Yazd Home

Yazd Garden Home in the Mahdiabad district of Yazd was built on a portion of an old family garden-home complex. Designed by Mehdi Gerami of Kelyas Kavir Architectural Group with associate Mostafa Rostamifard, it received Second Place in the Individual Dwellings category at the 14th Memar Award (2014). The land area is 5,000 square meters with a built area of 950 square meters. The Mahdiabad district is a remnant of the old gardens surrounding Yazd that has today become part of the city. Three main approaches were established for siting the building: creating privacy and eliminating intrusive overlooking from surrounding buildings, orienting the house toward the old garden complex, and attending to climate and shadow patterns. The designers sought to properly redefine the spatial patterns and concepts of traditional Yazd houses, organizing the house into six main sections: a guest house with an independent entrance, a private section evoking the traditional andaruni (inner quarters), a kitchen, an upper chamber (balakhane) for long-term guests, an orangery (narenjestan) as a sunken garden with a pool and orange trees, and a main courtyard with a large pool. Five components guided the building's formation: purity, simplicity, and legibility; openness and generosity; a sense of belonging and nostalgia; a feeling of solitude and tranquility; and respect for the surroundings without ostentation. Since the garden has qanat water, water circulates around the house and ultimately returns to irrigate the garden, while evaporative coolers suited to Yazd's hot, dry climate were selected for cooling.