Amir villa

Amir Villa in Mohammadshahr, Karaj, is a renovation project designed by Alireza Taghaboni of Nextoffice, which received First Place in the Renovation category at the 11th Memar Award (2011). The project successfully transformed an obsolete old building into a completely new and attractive contemporary architecture, serving as an exemplary case of blending old and new in Iranian architecture. On the exterior, material selection is uniform, smooth, and calm, while the interior surface arrangements create a highly pleasing contrast. The design approach, with setbacks in two parts of the plan and preservation of existing trees, constitutes a precious innovation. The architect paid special attention to the outdoor space as an extension of interior spatial concepts, achieving an attractive yet simple form. During the jury deliberations, Seyyed Reza Hashemi praised the project for its "success in converting an obsolete old building into a completely new and attractive contemporary architecture" and for "creating a beautiful and diverse composition using materials with Iranian texture and color." Kamran Afshar Naderi emphasized the "attention to the aesthetics of vernacular architecture and use of the language of contemporary architecture" and the "coherent relationship between part and whole." Mehdi Alizadeh valued the project's program from a new balance in both contrast and the spacing of desired activities in the space.