TEHRAN: Hidden behind imposing brick walls in the heart of Tehran, a renovated industrial cellar where decades ago Iranian beer was made has been transformed into a hub for contemporary art.

The ambitious restoration of the derelict Argo factory has made it `one of the most beautiful buildings of Tehran`, said architect Nazanin Amirian, visiting the latest exhibition there.

While the former factory with its towering chimney and cavernous cellar has been given a new life, many other historic buildings in the Iranian capital face a grimmer fate.

`We hoped restoring Argo would inspire others to preserve similar buildings,` said Hamid Reza Pejman, director of the Pejman Foundation that took on the project.But `economic conditions are tough`, said Pejman, after years of crippling sanctions and with no government fundingtosupportrestoration endeavours.

Established more than a century ago, the Argo factory had produced one of Iran`s oldest and biggest beer brands before falling into disuse.

It had ceased operations just a few years before the 1979 revolution, which toppled Iran`s Western-backed Shah and ushered in a strict ban on the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

The brand itself lives on alcohol-free, with rights to the Argo logo transferred to a local beverage company, Pejman said.

He said that since the factory was `out of operation` at the time, it was spared the fate of some other breweries which were set ablaze during the revolution.-AFP