"A bridge can just be a simple structural project, connecting two places out of necessity. Or a bridge can be more architecturally sophisticated, having some context with the place," Leila told PTI.
She is in the city to attend 'Connecting Histories', a an international architectural convention organised by CREDAI Bengal and Indian Institute of Architects.
"Our project in Tehran falls in the second category. It is a complex cultural project having some activity. The bridge has handrails, lighting, green space, lively interior," she said about the pedestrian bridge, which has won several international awards including the prestigious 'Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2016'.
She said rather than the role of an architect, it is the role of everyone - landscape designer, architect, urban planner, civic bodies - to create good quality human environmenmt for pedesrians, not for cars.
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"You have shops on Venice bridge. While in Tehran we
built the bridge to give the commuters a good quality life even when they are outside their homes, on the street," she explained.
"Municipalities shoud enforce regulations," Leila, the co-founder of architecture firm 'Diba Tensile Architecture' in Tehran said.
Asked about the situation of women in Iran, she said, "when I was studying in the university (Shahid Beheshti University) in Tehran, of the 30 students in our department, there were 20 girls. And that answers your question probably."
"Women in Iran are good students. In varsities and other institutions they are in large numbers."