For the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Art University of Tehran, we were asked to make a video to commemorate the school’s history. The university’s current buildings are part of a historical site in Tehran National Garden (Bagh Melli). Our idea was to give life to that heritage by making an animated film from the still images of the architectural elements. Fortunately, the building provided numerous identical elements, such as windows and ornaments. We pictured them and put the images together to create different movement senses in our sequences.

In such animation projects with the intention to use only the existing materials, seeing all the details and creating a sizeable visual archive is critical. The calligraphy part at the end was this couplet from poet Hafez: O thou heart-kindling palace that art the dwelling of affection, O Lord! ruined, let not the calamity of time make thee.

See Heart-kindling Palace at the Montreal Stop Motion Festival

Client: Art University of Tehran
Design and animation: Aghil Hosseinian, Javad Zarinia, Davood Morgan
Calligraphy: Hamid Qorbanpour
Music: Moslem Rasouli