Occidentalist Perceptions of European Architecture in Nineteenth-Century Persian Travel Diaries

This book opens the Persian travelers' long-forgotten suitcase, and analyzes the descriptions contained within to gain insight into Occidentalist perspectives on modern Europe. By carefully tracing the physical and mental journeys of these travelers, the book paints a picture of European architecture that is nothing like what one would expect.

Vahid Vahdat is an architect, urban designer, and historian of architecture and urban form. His primary field of research is the theory and history of modern architecture and urban space, with an emphasis on non-Western experiences of modernity.

1. The First Brick, 2. Modernity in a Suitcase, 3. When Worlds Collide, 4. Imagining the Modern, 5. Tajaddod as a Discourse, Appendix A: Abolhasan's Itinerary, Appendix B: Mirza Saleh's Itinerary, Appendix C: Rezaqoli's Itinerary, Appendix D: Farrokh-Khan's Itinerary