TEHRAN – There have been many innovative ways to introduce cultural heritage sites to avid sightseers and potential travelers, one may be creating photomontages in order to make them even more inspiring!

In his latest project, Iranian designer Mohammad-Hassan Forouzanfar has made a series of photomontages titled “Retrofuturism”, which fuse icons of the world’s contemporary architecture with their ancient Iranian counterparts.

Similarly to his previous projects, which have included introducing skyscrapers to Iranian villages, “Retrofuturism” considers how to restore the historic buildings with additions from world renowned architects such as Zaha Hadid, Daniel Liebskind, and Norman Foster, designboom.com reported.

To fulfill his project, Forouzanfar has selected places in Iran including pre-Islamic royal palaces and castles in Fars, Sistan-Baluchestan, Khuzestan and Isfahan provinces. The insertions of contemporary Western architecture offer a contradictory mix that links Iran’s past to the future and present of the West.

His works create an intriguing combination of materials, styles and eras. Elements of contemporary buildings, characterized by cool glass and metal, extrude from the desert landscape and historic stone buildings, resulting in a striking set of images.

“In essence, the project presents a new definition of restoration, one that provides a critical and avant-garde look at Iranian architectural artifacts,” the digital-architecture-and- design magazine reported.

The country boasts hundreds of historical sites such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 22 being inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

AFM/MG