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 For as long as he can remember, Dariush Zandi has been attracted to out-of-the-way places. As a child he loved nothing better than to leave his native Teheran and travel to the villages. “Life there intrigued me with its simplicity,” he recalls.
His university years in the United States gave him ample opportunity to experience the great outdoors and, when he graduated as an architect, he joined a Manhattan/Soho firm, Claude Samton & Associates, which specialises in designing houses, parks and recreation areas. He still keeps in touch with the principle of this firm, Claude, and visits his former colleagues regularly.
After this, Dariush worked with Jafar Tukan Architects in Amman, Jordan, before returning to the US to continue his studies.
He completed his master’s degree in urban-design architecture and town planning and, after further international travels, joined Dubai Municipality, where he was Senior Architect and Town Planner from 1981 to 1994. His work involved town planning, parks and recreation projects; he was also project co-ordinator for several major projects, including the Dubai master plan and the restoration of Sheikh Saeed’s House (the former residence of Dubai’s ruling Al Maktoum family) and Hatta Heritage Village.
Currently, he works in the capacity of an architectural adviser/consultant for international projects. One of the companies he works with is the renowned Iranian firm Baft-e-Shahr, with Paseban Hazrat as its director, concentrating on recreational and environmental conservation projects on a regional level. Baft-e-Shahr recently won the Aga Khan Architectural Award.
He also runs an art gallery, Total Arts, at The Courtyard, a complex designed and built by him. The gallery specialises in traditional and Middle Eastern arts and crafts and aims to discover and expose new artists, as well as enrich the cultural heritage of the UAE.
Dariush is an avid collector of Middle Eastern arts and crafts himself, and has made his collection available for viewing in the gallery, with the long-term goal of turning it into a Museum of Middle Eastern Art.
Through the Iranian Business Council, of which he’s an active member, he keeps in close contact with the community.
In addition, Dariush is a professional photographer and his photographs have appeared in many books and magazines. He is the author of a second volume of Off-Road in the Emirates and co-author of Architectural Heritage of the Gulf, also published by Motivate. He is currently working on revising and updating Off-Road 2.
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About Dariush Zandi 
