2020

Name: Memar Award 2020
Start: 2020-10-01
Location: Tehran

Memar Award

Edition 2049 resultsOctober 1, 2020

Jury Panel

Kambiz Moshtagh Gohari

Kambiz Moshtagh Gohari is an Iranian architect who served as a juror for the 20th Memar Award (2020). His contributions to the jury brought a practitioner's perspective to the evaluation process, emphasizing architectural design quality and innovation in the assessment of submitted projects across all four competition categories.

Mohammad Arab

Mohammad Arab, Born in 1980. -Masters of Architecture -Architect, Urban Designer -Worked in BavandConsultant from 2000-2012 -Founding Partner in USE Studio since 2012 Taught at: - Art university of Esfahan - Sheikh BahaeiUniversity - DaneshpazhohanUniversity

Nashid Nabian

Nashid Nabian is an Iranian architect, researcher, and educator. She earned her Master's in Architectural Engineering from Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, a Master of Urban Design from the University of Toronto (receiving the Toronto Association of Young Architects award for her thesis), and a Doctorate in Design (DDes) from Harvard Graduate School of Design, followed by a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the MIT SENSEable City Lab. She has taught at Harvard GSD, MIT, University of Toronto, Northeastern University, and Rice University. From 2005 to 2012, she was a partner at Arsh Design Studio, and in 2012 co-founded Shift Process Practice with Rambod Eilkhani. As lead architect of Shift Process Practice, she designed Iran's Pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020, which Architectural Digest named one of the eight architecturally significant pavilions. She also founded the Tehran Urban Innovation Center (TUIC), focused on smart city solutions. Her research explores the digital augmentation of architecture and public spaces through situated technologies.

About This Edition

The 20th Memar Award (2020) received 215 architectural project submissions across four categories. Through a rigorous two-stage evaluation process, a five-member jury selected 49 semifinalists, 23 finalists, and 12 winners. The competition showcased Iranian architecture's diversity, from individual villas to large-scale public buildings, with particular strength in renovation projects. Emarat Jan in Damavand achieved a rare perfect consensus with all five jurors awarding it first place in the Renovation category.

Statistics

215Submissions

49Semifinalists

23Finalists

12

Semifinalists — Public Buildings

The Editor

Reza Habibzadeh

Reza Habibzadeh is an Iranian architect who graduated with a Master's degree in Architecture from Shahid Beheshti University in 2001. He was a founding member of Metaphor Architectural Associates (2001-2013) before establishing his own independent practice. His Vanak Garden Residential Complex in Tehran was shortlisted at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in 2010, and his residential project in Rasht was selected at the Memar Award in 2004. The Shadows Residential Building in Karaj won recognition at the 1st Biennial of Art and Architecture in 2014. His later works include the Kenarab Residential Building in Darakeh, Tehran (2016-2019, 7,000 sqm) and the Earrings (Goushvareh) Residential Building. His practice focuses on residential architecture with an emphasis on the relationship between human experience and constructed environments.

Sirous Bavar

Sirous (Cyrus) Bavar (born 1934, Shiraz) is an Iranian architect, urban planner, and architectural educator. He graduated in architecture from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran and earned his PhD in Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Florence, Italy. He served as head of the Architecture Department and Urban Planning Department, was a faculty member at the University of Tehran (1971-79), a member of the Urban Master Plan Review Council at the Ministry of Housing, a founding board member of the first Tehran Architecture Organization (1977), and director and designer of the master plans for Shiraz, Yazd, and the Industrial City of Saveh.

Winners

Judging Process

Five jurors each assigned first, second, and third place votes per category, with points awarded (5 for first, 3 for second, 1 for third). Projects were ranked by cumulative point totals. The jury evaluated projects through a two-stage process: first-round elimination of 215 submissions to 49 semifinalists, followed by detailed review to select 23 finalists, from which 12 winners (3 per category) were determined by cumulative voting.