Through comparison we change our perception of any new phenomena we encounter; The alien became the familiar and the unknown becomes the known. 

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Like any travel enthusiast, I didn’t wait for the moment of encounter to familiarize myself with Ecuador. Besides, this wasn’t just a touristic visit, I was supposed to give a lecture on architecture to architecture students. I was curious about my audience. I was curious to learn the context in which the students were growing; I wanted to understand the economic landscape and the social structure which shapes urban life there; and above all the morphology, of old and new.  

So I started comparing Quito to the cities I am most familiar with; Tehran, my eternal home where I grew up and have spent most of my life, and New York, which was home at the time.

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I had always been fascinated by how morphology and the physical presence of cities are affected by non-physical aspects of the society which creates them. Despite reducing the city map to black and white, open and closed plan, Nolli maps still can tell a lot about social aspects and dynamics of the population and history of cities. When I compared the Nolli maps of these three cities next to each other, Tehran and Quito started to look alike, and quite different to New York. The first two had more chaotic, less organized, yet more complex urban structures. Whereas New York’s urban fabric followed a rigid grid, which is not disregarded even when it reaches the organic edges of Manhattan island, Tehran was a patchwork of different urban design approaches, which seemed true to the city’s more short-term approach to development. In contrast, the consistency of the grid in Manhattan since its inception (over 200 years ago) seemed to reflect the long term quality of social structures/state. Quito on the other hand, while it has patches of grid, overall its urban fabric seemed more organic. It might be solely because of the mountainous nature of the city, but it might also be related to the social structure and economic status of the country. This was something I was hoping to discover while visiting Quito. 

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Despite my research, when I finally stepped foot in Quito, I nevertheless experienced one of those aww moments. In fact, I had been wrong to expect the city to have some similarities with Tehran - there were not some similarities; there were too many similarities! The vibe of the city was totally familiar to me. And although the morphology of the buildings (especially the colonial district) were totally different from what I was familiar with, the urban fabric and social interactions were quite the same. It almost felt like if I close my eyes I could still navigate through the city. 

The number of architecture schools in Quito demonstrates the enthusiasm of the young generation for design. I got to experience this enthusiasm first hand when the beautiful courtyard of the house of architecture filled up with young students, and when they asked questions during a friendly drink session a few days after. I only wish there had been time to experience and study the city with the students and through their eyes. 

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In the second week of my stay, a huge earthquake of 7.5 magnitude stroke Ecuador. Coming from Tehran, which together with Quito is among the top 10 cities most likely to be struck by an earthquake and having experienced three major earthquakes during my lifetime, I jumped out of bed and found refuge in the nearest doorway. The earthquake was long enough for me to realize that I should be searching for a better refuge. I went out of my room and ran to the lobb, which was located on the 7th floor where I found the relaxed receptionist browsing on her phone. She kindly smiled and invited me to go back to my room as it would eventually stop. She was right! Was I the only anxious hotel guest who ran up to her asking what we should do? Afterall Ecuadorians seem to be more relaxed with earthquakes. 

I assume that despite all the similarities I found between Tehran and Quito, there are so many differences for which I’m keen to go back and discover.