Designboom_ for his latest project, designer mohammad hassan forouzanfar has created a series of photomontages that fuse icons of contemporary architecture with ancient sites in iran. 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.

for ‘retrofuturism’, forouzanfar has selected places in iran including pre-islamic royal palaces and castles in fars, sistan, and baluchistan, khuzestan and kashan provinces. the insertions of contemporary western architecture offer a contradictory mix that links iran’s past to the future and present of the west.

the series creates 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.