Timeline: Rayy Cement Plant
In collaboration with 1001 Architecture
Cement and ore processing plants are crucial in modernization, urban development, and the exploitation of natural and mineral resources. These industrial units’ construction, installment, and maintenance are subject to a mega network of construction companies, agencies, and monopolies, often as strong and durable as cement. As a result, their impact extends beyond urban construction and infrastructure development. For example, the track of their presence can be seen from government aid policies to achieve self-sufficiency to the forced migration of the locals due to climate change.
The time course depicted on the wall of the “Immediate and Remote” exhibition and the report/research on “Iran’s First cement Plant” published on the HerMaP Art Projects website is a glance at the 70-year timeline of an industrial heritage left by construction and engineering companies in Iran.
In this time sequence, the Rayy Cement Plant functions like a prism whose function is to divert the focus rather than a telescopic approach to history: a prism to disperse the disjointed links of international trade, geographical conditions, and historical considerations within a given territory.
