{"id":119075,"date":"2025-03-08T02:32:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T02:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/marketing\/once-a-crumbling-relic-of-old-iran-brewery-reborn-as-arts-hub-et-brandequity\/"},"modified":"2025-03-08T02:32:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T02:32:52","slug":"once-a-crumbling-relic-of-old-iran-brewery-reborn-as-arts-hub-et-brandequity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=119075","title":{"rendered":"Once a crumbling relic of old Iran, brewery reborn as arts hub, ET BrandEquity"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Hidden behind imposing brick walls in the heart of Tehran, a renovated industrial cellar where decades ago Iranian beer was made has been transformed into a hub for contemporary art.<\/p>\n

The ambitious restoration of the derelict Argo factory has made it “one of the most beautiful buildings of Tehran”, said architect Nazanin Amirian, visiting the latest exhibition there.<\/p>\n

While the former factory with its towering chimney and cavernous cellar has been given a new life, many other historic buildings in the Iranian capital face a grimmer fate.<\/p>\n

“We hoped restoring Argo would inspire others to preserve similar buildings,” said Hamid Reza Pejman, director of the Pejman Foundation<\/a> that took on the project.<\/p>\n

But “economic conditions are tough”, said Pejman, after years of crippling sanctions and with no government funding to support restoration endeavours.<\/p>\n

Established more than a century ago, the Argo factory had produced one of Iran’s oldest and biggest beer brands before falling into disuse.<\/p>\n

It had ceased operations just a few years before the 1979 Islamic revolution, which toppled Iran’s Western-backed shah and ushered in a strict ban on the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages.<\/p>\n

The brand itself lives on alcohol-free, with rights to the Argo logo transferred to a local beverage company, Pejman said.<\/p>\n

He said that since the factory was “out of operation” at the time, it was spared the fate of some other breweries which were set ablaze during the revolution.<\/p>\n

Ever since the Islamic republic banned alcohol, bootleg beverages proliferated on the black market, with toxic methanol occasionally contaminating the natural ethanol and resulting in mass poisonings.<\/p>\n

– ‘Transform the city’ –<\/p>\n

Left a crumbling structure of weathered brick walls that also served as a shelter for homeless people, the Argo building was eventually purchased by the Pejman Foundation in 2016.<\/p>\n

Its brick walls and chimney were restored, keeping their distinct industrial look, while other parts like the roof had to be entirely rebuilt.<\/p>\n

Since 2020, the building has been open to the public as a museum, featuring local and international artists.<\/p>\n

In a nod to its past life, the Argo arts centre offers non-alcoholic beer for sale.<\/p>\n

The current exhibition is a collection of installation works, sculptures and paintings by Iranian multidisciplinary artist Maryam Amini.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the building has been swallowed by Tehran’s rapid urban expansion, now surrounded by high-rises, modern cafes and sprawling commercial centres in one of the city’s busiest neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

Much like the Argo factory until 2016, some of Tehran’s historic buildings including old movie theatres have been abandoned for years, largely due to economic hardship.<\/p>\n

Others were demolished as shifting urban priorities have favoured modern developments over restoration.<\/p>\n

Amir Ali Izadi, a 43-year-old artist visiting the factory-turned-museum, expressed his hope that similar buildings would undergo renovation.<\/p>\n

“It would transform the city’s landscape,” he said.<\/p>\n

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