Mohammad Majidi, born in 1967, after taking the architectural technician degree from Elm-o-Sanaat (Science & Industry) University, started his cooperation with Artiman Consulting Engineers. He mentions his acquaintance with Farmarz Sharifi as a turning-point in his career, and believes that he has acquired most of his sensations about residential architecture, managing projects and details in that period. He has cooperated with Artiman Consulting Engineers in many projects, namely the Saadabad Residential Complex in the north of Tehran.
In 1994, while studying at Shahid Beheshti University, Majidi set up Bonsar Company. His projects in this period are regarded as practices to find new connections, material specifics and possibilities for a desirable project.
The Commercial Building on Bahar Street is the first independent project in his career.
Commercial Building in Bahar St. (Tehran, 1996-1998) — Principal: Mohammad Majidi. Project Manager: Mostafa Hekmat. Employer: Fath-Amin Building Co. Structure Design: Javad Ghalambor Dezfouly. Mechanical Engineering: Ghobad Ardalan. Electrical Engineering: Mohammadreza Lahijani. Land area: 2,200 m². Substructure area: 8,200 m².
Bahar Street is one of the few streets in Tehran that has retained its atmosphere. Standing between two buildings belonging to the Vartan era and style, and working to the existing structural frame already under construction, were the two main constraints on the design — constraints that shaped both the urban façade and the interior space. In the urban façade, the massing of the elevation — as in the two buildings on either side — is played with the simple composition and proportions of solid and void and a small number of elements. Maximum use of natural light, attention to detail, and careful connection of surfaces — especially in the prefabricated shop windows and the stairs — characterise the organisation and arrangement of the interior space.
Sazeh-Pouyesh Factory (1998) — Principal: Mohammad Majidi. Project Cooperator: Rahim Mohammadi. Employer: Sazeh-Pouyesh Co., Marami. Mechanical Engineering: Iran Mashaal Co., Hoghoughi. Location: Eshtehard Industrial Zone.
Majidi describes the conditions of work on this project thus: "My role on this project was like that of a photographer for whom the camera has already been set on a tripod toward the subject; he can only choose the type of film, the shutter speed and the aperture. He also has very little time — five seconds from first seeing the problem! In exchange, however, he can make the best of things in the printing stage."
"This project is the continuation of a half-finished scheme: the structure had been designed and built as a Quonset shed, the wall-build was nearing completion, and the project had briefly been halted. At the previous designer's suggestion and the employer's agreement the project was turned over to me. Design and execution, together with all the changes required for coordination and adjustment, were completed in seventy-five days."
Captions: 1. Production hall. 2. Covered access ways. 3. Glazed façade of the production hall. 4. General view.
Paya-Clutch Factory (1998-1999) — Principal: Bonsar Consulting Engineers. Project Management and Design: Mohammad Majidi. Structure Design: Kouros Etaati, Masoud Abtahi. Mechanical and Electrical Engineering: Mostafa Dor, Amir Azamyesh, Behrooz Noori. Computer Graphics: Arsia Sorooshfar, Alireza Jafari. Design Team: Zubin Amiri, Pouya Ghodoosi, Leyla Zavyeh, Maryam Majidi, Mahsa Majidi, Mahnaz Sharifi, Sahar Balazadeh, Juanita Manookian. Location: Rasht Industrial Zone.
The Clutch project has been designed to suit the region's climate. The region's heavy rain from the west and the need to create air movement in the interior spaces of the factory gave rise to the main idea of the roof form.
A continuous glazed front toward the green space — kept free for future expansion — gives the workers a view of the grounds. Connecting the various functions to one another under identical forms, and creating covered access paths between the different parts of the scheme, were among the early ideas of the project.
Bus Station Designing (Shahrivar 1379 / September 2000) — Design: Mohammad Majidi. Project Cooperator: Padideh Azin.
This project is the design of bus stops advertising LG monitors, for various locations in Tehran and other cities. The main idea is to use a reflective panel in the inner lining of the bus-stop surround, showing all the coming and going of people and events inside the bus stop; the images on the surround are therefore in motion, and the concavity of the stop's wall arcs the look of real images.
The form of the bus stop — at once simple — can adapt itself to every urban context. The reflective panels, in a matte finish, have been designed so that advertising can be carried on them and changed at regular intervals.
