Anonymous Martyrs' Monument; A Review on two approaches of landscape making in Iran and Iraq

It is generally essential to study the monumental spaces as the presence of humans in the environment leads to the creation of social environments and builds identity of the city. Due to the importance of the concept of war and the role of the people or the government, the concept of the martyr and its reflection on the art of has been discussed. It includes the construction of memorials of anonymous martyr, and the Unknown Soldier. The artistic representations of warfare, is a common practice in different countries.
One of the most destructive wars in the 21st century could be considered as, the Iraq attack to Iran. It is recalled in Iran with the name of the holy war that took place over eight- years. In the Arab societies it is named as Saddam’s Qadisiyah and the first Persian Gulf War. In Iran-Iraq war Iranian people were in the defensive aspect of the war and the other is humanity aspect. Probably it explains why the concept behind this war is not rooted in the materialistic issues and it created a rich literature. So significant differences in the definition of war among Iranian and Iraqis concept of war, in spite of their social and historical similarities exists. It further suggests two different point of view and two approaches to the martyr's memorial. The present paper evaluates some samples of anonymous Martyrs Monuments in Iran and Iraq and also attempts to show how recreating the epic memories and pride of a nation has an important role in connecting the cultural memory of the people for subsequent generations. This study compares the characteristics of Martyrs Monuments in Iran with Iraq and shows how different point of views may make a difference in the appearances, symbols and content of the monuments of war in two countries, defender and attacker. Considerable difficulty in the Iranian martyrs memorials is the lack of expertise in perspective and low attention to the potential of urban suitable spaces in the audience, although despite the technical weaknesses, they are enduring and significant due to their popularity . During time it can improve and strengthen the relationship with environment and daily life. In contrast the monuments of martyrs of Iraq, despite the superior physical features, are not as impressive as their counterparts in Iran.