Akhavi House, Padideh Azin

Project Name: Akhavi House \ Function: Residential \ Office: Ravagh Atelier \ Lead Architect: Padideh Azin \ Design Team: Saba Shaboudagh, Mina Taghavi, Toktam Kouklan \ Client: Farid Akhavi \ Executive Engineer: Mohsen Shahi \ Structure: Masonry \ Location: Kashan \ Area of Construction: 200m2 \ Date: 2018-2020 \ Photographer: Hamid Eskandari, DEED Studio
Website: www.ravaghgroup.com
Email: info@ravaghgroup.com
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What primarily attracted me to Kashan was the colour combination of thatch and the blue sky. The immense juxtaposition of the above and the soil of earthly existence evoked in me a sense of being alive: ‌a resurrection that should turn a place into a soulful house and build something that injects life.
In fact, this has been an underlying thought process in my approach to all projects, and the Kashan project was no exception. I think of the individual, the family, and the community who are going to use the place. Before designing and building, one must imagine the flow of life in it: how it can be pleasant, how it can be lively. This means starting the design from the inside out.
The present project saw the transformation of a Qajar-era textile weaving workshop (Persian: sharbafi) into a single-family residential building. We tried to keep the identity of interior space intact and avoided touching the architecture in any way that rendered unfaithful. Thus, the space with a cast roof was turned into a courtyard, and the arches of the existing roofs were preserved and completed with bricklaying. Different spaces were defined using materials such as Khataie bricks, cobblestone, and handmade tiles. To live in historic houses, it is not necessary to use furniture from the same period, and the combination of modern furniture with historical spaces could be very delightful and practical. So opted to bring modern furniture and use them delicately within the context of this historic building.
In this project, the plan was designed in such a way that the interior space and the courtyard have a continuous connection together. This is particularly evident in the kitchen and dining areas. Furthermore, the generously proportioned windows create beautiful light and shadows inside the building.
Ultimately, the goal is to give rise to desirable experiences in a way that affords connectedness to the place and joyful moments.