Editor in chief speech - German Villas Edition
On the occasion of the Launch of the Villa Magazine "German Villas Issue".
Amir Abbas Aboutalebi Editor in chief Villa Magazine.
February 17 th 2022.
WELCOMING
Ladies and gentlemen …… may I have your attention, please!
Thank you so much for joining us on this occasion; “launch of the villa magazine German villas issue”
I truly appreciate your attendance on this occasion—the entire guests of honor.
In recent years; incredibly hard and challenging for many people, including us.
Although the coronavirus and the sanction restrictions have been a huge focus, collaboration has been a constant theme with our work in the past three years.
So, we started to collaborate with different embassies in Iran, such as Finland, Norway, Sweden, Italy, and Switzerland. We have also made active cooperations with architectural organizations and universities. We are now trusted by over 600 leading architecture firms worldwide, from Japan to South America. Today, we are so honored to celebrate this collaboration with the embassy of the federal republic of Germany.
I am Amir, an Iranian architect and the editor-in-chief of the villa magazine; My background is a delicate amalgam of many roots, languages, and cultures. Lacking a common ground, I found architecture as a language from which to speak and to promote cultural integrations.
I am so honored to be here today for this ceremony among you. We decided to change the venue due to new corona virus situations. The initial plan was to gather in the colored glass building in darabad that was a good example of the Bauhaus influence on contemporary Iranian architecture. I got the commission to design the building in 2008.
A marriage between art and industry behind closed colored curtains of that building could make us feel the connection and sense of the place.
But this place is something else again!
A long historical story lies behind this villa that you can read more about on our website soon. We do not have any pieces of evidence yet, that this is a Bauhaus villa. Just take a look at the inner and outer villa, the glass and steel materials, the simple minimalistic forms, and the asymmetrical spatial organization. They are the key elements of the Bauhaus.
Back to the magazine …. I am so proud of the quality of our work: the visual experience, content, and the artistic taste of the annual edition Issue No.12, which in my opinion, is one of the best issues of all.
You can find eight leading German architects in this issue and 16 Iconic villas projects in Germany that are trying to develop an “architectural dialect” and a “contemporary manifestation.”
These villas are not just a second home… or an escape from the city life. They are an ideal setting for conversations of “architectural inventions.”
Take a look at the timeline of “the idea of German villas” page no. 5.
Is there a relationship between the historical German castles and the modern democratized villas? YES… if we understand them as a fantasy retreat from the world. An imaginary life to answer the human’s psychological needs.
Moreover, there are exciting topics which we have opened to discuss in this special issue:
A call for paper – award for research -rediscovering Bauhaus heritage in Iran / the influence of Bauhaus on Iranian art and architecture in 3 themes: design, culture, and history!
In the end, you will find the news about the unbuilt villa award + the Norwegian issue ceremony, and the upcoming issue – villa dialogue with leading Iranian architects. An architectural discourse on the ideology and typology of Iranian villas.
I hope you read and enjoy our work. We are so eager to hear your critical comments or any suggestions. We are open to any collaboration helping us discover more about villa-life and villa-culture in a different part of the world.
Just above and beyond that, I am so proud of making this work happen in #IRAN, a country, under the most severe #sanctions and in a state of isolation.
Tomorrow is the Iranian “DAY OF LOVE” and the day of “THE WOMAN AND THE EARTH” in the Iranian Zoroaster calendar.
I want to express my gratitude to my wife, friends, mentors, the advisory board, the editorial board, media, sponsors.
I would like to thank Mr. Stephan Reitze, the head of the cultural section of the Royal German embassy in Iran, for his generous support and for helping us spread the word!
I would like to thank our guests of honor from different embassies to Tehran.
May this event start a great cultural exchange between our countries for the years and decades to come!
I would like to invite Mr. Stephan Reitze to come here and make a speech to formally release this very special issue of the villa magazine.
Related news:
German Embassy in Cooperation with Villa Magazine
Honorary guests of Villa Magazine unveiling ceremony-No.12