Dariush Borbor
1934– · Iranian-French architect and urban planner with painting work
Dariush Borbor, born in 1934, is an artist of Iranian and French nationality whose reputation rests mainly on architecture and urban planning. His work as a painter is less well known. Documented pieces include a watercolour, Flowers (1953), and an oil on canvas, Lovers, Black and White in Unity (1957), which the artist presented to Nelson Mandela in 2007 on the work's fiftieth anniversary.
His training took place in Iran, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, with studies at the universities of Cambridge, Liverpool and Geneva. After returning to Tehran he founded his own architecture and planning firm in 1963, and he later moved to Paris and Los Angeles. Little is documented about his painting style, so his work as a painter remains a relatively unexplored part of his career.
In his professional field he is regarded as a pioneer of modern urban planning in Iran, and he received the Gold Mercury International award in 1975. His legacy is associated chiefly with his work as an architect, while his painting remains a secondary strand of a multidisciplinary career.