lived’ spaces. These aspects are always uncertain. In order to lib-
erate himself from objective-subjective binaries, Lefebvre tried to develop a theory
that contains corporeal and behavioural, on top of subjective dimensions. Space
should be understood here based on an active common concept, as a network of
relations that are continuously produced and reproduced. Therefore, space is a
production process formed by a threefold interrelated dialectics. ‘If this threefold
dialectic is understood as an abstract model, it will significantly lose its importance’
(Lefebvre 1991: 409).
Lefebvre considers city as a mediator between a far and a close discipline. The
close discipline is the daily life discipline, and the far discipline is the symbolic
discipline or the Althusserian ideological structure. The city is the place where these
two disciplines encounter. Architecture and physical disciplines are directly or
indirectly at the service of the far discipline. On the other hand, those active in the
everyday life fight this dominant ideology through urban places.
City for Lefebvre contains three concepts: space, everyday life and the repro-
duction of social capitalistic relations. City is a spatial context through which
production relations are reproduced in the everyday experience of people: capi-
talistic social relations in this case because the space is dominated by the capital and
defeated by its logic.
With this line of Lefebvre’s theories, it is possible to demonstrate how the people
of a society continue to fight by using the spaces given to them by the
decision-making institutions. The consumption of the space is through both spatial
actions and representations. Together they create a social sphere that is no longer
similar to others: it develops its own character and separates itself from others. In
fact, space creates meaning: a meaning that can be in the same or opposite direction
of common values. Both power and resistance, it can be said, are after creating their
own meanings through urban spaces and their readings. In many cases, one can
understand the roots and extent of resistance against power through readings of
these spatial texts.
The conflict between power and resistance usually takes shape in a context of
everyday life. This is a struggle over competing modes of making meanings and
consuming spaces through these meanings. Having faced the concept of modernity
for about a century, the metropolis of Tehran has always been a hotbed for such
struggles, sociologically, politically, and in everyday and urban life. In fact, since
the time the first sparkles of modernity emerged in Iran during Qajar dynasty reign,
Tehran has undergone a perpetual turbulence: a turbulence caused by the conflict
between progress and modernity on the one hand and an empathy for traditional
values and a concern about losing identity on the way to adopt global values on the
other. This has been part and parcel of the life of people whose simple lives were
challenged by grave twentieth-century questions.
8 1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality

Tehran was facing a rational, metropolitan, modern and globalised system in its
modernisation experience on the one hand, and on the other hand, it was drawn by a
system of emotions, romantic contacts with life, the past and memories, and
dichotomies of modernity-tradition, pluralism-individualism and a plethora of other
dichotomies. However, Tehran today is very different from the Tehran of fifty years
ago, twenty years ago and even ten years ago. It is no longer a small city dreaming
of globalisation. It is even not a big city whose people are looking to make a dream
city in a systematic way. Tehran is literally a super city. It is a big city with a
population of twelve to fifteen million residents and non-residents from multiple
cultures and ethnicities living and working next to each other every day. It is a city
that has gone through a revolution, war and many other big and small occurrences.
The values, criteria and measures in Tehran are moving back and forward from the
power of people to the government. Modernity, information explosion, the Internet,
social networks and connections to global networks have widened the intergener-
ational gap leaving Tehran in a very special status.
Living in Tehran demands a type of rationality not dissimilar to other metro-
polises. The middle class in Tehran is formed based on this new type of rationality
which is widely under the influence of money and its associated culture. This
culture, to refer to Simmel’s views, will create a special type of mental life in
Tehran. The tone of mental life should be in accordance with the tone of the city,
and this is what puts its residents in a situation which constantly changes (Fazeli
2014: 262).
Tehran as a metropolis is facing two major challenges at its core today. Firstly, it
is faced with finding its identity and its past against the contemporary process of
globalisation. Secondly, it should be able to digest the civil capitalistic processes
and find the coordination and harmony between social and capitalistic values.
Entering the globalisation process can be traced back to the Qajar reign, and Iran’s
first encounter with the West. A contemporary Iranian city is fundamentally dif-
ferent now from its past. In fact, like modern cities all over the world modern life in
Tehran is mostly rooted in the industrial revolution, and the development of cap-
italistic growth of new activities such as railways, telegraph and cars. Life in a
modern city gives an Iranian the possibility to have a vision, however half-hearted,
of a different life style from that of pre-modern life (Fazeli 2014: 271). On the other
hand, the omnipresence of the capital and capitalism, which is one of the most
important aspects of modern life in a city, has become another part of the Iranian
modern life. Actually, this became more obvious when oil prices increased and the
existence of the capital in the city found a new form. One of the most important
mid-twentieth-century developments in Iran was the Land Reforms by Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi or the Shah, with the main goal of creating an independent agricul-
tural class (Arsanjani 1962: 97–104).
During the Land Reforms period, many rural peasants were granted the own-
ership of their lands, but they sold those lands off and moved to cities in the hope of
a better life. This, in turn, caused conflicts which played a key role in the devel-
opment of the revolution later. It was during the same period that a sudden boost in
oil revenues introduced new forms of capital into Iranian cities. It resulted in
1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality 9

improvements in urban construction and amenities, in addition to industrialisation


of cities. In his Iran amidst Two Revolutions, Ervand Abrahamian states that:
Since new schools, healthcare facilities and industrial factories were mainly located in the
cities, the social developments of 1963 to 1977 had a huge impact on urban population.
The urban population rapidly increased during this period. In 1966 only 38% of people
were living in towns of more than 5000 population, whilst in 1976 about 48% of people
were living in towns with more than 100,000. (Abrahamian 1982: 445)

This process went on even after the revolution in 1979 and the overthrow of
Mohammad Reza Shah until the villages were emptied or left with little popula-
tions. This has caused a growing migration to the cities such as Tehran which is at
the centre of political, social, economic and cultural focus in Iran. To name some of
the most important developments which caused mass urbanisation, we can refer to
the White Revolution (or Land Reforms), Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the
8-year war with Iraq. Each of these events had its own influence on the urbanisation
process in Tehran.
As mentioned, the demography of cities changed gradually after the Land
Reforms, the increase in oil price between 1961 and 1971 as well as the
semi-industrial revolution in the cities (Abrahamian 1982: 240). The most impor-
tant social transformation in this process was the immigration to the cities, espe-
cially Tehran. According to an English economist (Graham, c.f. Abrahamian 2008),
‘those who lived in Tehran had access to better education, hygienic facilities,
media, jobs and income, in addition to decision-making processes. It is not a
wonder why villagers and inhabitants of small towns were eager to immigrate to
Tehran regardless of the problems such as high rents, population density, air pol-
lution, and life expectancy’ (Abrahamian 2013: 141). Some of those who came to
industrialised cities for the above reasons were marginalised due to the uselessness
of their skills for the city, which meant they could not be influential in power
centres. These marginalised groups pursued their own lifestyles and approaches
towards the city.
Social inequalities, the 1960s aspirations for freedom, justice and equality, the
development of student groups and the growth in numbers of elites, e.g. poets,
writers, artists, intellectuals and communists prepared the society for a revolution; a
revolution that started with mottos such as freedom, equality, independence from
foreigners and support for disadvantaged groups, with the subsequent war opening
a new chapter in urbanisation. The intentional and inevitable immigration to other
countries of the wealthy and people with associations with the previous regime
started with the revolution. This process accelerated even more due to the war.
Many intellectuals were disallowed and excluded from political and social
engagements for their socialist and Marxist views. The marginalised groups or
rather those less involved with urbanisation experience came to the fore in the
society. Many of them found aspects of urban life against their traditional, religious
and revolutionary values and a sign of dependence on the West. Fazeli (2014: 288)
observes the turns and twists of attitudes towards modernisation in post-revolution
Iran:
10 1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality

In the years after the revolution, debates about values were widely spread, and the
globalisation process and connection to the global networks were questioned. However, the
cultural and social interactions with the West gradually grew from 1978 onward. Iran, in
the recent decades, has been under the influence of International Style and global
urbanisation more than ever. Although the government has wanted to create a city of an
Islamic nature and function from an official discourse point of view, the influence of global
and local forces together with a century-long accumulation of experience of modernisation
through to the revolution virtually set serious obstacles to make this dream of the
authorities come true.

The conflicts of this kind can be found in other aspects of post-revolution Iranian
life as well, in other words, an inconsistency between what the government and
parts of the society want and what others want. This is the conflict that results in a
culture of resistance in the society and its spread. This resistance is not only at odds
with the political, but also with cultural, social and even economic institutions. As
mentioned earlier, the culture of resistance in contemporary Iran can be traced back
to the Qajar reign and continuing during the Pahlavi reign right up to contemporary
Tehran. Whenever this resistance was of a non-political nature and in moderation, it
developed into a civil dialogue, while in other cases it went more underground and
invisible. For instance, the period of 1941–1953 was a time when the country was
politically more open, resulting in the emergence of debates about civil resistance
and enlightenment in the city. This was changed with the 1953 coup transforming
resistance groups to underground militia. As another example, the recent years of
staying away from political excitements such as revolution, war, and coup d’état
has witnessed the thriving of the language of resistance. This resistance is in a civil
form with no political agenda to disrupt and destroy the system: it is only asking for
its share from the city and its streets: an alternative discourse which sees the city as
a place to be present and express oneself in it.
This type of resistance, which is mostly against capitalistic economic discourses
and dominant cultural ideologies, can be seen in different aspects of everyday life;
from street vendors creating alternative trade spaces, to creative dressing styles used
by both men and women, and being present in cultural alternative spaces in the city.
A core type of the spaces of resistance in everyday life is cultural spaces.
According to Fazeli (2014: 278), at the time of Pahlavi reign, the country’s national
and even Zoroastrian aspects were mostly highlighted, while after the revolution,
the Islamic aspects were highlighted. The lack of recognition for alternative dis-
courses in a hegemonic milieu thus forced them to continue their presence in
unofficial ways, with their language turning more esoteric with signs replacing
words. Architecture and urbanism have prevented these informal conversations
from being lost in the city throughout the time. Today, Tehran is filled with traces
of those who try to keep their discourses alive. The city is like a modern text filled
with tips and signs whose reading helps us have a better understanding of cultural
events in the city. The most important point about cultural resistance spaces is that
acting as a stomping ground for their community of users takes precedence to
indicating to the city the space’s real usage. These spaces abolish the borders
between spaces and common activities and become a part of informal conversation
1 Power and Resistance: Eternal Duality 11

of the society. They make their marks in the city through their architecture. They
divide people into those who are welcome and those who are not, and actually turn
into a passive network in the city, consuming urban spaces in their own ways and,
to use Fiske’s words, completing them.
The predominant type of resistance is one that creates concepts and meanings in
the city by consuming spaces and without violating any political laws or traditions.
It defines social boundaries and gets recognised in the city without seriously coming
at loggerheads with the establishment.
This book is after presenting a more realistic picture from this aspect of Tehran.
A Tehran which, using innovative, creative methods, tries to produce an alternative
discourse to that of upper classes: a discourse gently started in Tehran’s streets and
alleyways, and usurped large parts of the city, assuming a key role among com-
peting discourses. This is a patient, pragmatic discourse which has achieved a lot
more that radical movements in gaining urban rewards as well as popularity. Helped
by the cyberspace, this resistance is reflected in many aspects of everyday life: from
businesses to women, charities and so on.
Focusing on urban spaces that are neither exactly private nor public, the present
research pays special attention to spatial and urban aspects of resistance, to stress
that ordinary people, free from architectural and urbanistic considerations, make use
of underutilised or abandoned urban spaces—spaces that, from architects’ and
planners’ view are devoid of any serious function or quality—to create productive
spaces capable of creating a social discourse. They create new, soft, alternative
spaces out of existing spaces seriously drawing up social demarcation lines by
utilising architecture and layout design exercises. This type of resistance does not
necessarily target certain groups, waves, cults or parties, but is nonetheless
influential on major groups. There are no aspirations to recast the city, but never-
theless they reshape their surroundings. These spaces quite often develop in
themselves networks of corresponding behaviours and image making, enjoy
meaningful similarities, and generate purposeful spatial organisations. The present
research is largely an exploration of how these systems of codes work and com-
municate: a study of an alternative urban discourse along official discourses
(Fig. 1.1).
The research offers reviews, documentations and readings from examples of
these urban spaces in Tehran in order to analyse their internal structures, relations,
similarities, differences and their roots. The cross-examination of the three types—
booksellers, cafés and galleries—will also explain the strategies and mechanisms of
the ongoing struggle between power and resistance. This involves, inter alia, studies
of the genealogy of these spaces, their social dimensions, their target communities,
and the semiotics of their architectural elements—from their overall structures to
the minutest of details.
Disputed as it might be, cafés can be seen as one of postmodern incarnations of
political activism. To understand the political function of coffee shops, one needs to
understand that present-day younger generations make their marks on politics, not
through party political or institutional activism but through their choice of lifestyle.
More than being official media or tribunes for open political debates, cafés are more
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Frank was in the box, while Bart Hodge adjusted his mitt behind the
plate.
The batting-order of the two teams is here given:
MERRIES. REDS.
Ready, 3b. Jones, 1b.
Carson, ss. Davis, rf.
Browning, 1b. Croaker, 3b.
Gamp, cf. Favor, c.
Hodge, c. Gresham, cf.
Swiftwing, lf. Arata, lf.
Rattleton, 2b. Sawyer, ss.
Carker, rf. Mahoney, 2b.
Merriwell, p. Park, p.
“Play ball!” rang out the voice of the umpire.
Merriwell placed his foot upon the pitcher’s plate and prepared to
deliver the ball. Every man was ready.
Frank was cautious about using speed at first, and he tried Jones on
a slow drop.
Crack! The bat met the ball, and Jones lifted a pretty single just over
the infield, prancing down to first like a long-geared race-horse, while
the crowd gave a shout of satisfaction.
“The very first one!” laughed Morley. “Why, I knew it was a snap!”
“Mr. Umpire,” said Frank quietly, “if that gentleman is going to make
remarks, kindly ask him to leave the players’ bench.”
“That’s right, Morley,” said the umpire, “you will have to keep still
while you are on the bench.”
This caused the crowd to howl derisively, and it seemed that the
Merries had very few friends present.
Davis was ready to strike, and Frank gave him a wide out drop. He
let it pass, and Jones took the opportunity to hustle for second in an
attempt to steal.
Hodge took the ball, did not swing, but seemed to pull his hand just
back to his ear, and then threw to second. It was a quick, easy throw,
and it did not seem that Bart put enough force into it to send the ball
down.
“Slide!” yelled the coacher.
Jones had been running like a deer, for he was the best base-stealer
on the team, as well as the surest hitter. Forward he flung himself,
sliding gracefully along the ground with his hands outstretched.
The ball came into Rattleton’s hands about two feet from the ground,
and Harry had it on the runner when Jones’ hands were yet a foot
from the bag.
“Man is out!” announced the umpire.
A hush fell on the crowd, and then somebody started the clapping,
which was rather generous.
“Say, that catcher can throw!” cried a man on the bleachers. “Bet you
don’t steal many bags on him to-day.”
The first man was out, and the Reds had been taught a lesson they
would not fail to profit by. They had found that Hodge was a beautiful
thrower, so that it was dangerous to try to steal.
“Hard luck, old man,” said several of the players, as Jones came in.
“But he got you, all right.”
“And I thought I had a good start, too,” said Jones. “I’d bet my shirt I
had that bag.”
One ball had been called on Frank. He tried a high one next time,
and another ball was called.
Then Davis fouled, which caused the umpire to call a strike on him.
“Put another in the same place,” invited the batter.
Frank seemed to accommodate him, and Davis cracked it out,
driving it past Carson, who did not touch it.
Another base-hit had been made off Merry.
“That’s two of the five!” exclaimed Elrich, in satisfaction. “When three
more are made I’ll have won one thousand dollars, anyhow.”
Croaker was a heavy hitter. Merry suspected it, and he tried his arts
to pull the fellow, but three balls were called.
Davis had not attempted to steal, for he remembered the fate of the
man ahead of him, and Merry held him close to the bag.
It seemed, however, that Frank was certain to give the next batter a
base on balls. He was forced to put the ball over, which he did.
Mahoney, the captain of the team, had advised the batter to “play the
game,” which prevented him from striking, although he afterward
declared that the ball came sailing over the plate “as big as a house.”
A strike was called. Frank calmly put another in the same place, and
it was another strike.
Croaker gripped his bat. The coachers warned Davis to run, as the
batter would be out on the third strike, anyhow, if the first base was
occupied.
So, as soon as Merriwell drew back his arm, Davis started hard for
second. The ball was a swift high one, but Croaker met it and drove
it out for a single that landed Davis on third.
“Here is where we score a hundred!” cried the coachers. “Oh, say! is
this the wonder we have been hearing about?”
Hodge called Merry in, and said to him, in a low tone:
“Speed up!”
“But——” said Frank.
“No buts,” said Bart.
“Your hand.”
“I’ll hold them.”
“All right.”
Then they returned to their places.
“Down on the first one,” was the advice of the coacher near first.
“With Davis on third, he’ll never throw to second.”
Frank sent in a swift in shoot, having compelled Croaker to keep
close to first. Croaker, however, confident that Bart would not throw
to second, scudded for the bag.
Hodge seemed to throw to Merriwell, and Frank put up his hands, as
if to catch the ball, which had been thrown high.
Seeing Davis had not started from third, Frank did not bring his
hands together, but let the ball pass between them over his head.
The ball struck the ground about ten feet from second and bounded
straight into Harry’s waiting hands.
The runner slid, but Harry touched him out, and then sent the ball
whistling home, for, having seen the ball go over Merry, Davis had
started to score.
Davis had been fooled into clinging close to the base too long. The
trick had worked well, for Hodge had thrown the ball so that Merry
could catch it in case Davis started, but with sufficient force to take it
to second on a long bound, if Merry saw fit to let it go. Had Davis
started, Frank would have caught the ball and cut him off.
Now, although Davis ran as if his life depended on the issue, he
could not get home in time, and Bart was waiting for him with the
ball.
“Out second and home!” cried the umpire.
The spectators gasped, for they had been treated to a clever piece
of work that showed them the Merries knew a thing or two about
baseball.
Three hits had been made by the first three men at bat, yet the side
had been retired without a run, through the clever work of Hodge,
Merriwell, and Rattleton.
The Reds were disgusted over the result, but Black Elrich said:
“They can’t keep that up, and Merriwell is fruit for the Reds. Every
man can hit him. Two more hits mean a cool thousand for me, and
there are eight innings to make them in.”
“They’re going to get twenty off him,” said Dan Mahoney. “My brother
Pete is the worst hitter in the bunch, but he can lace that fellow all
over the lot.”
On the bleachers Old Joe Crowfoot was grimly smoking his pipe, but
by his side sat an excited boy, whose face was flushed and whose
eyes shone.
“They didn’t get a run, did they, Joe?” asked the boy eagerly.
“Ugh!” grunted the Indian. “Don’t know. White man’s game. Injun
don’t know him.”
“But they did hit the ball,” said Dick, in disappointment. “I didn’t think
Frank would let them do that.”
“He throw um ball pretty quick,” said Joe.
“He’s afraid to do his best, I’m sure,” said Dick. “He’s afraid Hodge
can’t catch it.”
“Hodge he heap big catch,” asserted Crowfoot. “Not afraid of stick
when it swing. Him good.”
“We got out of a bad hole that time, fellows,” said Frank, as the team
gathered at the bench. “If we keep on playing ball like that we’ll win
this game.”
“Those fellows will know better than to chance such takes—take
such chances,” said Rattleton.
“How is your hand, Bart?” asked Merry.
“All right,” said Hodge.
Ready had chosen a bat.
“I’m going to drive the first one over Old Baldy,” he said, with a
motion toward the distant mountains. But he walked up to the plate
and proceeded to strike out on the first three balls pitched.
“Speed!” he said, as he came back to the bench. “Whew! That
fellow’s got it! They didn’t look larger than peas as they came over.”
Carson went out and fouled twice, getting strikes called on him. Then
he drove a short one to the pitcher and was thrown out.
“See if you can’t start the ball rolling, Bruce,” urged Merry.
Browning, however, did not seem much more than half-awake, and
he, too, fell before the speed and sharp curves of Park, making the
third man.
Favor took his place at the plate, and Merry faced him in the box.
Frank gave the fellow a high one to start with, but Favor was
confident and hit it safely past Ready.
“Four hits!” counted Elrich exultantly. “One more gives me a
thousand.”
Before the ball could be fielded in Favor had reached second and
was safe.
“Everybody hits him!” shouted a voice from the bleachers. “Is this the
great Frank Merriwell?”
Tears of rage came into Dick Merriwell’s eyes, and his hands were
tightly clenched.
“Why doesn’t he use the double-shoot?” panted the boy. “He hasn’t
tried it once.”
Frank was as calm as ever. Gresham, a stout, solid-looking chap,
grinned tauntingly as he took his place to strike. Frank tried to pull
him, but two balls were called. Then Merry put one over the corner,
and Gresham batted it down to Ready.
Jack should have handled the ball, but he did not get it up in time to
cut Gresham off at first. Seeing he was too late, he took no chances
of a wild throw, and did not throw at all.
“Oh, wow! wow!” roared the crowd. “All to pieces! How easy! how
easy!”
Hodge was looking black as a thundercloud. The game was not
pleasing him at all. Was it possible Frank has lost some of his skill?
Arata, a stocky young Indian, advanced to the plate. He showed his
teeth to Merry, who gave him a pretty one on the outside corner.
Arata smashed it hard, driving it on a line over Frank’s head.
Like a flash Merriwell shot into the air and pulled down the ball with
one hand. Like a flash he whirled round and threw to Rattleton.
As the bat met the ball, both Favor and Gresham had started to run.
They did not realize Merry had caught the ball until Frank threw to
second.
Rattleton took the throw, touched the bag and drove the ball
whistling to first.
Gresham had stopped and was trying to scramble back to first, but
the ball got there ahead of him, being smothered in Browning’s mitt.
“Batter out!” announced the umpire. “Out second and first!”
It was a triple play!
Dick Merriwell flung his hat into the air, giving a shrill yell of joy. The
yell was taken up by the crowd, for this was the sort of ball-playing to
delight the cranks.
The Merries were fast winning friends.
The shout of applause having subsided, somebody cried:
“Why, you fellows don’t need a pitcher! You can play the game with
any kind of a man in the box!”
Mahoney, the captain of the Reds, was sore, but he told his men that
it would not happen again in a thousand years.
Gamp was the first hitter of the Merries, and the long youth from
New Hampshire drove the ball out to Gresham, who made a very
pretty catch.
Hodge hit savagely, but his temper was not right to connect with
Park’s curves, and he fanned.
Then came Swiftwing. Again the collection of boys whooped like a lot
of Indians from the bleachers. The Indian put up an infield fly, and
was out.
“Give us the double-shoot at your best speed, Merriwell,” said
Hodge, in a low tone. “Just show these chumps you can pitch a
little.”
“All right,” nodded Frank; “if you can handle it with that hand, you
shall have it.”
“Don’t worry about me,” said Bart.
“Now,” said Dan Mahoney, “you’ll see my brother get a hit.”
“I hope so,” said Elrich, “for it wins the first thousand for me.”
Mahoney came to the plate. He had seen others hitting Frank, and
he felt fully confident he could do so. Merry gave him a swift double-
shoot to start with, and he fanned, gasped, rubbed his eyes and
looked amazed.
“Do that again,” he invited.
Merry did, and again he fanned.
The third one was a slow drop that dragged him, and he did not hit it.
Frank had struck out his first man.
Park was not much of a hitter, and Merry found him easy, striking
him out quite as easy as he had Mahoney.
“Those are the weak men!” cried somebody. “Now, let’s see you do it
to Jones.”
Being thus invited, Frank sent in his prettiest double-shoot, and
Jones missed the first one.
“Hello!” muttered Jones, as he gripped the bat. “That was a queer
one. If I didn’t know better, I should say——”
He did not mutter what he should say, for Frank was ready and
another came buzzing past, only the curves were reversed.
Again Jones bit at it and failed to connect.
“Two strikes!” called the umpire.
“Oh, he’s doing it now!” breathed Dick Merriwell, in delight.
Every ball hurt Bart’s hand, but he held them all and showed no sign
of pain.
Jones was mad and surprised, which made him easy for the third
double-shoot, and he, like the two before him, struck out.
Not one of the three men had even fouled the ball.
“Well, well!” roared a spectator. “It seems that you’ve got a pitcher
there, after all!”
“Thanks, most astute sir,” chirped Ready, doffing his cap and bowing.
“He hasn’t begun to pitch yet. He’s just getting warmed up.”
CHAPTER XXX.
ONE TO NOTHING.

It was the beginning of the ninth inning, and neither side had scored.
Never before had there been such an exciting game in the city of
Denver. The crowd was throbbing, and Merriwell’s team had won a
host of friends by its clever work. Since the second inning, however,
Frank had given his men no chance to show what they could do, for
he had struck out man after man, just as fast as they came up.
Never in all his life had he been in better form, and his work was
something to amaze his most intimate friends.
Bart Hodge, with his arm paining him from the tip of his fingers to the
shoulder, looked very well satisfied.
Dick Merriwell was wild with delight and admiration. He heard the
crowd wondering at the work of Frank and cheering at it, and it
warmed his heart toward the brother he had once thought he hated.
“Oh, Joe!” he panted, “did you ever see anything like it?”
“Ugh! No see before,” answered Crowfoot, still smoking.
“Isn’t it fine?”
“Heap big noise. Ev’rybody yell lot; nobody get killed yet.”
Three times had Merriwell’s men reached third, but, by sharp work,
the home team had kept them from scoring. Now, however, Morley
was desperate, and he went among the men, urging them to win the
game.
“You must win it!” he said. “Elrich loses five thousand and five
hundred dollars if you don’t. He won’t back the team another day.
We’ll have to disband.”
“We’d win if we could hit that devil in the box,” said Mahoney bitterly.
“He’s the worst man we ever went up against, and we all know it
now. You’ll never hear me tell anybody after this that there is no such
thing as a double-shoot. Why, that fellow can throw regular
corkscrew curves!”
Morley swore.
“You’re quitting!” he growled.
“Did you ever know me to quit?” asked Mahoney angrily.
“No, but——”
“Then don’t talk! They have not scored, and we may be able to make
this a draw game, if we can’t get in a run.”
Black Elrich was worried, although his face looked perfectly calm,
with the strained expression of the gambler who is unchangeable
before victory or defeat. At his side, Dan Mahoney was seething.
“Hang it!” he grated. “If it had only been that catcher’s right hand!
The woman made a terrible blunder!”
“No one would have thought him able to catch, anyhow,” said Elrich.
“The big mitt protects his hand.”
“Still, it must hurt him every time the ball strikes, for Merriwell has
been using all kinds of speed.”
Morley came up to the place where he knew Elrich was sitting.
“What do you think?” he asked, in a low tone. “The boys can’t hit
Merriwell, and it’s too late to try to buy Harris, the umpire, now. Can’t
you start a riot and break up the game?”
“If you start it, it is worth a hundred dollars to you,” said Elrich, “even
though that will throw all bets off, and I’ll make nothing. What say?”
“I can’t!” muttered Morley. “If I did so, Harris would give the game to
the other side, and you’d lose just the same. If the spectators start it,
it will be all right.”
“The spectators won’t,” said the gambler. “More than three-fourths of
them are Merriwell men now.”
“Then,” said Morley, “I am afraid for the result.”
Well might he be afraid. In the last inning Frank was just as effective
as ever, and the batters fell before him in a way that was perfectly
heart-breaking to the admirers of the home team. Denver was
unable to score in the ninth.
“We must shut them out again, boys,” said Mahoney, as his men
took the field.
But Merriwell’s team went after that game in their half of the ninth.
Carker was the first man up. He had not been hitting, and Park
considered him easy. That was when Park made a mistake, for Greg
set his teeth and laced out the first ball in a most terrific manner.
It was a clean two-bagger. But Carker tried to make it three,
encouraged by Ready on the coaching-line. Ready believed in taking
desperate chances to score, and he waved for Greg to come on.
The crowd was standing again, shouting wildly as Carker tore across
second and started on a mad sprint to third.
The center-fielder got the ball and threw it to Mahoney at second.
Mahoney whirled and shot it to third.
“Slide!” shrieked Ready.
Greg heard the command and obeyed, but Croaker took the ball and
touched him easily.
“Runner out!” decided the umpire clearly.
Then there was another roar from the bleachers.
Jack Ready fiercely doubled his fist and thumped himself behind the
ear.
“All my fault!” he moaned. “I did it!”
Carker looked sorrowful.
“My last game of baseball,” he said sadly. “I do not care to play the
game any more. It is a deception and a humiliation. No more! No
more!”
Merriwell was the next batter. Park knew Merry was a good hitter,
and he was cautious. Frank did his best to work the pitcher for a
base on balls, but, with two strikes called on him, he was finally
forced to hit.
He did so sharply, sending the ball shooting along the ground
between third and short.
Frank crossed first and turned to the left, knowing it was best to have
all the start he could if there was any show of making second.
“Go on!” roared Browning, who had reached the coaching-line at
first, Ready, having come in from near third.
Then Frank ran at his best speed. He knew it would be close, and he
flung himself forward for a slide at second, which enabled him to
reach the base safely a moment ahead of the ball. By fast running,
he had made a two-bagger out of an ordinary single.
Everybody knew now that Merriwell’s team was out for the game in
that inning if there was any possible way to capture it. Such work
turned the fans into howling maniacs.
For once in his life, Jack Ready looked grave when he took his place
to strike. He realized the responsibility on him, and it had driven the
smile from his ruddy face.
Park was pitching at his best, and he did not let up a bit. Ready
made two fouls, after which he put up a high infield fly, which
dropped and remained in the hands of Croaker. Two men were out,
and the admirers of the home team began to breathe easier.
Merriwell was taking all the start he could get from second when
Carson got ready to hit.
Park seemed to feel absolutely sure of retiring the side without
further trouble, and he did get two strikes on Berlin. Then something
happened, for the cattleman’s son did a thing to delight the heart of
his father. He made a beautiful safe hit to right field and won the
game.
Merriwell was running when the ball and bat met. He knew it was not
a high fly, and instinct told him the fielder could not catch it. As he
came toward third, Hodge was on the coaching-line, madly
motioning for him to go in.
Frank obeyed. The fielder threw from right to cut him off at the plate,
but, by another splendid slide, he scored.
The game was over.

In the newspaper accounts of the game the following day Merriwell’s


team was highly praised, and the reporters took pains to mention
that it was the hit of Berlin Carson, a Colorado lad, that brought in
the winning run.
THE END.
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