The Beginning 16

Amir Abbas Aboutalebi
Founder & Editor-in-chief of Villa Magazine

January 2024

 

I am delighted to present Issue No. 16 of Villa Magazine, a monograph edition highlighting villas in Austria and those designed by Austrian architects. I would like to express my deep appreciation for the Villa Magazine team for their dedication in curating this issue, ensuring a visually captivating and content-rich experience for our readers. I extend my gratitude to the Austrian Cultural Forum in Tehran for their generous support of this non-profit endeavor.

Special thanks to Dr. Michaela Pacher, Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum Tehran, for contributing the foreword to this special issue. I am grateful for the collaboration with Deputy Director and Cultural Attachée Mrs. Sieglinde Spanlang, and Dr. Negar Hakim, University Assistant and Mag. Dr. phil., who served as the guest editor for this issue. Dr. Hakim’s guidance in selecting villa projects and coordinating with Austrian figures, organizations, and museums has been invaluable in shaping the content of this issue and fostering Villa discourses in Iran and Austria.

Our monograph editions dedicated to individual countries have become a tradition, allowing us to explore contemporary architectural movements through the lens of the villa as an artistic phenomenon and ideological paradigm. In this issue, you will discover eight Austrian architectural firms and twenty innovative villas in Austria that challenge design norms and promote eco-architecture as a catalyst for change.

The “Villa dialogue” section features a holistic discourse with University Professor Matthias Boeckl, a renowned professor of history and theory of architecture in Vienna. Additionally, the Call for Papers section invites submissions for a research award on Austrian Villas as a Legacy of Modern Architecture.

We are currently working on providing more interviews, dialogues, monologues, and discourses with prominent Austrian architects, writers, critics, and university professors for future editions of the magazine. I am optimistic that the online and printed publication of the Austrian issue will serve as a valuable resource for scholars and professionals alike.

 

Amir Abbas Aboutalebi
CEO & Editor-in-Chief