Raahro Villa

Location: Shiraz, Iran

Material: Adobe

Design date: 2023

Site area: 5000m²

Built area: 350m²

Architect: Alireza ZibaeiNejad

Studio: Siagh Studio

Project Manager: Alireza ZibaeiNejad

Design Team: Mohsen Noorpoor, MohammadHassan Savari, Nikan Hajari, Mehdi Movahed, Mohsen Arabi, Hamideh Karimi

Story:

Text provided by the architects:

The design and construction of this project began on a 5,000 m² garden site filled with fruit trees. The site’s most distinctive feature is a central path approximately 4 meters wide, lined on both sides with tall cypress trees. This path was identified as the project’s most valuable existing structure and the key element to be preserved and enhanced.
The main design strategy was to align the villa with this central corridor and place it delicately among the trees. In the spatial diagram, public and private spaces are arranged around an organizing corridor, allowing spatial independence while maximizing visual connections. Each space is designed to have its own unique and direct view toward the surrounding garden.
In praise of the corridor was the guiding concept of this project. The corridor was redefined as the primary spatial element, aiming to generate new spatial qualities. Along its length, the main corridor is flanked by two voids: one half opens onto an introverted open courtyard, while the other half connects to an extroverted open space facing the landscape.
The corridor is fully transparent and visually open, challenging the conventional perception of corridors as dark, narrow, and undesirable spaces. Here, it offers light, openness, and continuous views. The project’s development follows the site’s inherent potentials and remains faithful to the core structural and conceptual framework of the design.

Honorable Mentioned in the Unbuilt Villas Category by the Jury of the 3rd Biennial Villa Award