Citation: Mehan, A. Gio Ponti and Villa Namazee: (De)listed Modern Heritage. Heritage 2023, 6, 789–801. https://doi.org/10.3390/ heritage6020043 Academic Editor: Stella Sofia Kyvelou Received: 2 December 2022 Revised: 12 January 2023 Accepted: 16 January 2023 Published: 18 January 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). heritage Article Gio Ponti and Villa Namazee: (De)listed Modern Heritage Asma Mehan Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA; asma.mehan@ttu.edu Abstract: This article studies the architectural design and cultural significance of Villa Namazee, a modernist building designed by Italian architect Gio Ponti in Tehran. The study explores how the building, once a symbol of modernity and progress, has been neglected, delisted from the national heritage, and fallen into disrepair. Focusing primarily on the case of Villa Namazee in Tehran, Iran, as an example of Ponti’s projects in the Middle Eastern context, the second part of this paper aims to reconsider and re-narrate Gio Ponti’s project in Tehran. In this context, the article sheds light on the nationally and internationally prominent concepts, ideas, collaborations, and design elements of Gio Ponti’s project in Tehran. The paper argues for reevaluating our understanding of heritage and recognizing the importance of preserving modern architectural masterpieces such as Villa Namazee. Keywords: Gio Ponti; (de)listed modern heritage; Italian architecture; Iranian modern history 1. Introduction As an early example of an Italian international architect in 1950, Gio Ponti promoted transnational creativity to design the modern habitat Ponti was a renowned Italian architect and designer known for his contributions to the modernist movement. He designed several notable buildings and projects throughout his career, including the Villa Namazee in Tehran, Iran. Villa Namazee in Tehran (1957–1964) is Gio Ponti’s extraordinary masterpiece, designed for the Iranian Prime Minister Shafi Namazee and his wife, Vida Namazee. Celebrating his clients ‘joie de vivre’ and “the size of serenity”, Villa Namazee was designed as an open construction with two main façades. Ponti designed Villa Namazee in the affluent district of Niavaran in the north of Tehran’s foothills in collaboration with Fausto Melotti (1901–1986) and Paolo De Poli (1905–1996) [1] (p. 14). In Tehran, shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Villa Namazee in Tehran was possessed by the government and used as a local register office. Villa Namazee was then converted into a house and remained “wounded architecture” due to lack of attention, abandonment, and absurd renovations. For instance, the ceiling was covered by a thick layer of waterproofing. The central patio was suffocated by bizarre Plexiglas cupolas and the desolated interiors in which only a few built-in pieces of furniture survive. Instead, the interior spaces were redecorated with cheap and substituted materials [2]. After being sold to Ahmad Abrishami, a representative of Nokia in Iran, on the 13 November 2007, the building was registered as a national heritage building. However, in 2017, this status was lifted so it could be sold to a state-led real-estate group. The new owner of Villa Namazee sadly removed this building from the list of national cultural heritage sites, paving the way for constructing a 20-storey luxury hotel. When the national authorities decided to delist and remove modern buildings such as Villa Namazee in Tehran from the cultural heritage list due to real estate development, they threatened and ignored the cultural values and national identities [3–5]. While this Italian architectural modernist symbol in Tehran has recently survived demolition and raze due to several petitions and public outrage, many other endangered Iranian modern heritage and mid-century buildings exist. The first part of this article, ‘Gio Ponti’s Typical Domuses’ focuses on Gio Ponti’s works, projects, and contributions in architecture, urban design, with a special focus on Heritage 2023, 6, 789–801. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6020043 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/heritage