Plasco Building
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The Plasco Building () is a 20-story high-rise (5 floors below and 15 floors above ground) landmark building in
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, the capital city of Iran. It was built on the site of an earlier Plasco building, which at the time of its construction was the tallest building in Iran and was considered an iconic part of the Tehran skyline. The earlier building caught on fire and collapsed on 19 January 2017; construction on the new building began in 2018 and was completed in 2021.


History


Former building

The Plasco building was built in 1962 by the prominent businessman
Habib Elghanian Habib (Habibollah) Elghanian (; 5 April 1912 – 9 May 1979) was a prominent Iranian Jewish businessman and philanthropist who served as the president of the Tehran Jewish Society and acted as the symbolic head of the Iranian Jewish community i ...
, during a decade of rapid growth in Iran. The building was named after his plastics company. At the time of its construction it was the tallest building in Iran, and was considered an iconic landmark of the Tehran skyline, representing the drive for modernization under the rule of Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the ...
. After the
1979 Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...
, Habib Elghanian was executed by the new government, which seized the building and handed ownership of it to the state-controlled Islamic Revolution Mostazafan Foundation, tied to the
Iranian Revolutionary Guards The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 i ...
. The Mostazafan Foundation operated the building until its collapse. At the time of the fire, the Plasco building was used as a residential and commercial building, with a major shopping center on its ground floor, a restaurant on its upper floor, and several clothing workshops.


Fire and collapse

On 19 January 2017, a fire started on the ninth floor at around 07:50 local time (04:20 GMT). The building was occupied at the time by its residents, workers at the garment shops, and various tour groups that were being shown around the building. Ten fire brigades arrived to fight the blaze. The combined brigades had been trying to stop the fire for hours—while assuring that the building had been evacuated—when the building's north wall collapsed without warning, leading to the collapse of the rest of the building a few moments later. The collapse was captured on camera by Iran's state-run
Press TV Press TV (stylised as PRESSTV) is an Iranian state-owned news media organisation, owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), that broadcasts in the English and French languages. The 24-hour channel, which has headquarters in Tehra ...
, which was filming the firefighting efforts. Several firefighters were in the building when the north wall fell, some of whom safely escaped before the building completely collapsed. A number had been fighting the fire from elevated aerial platforms that toppled over during the collapse of the building.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (, born 23 August 1961) is an Iranian Iranian Principlists, conservative politician, former military officer, and current List of Speakers of the Parliament of Iran, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Parli ...
, the
mayor of Tehran The Mayor of Tehran is an elected politician who, along with the City Council of Tehran, City Council of 21 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Tehran. Since 2 September 2021, Alireza Zakani is the mayor of Tehran. Previously, ...
, said he believed that no other civilians were within the building when it collapsed, but eyewitnesses reported seeing residents crossing police lines to try to enter the building and recover their possessions. Twenty firefighters have been reported to be killed. At least 70 others were injured by the collapse, with 23 taken to local hospitals having suffered severe injuries. The building primarily collapsed vertically, causing minimal damage to neighboring buildings. The remains of 15 firefighters were recovered after nine days of relief and rescue operations, which were aided by the local military. Tens of thousands of Iranians, including firefighters and senior officials, attended the funeral ceremony held at Tehran's Grand Mosalla. They were laid to rest in part of the
Behesht-e Zahra Behesht-e Zahra ( ; ) is the largest cemetery in Iran. Located in the southern part of metropolitan Tehran, it is connected to the city by Tehran Metro Line 1. History In the early 1950s, all the cemeteries in Tehran were supposed to be replac ...
cemetery that is reserved for martyrs. Iranian Leader
Ayatollah Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure as Supreme Leader, ...
eulogized the firefighters in a message, calling them heroes and
shaheed ''Shahid'' ( ,   ,   ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); the latter sense acqui ...
s. Following the building's collapse, its owner, the Mostazafan Foundation, declined to make a public statement. Four days later, on 23 January 2017 the foundation apologized for their role in the possible failure in building's safety, but added that they are not a member of building's board who is responsible for the building's affairs.
Mohammad Saeedikia Mohammad Saeedikia (Persian: محمد سعیدی‌کیا) (born 1946) is an Iranian politician who was the former head of Mostazafan Foundation (Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled), from 2014 to 2019. He served as a government minister in ...
, CEO of Mostazafan Foundation also said that the organization is ready to rebuild the Plasco in two years. In April 2017 the government issued a report on the collapse of the building which stated that the Mostazafan Foundation had ignored warnings given by the authorities. The report also stated that government ministries had failed to enforce 22 national building regulations.


New building

Designed by Iranian architectural firm KRDS (Kourosh Rafiey Design Studio), the construction of the new building lasted from 2018 to 2021 and was finally opened in mid-2021 under the name Plasco 1400. The new Plasco building has 20 floors with 5 floors below and 15 floors above ground.


Gallery

File:Plasco tower, old 01.jpg, Newly built tower in the 1960s File:Plasco tower, old 02.jpg, Interior of the building in the 1970s File:Plasco fire by Tasnimnews 10.jpg, Building on fire on 19 January 2017 File:Plasco fire by Tasnimnews 14.jpg, Plasco fire File:Plasco victims funeral in Tehran 19.jpg, Plasco victims funeral in Tehran 19


See also

*
List of tallest buildings in Tehran This list of tallest buildings in Tehran ranks High-rise buildings in Tehran by height. Tehran has the most high-rise buildings in Iran and its population density is the highest in the country. Note that the Milad Tower (at the 6th tallest concret ...


References


External links

* {{YouTube, sPGr4D1-zDI, "Plasco" Building Collapses in Tehran (another view) – a video of the collapse
Plasco Building, Tehran
Building and structure collapses in 2017 2017 in Iran Buildings and structures in Tehran Commercial buildings completed in 1962 Residential buildings completed in 1962 Fires in Iran Burned buildings and structures Collapsed buildings and structures Demolished buildings and structures in Iran 2017 fires in Asia January 2017 in Iran Former skyscrapers Building and structure collapses in Asia Man-made disasters in Iran Building and structure collapses caused by fire