Mosque (Amir Al-Momenin) Proposal / CAAT Architecture Studio

Posted on febrero 2, 2013 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

Focusing on local architecture, the proposal for the Mosque (Amir Al- Momenin) by CAAT Architecture Studio detaches from everyday life and the approach to worship space in accessing the building. The integrated entity of the proposal plays its role as a religious and cultural center in the region scale while communicating with the environment. More images and architects’ description after the break.

In questing the context of the project in Tehran, the project unveiled one of the basic aspects of Iranian architecture as “hierarchy” quality of space organization. This way of layering spaces that makes sequences of conquering the space can be traced in different older buildings, especially in religious buildings. In accordance to the contemporary metropolitan urban block with a dense building blocks where the mosque located in, and the region that mosque works within, guided the design team to a new perspective that shaped the proposal in relevance to traditional and modern life style.

Inside the limitation of site borders and neighbors, formation of the mosque in regard to the function requisites of this type of building like praying hall and lateral activities, separated access and spaces for men and women etc. beside the local architecture of north of Tehran, lead to merging elements of a mosque as minaret, porch, yard and dome in a way that recreated totally new spaces. The project related to the environment through the variety of climate in each season, and different view angels and transparency depending on environmental and interior light.

Architecture Company: CAAT Architecture Studio
Location: Dezashib, Tehran, Iran
Client: Mosque Board of Trustees
Architects: Mahdi Kamboozia, Rasha Kiani
Assistant Architect: Hamidreza Salek
3D Rendering: Mohamad Ashkbarsefat
Photography: Mahdi Hosseini
Area: 559.23 Sqm
Year: 2013

Brick Pattern House / Alireza Mashhadmirza

Posted on noviembre 27, 2012 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

Architects: Alireza Mashhadmirza
Location: Tehran, Iran
Year: 2011
Photographs: Courtesy of Alireza Mashhadmirza

This project has been shortlisted for the housing category for the 2012 world architecture festival and awarded by memar, an iranian magazine of architecture, as one of the best architectural achievements of the year. The “Brick Pattern House “designed by alireza mashhadimirza. Brick pattern house is a residence located in poor area in Tehran.

In my country architecture is a luxurious fantasy, but in much country which architecture is a reality. The building is located in one of the poorest districts of Tehran in jeyhoon area, where let alone the architecture, you can hardly find a building that has the minimum standard requirements of a sane building. I always considered the social role of architecture. This project was a challenge for me. I knew I didn’t have any chance to earn money on this project, but I was determined to show that architecture can happen even in such economically and culturally poor area. There you can hardly make something that is not a square box. The only think you have to work on it as architect, is the plain façade of the building. The construction cost for this project (including structure and technical services) was equivalent to 180 us dollars per sqm and the building plot was 130 sqm.

The professional fee the owner could pay to me was so low that I could not pay a resident and tight supervision on the building and on the other hand the workers could not be left with complex executive drawings. Therefore I’ve decided to create a method that does not need any phase 2 drawings. The result was paying more attention to details and designing complicated details in a very simple way.

In jeyhoon area, no owner can afford the costs of a contractor and the houses are built by the owners themselves. This is the case. During the construction, I had to deal with a few workers that didn’t have any idea about the construction industry and standards. Construction machinery and equipment were primitive. Nevertheless, in this condition, I could not deliver a village cottage to my client, but a city building with an earthquake resistant structure, energy saving walls, acceptable acoustic properties, fire safety and functional technical services. The space requirements were also similar to any small scale modern apartment building. In our country, labor wage is proportionally low and the possibility of creating special designs on smaller scales is more than developed countries. In this project, I tried to be creative on using local labors and show how valuable a brick facade could be.

Considering my limitations on one hand and my wish to give a clear architectural message to the people of jeyhoon on the other, I decided first to concentrate my effort on the exterior of the building. Interior design remained nothing more than a functional space aesthetically related to the façade. In order to recall the traditional architecture, I used brick as the main construction material and made a kind of contemporary mashrabiya to cover the whole façade and to mitigate the glaring sun light of Tehran.

We designed a tridimensional brick wall which also has a cultural value. In our country people care so much about privacy in their houses and they usually use curtains to block the windows. Therefore, they will miss the outside view .with this semi-transparent brick wall there is no need to put curtains and we can still have outside view.

In respect of our low budget, we needed to create a method which does not make us produce lots of executive drawings and does not require a great amount of time for supervision. So we invented a new and extremely easy mean of communication based on a table including all needed information for creating the facade. This is something similar to the instructions traditionally recited in the carpet workshops during the work time to coordinate the activities of several weavers working on the same carpet. We named this instruction “method 23″ because everything is associated with the number 23. 23 brick rows, 23 sliced bricks, 23 boxes of bricks, and 23 columns of structural supports.

This method is like putting together pieces of a simple puzzle, each has a code to identify the location and orientation. The complete instruction was included in one a4 page given to the workers. According to this instruction the workers received 23 brick boxes. Each box contained the numbered and sliced bricks. As it is shown in the chart for example there were 23 bricks in the first box numbered from 1 to 23 and in the 23rd box there was only one brick which was the no.23. All the bricks were drilled like it is shown in the picture. In each floor there were 23 boxes. The workman first opened the box no.1 and put the bricks in to the framework starting from number 1and ending to no. 23. Obviously we needed to explain our method to the workers, but once they understood the trick, the work became a child’s play.

Brick Pattern House / Alireza Mashhadmirza originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 26 Nov 2012.

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No Name Shop / Ali Dehghani, Ali Soltani & Atefeh Karbasi

Posted on octubre 30, 2012 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

Architects: Ali Dehghani, Ali Soltani, Atefeh Karbasi
Location: Najafabad, Iran
Area: 794 sqm
Year: 2012
Photographs: Farshid Nasrabadi

The design experience of a shop without a specific application was a special one. The property of Mr.Hamidi who was the employer of the project had a unique dimension. This property required a unique and out of ordinary insight. In addition to all that the employer had no idea what he was going to expect from the available space and what he wanted to sell. For that matter, this made the job difficult. But it wouldn’t end here. the observable chaotic surroundings of the project, the height limitation due to the location of the property and economic limitation had to be taken into consideration.

We cut the project property from the middle on the north-south axis and was divided into 4 separate half-level and floor. Because of the height limitation, we decided to build mostly the building into the ground. The different layers of the floor levels had to get the attention by the fluidity and visual fluency. Due to the cost effectivity, this fluency could only be achieved by the implementation of the stairs. This low steps was considered for this design. providing proper sense of movement and presence in variety of points all the way to the back of the shop were important goals of the project.

This goal was achieved by providing a very deep and expanded view starting from the entrance of the complex towards all levels, the presence of colorful lines on a simple background and single color of the store,The direction of the lines provide great volume of lights flowing from the top to the lower levels. The breaks formed on the axis and side of the stair eliminated the indifference feelings of the design by creating variety of views.

The employer was in doubt either to have one or several shops. By cutting the available land we gave the chance of having 4 different sate-section. We even introduced the necessary partitions next to the walk-ways, in case one section needed to be closed down while the others kept their activities. The employers wanted to commission two sections first to see what happens in the future. The employer believes that this is the strong point of the project where customers can go with their shoppings and are able to see at least two more levels. In spite of having deep visual connections, the levels are separated from each other.

Of the most important factors formed the original concept in the outside view was the location of the property except a historic residential facing our project, the properly was located in an area where there are construction activities is full swing. It goes without saying that these activities give very ugly sights in the public areas of the city. Moreover the historic residence is owned by the employer of the project. After some discussions with the employer, It was decided to maintain the historic residence and after reconstruction of the building to create a mutual communication in the architectures of the buildings. The clear and glazing face of the store and the historic building reflection on the body of shop ,Viewing a clear image of this building from inside of the shop is part of unified dialogue created in the design. The image is viewed through a modern and colorful frame. This could seduce or eliminate the dullness of the environment and give out an exhilarated and joyful environment to the city.

Even though a steal structure was very suitable for such design but due to economic restrictions and normal practice in the region, a concrete structure was chosen.

Now Mr.Hamidi owns a shop that can inspire him in the decisions he has to make in the future.

No Name Shop / Ali Dehghani, Ali Soltani & Atefeh Karbasi originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 30 Oct 2012.

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DGS-Co Office Building / Ali dehghani, Ali soltani & Atefeh karbasi

Posted on octubre 26, 2012 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

Architects: Ali dehghani, Ali soltani & Atefeh karbasi
Location: Najafabad, Iran
Year: 2012
Area: 1011 sqm
Client: Mohammad Ayati
Photographs: Farshid Nasrabadi

We were invited for designing office building of the factory in 2010 , soon after the full implementation of the ceiling and the skeleton and the blades ; therefore by considering the fixed elements as the column, the stairs and the elevator we faced a lot of limitations and problems. In the initial visiting the site, designers were attracted by rocky mountain environment, and the special effect that the color and the form of the mountain had _in the north east_ was good beginning to create unique indicator and form. At first for harmony and having pleasant view from inside the building , we add some steel part to main structure for better result in form and also to have good scene of mountains and appropriate circulation from inside.

As the form of the hall accommodating VIP room in the upper floor has free circulation so that present the best view of mountain landscape . In arranging the plan we tried to lead the form of the project from north _the mountains_ to south near the city.The basic part that hold administrative services has the same color as the mountain . The southern part of the building that is used for manager ,VIPs and conference, designed by modern materials and there we have panorama view of the city.

The walls of the administration unit, which before our design , was built by masonry materials ,had been destroyed and in the new plan we have homogeneous space and flexible for the administration part . rectangular windows are formed with considering to some unpleasant outlook of the eastern front elements like the electricity room or adjoining parking.This idea present beautiful nature of a mountain near-flat to the domestic employees.

To consider the east light and the main work hours from the beginning of morning to shortly after the middle day, we can see the shadow of the movement light on rectangular framed on the floor space that it can be controlled with the shutters cause a dynamic space.

This project holds administrative space of the factory and designed for the mountain surrounding and the mountain climbers , who are specially go for experience in the field of natural beauty. As if it rise from heart of the mountain and has friendship with that.

DGS-Co Office Building / Ali dehghani, Ali soltani & Atefeh karbasi originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 26 Oct 2012.

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DGS-Co Office Building / Ali dehghani, Ali soltani & Atefeh karbasi

Posted on octubre 26, 2012 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

Architects: Ali dehghani, Ali soltani & Atefeh karbasi
Location: Najafabad, Iran
Year: 2012
Area: 1011 sqm
Client: Mohammad Ayati
Photographs: Farshid Nasrabadi

DGS-Co Office Building / Ali dehghani, Ali soltani & Atefeh karbasi originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 26 Oct 2012.

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Danial / Reza Sayadian + Sara Kalantary

Posted on octubre 24, 2012 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

Architects: Reza Sayadian + Sara Kalantary
Location: Tehran, Iran
Associate Architect: Hamidreza Razmaria
Year: 2012
Area: 1,344 sqm
Construction: tdcoffice
Structure: Mohammad Fathi
Client: Nazila Ansari
Photographs: Alireza Behpour

Danial apartment is located in North east district of Tehran. The neighborhood that Danial is constructed used to be summer houses and gardens and as Tehran expanded, the gardens were destroyed and trees where replaced by buildings. SO We decided to put back nature, being bold and remind people of lost nature.

The whole exterior facade is consisting of 20 tree-like panels. Each floor’s façade is covered by 4 of the panels which complete each other two by two, all installed on two rails which can be moved manually all along the rails horizontally, providing infinite choices to the resident who can control the panels from inside.

The variety in shapes of facade ,added by sunlight angels, have an unique effect on the interior,since by every inch of movement we have a new lighting and shadow dancing. We used the idea of shadow to design the ceiling and walls as you can see in the picture. The second layer of façade is covered by large windows, permitting a close connection to the city.

Danial is set on 320 square meter rectangular shaped land. The plan was constructing a 7 –story building covering 1344 sqm, including 5 residential apartments in 5 volumes, each volume covers 165 sqm. Parking and main entrance are located on Ground floor and recreation facilities (indoor pool, sauna and Jacuzzi) are set in the basement

Danial / Reza Sayadian + Sara Kalantary originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 24 Oct 2012.

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JAY Mixed-Use Complex Winning Proposal / ASAR Consulting Engineers

Posted on septiembre 26, 2012 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

ASAR Consulting Engineers shared with us their winning proposal in the competition to design the JAY mixed-use complex in Tehran, Iran. With the aim of a long-term plan to create a vibrant urban complex in a 54 hectare area site, their proposed response to these challenges begins with a public garden which improves the existing green spaces and plays a role as an urban structure to integrate the 4 different zones of the project. The program includes about 173 hectares of commercial, recreational and administrative activities. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The competition organizer, University of Tehran Architecture and Civil House (UTACH), announced the two-stage competition of Jay mixed-use complex design in April 2012. The first stage of competition announced publicly to call the architecture groups which are qualified for this program. UTACH finally elected 15 companies among 85 registered groups to attend the next stage. In the second stage, the groups were required to offer their proposals in three different scales included a master plan of the whole site, an urban design of one zone and an architectural design of a particular building.

The main challenges of this project were: 1. Preserving and improving the internal existing green spaces. 2. Making spatial connections between the inner spaces of the site and the city. 3. Creating a flexible urban structure to integrate the elements of the project. 4. Preventing intersection of footpaths and roadways to have the most area of free surface for pedestrians. 5. Obtaining a flexible plan which can be implemented in case of changing the requirements and feasabilities in different phases in future.

The character of the green space changes in different parts. In the middle part of the site it is based on the capability of existing old trees and is used as a regional public park. By permeation of green space to each zone a surrounded plaza in connection with buildings will shaped. To have a continuous urban space between the city and the project, a north-south oriented network of pedestrian accesses which were inspired by local streets is designed. These paths are connected to each other by a main west-east oriented pedestrian path in the middle part of the public garden. Two main underground roads supply the car access to each zone and its buildings. The surface of the public park continues with gentle slopes to the surface of the underground roads to make legible spaces for drivers.

The design strategies of buildings trigger continual spaces between the public garden and internal spaces of the buildings, and connect the public garden to the surrounding residential fabric. The buildings which are located in the middle part of the site are shaped with sloped roofs toward the garden to keep the continuity of public green spaces and views. Other buildings which are away from the middle part of the site and surround the courtyard of each zone have free ground floors. These ground floors allow the green and open space to continue among the buildings. Besides, the upper floors are connected to the ground floor by some green voids in the place of existed old trees.

Design: ASAR Consulting Engineers
Location: Tehran, Iran
Project Manager: Ahmad Abrishami
Design Team: Shervin Abrishami, Farhad Khandan, Amin Monsefi, Ali Andaji Garmaroodi, Reza Rudneshin, Samad Shahidi, Samira Barati, Asal Rasouli
Area: 1,735,000 square meters
Status: Competition – first prize

Tehran Stock Exchange Competition, 2nd Prize / Hadi Teherani Office + Design Core [4S]

Posted on septiembre 15, 2012 by :: noticias arquitectura ::

Designed by Hadi Teherani Office + Design Core [4S], the second prize winning proposal for the Tehran Stock Exchange competition is an elegant and simple two-part structure. While the lower main structure is ten storeys high and hovers above the piazza, the 66-meter high building stands as a dominant design motif in the city. The cubature, as well as the ecological and building services concept, is based on the historic Iranian ‘wind-catcher’ which forms a traditional, Persian architectural element to support the natural ventilation of buildings to convey an optimized state of the art technology. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The two-storey-high Exchange Hall towers majestically, separated by a public observation platform – the “Sky Garden” – for the people of Tehran. The new Tehran Stock Exchange is distinguishable by its urban planning scale and its differentiated appearance. The support-free entrance level (Piazza) on the ground floor is unique and appropriate to its utilization, with its water features, footbridges and an upwards rotating feature void, the character of which is reminiscent of the historic domes of some of the magnificent Iranian traditional public buildings.

The main access is via escalators to the ‘information center’ in the first floor. There you will be guided to either: the main entrance core, the visitor core for the Exchange Hall level or the conference center. In the ground floor you will find two separate entrance cores, and a visitor core as the Exit of the Exchange Hall level.

The first 10 storeys are designed in such a way that in every 3rd storey there is a two-storey, transparent ‘communication zone’ which is intended to function as an inviting area for members of staff to spend some time and discuss things with each other. These communication zones all lie staggered to each other so that they afford the beautiful view of the mountains or the Tehran skyline. They contribute towards the outside appearance of the building and stand for openness and transparency.

On the 1st floor the Conference Center is located with up to 200 seats. Large conferences with more than 300 seats can take place in the Exchange Hall level. The visitors can access the various areas via the two-storey waiting lobby. On the 2nd floor the dependent spaces such as the central archive, classrooms and canteens are located. On the 3rd to 7th floor one can find the independent offices such as a broadcasting TV studio. Thanks to the rotating void, a spectacular space is formed that is very suitable for TV programs and therefore also has a recognition value for the TV channel.

The management of the Tehran Stock Exchange is placed on 8th to 10th floors immediately near to the Exchange Hall in the upper storeys. These floors offer a breath-taking view of the city and the surrounding regions. The office floors can be individually extended as open-plan offices or as traditional office cells.

The Exchange Hall is located right at the top on the 11th floor. The brokers sit in a U-shaped, graduated area. This arrangement supports verbal and visual communication. This takes the form of a mechanical lifting platform (retractable seating system) meaning that the Hall can also be level and flexible for other events. A furniture storeroom for the brokers’ desks is positioned immediately next to the Hall.

Visitors can access the Exchange Hall via a separate lift core. They can make inquiries at an Entrance Hall, take a look at the exhibition, visit the Tea House and follow the activities of the brokers from the Gallery above the Hall which hovers at an askew angle above the Exchange Hall and is designed on the basis of the rotating feature void. The brokers, managers have their own lift core with direct access to the Exchange Hall. The bank representatives have their premises immediately near to the Exchange Hall or in the gallery storey. Thanks to the positioning of the Exchange Hall in the upper storey, it also has an effect on the people of the city. It appears open, communicative and inviting – transparent. The observation platform below it, the Sky Garden, emphasizes this impression.

The facade is designed as a double skin, where the inner layer is a curtain wall with triple insulating glazing with sun blinds on the outside. The glass proportion is max. 70% in order to reduce the heat penetration to a minimum. The second layer is another curtain-wall, comprised of perforated metal plate elements. Thanks to the various sizes of perforation holes, from a distance the superimposed figures of a sample Iranian traditional motif are recognizable.

The cleaning of the façade is effected via a 60 cm maintenance catwalk in the interim space between the double layers. This “pixel façade” lends the building a special character. The façade changes when observed from different angles and from a specific distance the image becomes even sharper.

Architects: Hadi Teherani Office + Design Core [4S]
Location: Tehran, Iran
Design Team: Hadi Teherani – Hadi Teherani, Ingo Hartfil, Maryam Farsi, Sven Breuer, Oliver Lösser, Malte Tams, Louisa von le Fort; Design Core [4S] – Sam Tehranchi, Maryam Compani, Tahereh Mokhtarpour, Ali Nabi
Structural Engineer: Dr. Eng. Henning Kaufmann, Dr. Eng. Matthias Frenz, INGENIEURBÜRO DR. BINNEWIES, Hamburg, Germany
Mechanical Engineer: Andreas Schweizer, DS-PLAN (Building Services), Stuttgart, Germany
Renderings: Macina, Hamburg, Germany
Model: Amin Feyz
Client: Tehran Stock Exchange
Status: Competition, second prize
Area: 30,000 square meters