World Architecture, A Critical Mosaic 1900-2000, Volume 5, The Middle East
China Architecture & Building Press / Springer-Verlag, Wien, 2000
Series editor: Kenneth Frampton
Volume 5 editor: Hasan-Uddin Khan
The Iranian work introduced in the volume:
Jolfa Residential Complex (1985-1988)
- Awards: Aga Khan Award for Architecture — First Prize
- Location: Esfahan
- Year of design: 1985 (1364)
- Year of construction: 1988 (1367)
- Architects: Tajir Consulting Engineers — Ali Akbar Saremi, Javad Banakdar, T. Radmard, S. Baluch
In the Armenian quarter of Jolfa, in the south of Esfahan, the long coexistence of different ethnic communities has left behind beautiful schools, churches and houses. The Jolfa Residential Complex was designed in 1985; construction began in 1987 and lasted two years.
The building is built in brick to harmonise with the existing fabric of the street. A concave surface at the centre of the façade has the character of a gateway and leads to a private passage perpendicular to the street. This passage acts as a shared open space and a play space, and gives access to eight apartments arranged on two floors (four apartments per floor). Beyond the passage, two further green and play areas lie between the front and rear apartments. Each three-bedroom apartment has a floor area of about 150 sq m. The structure consists of load-bearing brick walls and reinforced concrete. The exterior of the building is finished in a varied combination of brick and white plaster; a thin white line at roof level crowns the building. Some of the decorative motifs — including those of the main doors — recall the nineteenth-century houses of the same neighbourhood, and the metal stair railings were salvaged from old, demolished houses of the area.
By turning to the principles of traditional Iranian architecture and to the texture of the neighbourhood and its adjoining buildings — without seeking to copy them — the architects of this complex have produced the present scheme, and in doing so they have offered a model for the design of modern (contemporary) housing in the country.
