•Design team: Mehdi Mehrannikoo, Nazanin Fardi •Construction manager: Hassan Tajoddin •Structural consultant: Kourosh Etaati •Mechanical systems consultant: Mahmoud Zaribaf •Electrical systems consultant: Behzad Mahmoudian •Construction period: 2007–2010 •Photography: Afshin Ghaderpanah
Faramarz Sharifi is a name familiar to all architects, and a discussion of his work requires no introduction or preamble. He is among the rare few who, in both the quantity and quality of his built works, stands at the forefront of the country's contemporary architects. Professional vitality, curiosity, a passion for advancement, and extraordinary perseverance — despite half a century of practice in this field — are aspects of Sharifi's character that become apparent at first glance. His recent work in the Yakhchal neighborhood appears to be the crystallization of experience and creativity accumulated over half a century of professional activity, and yet another step forward. Although Sharifi's professional trajectory has followed a highly coherent evolution, he has never allowed himself to become entangled in a fixed style or taste. The question is not merely one of changing preference; it is as though each new work of his draws closer to an essence or core that explains the nature of his oeuvre. The Yakhchal Official Building is a nine-story structure with seven above-ground and two below-ground floors, built on a small plot with an approximate footprint of 165 square meters. The building, like Sharifi's other works, is entirely distinct and prominent in the streetscape where it is situated. The structure has four elaborated facades, presenting the building as a distinctive urban marker — a sculptural volume with varied and compelling angles. The disparate facade elements — the exposed steel skeleton, bare concrete, stone walls, glass surfaces, and movable wooden shutters — are combined with precise and successful proportion. The composition and aesthetics of the building convey a sense of refinement and dignity alongside simplicity, qualities that are hallmarks of Sharifi's work. The entrance, on the western side, is not merely a door but a volumetric and spatial element resolved within the building's architecture. The entire entrance consists of several steps connecting the sloping street to the lobby. The sidelight beside the door and the column next to it form a simple composition that alone represents the overall aesthetic of the building. The interior of the building is virtually flawless in its spatial division and function. The typical office floors are designed with complete flexibility and sound principles. The structural components, solid and glass partition walls, suspended ceiling, floor, and skylights are placed in precise relation and proportion — testifying to Sharifi's meticulousness in details and the skill of his collaborator, Hassan Tajoddin, in the principled execution of architectural elements. Behind the entrance lies a parking area that, in terms of its attention to detail and the materials employed, rivals a reception hall. In fact, this parking space is a multipurpose area that can, under special circumstances, be transformed into a gathering space, a film screening room, or a reception hall. In the second basement level are storage rooms; above that, a workshop space with office use; and on the top floor, the dining area, a rooftop
garden, and mechanical systems are located. The main staircase, housed within a semi-glazed volume, is itself a distinguished work of architecture. The stair stringers and stone treads, which approach the grey travertine walls and the glass facade — without touching them — the simple geometric form of the stair treads, which in keeping with all of Sharifi's works do not project beyond the stair nosing, the extremely simple yet beautiful metal railing, the ceiling of the stairwell and the underside of the stair slope — executed with the same precision, materials, and refinement as the stair itself — all produce a space that transforms the act of ascending and descending into a compelling spatial experience. This experience is completed by the view of the city and street that the staircase overlooks. The staircase is not parallel to the building's main axis but is set at a five-degree angle to it, and has thus been deliberately turned into the building's focal point upon entry. A second staircase has been provided in this building, connecting the fourth floor to the fifth. This private staircase, serving one of the units, is designed according to the same principles as the main staircase and with admirable delicacy. The stair slope resembles a modern sculpture more than a means of ascending a building — a volume whose underside and topside carry equal importance. A skylight above, a glass landing, and a slender, thin staircase set away from the surrounding walls impart a particular sense of lightness to this stair. The top-floor dining area is a cheerful, beautifully situated space that architecturally poses a different proposition: a vaulted wooden ceiling. This arched ceiling is skillfully integrated with the building's modern elements and the exposed steel structure of this floor's ceiling, evoking Le Corbusier's Maison Jaoul rather than Iran's historic vaulted structures. In the Yakhchal Official Building, Sharifi has employed a purely modern language that bears no trace of the nostalgic or vernacular elements and materials of his earlier works — although, fortunately, the architectural essence and the matured building details that express his artistic identity are clearly visible in this work. Sound composition in all three dimensions, the formal relationship between part and whole, balance in color, generous interior lighting, the concordance of function and form, spatial legibility, fluid circulation, the articulation of the building's volumetric components, the display of the structure, interior flexibility, and the use of a set of rectangular forms with a Mondrianesque order — these are principles of modern architecture that have been skillfully applied in Sharifi's latest work. This building proves that this doyen of contemporary Iranian architecture can still produce new and valuable buildings that secure a distinguished place in Iran's new architecture.
Typical floor plan, 5th floor, 4th floor