Designers
Farzaneh Ata'ollahi — born in Tehran, 1961; MA in architecture from Arts Faculty, Tehran University, 1990. Member of Research and Architecture Group, 1986. Member of Development and Construction Consultants, 1988. Member of Abadi Consultants, 1992 up to now. Third-prize award in the Chabahar International Mosque Competition, 1997.
Mohammad Soltaninasab — born in Tehran, 1950; graduated in 1977 from A&M University, Florida, USA. Member of Savedra Consultants for four years, Miami, USA. Member of Development and Construction Consultants for five years, from 1981. Director of the Abadi Consultants managing group from 1989 till now.
The villa scheme
The site has a slope of about 15 % north to south, of which the design takes good advantage to allow different points of access at the middle and lower floors.
The building is in three storeys, with horizontal and vertical visual connections between the three levels and with the surrounding landscape.
The middle level — off the entrance and the covered terrace facing the pool — holds the kitchen and the summer living area. The play of light and shade on the terrace, sun, and a cool breeze together turn the middle level into a summer set with mountain views to the north and the wide plain to the south.
A regular, exaggerated colonnade-rhythm separates the middle terrace from the lower terrace (the winter terrace) and helps create shade and half-shade and frame the wide southern plain.
Two stairs of differing form make the physical link between the upper and lower levels and the middle. The lower level (the winter part), with tall south-facing windows, draws the maximum solar energy in this season. The upper level opens to a half-storey and is given to the bedroom, and to its south an open summer terrace allows the view of the wide southern plain.
Geometry and symbol
The design seeks to draw on the golden proportions, on a spiral motion in plan (two-dimensional), and on the helix-like growth of the lotus in elevation (three-dimensional). The pure cube at the centre of the spiral, the helical motion around it, and the contrast of stillness and rising rotation, stand as the symbol of human movement and the unity of inside and outside; the helical motion that wraps around the cube, and the round roof above it, stand as the symbol of the earth's motion around the sun.
In the interior architecture, metal and wood are used in different forms and combinations as the sign of the harmony of man and nature.
Project credits
Location: Boomhen, 5 kilometres to the north. Designers: Mohammad Soltaninasab, Farzaneh Ata'ollahi. Structural Engineer: Jalaleddin Sajjadian. Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Abbas Amidi. Construction Manager: Mohammad Soltaninasab. Photographs & computer drawings: Mohsen Golshani.