2A (Architecture & Art) Magazine (2025)

23/01/2025

First Place winner 🏆 of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- 2A Asia Architecture Awards, Organized by:
Future (Small Scale) Category
Architect/ Studio: Mehrdad Makaremi

Head of Design Team: Mehrdad Makaremi
Design Team (Credits) : Architect : Mehrdad Makaremi Design Team : Tina Shahnazari , Niloofar Mir Mohammad Ali
Project Title: Middle Envelope
Project's location: Tehran / Iran
Photographer Name: Cross Architecture

Rejuvenating a Space: A Blend of Past and Present in a Tehran Apartment This renovation project, undertaken with a keen eye towards both functionality and historical reference, breathes new life into the apartment, fostering a unique spatial experience that seamlessly blends the past and present. A 200sqm residential apartment of a 50-year-old modernist high-rise, undergoes a transformation. Built on a former village site, it marked a step in Tehran’s northward expansion. Originally adhering to the conventional layout of the time (private and public zones on sides, and service areas trapped in the middle), the public space lacked a connection to its most compelling feature: a stunning northen view. Unearthing the Past: A Canvas for Reimagination The initial stage involved a process of “space purification.” Layers of finishes were stripped away, revealing the raw beauty of the original concrete structure – a testament to the building’s history. This perimeter concrete envelope defines the boundaries of our design territory, its enduring strength and authenticity providing a rough yet intriguing backdrop. The Birth of the “Middle Box”: A Catalyst for Change Drawing upon the boundaries of this territory, the central design intervention revolves around the introduction of a “middle envelope” constructed from warm, inviting brick. Nestled within the concrete envelope, this brick box acts as the heart of the apartment. It houses the kitchen and provides access to bedrooms.

21/01/2025

Winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Africa Architecture Awards, Organized by:
Future (Medium Scale) Category
Architect/ Studio: Kelvin Kithome

Design Team (Credits) : The successful completion of the Swahili Dhow Craft Centre in Lamu is attributed to the collaborative efforts of the design team, which includes Landscape Architect Sunday, Conservation Architect Wallace Njiiri, and Prof. Architect Paul Maringa, former Principal Secretary of Infrastructure in Kenya. Additionally, Interior Designer Maureen Gakii, the Conservation Office of Lamu, and the Lamu fisherfolk community provided invaluable guidance.
Project Title: SWAHILI DHOW CRAFT CENTRE-LAMU OLD TOWN
Project's location: LAMU OLD TOWN,KENYA
Photographer Name: KELVIN KITHOME

SWAHILI DHOW CRAFT CENTRE (LAMU OLD TOWN,KENYA) Swahili dhow craft Centre will act as a case for designing cultural, community and marine work spaces along the rapidly growing East African coastal towns. It aims to boost economic development, empower communities, enhance climate resilience, and preserve cultural heritage aligning with SDG 11 on sustainable urban development. By leveraging local cultural and maritime history, the project seeks to create vibrant hubs for tourism, economic activities, and community engagement while promoting sustainable practices and preserving cultural identity. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Lamu with its rich cultural heritage and outstanding universal value is facing increasing spatial contests due to tourism,population growth and economic development. The spatial contest which has led to informality,disuse,disrepair,and misuse pose a threat to the built heritage ensemble. Ordering the observed emerging needs [boat making,street vending,fish sorting,tourism and cultural festivals]will solve the threat posed to the Swahili urban landscape. CONCEPT Harmony (order and continuity) using a sailing vessel(dhow ) as an abstraction. PHILOSOPHY The theme of order and continuity will ensure the architectural conservation concept of continuity with change in the Swahili coastal landscape of Lamu.

19/01/2025

First Place winner 🏆 of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- 2A Europe Architecture Awards.
Residential (Villa) Category, Organized by:

Architect/ Studio: Raulino Silva Architect

Head of Design Team: Raulino Silva
Project Title: Collective Housing in Vila do Conde
Photographer Name: Héctor Santos-Díez
Project's location: Vila do Conde, Portugal

The project in Vila do Conde, north of Portugal, has as its brief the construction of a single-family house and a collective housing building, to be put up for rent, with two apartment and a store for commerce or services. The main building is located on the site of the existing building, which had only one floor, and maintains the old façade towards Comendador António Fernandes da Costa Street, with the second floor being set back from the street to move away from the façade of the building on the other side of the street, thus also allowing you to view the roof of the Capela dos Passos (chapel) which is on the north side of the block. The extensive program of the house was distributed in such a way that the circulation spaces (hallway and stairs) were closer to the street facade due to the noise from car traffic, thus allowing the living spaces to open up towards the interior of the garden private which has a swimming pool, a small secondary building and is surrounded by the existing granite walls. On the ground floor we have a garage with space for two cars, a laundry room, a living room connected to the kitchen, a bathroom, a technical area and a guest bedroom with a private bathroom. Upstairs, we have the master suite with a bathroom and two dressing rooms, three smaller bedrooms all with private bathrooms, and an office on the south side that opens onto a large terrace that overlooks the city. The second building, which will be for rent, was built on Conde D. Mendo Street, a busier street with several multi-storey buildings with shops on the ground floor, thus leaving the corner with the Alminhas de São José (small street chapel) and the existing granite wall untouched.....

18/01/2025

Second Place of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- 2A Asia Architecture Awards, Organized by
Restoration Category

Architect/ Studio: Amin Heshmati

Head of Design Team: Amin Heshmati
Design Team (Credits): Mostafa Zarei, Javad Hoseinpor, Sadegh Farhangi
Project Title: Fath Al-Ayale House
Project's location: Shiraz / Iran
Photographer Name: Mohamad Hadi Sallakhnejad

Fath Al-Ayale was representative of the Jewish quarter of Shiraz. The damages that have been investigated include wall cracks, material spilling, material heterogeneity, and wall damage, human factors, earthquakes, wear and tear of materials, and rising and falling humidity all contribute to the destruction of decorations. The restoration of the brick parts was done with the help of experienced craftsmen and by producing brick parts on site and based on the original plan The final design was a boutique hotel with nine rooms, each with its own separate service, because of the building's small size and value. Because the concept is one of the most important aspects of a boutique hotel. Fath Al-Ayale House is now in a great position to turn into a boutique hotel. The reception desk and staff rest area, two services related to the outdoor space, and the kitchen have all been considered.

17/01/2025

First Place winner 🏆 of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards. Organized by
Future (Large Scale)
Architect/ Studio: AshariArchitects

Head of Design Team: Amirhossein Ashari

Design Team (Credits) : Architects: AmirHossein Ashari, Zahra Jafari ,Design Team: Afshin Ashari, Anahita Kazempour, Graphics: Sara Nazemi, Motahareh Javanmardi, 3D Renders: Anahita Kazempour Coordinator: Shiva Nazarboland, Asma Sirjani asl Research: Hakime Elahi
Project Title: Home base factory
Project's location: Shiraz,Iran

The architecture of most industrial factories is often rigid, monotonous, and designed solely for work, typically lacking in quality by overlooking the living conditions of the personnel. However, since employees spend a significant amount of time in the workspace, it is essential to consider factors that influence their sense of satisfaction and comfort. Studies have shown that the work environment impacts employee satisfaction, attachment to the workplace, performance, efficiency, and ultimately, the productivity of the factory. Therefore, by diagnosing the current conditions, the design goal is "to enhance the quality of the factory space for employees and contribute to increased factory productivity." With this objective, we decided to reduce the rigidity of the factory building's mass and introduce features that allow nature to pe*****te and create interactive spaces for various sections. The following strategies align with this goal: • Creation of a Movement and Communication Axis: Given the factory site's access from two sides to the main street, a communication and movement axis was considered between the two streets, passing through the production hall and the administrative section of the factory. This axis, by separating the entrance and exit of the site, helps facilitate the movement of industrial machinery and also serves as the communication axis of the factory.....

16/01/2025

First Place Winner 🏆 of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- 2A Asia Architecture Awards, Commercial Category - Organized by 2A Magazine
Architect/ Studio: Hisanori Ban / bandesign,Ltd.
Head of Design Team: Hisanori Ban
Project Title: Involve
Photographer Name: Shigetomo Mizuno
Project's location: City of Nisshin, Aichi-Prefecture / Japan

Message: Mathematical formula rules the architecture, Involve in order to create new space. Involve is marked by the distinctive geometrical and economical structural system. The equi-angular spiral, logarithmic spiral in other words, has an inherent characteristic, allowing the structural members of columns, beams and cross bracing to repeat the same system of details at all connections and creates remarkable geometrical precision and patterned beauty by only adjusting the length of these structural components. In general, a rectangular box-form industrial building limits people’s interaction. Within the rectilinear layout, users are constrained to move along the two-axis direction only; being stagnant. The spiral, on the other hand, is intended to maximize the flow and the number of interaction points; being fluid. Involve the workers move spirally and contact and involve co-workers each other inevitably. As a result, the norms secondly generate various benefit, improving quality, enhancing productivity, etc. The building configuration creates an active momentum between the people, products, and information. It maximizes the cross-communication of workers, to enhance their productivity and leads to the refinement of product’s quality in the facility. Within the vortex, from which, and through which, and into which, ideas are constantly rushing. The new 2,450 square-meters facility of the client that is Kyokutoh Co.,Ltd is situated on a native hill in the city of Nisshin, Aichi-Prefecture. The profile of the new building follows that of the original slope in landscape, while possessing a powerful and unique gesture in an urban context.

12/01/2025

memary magazine:
Third Place of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards.
Residential (Villa) Category, Organized by: 2A Magazine
Architect/ Studio: Hojat Zeynali / Sin-Ze studio

Head of Design Team: Hojat Zeynali
Project Title: Do Pendar (Two thoughts)
Photographer Name: Khatereh Eshghi
Project's location: Yazd

About the project: Do Pendar (Two thoughts) The city of Yazd, with its people whose lives have changed less, but the wires of the modern world in the sky of the city have faded its old atmosphere and created a tragic gap between its contemporary and historical context. In the transitional period of Iranian architecture, which coincided with the Constitutional Revolution, the gradual confrontation between tradition and modernism, for various reasons, caused a rupture that distanced each of the city’s and people’s elements from their original essence more than ever. This placed individuals in front of various choices and decisions and freed them from many of the constraints of traditional life. It seems that this issue has posed fundamental challenges to Iranian architecture to this day, and in this practice, based on the external conditions of the project and the intra disciplinary issues of architecture, we have tried to face these challenges and find answers to them. In Dopendar, we faced two challenges: first, viewing architecture as a cultural matter, and second, the two different perspectives of Hamed and Motahareh as the project clients regarding the house in their imagination. On the one hand, our point of view for reading the traditional architecture of Yazd and its relationship with contemporaneity, and on the other hand, the dual economic and social conditions of the society and its effect on the sensitivity of employers to fulfill their desires and tastes, which cannot be hidden, made the situation difficult. It seemed that finding a solution between these two challenges by utilizing the dual mindset of Hamed and Motahareh about the house could be effective...

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09/01/2025

Second Place winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards.
Residential (Villa) Category, Organized by: 2A Magazine

Architect/ Studio: KRDS (Kourosh Rafiey design Studio)
Head of Design Team: Kourosh Rafieyrafiey
Project Title: Vault on Vault Villa
Photographer Name: Mohammad Hassan ettefagh
Project's location: Royan

Message: This project focuses on two core objectives: first, the redefinition of traditional vault structural systems originally constructed with masonry materials; and second, the reimagining of the architectural unit as a fundamental module, created by integrating these primary structures. Historically, architecture evolved to its peak using the technologies available at the time, but the onset of modernism abruptly disrupted this progression, causing many spatial features from earlier eras to be overlooked or forgotten. One such feature is the architectural vault, a crucial element that was replaced by flat roofs with the rise of modern construction techniques. These vaults were not merely structural solutions; they also significantly enriched the spatial qualities of buildings. This project seeks to bridge the gap between contemporary technology and historical architectural elements, reviving and enhancing the spatial qualities these vaults provided through the application of new techniques. Additionally, the project offers a fresh perspective on the concept of space-shaping units. Traditionally, architecture began with the use of a primitive cell as a basic unit for creating shelter. As additional functions and spaces were required, these cells were replicated to form larger structures, often organized around a courtyard. This project challenges that traditional scenario by introducing a new approach to cell arrangement, wherein a vaulted cell is repeated in varying dimensions. This approach ensures a consistent architectural grammar between interior and exterior spaces,where the facade emerges organically from the arrangement of cells rather than serving a merely decorative role.

07/01/2025

Third Place winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards.
Residential (Villa) Category

Architect/ Studio: Amirhossein Tabrizi

Head of Design Team: Kiana Karimi

Project Title: Lavasan Villa No.7
Photographer Name: Navid Atrvash
Project's location: Lavasan, Iran

Message: Villa No.7 is meticulously designed for a young family of four—a mother, father, and two children aged approximately 4 and 8—each with distinct interests and routines. The Habibi family, known for their attention to detail and love for animals, inspired the villa’s thoughtful design. Situated on a 686-square-meter plot in Lavasan, Tehran, the site boasts remarkable features such as proximity to a river and the Latian Dam, as well as a modern ranch with a horse barn to the west. These natural elements significantly influenced the architectural and massing decisions for Villa No.7. The use of exposed concrete for the façades conveys a sense of strength and stability, while maintaining a neutral presence to harmonize with the surrounding neighborhood. This material continuity extends into the interior, where concrete surfaces are complemented by natural wood, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. The villa’s layout prioritizes privacy, spatial separation, and optimal connectivity to the surrounding environment. The ground floor, designed for the children, includes their bedrooms and a TV space with direct access to the entrance yard, pond, and a terrace that overlooks the backyard, river, and barn. The natural slope of the plot is utilized for the basement, which houses a party room with direct access to the riverside and backyard, making it ideal for gatherings. On the first level, more private spaces are located, including the main living room, kitchen, dining room, guest rooms, and the parents' bedroom. This level also features a floating pool on the terrace, offering panoramic views of the scenic surroundings. The top level includes a roof garden and a private office for the father, which is accessible via an elevator from the entrance corridor.

04/01/2025

Common First Place winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards.
Residential (Villa) Category, Organized by: 2A_Magazine
Architect/ Studio: Seyed Razi Alavinejad, Bahareh Rajaei, Zeynab Oryani
Head of Design Team: Seyed Razi Alavinejad
Design Team (Credits) : Architects: Seyed Razi Alavinejad, Bahareh Rajaei, Zeynab Oryani Interior Design: Seyed Razi Alavinejad, Mohammad Hasan Hojabrian Architectural Supervision: Seyed Razi Alavinejad, Mohammad Hasan Hojabrian Building Executive Engineer: Farhad Zahedian Architect-graphist: Elahe Ahmadi
Project Title: Daniali Home
Project's location: Khonj, Iran
Photographer Name: Behnam Ershadi

02/01/2025

Common First Place winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards organized by
Residential (Villa) Category

Architect/ Studio: OJAN Design Studio
Head of Design Team: Ojan Salimi , Dena Khaksar
Project Title: Livable Windows
Project's location: Alborz, Iran
Photographer Name: M.H.Hamzehlouei

The “Livable Windows” project, takes its essence from the view of its surroundings at the moment of its birth, while being embraced by nature on one side and water on the other, telling the story of living within a window that defines both the act of living and observing it.

The project is located on a 2,100 square-meter plot in the pleasant climate of Kordan, in Alborz Province. The project site is surrounded by dense greenery and had extended and deep sightlines due to the land's proportions. The villa has been designed with two floors, including various programs, with a total built area of 500 square meters. Considering specific sightlines and views, the design team began with the main question of how to create the desired spatial mass with minimal interference in the existing views and sightlines, allowing the project to make the most of the surrounding landscape. Therefore, the first step began with placing a "mega-window" in the construction area, facing the green sightline. A massive concrete window which this time was not just a small-scale member of a wall but emerged as a large-scale object with an independent identity entity, which was able to accommodate all the spatial requests of the project and be defined as a programmable object. This mega-window was initially divided into twelve equal sections due to define the existing programs in the project, the first five parts in the north were allocated to the entrance, guest room, kitchen, dining area, and two bedrooms and the next seven parts in the south were allocated to the living room and master bedroom, which are connected by a bridge. Moreover, according to the divisions, they were sometimes extended outward and sometimes folded to create open and semi-open spaces.

31/12/2024

Happy 2025!

31/12/2024

First Place winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Europe Architecture Awards.
Public Category

Architect/ Studio: Lucio serpagli

Head of Design Team: Lucio serpagli
Design Team (Credits) : Designers: Lucio Serpagli and Alessandro Gattara .gattara – AAA office Project team: Architect Italo Jemmi, Engineer Giuseppe Stefanini, Tecnofaber, Biacchi Associati, Geologist Paolo Paolini
Project Title: Guglielmo Marconi primary school
Photographer: Roberto Conte
Project's location: Via della Costituzione, Sissa, Parma - Italy

The construction of the new primary school complex in Sissa (Province of Parma) was completed in October 2023. The architects Lucio Serpagli and Alessandro Gattara - already first prize in 2017 at the National Ideas Competition of the Ministry of Education for the creation of Innovative Schools - drafted the project in its executive phase of development, modifying the project as requested by the tender notice previously approved final. Located on a plot of approximately 16,000 m2 adjacent to the nursery school, the complex includes 10 classrooms and 6 laboratories (4 of which can be subdivided, for a total of 10) and can accommodate up to 250 students. A canteen with 90 seats and a B1 type gymnasium (700 m2 in addition to services) were also created, which can also be used by the extra-scholastic community. The above-ground structure is made entirely of wood with X-Lam technology (Cisanova Srl) and reaches the best energy efficiency standards (Near Zero Energy Building Nzeb). Without changing the minimum contents of the final project, the architects modified the design of the facade and part of the roof to obtain a series of improvements in terms of thermal, hygrometric, acoustic, visual (natural light and artificial lighting, diffusion, reflection, refraction, absorption, texture and grain, transparencies, spatiality and orientation, dynamism, contrast, controls and adjustments), color and surface treatments and tactile qualities of materials.

30/12/2024

First Place of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards.
Interior Design Category
Architect/ Studio: 3rdskin Architects .architects
Head of Design Team: Samaneh Ghasempour and Amir Ghasempour .ghasempour

Design Team (Credits) : Assistant architects: Parisa Chivayi-Mohamadreza Javadi Construction team: Majid Naeb zaman- Sardab Engineering Group Electrical consultant and engineer: Rona light co.
Project Title: RONA LIGHT SHOWROOM lighting
Project's location: Iran-Tehran city
Photographer Name: Photography: Deed studio ( Masih Mostajeran- Naghmeh Olfat)/ Hamzehlouei studio ( Mohamad hosein Hamzehlouei) Videography: Ali Zanjani

Message :The Rona Light showroom project involves the renovation and design of a space dedicated to showcasing and selling lighting products with an office alongside the showroom. The design concept emerged from the project`s focus on presenting and displaying lighting elements. It features a continuous luminous element that uniquely spans the entire space, presenting lighting elements within itself. This approach addresses several needs simultaneously during the design idea`s formation and development. Firstly, it allows for the separation of different lighting elements to prevent interference and ensure clear visibility. Secondly, it facilitates user movement within the display area, as the project`s narrow width would otherwise restrict movement and visibility if divided by partitions or floor stands. The concept also introduces a dynamic lighting element that can change in lighting and color, serving as a visible sign for the store industry. Additionally, it accommodates the flexibility to adjust and expand display elements in each spatial division according to the client's needs. Finally, it provides a seamless, expansive space free of visual interruptions for optimal utilization. The innovation and advantages of the project include the ability to modify the display of objects, adjust lighting, and change graphics and elements directly from the main design component.

29/12/2024

First Place winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards.
Urban Design Category
Architect/ Studio: Khue Ho
Head of Design Team: Khue Ho
Project Title: Wings Art Exhibition Center
Project's location: Da Nang city, VietNam
Photographer Name: Hiroyuki Oki

27/12/2024

Winner of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards, Third Place
Future (Large Scale)

Architect/ Studio: Econtext Company
Head of Design Team: Soha Golafshan

Design Team (Credits) : Farzane Izadi, Marzie Gharakhani, Milad Alidousti, Shima Nejatbakhsh, Hesam Ghalamzan, Soroush rafie, Mehdi Pourghanbari, Nasim Mantashi
Project Title: Isfahan Music Campus
Project's location: Isfahan, Iran

Message: Isfahan Music Campus is a cultural and tourism complex with an area of 5400 square meters which is located on a land of 9000 square meters in the southern end of Isfahan City. The location of the project is important because it is located between the stable context of Sofe Mountain and the dynamic context of Isfahan City. The presence of such components will be effective in the user's design and perception. The music campus covers an important part of the collective cultural demand with two large performance halls, training workshops, sale pavilions, small public squares, public areas, and other service areas. The body of the project was formed according to the characteristics of Islamic-Iranian architecture in the Isfahan and the uneven surfaces of the building shell in order to influence the visual perception of the audience, attract and excite the users, and create new and experimental spaces in a collective project.

24/12/2024

Second Place of 2A Continental Architectural Awards 2024- Asia Architecture Awards.
Commercial Category

Architect/ Studio: 13˚ Architecture Studio
Head of Design Team: Mohammadreza Alemrajabi ,Sajjad Jafari Galuyak , Sima Azimipour
Project Title: The Arghavan Commercial Project
Project's location: Yazd, Iran
Photographer Name: Mohammadhosein Etefagh, Mohammadreza Alemrajabi, Atefe Alemrajabi

Architect's Message : We believe that the Arghavan project should be examined as a practice in the realm of empiricism and tectonics. A formative state that occurs in the field of human lived experiences, techniques, time, materials from nature, and forces, and ultimately enters an aesthetic life as something creative and new. An evolution that begins with forgotten techniques like wicker weaving and transforms it into a new, operational alternative that responds to the spirit of its time in architecture. To simplify this process, let’s break it down into a few titles: A: Tectonic Evolution of Cercis Siliquastrum (Arghavan) Wicker: The use of wicker weaving and discarded branches of Cercis tree in this project was not our first experience with this indigenous technique. We had previously used it under various titles such as shelter, canopy, and even part of the facade in our other projects. In each of them, we designed technical details according to the situation. However, in the Arghavan project, its use is expanded to create a cohesive whole. We have tried to turn it into a documented construction technique, an experience, and a repeatable and expandable technique for others or other situations. Ultimately, aspects like strength, elegance, and dignity should be the conscious outcomes of this technique. B: Material and Spirit of the Time: Wicker weaving, by its nature, is a profession that turns low-value materials into something valuable and practical through the creative process. Therefore, the Arghavan project tries to use this inherent quality in the project’s economy.

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