Villa Bagh

Author: Azadeh Shahcheraghi

Editor and Translator: Sahar Keshmiri

Fundamentally, the criterion that distinguishes Villa-Bagh from exclusively villa or exclusively Bagh is the fact that the architect decides to design a Villa-Bagh not merely locate one alongside the other. This means that Villa and Bagh are designed by the architect to some extent. In addition to the architecture of building, the architecture of water, planting, sound, light and shadow is devised. This only occurs when soft spaces such as plants, water, sky, and light are composed alongside hard spaces.

In Villa-Bagh, bagh and Villa create overlapping spaces. In other words, from their interference, a third space is born.as the third space is an interventional space which is neither inside nor outside while being placed simultaneously in both.  From a perceptive point of view, this means that while standing in a villa, we are exposed to such sensational stimulus from Bagh and landscape that it is not clear whether we are standing inside or outside. The music of Bagh (sound of water, birds, wind blowing in trees and etc.) and the architecture of light and shadow is possibilitated by the decisions of architect and architecture of landscape.

In simpler words, in Villa-Bagh, not only the building is being devised but also architectural qualities similar to the features supposedly received in the Villa are created by the architect, himself. This delicate point transforms Villa-Bagh into a distinctive matter. Adhering to the mentioned perspective, Villa-Baghs were recognized distinctively from Villas or Baghs throughout history. In the orient, Villa-Baghs are originated in Iran and far East (china) whilst in the occident, spatial experience is rooted in egyption architecture. During certain periods of time through history, one pattern was inspired by the other and evolved {through this interaction} for example the Greek style of gardening was influenced by Persian Bagh after the invasion of Alexander while {the style itself} affected the location of Koshk in the Bagh, and the connection of the Ivan(porch) to the landscape in Iranian architecture. These styles resumed in the history of European gardening thereafter.

I believe that architects build Bagh-Villas in a way that establish Spatial-perceptive distinctions in their audience while environmental designers, garden makers and landscape engineers follow another approach.