Pati Project

The Pati Project is a villa in Someh Sara, Gilan province, designed by If Atelier + Maydone Office (Amirali Alaie, Ali Chaichian, Meysam Soltani). "Pati" in the Mo'in Dictionary means empty, plain, bare, naked, exposed, revealed. The project was offered at a stage when a framework of eight concrete columns and beams had already been built. The client's request was a villa of roughly 100 square metres; the narrow site corridors led the architects to gather service functions into a compact box at the centre so that the villa's walls could enjoy connection and daylight from every direction.

The project took shape through three overarching realms: the service zone (a wooden box at the centre housing kitchen, bathrooms, dressing rooms), the living zone (sitting, dining, bedrooms arranged around the service core, maintaining a reciprocal inside-outside relationship), and the leisure zone (extended platform, pool, film-watching area, gathering space). Three habitability decisions were made: a double-skin shelter-like roof, glass walls enclosing the structural bays for temperature control, and the living floor elevated above the earthen bed. These elements, while working in concert, preserve their independence — sitting beside each other rather than merging.

During the 25th Memar Award jury deliberations, juror Han Tumertekin praised the project: "Once again I admire this simplicity, those very limited but effective touches that create an entirely fresh way of living and sensing life." Juror Afshin Farzin noted: "The key to this project is how it deals with everyday materials that villagers in rural areas use extensively — a designer can give it a poetics and elegance such that while it remains the same ordinary material, it creates a suitable space." Juror Nasrin Seraji offered a dissenting view, noting references to Glenn Murcutt and Lacaton & Vassal. The project received 10 points and placed 2nd in Individual Dwellings.