Geometry based on quadripartite divisions — both in landscape design and in the design of spaces of a pavilion — is another principle that is well-established in Iranian garden design, and the aforementioned scheme is not devoid of it.
In a word, Iranian space encompasses all these elements and many other large and small details, and the question is: if the solution has been Iranian space, which of its principles and elements has been employed? Simply by placing a building in the green expanse of a plot of land, can one claim it derives from the essence of the Iranian garden?! And if the design idea and philosophy of the embassy is not derived from Iranian architecture, can one criticize the review panel for making an unfamiliar intellectual basis the design idea for the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran?!
The Design of the Iranian Embassy in Sweden
Certainly, constraints in many cases lead to the formation of appropriate ideas. However, these ideas ultimately originate from each designer's design principles. The requirement that the designer must avoid conventional construction methods can itself be a source of innovation, but above all, the dignity and status of the subject and the context of the design is itself a constraint for the selection of ideas.
Furthermore, each stage and scale of design demands a level of idea that, depending on its scope, either accompanies the design to the end or stops at a certain depth and requires a more specific idea at that level of design.
In other words, at the 1:10,000 scale in site design, structural ideas are certainly applicable; at the 1:500 and 1:200 scale where volumes are proposed, ideas of equal weight apply; and in detail design, increasingly specific ideas enter the design. But the idea that runs through the design from beginning to end is usually a conceptual idea that flows metaphorically from volume to spatial relationships and from form to construction details. Perhaps the meaningful idea of "dialogue" would be an appropriate idea for the design of a country's embassy, but are wooden beams befitting the diplomatic representation of a country? Although the tent-like form of the design could have been a better material for developing the design ideas.
On the other hand, using the names of indigenous Iranian spaces cannot be proof of indigenousness.
In this regard too, we see that the design statement names the cracks created by the angles of the four seasons' sunlight as a new form of central courtyard. Now, the central courtyard in Iran's architecture is the symbol and embodiment of dialogue itself. It derives its life from water and light together.
The central courtyard does not form by carving out a complete volume; rather, it is born from the juxtaposition of several volumes of different qualities that face something, and that something is light and water (and in some cases a tree). The intensity of attention of spaces such as the hall, shah-neshin, and multi-door rooms to the central courtyard is so great that one cannot assume something has been carved from the heart of the main volume; rather, it is as if something very precious exists to which they have turned.
The spaces surrounding the courtyard also become entirely devoid of value without the courtyard's existence. It is as though these two — solid space and void — like figure and ground in Escher's designs, can in no way be separated from one another, such that attention to one inevitably leads to attention to the other. But in the aforementioned design, solid and void spaces neither face each other nor define one another; rather, it is as if each has been imprisoned within the other.
One cannot attribute much significance to proportions, construction details, facades, and such, which are part of how an "idea" takes shape — otherwise, these and many other things can be seen in the central courtyard and the spaces surrounding it. For a thousand subtle points are finer than a hair at this juncture...
Discussion
In closing, with thanks for the manner of the magazine's presentation and congratulations on its fourth anniversary, I would note that the use of poster-like images in presenting the design presentation style is beautiful, but prior to that, the presentation of spaces is what must be considered most important. Because perhaps the most important goal of architecture — regardless of style and idea — is space. Therefore, it seems that in addition to presentation methods, the clear display of plans and sections of spaces would better serve the exchange of ideas within Iran's architectural community, and consequently serve the magazine's objectives.