Kamal Kamouneh

 

Villa What is Villa?

Kamal Kamouneh What we consider as villa in Iran is a separate, independent house which is surrounded by a yard and some outdoor space. Therefore, a village house can also be claimed as a villa and it is not necessarily for the upper-class families. Perhaps, seemingly, the architecture of villa appears to be an imported idea; however, such houses were common even in our old days. As a case in point, the concepts such as "garden house" which were common in some constructions like "Shiraz Eram Garden" or capital city mansions which are all going to be destroyed these days. Even the commoners and normal people used to live in such houses those days. Today, you get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and move over to your villa.

In my opinion, architects should design apartments as villas and such a design is so challenging. For instance, take "waterfall house" as an example which I have designed. This building is located in a high street, and the building is separated from the passage of the street by some stairs. Moreover, there are some other techniques in designing to transform the usual structure of an apartment. In this building, you can see the "flow of life", the space is "alive" and in spite of being an apartment, each house has maintained its independence.