Ilyas-Bijan dome, College of Khabad

The huge glass dome over Khabad college is instantly recognisable and one of the major attractions of the city. Thirty-three metres tall and twenty-six metres in diameter, it is made of 300,000 individual panes of stained glass, arranged in a geometric mosaic that spills out of the glass and down the columns, continued by jewel-fired faience tiles. The mosaic was designed by Bijan ibn Nasif, in celebration of the work of the logician Ilyas ibn Jalal, and fabricated by the glassmakers Aawar and Daughters. Originally built to house the great exhibition of 5.824, the dome was sufficiently popular that it remained open to the public afte the exhibition concluded, operating as a concert venue and speakers' hall. The building was called on to house the College of Khabad's library following the fire of 5.841. A temporary arrangement became permanent in 5.844, when the College bought the exhibition hall as its new, permanent libary.

Alterations

Designed to maximise brightness without creating direct light, few structural changes were needed to make the exhibition hall into a library. Unfortunately, the faience tiles that line the walls are now panelled in for their protection and the walls hidden behind the stacks. Additional floors were installed, and the reading room now sits immediately under the dome. The mosaic above is still visible and the reading room is open to visitors outside of exam season.

Tourism

A smaller replica - approximately 40% of the original size - was constructed in Shahin by local silver magnate Babak Mirzaii as a bathhouse in his family home. Now open to the public, the replica allows visitors to see the full effect of the design continuing down to the tiled walls, which are hidden in the original, but the cut and quality of the glass are not of the standard of the original and the effect of the colour of the tiles is somewhat muted.

Type

Room, Education, Library

Parent Location

Theolisian peninsula