21st Memar Award Jury Report

21st Memar Award Jury Report

The 21st Memar Award competition, like previous years, was held in two stages. In the first stage, which was held as an elimination round on September 4 (Shahrivar 13), from among 254 projects that had submitted their documents in four categories — Individual Dwellings, Apartment Buildings, Renovation, and Public Buildings — 70 projects advanced to the semifinal stage.

The second stage of judging took place on October 2-3 (Mehr 10-11), where 40 projects advanced to the final round, from which 19 projects were selected as winners and honoured.

The jurors for this edition of the Memar Award were: Babak Zirak, Mohammad Majidi, Mehran Khoshro, Alireza Taghaboni, and Sara Kalantari.

Judging Criteria

• Creativity and innovation in design and innovation in the use of materials and building technology
• Creative engagement with specific project challenges including: economic constraints, special site conditions regarding dimensions, legal regulations (especially in cities), and technical difficulties
• Precision and innovation in detail design
• Attention to surrounding environment and climatic conditions, environmental values, and social commitments

Judging Method

Projects in each of the four groups go through these stages:

1. All works in the same group are presented together for jurors to view. After seeing all of them, works unanimously rejected are eliminated. Even if one juror votes for a work to remain, it stays. Each juror has colored stickers with their unique color — in this stage, each sticker represents a negative vote. Remaining works advance to the semifinal.
2. From semifinal works, each juror selects their preferred works without ranking, using their sticker to indicate a positive vote. Works selected by no juror are eliminated. Selected works become finalists.
3. Each juror independently selects their first through third place from the finalists. 3 points for first, 2 for second, 1 for third. The sum of all jurors scores determines the final rankings.
4. Jurors may nominate finalists for special commendation (Honoured). If other jurors agree, the honour is confirmed.

Individual Dwellings Results

1st Place: A House in Jolfa District, Isfahan (9 points) | 2nd Place (tie): Dasht-e-Chehel Villa / The Single-Vault House (8 points each) | 3rd Place: The House with No Head or Tail (4 points)

Honoured: The Man and The House — for its innovative approach to sloped-roof typology. Selected by all five jurors.

Apartment Buildings Results

1st Place (tie): The Houses Between River and Stream / Approximation House (10 points each) | 2nd Place: The Alley House, Qom (6 points) | 3rd Place: Kamran Residential Building (4 points)

Renovation Results

1st Place: Pink Platform (15 points — unanimous) | 2nd Place: Newton Glasses Gallery (9 points) | 3rd Place: 1330 House (6 points)

Honoured: Innovation Centers at Amirkabir University, Baam Lab, Khaneye Hayatdar House.

Public Buildings Results

1st Place: JADGAL Elementary School (15 points — unanimous) | 2nd Place: Hitra Office and Commercial Building (8 points) | 3rd Place: Nik Hospital Landscape (4 points)

Honoured: Sarv Commercial-Office Building.

Ceremony

The 21st Memar Award ceremony was held in October 2021 (Mehr 1400). The ceremony was sponsored by K Plus (represented by Borzou Afghahi) and Superpipe International (represented by Mehrdad Yousefi). A documentary film about Hamedan titled Hegmataneh was screened at the beginning of the ceremony.