Bamboo Structure

The Bamboo Structure in Ramsar, Mazandaran won First Place in the Residential Buildings category at the 9th Memar Award (2009). Designed by Pouya Khazaeli Parsa, this 40 m² dome-shaped dwelling represents a radical departure from conventional construction, using locally sourced bamboo and gas pipes to create an innovative structural system.

Hossein Sheikh Zeinoddin commended the work as genuinely innovative — a real research project that explores vernacular construction techniques with contemporary sophistication. Kamran Afshar Naderi praised the project for its small scale yet significant conceptual weight, noting that while bamboo construction exists in various cultures, this project brings a fresh architectural interpretation. Reza Daneshmir described the award jury's broader context, noting how at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona, a South African project using local materials and refugee labor won against Foster, Grimshaw, and van Berkel — and similarly, this bamboo structure represents modern thinking successfully executed in a traditional context. Franco Micucci noted the project's elegance and the successful use of minimal resources to create a dignified dwelling.

The dome's spiraling bamboo ribs, connected with gas pipe joints, create a form reminiscent of traditional Gilaki shelters but with a distinctly contemporary structural logic. The interior space, lined with woven mats, provides a warm, human-scaled living space where a family can sit together on the floor in the tradition of the region.