Project Name:
Villa L -036

Lead Architect:
Babak Baharestani

Design Team:
Anna Akhlaghi, Nasim Izadpanah

Location:
Kalak, Lavasan, Tehran, Iran

3D Modeling:
Arash Aminian, Sanaz Hosseini

Area:
1200 m²

Year:
2011

Understanding and studying the latent values in Persian architecture has been one of the major concerns in creation of this project. The introverted houses of the Persian architecture have been formed with the idea of creating a paradisiacal privacy. All the major spaces are inwards oriented; the interior is transparent and colorful. Color emerges in the interior layers of the architecture and coloration exists in each interior space, although it needs to be mentioned that this concept takes a different attitude regarding urban elements such as domes and minarets. Water as the symbol of light, plays an important role in Persian house and garden. In Persian gardening, the waterways serve also as guide lines in determining the major paths. Water is the attraction and connection between the interior and the exterior (world). In Shazdeh Garden, located in Mahan City, it is water that connects the entrance building and alcove in the back. In Fin Garden, located in Kashan City, water stitches the interior space of the building to the garden in four directions; water gushes in the main building and forms the connections in the main directions, completes the continuity between the inside and the outside, leaves no borderline between the building and the landscape. On the other hand, considering the specific topography of the site reveals other diagrams and connecting ideas. The highly steep and moreover asymmetric land makes it possible to access the various levels of the projects from inside the site, and the main circulation of the project forms by these accesses eventually. The dialog between the form settled on the ground and its extension to the skyline is in a way that the effect of topography and its prolongation to the final edges of the volume can be observed. In fact, the skyline of the project is a reflection and extension of the bed on which the volume of the project is sitting. Employing an introverted idea not only is in harmony with the designers conceptions from the Persian architecture, but also it is compatible with the climate and environmental effects of the project. The central courtyard of the project, whereas, benefiting from elements such as water, colorful plants and transparent surfaces, provides the audience with a different experience, additionally, forms a central suitable space sheltered against the wind. Furthermore, with an appropriate orientation to the sun it provides the necessary light for the interior space. The flowing of water from the center of the house to the main entrance path is reminiscent of the Persian Garden ideas. The exterior cover of the volume with a solid surface is in contrast with the transparent inner shell, although the effect of the necessary openings and the entrances in the exterior shell creates a volume with strong structure but at the same time penetrable to display the colorful and transparent inner layers of the project, Inspiring carvings on the body of a whole to let that being shine like a precious ancient gem.